What is a shark?

Read and tell me what you think :: Shark essay ::?

• Sharks have been around for millions of years, but because of some events that are currently happening, our “vicious” friends seem to be disappearing. Many marine biologists, such as Charles Paterson and George Burgess, have began to notice a very rapid decline in larger sharks, and because of that, the food chain and ocean ecosystems across the world will suffer. Two of the major problems of the decrease in sharks include tournaments in which the man with the largest shark wins a prize for his “heroic” capture and finning, when the shark’s fins are removed and sold as a delicacy in many Asian cultures. In one instance, marine ecologist Charles Peterson noticed a very dramatic decrease in scallops in a bay in North Carolina because they had been eaten by a large group of cownose rays. This bay use to be covered by scallops and other marine animals, so much that you couldn’t see the ground, and Peterson is concluding that the population of sharks has gone down because some sharks, such as the hammer-head shark, eat rays, but there has been a dramatic increase in rays in this bay area and it is noticed by the lack of scallops. Another marine biologist, George Burgess, has been studying the amount of shark attacks a year there are. The about 60 accidents a year has indeed scared people to the point in which they find sharks so terrifying and they have deemed them worthy of death. Burgess, however, says that “when people kill sharks, they are destroying not an enemy, but a pillar in an ocean ecosystem that helps sustain life on land.” In other words, we are killing a creature we cannot live without, mostly by killing them for a small prize or for a warm bowl of shark-fin soup. In 1975, the movie Jaws horrified the nation, causing many to believe the mere fiction it had presented as true, causing, in particular, groups of men to be formed who would fish for sharks as a sport. The object of the game was to catch the largest shark and the winner would receive a trophy or some other prize. As the years went by, however, there was a difference in the size of the sharks. They had become 45% smaller between the years of 1975 and 1985. It took them ten years to catch most of the larger sharks, causing their large gene a problem in being passed on. Although this sporting event caused the lives of many sharks to be tragically ended, there is an even crueler, and more horrible way in which 73 million sharks a year are being killed. This type of slaughter is known as “finning” and it is when you cut off the main dorsal fins of the shark and then sell the fins as a huge profit. Most Asian cultures use these fins to make shark-fin soup, which is considered a delicacy in their culture. The big problem, however, is that these rich, naïve men think that the sharks will be able to survive without their fins in the ocean because they’re marine animals, they breath water right? So these men would release the sharks back into the ocean alive and finless not knowing that large sharks sink and drown without their dorsal fins because most sharks need to always be moving in order to filter water through their gills and they need their fins to propel them in order to do this motion. My feelings about what is happening to these misunderstood creatures is outraged and heartbroken. People think that sharks are only violent in nature and because of that, people feel no remorse in killing them for fun or profit. I feel that if this continues sharks will end up on the endangered species list and many people will not care to save them because of their feelings towards them. Sharks are amazing creatures and they are very smart and well adapted to obtain what they need and many people are ignorant to these facts and feel that sharks are mindless animals that only live to kill and if these people were to learn more about sharks, we would have less of a problem with the shark population decline than we do now. In conclusion, some biologist are starting to notice a decline in sharks because of fishing events and the fact that shark fins sell for a good price in Asian cultures. This decline of sharks is impacting the food chain across the world and there will continue to be a change as the shark population decreases. I feel that what people are doing to sharks is wrong and that those who are scared of them should learn more about them before they judge them so quickly. It can be shown that if these problems continue, there will soon be no more sharks and our entire food chain will be cracked.

• Answer:

  It is a very good essay, the only thing i can suggest is to read it over and edit, check your punctuation and get rid of unnecessary words. Good essay.