Shark Finning (Diving, Rants)

We recently returned from a shark diving trip on the Shear Water. It was the second time we had done this trip and we’ll definitely go back. There is something indescribable about being in the water with large sharks like Tiger sharks or Lemon sharks all around you. These majestic creatures have ruled the oceans for hundreds of millions of years, evolving to perfection, and here you are, in their domain, on their terms. The first time I went, I was a bit scared when I first entered the water, taught to fear these animals by the media in all its forms. It took only a few minutes to realize that they are not the bloodthirsty killers they are made out to be.

The Future

These kinds of encounters may not be possible for my 5 year old niece. Humans are killing sharks at an astonishing rate. Each year hundreds of millions of sharks are killed, thus removing a top predator from a very precarious eco system that may never recover from this brutal attack. The most barbaric form this eradication takes is the practice of shark finning. Here huge factory ships drag sharks on board in large numbers, only to hack off their fins, and throwing them back into the ocean alive. They then slowly drown as sharks need to move to be able to breath. All so we humans can have a tasteless bowl of soup.

To show the staggering numbers we’re talking about I’d like to visualize this in a simple counter. This counter represents the number of sharks killed for their fins alone so far this year.