Sharks: Guardians of the Ocean

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a shark? Is it their mouth filled with sharp teeth? A movie that features their enormous size?

The media has long painted sharks in a scary and negative light. While we don’t know if these stereotypes persist due to misinformation, attraction, or otherwise, decades of research have indicated that this level of fear is unnecessary, as sharks do not feed on humans and are actually quite docile unless provoked.

Fin -tastic Friends

Humans are not a part of a shark's natural diet. These animals evolved hundreds of millions of years before humans ever existed. In fact, sharks first appeared in the fossil record about 450 million years ago, which means sharks were roaming our oceans before the first tree was ever on this planet!

Although sharks are known as apex predators, we like to think of them as "Guardians of the Ocean." Sharks help with the process of natural selection by removing weak and sick individuals, being competitors to other large fish such as groupers, and controlling the species diversity by maintaining a healthy gene pool.

Sharks are excellent indicators of ocean health as they control the population of the animals below them in the food chain. When we’re appreciating our oceans, we want to be able to see sharks swimming around. We shouldn’t fear them; we should be scared of a world without them!

We Need Sharks

Research has shown that oceanic shark populations have declined by 71% since 1970. An ocean without sharks would have catastrophic cascading effects; their role as a predator is to dictate their prey’s spatial habitat, which in turn changes the populations, feeding strategies, and diets of other species.

As sharks are removed, the whole food chain destabilizes. The next largest predator, generally groupers, begins to increase in abundance. This in turn doesn’t bode well for the smaller fish that groupers eat, as their populations will begin to deplete. These fish, that often perform reef maintenance duties, suddenly disappear, and we see detrimental impacts on our coral reefs.

As a result, much of the biodiversity of our oceans can be attributed to the vital role sharks play. Removing sharks from the ecosystem creates a trophic cascade impacting every part of the ocean.

Protecting the Ecosystem

An example of a significant shark species is the tiger shark; they have been known to keep green sea turtle populations in check so that seagrass beds are not overgrazed. Without sharks to keep animal populations at bay, sensitive habitats like coral reefs and seagrass beds could be lost forever.

Data from between 2012 and 2019 suggests that around 80 million sharks die every year because of people, and this number is increasing.

This means precious ocean habitats, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and kelp forests, are severely at risk. Many shark species are in danger due to overfishing, unsustainable fishing practices, and habitat loss.

Protecting sharks through sustainable practices and conservation efforts is crucial not only for their survival but for the health of our oceans and the countless species that depend on them.