Some Obscurish facts
#1302
Sharks are the 'ultimate predator' of the ocean, but they can't outrun or outwit humans, who kill an estimated 100 million of the slowly-reproducing (hence vulnerable to population depletion) animals. Most of these are taken just for their fins, which are used to make an expensive soup in many countries, but most especially Asia. In some Japanese resturaunts, a bowl of shark fin soup can set you back $100 USD. 'Finning' is a particularly shocking form of killing: the animal is caught, its fins sliced off, and while it is still alive it is dumped overboard to sink to the bottom where it dies of suffocation (most sharks must be moving or holding still in a current, in order to breathe).
Sharks are the 'ultimate predator' of the ocean, but they can't outrun or outwit humans, who kill an estimated 100 million of the slowly-reproducing (hence vulnerable to population depletion) animals. Most of these are taken just for their fins, which are used to make an expensive soup in many countries, but most especially Asia. In some Japanese resturaunts, a bowl of shark fin soup can set you back $100 USD. 'Finning' is a particularly shocking form of killing: the animal is caught, its fins sliced off, and while it is still alive it is dumped overboard to sink to the bottom where it dies of suffocation (most sharks must be moving or holding still in a current, in order to breathe).