Does Humanity's Future Depend On Sharks?
Channel: WMX Presents
Date: 11/12/2017

Shark finning is killing sharks every year at an alarming rate! It is estimated that 100 to 200 million sharks annually are killed for their fins alone.  As apex predators, sharks play an important role in the ecosystem by maintaining the species below them in the food chain and serving as an indicator for ocean health. They help remove the weak and the sick as well as keeping the balance with competitors helping to ensure species diversity.

By taking sharks out of the coral reef ecosystem, the larger predatory fish, such as groupers, increase in abundance and feed on the herbivores. With less herbivores, macroalgae expands and coral can no longer compete, shifting the ecosystem to one of algae dominance, affecting the survival of the reef system. Oceana released a report in July 2008, “Predators as Prey: Why Healthy Oceans Need Sharks”, illustrating our need to protect sharks.

Sharks’ control over species below them in the food chain indirectly affects the economy. A study in North Carolina showed that the loss of the great sharks increased the ray populations below them. As a result, the hungry rays ate all the bay scallops, forcing the fishery to close. Without scallops to eat, the rays have moved on to other bivalves.

Ocean is the dive safety officer, head field researcher, and the founder of the “Pelagic Research and Animal Interaction Program.” Aka “The Pelagic Shark Program.”  Ocean Ramsey has worked in the water with over 32 different species of sharks around the world.  With an extensive educational and professional background in marine biology and work in the field with a large number of marine animals focusing mostly on shark behavior and specifics on territorial body language, social hierarchy, and changes in behavior in relation to the presence of humans and other external influencers, Oceans masters research is the basis for the pelagic program and public participants will get an in depth glimpse at the current study trends in cognitive ecology and social systems of sharks.


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