How Many Sharks Are Killed Per Hour? This Graphic Will Shock You (INFOGRAPHIC)

Hi all

Some not so great news this morning.. This infographic shocked me alot. When the amount of sharks we kill is displayed as an image it is definitely more sobering than seeing numbers written on paper..

Humans kill 11,147 sharks PER HOUR..!!!!!

Whereas sharks kill roughly 12 humans PER YEAR...!!!!!

Infographic:

Inspired by recent data on shark deaths, two data visualization heavyweights have created a stunning infographic to put the numbers in perspective.

A recent report published in the journal Marine Policy revealed that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year. The paper added that the number of sharks killed could actually be anywhere between 63 million and 273 million.

In stark contrast, only 12 humans were killed worldwide by sharks in 2011, according to National Geographic.

Is that not absolutely appalling..! Most of those sharks are being killed for the fins. Shark fin soup is a delicacy of Chinese cuisines. It is usually served on special occasions such as weddings or banquets..
However it has entered into the affordable market and many people believe that the shark fin has properties that can boost sexual potency, enhance skin quality, increase one's qi or energy, prevent heart disease, and lower cholesterol. However none of this has ever been proved...
WildAid which is a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to end wildlife smuggling has warned that eating too much shark fin can cause sterility in men..

I think this is disgusting. I have no problem with a culture having a delicacy that is enjoyed now and again. But this delicacy is taking the piss. The shark population is declining rapidly.. If we do not stop this the sharks will run out...

And if they do want to kill a shark they could at least do it humanely..! Most of the time the shark is captured, then its fins are hacked off whilst still alive and then it is left for dead and the rest of the body is left to sink to the sea bed..

They are such beautiful and fascinating creatures...



I say the sharks should start eating more of us..! Scientists still are not fully understanding of the reasons behind shark attacks. However many marine mammal behaviourists believe it is a simple case of mistaken identity. Whilst others believe sharks are getting a taste for human flesh...
Whatever the reason it simply does not matter. This is genocide. There are many organisations working tirelessly to try and put an end to this atrocity...

Will it come to any fruition. I hope so.. If not we shall be losing a few shark species...

In a 2009 report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature noted that one-third of open ocean sharks are threatened or near-threatened with extinction due to overfishing.

www.huffingtonpost.com...=1056138

Will we ever address our major issue with speciesism.. How we can justify murdering millions of beings for our own delight simply disgusts me. We are killing the planet and all beings in it.

We need to make changes and quickly otherwise we will pay the price. Maybe we should. It would certainly give us a long over due lesson..

Peace
Fluff

I highly doubt this figure is correct.

Let's do the math:

11.417 X 24 = 274.008 Sharks killed per day.

27.008x365 = 100.012.920

So in this year alone they killed allegedly 100 Million sharks.

And in the last ten years, we have killed more than a billion sharks ?

No way, I'd like to see how they came up with that number.

reply to post by H1ght3chHippie


I think this figure is indeed correct.. And thats why 32% of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays are threatened with extinction..

It is horrible....

A recent report published in the journal Marine Policy revealed that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year. The paper added that the number of sharks killed could actually be anywhere between 63 million and 273 million.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

Based on an analysis of average shark weights, this translates into a total annual mortality estimate of about 100 million sharks in 2000, and about 97 million sharks in 2010, with a total range of possible values between 63 and 273 million sharks per year.

www.sciencedirect.com...

The first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays reveals that 32 percent are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, according to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group.

www.iucn.org.../Third-of-open-ocean-sharks-threatened-with-extinction

reply to post by H1ght3chHippie


These figures are according to a recent study...

One of the most comprehensive studies ever compiled on illegal shark killing brings new startling statistics. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year around the world, a number that far exceeds what many populations need to recover.

The statistical report, compiled by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, crunched numbers of reported shark catches globally and used data from nearly 100 former papers to estimate the number of unreported shark deaths every year. In a moving range, the researchers were able to calculate that between 6.4% and 7.9% of sharks of all species are killed annually.
Source

The Original Study

Although earlier figures (from 2010) are much lower.

An analysis of the flow of shark fins through the Hong Kong fish markets suggests that somewhere between 1.21 - 2.29 million metric tonnes of sharks are killed each year for the fin trade (Lack and Sant, 2009). This means that the biomass of sharks in the fin trade is 3-4 times higher than the FAO statistics. The total number of sharks killed and passing through the fin trade is estimated to be between 26 to 73 million, with and average (median) of 38 million killed each year.

Source

I think it's impossible to give an accurate number seeing that many (most?) sharks that are caught/killed are not reported because it was illegal or not regarded as something to report. Either way - it is horrifying numbers, and so unnecessary.

reply to post by H1ght3chHippie


I don't trust these info graphics either. I agree we need to see the raw data and see how it was arrived at. With many (but not all) of these save the something campaigns the data is heavily, sometimes preposterously weighted.

We also need to consider that sharks and mankind compete for fish stocks. It is all very well having shark fin soup but the incorrect assumption they want you to draw is that the rest of the shark is wasted. That is rubbish. Almost all of the shark is used, in fact, shark is used in many fish products under the name 'Flake'.

We need to find a balance in nature. This sort of campaign can damage the credibility of all of the save the something organizations.

P

reply to post by Gemwolf

I think it's impossible to give an accurate number seeing that many (most?) sharks that are caught/killed are not reported because it was illegal or not regarded as something to report. Either way - it is horrifying numbers, and so unnecessary.

I agree with you there.. Although if these figures are not entirely correct I do not think it is a bad thing that they are being bandied about all over teh interwebs...

Hopefully it will shock people. Hopefully it will motivate people to try and help.. That is what I am hoping for...

Thanks for the info you linked btw

reply to post by pheonix358


Will you have a look at this link if you have time... And at least 10 other different websites describe finning like this:

Shark finning is the practice of slicing off the shark's fins while the shark is still alive and throwing the rest of its body back into the ocean where it can take days to die what must be an agonising death. Some sharks starve to death, others are slowly eaten by other fish, and some drown, because sharks need to keep moving to force water through their gills for oxygen.

www.stopsharkfinning.net...

on.aol.com...

reply to post by pheonix358


Here is the raw data as posted above.

And actually, with regards to finning, most shark bodies are discarded back into the ocean as the rest of the shark's meat is of little value.

Shark finning is the practice of removing the sharks fins after it has been caught in a fishery. The fins are kept and the body of the shark is typically returned to the sea, often while the shark is still alive. Unable to swim or pass water across its gills, the shark dies from suffocation, bloodloss or predation by other species. This is an incredibly improvident practice because 95% of the carcass, a source of protein, is wasted. Only the fins are kept because shark fins are now among the most expensive seafood items in the world with retail values of over US$ 400 per kilogram (Clarke 2004). The value of the shark fin is reportedly 20 to 250 times the value of the meat by weight (Vannucinni 1999). Therefore, it is economically beneficial to use the limited space on a vessel to store a high-priced commodity such as fins than it is to fill it with the low-priced meat of the sharks’ body.

Source
More

reply to post by H1ght3chHippie



yeah, I think its a bit of a dogy figure.

that many sharks is almost 275,000 per day..

I dont think so.

Thank you for posting this. Sure, there might be discrepancy in numbers of the killed sharks every year. The bottom line is: nature is dying. If people keep doing this unconscious killing, soon enough something bad could come back to us. Nature will get its revenge. I am talking also in general, not just the sharks. This is just an example of the destruction that unconscious humans do on this planet. This is our only planet that we know, unless we have another one to go then we might be ok. This is terrible, horrifying, disgusting and has to stop. I always get upset to hear this sort of news about destruction of nature.

reply to post by fareast123


Thank you for your reply

Yes it is very saddening. And even if the figures are not precisely correct it is making a statement.. A statement that needs to be heard.. Exactly there is no planet B...

Nature could wipe us all out so easily. We are incredible fragile really..

reply to post by Agit8dChop

The total number of sharks killed and passing through the fin trade is estimated to be between 26 to 73 million, with and average (median) of 38 million killed each year.

www.iucnssg.org...

The paper added that the number of sharks killed could actually be anywhere between 63 million and 273 million.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

They are not saying these are the precise numbers... These are estimated numbers calculated using analysis of average shark weights and the estimated number of sharks killed by illegal activities and catches and no doubt other factors...

Even if the estimate is off and the real number is more like 40 million.. That is still a ridiculously huge amount. And it is genocide....
It is not just the numbers either. The inhumane method of procuring these fins is horrible..! These sharks are left to slowly sink to the sea bed, whilst suffocating/being eaten alive - basically an agonising death.. And the amount that is wasted is truly appalling.
Luckily it will not be fully wasted as there will be plenty of other marine animals that would feast on the dying shark...

reply to post by Gemwolf


Thank you and the OP for the info.

OK, I am on board. That is disgusting. Taking the life of any animal for a tiny valuable piece is wrong in every way.

Reminds me of the near extinction of the North American Buffalo with the meat left to rot. Mankind can be stupid. Possibly the most stupid animal on the surface of the earth.

Thanks OP. Thanks Gemwolf.

P

reply to post by pheonix358


I agree.. I just do not understand mankinds actions toward another being of this planet. I do not know why they think they have the right to treat others in this appalling manner..

I am not even trying to get peeps on board. I am just trying to get peeps to understand this can not go on without it having dire detrimental to not just us but to the entire planet..

Information is power in this day and age.. Educate and inform people..!

That's nearly 2,000,000 shark a week making it nearly 700,000,000(seven hundred million) in a year!

Can't be true....can it?

reply to post by Wifibrains


71% of the earth is covered by water! Life exists at all levels within the ocean. Only man, of all the species on the planet has the ability to this on a global scale.

P

reply to post by pheonix358


I don't personally feel guilty or ashamed about this as I don't eat shark or catch and mutilate them.

the prices the meat is able to sell for would play a big part in this, why so expensive, Does it make people feel special as they eat it or something. Does it give them a sense of power cos they are eating shark. It just seems dumb and a waste of life to let the shark go only to suffer a slow death.

I call bunkin. If humans kill this many then how are there any sharks left in the ocean?! Same goes with a lot of other things. Fear mongering, really.

reply to post by Wifibrains

the prices the meat is able to sell for would play a big part in this, why so expensive, Does it make people feel special as they eat it or something. Does it give them a sense of power cos they are eating shark. It just seems dumb and a waste of life to let the shark go only to suffer a slow death.

Yes it probably does. The Chinese do seem to be a very cruel race in regards to the treatment and use of animals...
It is very sad that the sharks are left to die a slow painful death.

Chinese herbal medicine has some very bizarre and cruel methods of acquiring certain animal parts for alleged beneficial properties...

This is similar to the tiger penis being used as a means of increasing a man's sexual desire. Or giving a woman strength during pregnancy.. And that is not the only part of the tiger that is used...

Tiger claws: used as a sedative for insomnia
Teeth: used to treat fever
Fat: used to treat leprosy and rheumatism
Nose leather: used to treat superficial wounds such as bites
Tiger bone: used as an anti-inflammatory drug to treat rheumatism and arthritis, general weakness, headaches, stiffness or paralysis in lower back and legs and dysentery
Eyeballs: used to treat epilepsy and malaria
Tail: used to treat skin diseases
Bile: used to treat convulsions in children associated with meningitis
Whiskers: used to treat toothaches
Brain: used to treat laziness and pimples
Penis: used in love potions such as tiger soup, as an aphrodisiac
Dung or feces: used to treat boils, hemorrhoids and cure alcoholism

www.tigersincrisis.com...

So it is not just the poor sharks that are feeling the burden of the ever growing Chinese herbal medicine market.. Wild tigers are near extinct. How long til the shark is gone too...

Shark fin soup dates back to Ming Dynasty China and is considered by Chinese as one of the eight treasured foods from the sea. The popularity of shark fin soup rose in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as standards of living began to improve.

The delicacy was coveted by emperors because it was rare, delicious, and required elaborate preparation. Holding both culinary and symbolic significance, the dish is popular at important occasions such as weddings, banquets, and important business deals.

It symbolizes wealth, power, prestige and honor. This staple of gourmet Chinese cuisine is a show of respect, honor, and appreciation to the guests.

en.wikipedia.org...

Chinese culture has lauded shark fins alleged properties to boost sexual potency, enhance skin quality, increase one's qi or energy, prevent heart disease, and lower cholesterol.

It is alleged in old Chinese medical books that shark fins helps in areas of rejuvenation, appetite enhancement, blood nourishment and is beneficial to vital energy, kidneys, lungs, bones and many other parts of the body.

Vitamin content of typical shark fin soup is much less than that of typical vegetable soup, containing almost no vitamin A. However, it contains slightly more iron, zinc, riboflavin, and phosphorus than normal vegetable soup

Btw I love Bob Marley
No need to feel guilty..!

Well that is a depressing start to the day.

Thank you for the info regardless.