EXCUSE ME WHILE I DROP SOME FACTS:
- Ever heard of the Great Barrier Reef? It’s one of the most amazing natural wonders on earth, and it’s home to 134 species of sharks and rays. Unfortunately, the reef may be gone by 2050 thanks to climate change and a host of other nasty factors. So, that’s going to be really bad news for those sharks.
- Even if all you’re worried about is money, you should still care about keeping sharks around. According to one study, in its lifetime, a single reef shark may be worth up to $1.9 million in tourism.
- Some organizations say they technically aren’t illegally shark finning because they remove the fins on land — as opposed to cutting off their fins at sea. But a survey by James Cook University turns up some strong circumstantial evidence that this banned practice is going on: Open fishing zones and “no-take zones” show 97% fewer gray reef sharks — one of the most abundant species in the Great Barrier Reef — than in “no-entry zones,” which is attributed to illegal fishing. That smells like a pretty fishy technicality.
