The Mysterious Fear of the Sea

Vocab:

Chondrichthyes - Class of animal, Greek meaning cartilage and fish.

Shark Fin Soup -Is a popular soup item of Chinese cuisine usually served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets

Summary:

From the time humans started using the water there have been shark attacks. Although the chance of being attacked by one of these great predators is slimmer then being struck by lighting, people still fear the almost impossible. Sharks have been on Earth for 400 to 450 million years, they obviously have experience. The only thing that has changed in the sharks are the species. Sharks are a member of the class of Chondrichthyes. Humans have a thought in their head that every shark is a huge brute, but in fact we our larger then 80% of all sharks, and 50% is between 1/2 a foot and 3 feet. Obviously, none of these small ones would ever pose a threat. The thing that makes a shark famous are its rows and rows and rows of bladed teeth that can cut through almost anything. Some sharks are known to have up to 400 teeth in their mouth at one time. They need all these teeth, because, as you could imagine, cutting through fat and bone is not always the best for our teeth. The sharks have the same problem, except they can have reinforcement teeth. To me the most fascinating thing about sharks is their 6th sense, electro-sensation. "Sharks can locate nearby life forms through special organs called the ampullae of Lorenzini. Located about the mouth and eyes, these organs enable sharks to read the weak electrical aura of another creature even when it is buried in the sand." I believe this is what really sets sharks apart from all other ocean predators. They can sense things moving without seeing or hearing them. That would be equivalent to us being able to know were an invisible person was. These wondrous creatures keep our ocean ecosystem in order, and without them things would really be out of whack. Sadly humans are not helping. Every year a whopping 6 people die from shark attacks. Lets just multiply that number by 2 MILLION and we have the number of sharks that die per year from humans. Sharks are mainly killed for their fin, for shark fin soup, but are sometimes just caught in a net. I believe humans should really look out for these creatures because of their great value and importance in the marine ecosystem.

Source:

Bachleda, F. Lynne. "Dangerous Wildlife in California & Nevada." Science
Reference Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.

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