Sharks are Extinct!!? What Will Happen to Marine Ecosystem?

Marine ecosystem is the largest aquatic system in the world covering almost all the planet (earth). The Marine ecosystem includes; marshes, tidal zones, estuaries, the mangrove forest, lagoons, seagrass beds, the sea floor, and coral reefs. Just like every other ecosystem in the world, the aquatic ecosystem relies on each other for maintaining a balanced marine ecosystem. But now, there is research showing that marine ecosystems are imbalanced. One of the biggest factors is the extinction of the apex predator (top predator).

 

One of the apex predators that affect the marine ecosystem especially the coral reefs ecosystem is sharks. As an apex predator of the sea, sharks are maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems. Sharks and other apex predators limit the population of their prey, which make the food chain stable. If the shark population decreases, prey populations such as pinnipeds or fish will significantly increase and make the food chain not stable. Because the prey populations are increasing the smaller predators (herbivore) populations will decrease and make the coral-dominated reef to an algae-dominated reef reduces biodiversity and decreases the resilience of the reef to disturbances such as coral bleaching and storms that can cause the coral reefs to die.

 

About 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year. That's almost 200 shark per minute. These sharks killed because humans cut their fins. The cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning alone kills up to 73 million sharks every year, only to use less than 5% of the sharks bodies. The reason why people cut shark fins is because Chinese people are making a dish (soup) from shark fins that played an important role as an indicator of social standing back more than 1000 years. In the past 20 years or so, the demand for shark fin soup has rocketed. It is still associated with privilege and social rank. Shark fin soup is also popular in traditional chinese medicine (although research suggests that it contains so much mercury and other toxins it is barely fit for human consumption). People also killed sharks for making products such as liver oil, skin, teeth and jaws, which is poorly documented.

 

To make the marine ecosystem balance and healthy again, we have to stop killing sharks to rebuild shark populations and restore marine ecosystems to be normal. We can help save sharks by pledge to never consume or serve shark fin soup, sign a petition to support a ban on the shark fin trade, never buy shark cartilage, liver oil, skin, teeth, or jews, educate people the importance of protecting sharks, donate or volunteer with a reputable shark conservation organizations.

Name: Ashlika Rizkiana Advianto

Class: X AKL 2