What's Happenin' in Nicaragua!
Welcome to Nica Land, an inside view of what's going on in Nicaragua... the property, the people, and the reality of living the dream.

 

Soda Pop Vs. Sharks November 18, 2008

Today, we have a special feature written by Chanelle, our resident earth and animal lover/activist about the very waters you all thrive to surf in. If any of you swimmers or surfers have ever had a pressing curiosity and/or fear of sharks or just share a love for the ocean.... read on!




Imagine you are a surfer sitting in the line up...lucky enough to be out there with only a few other people. You are enjoying the peace, tranquility and beauty all around you. As you wait with anticipation for the next set to come in, you look down into the sea and think.... “man, if a shark is down there right now...I would have much better odds if there were a few more people out here right now!” We all do it, but we usually shake it off and take our chances... that is part of the love of the sport that keep many away.

Now consider this...
What would you do, if you knew you it was only a matter of time before you ran out of oxygen?
What lengths would you go to to make sure you had enough of a supply to last you until the day that you die?
Would you try to stock up for your family and friends?
If you knew that there was something you could do to prevent this from happening, would you do it?
Or would you just ignore the fact, shrug and go about your day?

I am pretty sure we all know the answers to these questions, and with out a doubt we would all do what ever it took to make sure we had what we needed to survive!

So how are these 2 things connected?
As I am sure many of you have heard, there is a big issue with Shark Finning/Poaching and long line fishing. It has gained big attention in the last while as it has become the most profitable industry second only to the trafficking of illegal drugs. ( a billion $$ industry).
The shark fins supply the ingredient for shark fin soup served all over the world. Although it is a traditional soup that has been around for centuries, it has only boomed in popularity in the last 2 decades. Funny enough, it is tasteless and has to be flavored with chicken or pork stock. It will sell for $90 per bowl and is considered a status symbol in Asian cultures, as well as carrying the belief that you will gain the powers of the shark and their immunity to disease. (Which is being proven the opposite, as sharks and other species are being found to be so contaminated due to human pollution).
This is the main reason that a single pound of Shark Fin is worth around $200 USD, and the reason up to almost 100 million sharks are being viciously slaughtered every year!! It is absolutely inhumane, and there are currently 16 countries that have banned Shark Finning.
Here is the intrinsic part of it all, that will affect all other creatures on this planet, as well as the planet itself. Sharks have been here for 400 billion years, before the continents were shaped, have lived through 5 major extinctions and are the oceans top predator. They are responsible for the evolution of all ocean life, are responsible for shaping our world in the beginning, and if they were to become extinct, they would also shape the end of our world. It would be the biggest ecological time bomb, as it would destroy all food chains and our entire marine ecosystem which just happens to be our main oxygen supply.

If there were anyone out there that would feel a small amount of relief to have a few hundred million less sharks swimming around you would think it would be surfers, however surfers knowingly put themselves into shark territory regularly. There are millions of possible times that sharks and humans are in the same place at the same time, but just how often are there shark attacks?

Here are some interesting statistics...

SHARKS KILL __5__ PEOPLE PER YEAR
ELEPHANTS & TIGERS KILL __100__ PER YEAR
EXECUTION KILLS __2,400__ PER YEAR
ILLEGAL DRUGS KILL __22,000__ PER YEAR
ROAD ACCIDENTS KILL __1,200,000__ PER YEAR
STARVATION KILLS __8,000,000__ PER YEAR
SODA POP MACHINES KILL MORE PEOPLE THAN SHARKS DO

In 1 year Crocodiles killed as many people as Sharks have over the past 100 years, and Crocodiles are protected, but Sharks are not... now Great Whites are endangered.

We need to do better than this! We need to rock the boat, make some noise and pressure the politicians and the governments for change. We know they are run by money, and shark finning is Big Business. There is hope, it has been done before with Whaling. (Public pressure resulted in the 1986 International Moratorium on whaling).

Ask yourself this. Do you really really want a world without Sharks? Do you want your future generations to be without this amazing species? Do you want to have to explain why you did nothing to help when they ask why there are none left?
Will they compare us to the generations of people responsible for Slave Trading, Whalers and Trophy Hunters?
We have done more damage to our planet in the last 100 years than ever before, and we need to make sure we don’t keep going. We know better now, and more than ever people are making the changes and doing what it takes to tread responsibly on this planet.

Sharks have every right in the world to live on this planet, and there are organizations out there ready and willing to do the hard work, they just need support in numbers.

Here are some links to get you going!

www.savingsharks.com
www.sharkwater.com
www.seashepard.org
www.oceana.org
www.wildaid.com

 

Email me with questions & comments about this article: Chanelle@Nicaland.com








 








At the top of the Mahosa, overlooking Iguana


Sunset over Gigante