Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China

The tragedy is global and enormous: Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China. At first glance it may not seems so large a tragedy but please, read the numbers.

At the least, 100,000,000 sharks are killed each year by fisherman.

And many scientists and oceanographers say that number is conservative. The actual number may be closer to 300,000,000. Easily, heartlessly, people are killing at least 11,000 sharks per hour.

Sharks are now endangered with extinction.

Sharks Slaughtered For Soup – Extinction?

Tweet This

Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China

To feed China’s appetite for shark fin soup.

The fin of the shark is the valuable part. After slicing the fins off a living shark it is thrown into the ocean unable to swim, sinking to death at the bottom of the ocean.

The fisherman easily earn $500 a pound for fins in this grisly, cruel, unsustainable practice. Depending on the species of shark that price can skyrocket into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Turns out the shark is not the most feared predator. The dishonor goes to the fisherman.

The fisherman, of course, would have no market for their despicable “catch” were it not for consumer demand in China.

Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China

At one time shark fin soup was reserved for the Chinese emperor. Now, any consumer in China with the financial means can have this as often as they wish.

At least 100,000,000 sharks die each year for this.

Can you and I do anything to save sharks while there are still shark to be saved.

Yes.

Contact your member of Congress. Laws should be passed which offer protection to sharks. As a voter, you have the right to have your voice heard in Congress. Do not just get angry, get involved.

Support organizations that advocate for shark conservation.

Use social media to alert other to this danger to the world’s sharks. Your participation on social media advocating for sharks and educating for sharks can have truly global reach.

Your voice, and the voices of those in your social media world, can easily travel to China. You can make an impact from the comfort of your own home.

Learn about sharks. There are many species of sharks swimming the world’s oceans. Not just the familiar great white shark demonized in the movie Jaws.

Shark finning is a tragedy of epic proportions. Human greed and human cruelty will continue until those of us who care join the fight to save the shark.

Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China

Twitter is a terrific way to communicate quickly to as many people as care read the tweet. But oh, that 140 character limit is tough. Yes, it sharpens the mind and the editorial skills. But some things deserve more than 140 characters. And so, Perspectives in born.

I made the leap to a blog.

I found a web hosting service I liked — BlueHost.
Next came the WordPress.
Between the two of them a blog is becoming a reality.

There is so much helpful information on the Internet, on BlueHost and WordPress. For that I am grateful. But there is so much to learn. My hope is to not make too many mistakes, missteps, or make myself look like a fool — especially in the beginning.

The driving force that finally made me do this is my strong, deep and enduring passion for animals. I am opposed to animal cruelty in any form, and that includes hunting, and believe deeply that each animal life is precious and as worthy of respect as human life.

I tweet a lot about animals. That includes those who abuse, main, kill them as well as those, like me, who love them, respect them and want to be a “voice for the voiceless.”

At the same time, there is so much that catches my attention. This is an election year in America. Violence is spiraling out of control in our cities. Nations still find war far easier than diplomacy. Etc. Etc. Etc.

A blog presents the opportunity to break free — at least occasionally — from the rigid but necessary, I guess, confines of Twitter’s 140 characters. For Twitter I am grateful. And I will continue to be a loyal user. It’s just nice to know that I can say more, express more, write more when I want.

I’ll post this. Critique it for myself. Fine tune my plugins, themes, appearance of the blog. And then get to work. Like all the people who call this planet home I have a unique perspective. I am going to take a second look at this world and share my perspective.

What a great time to be alive.

Month: January 2016

Sharks, Shark Fin Soup, China

More Than 140 Characters

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)