It is not easy to get sympathy for sharks these days, the media has constantly told us that sharks are evil, man-eating monsters and they have traditionally been portrayed as vicious killers in motion pictures. The news media has not been much better and coverage of shark attacks still sensationalize any attacks and never show sharks unless they are engaged in feeding or aggressive behaviors. In reality, of the 450 some species of sharks in the world today, only about a dozen are actually a threat to humans.

Seventy percent of Americans surveyed in 2003 believed that sharks are dangerous and that shark populations are too high. That same mentality continues and the public’s misconceptions about sharks perpetuate the continued over-exploitation and depletion of the species today. In order to dispel the negative image of sharks in the media it is critical to provide the public with accurate and scientific information and raise awareness of the conservation needs of sharks.

In just the last two decades some shark species have been depleted up to 80 percent. The fact that sharks grow slowly and have very few offspring makes them very vulnerable to over-fishing and other forms of human exploitation. Since sharks are the top predators in their niches they are a vital component of the ocean’s ecosystems and if they are fished to extinction it will have potential negative effects for all other organisms in the oceans.

You can get involved and make a difference in the survival of sharks simply by avoiding shark products. Consumer choices make a difference and by not eating shark and shark fin soup or buying shark products such as jaws, skins, teeth, cartilage pills or shark liver oil, you will make a contribution. You can also make responsible seafood choices and buy only ocean-friendly seafood to support fisheries that are healthier for ocean wildlife and the environment.

If you want to get more directly involved you can contact your local fisheries policy officials and ask them to ensure your state or county has an effective plan of action for shark conservation.

Sharks may be regarded as the most dreaded hunters of the deep oceans, but in recent years the fearsome predators have increasingly become a popular menu item too. Commercial shark fishing now threatens several species including the Thresher, Mako and Hammerhead. In decline, and facing extinction, many shark populations are in danger off the coasts of the U.S., Japan, South Africa and Australia. The situation is causing marine biologists to try to reduce sharks’ long-time image problems and advocate more protective measures. Despite their reputation as fearsome man eaters, more people die each year in vending-machine-accidents than are killed by sharks.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has already set federal fishing quotas for 39 shark species and also bans live finning. Sharks are especially vulnerable to fishing threats because do not respond rapidly to changes and take 10 to 15 years to reach sexual maturity. This means most species reproduce only once every two years, and with infant mortality rates over 50 percent, it is difficult for populations to maintain their numbers.

Shark finning is a multi-billion dollar industry and each year over 100 million sharks are killed for their fins. After they are caught, their fins are sliced off and the live sharks are tossed back into the ocean where they are unable to swim and sink to the bottom where they bleed to death. The fins are used to make shark fin soup, jewelry, belts, wallets, and other products. A single bowl of shark fin soup can cost up to $300 in Asia where it is considered a delicacy. Due to finning activity, many marine experts estimate that even though they have been around for more than 400 million years, the majority of shark species will become extinct within the next decade. Shark populations have already declined by more than 90 percent in some areas due to the shark fin trade.

Removal of a top predator could destabilize marine ecosystems, as well as take away a needed food staple for those in developing countries. When a shark is finned, nearly the entire shark is thrown back into the ocean, and people who depend on shark meat are deprived of a much needed protein. Adding insult to injury, the finning industry is mainly controlled by criminal interests in Asia and its presence threatens the viability of any legal and sustainable fishing operations.

Taking sharks out of the ocean destabilizes marine ecosystems because the sharks remove dead, dying and diseased animals and maintain the ocean’s balance of predators and prey. It is known that marine ecosystems are critical to the entire web of life on the planet, but it is not known what the full impact of the loss of sharks will be and early indications don’t look good. For those areas where shark species have already had their populations reduced by up to 95%, the imbalance in the ecosystem threatens the sustainable fishing industry as a whole. The loss of sharks leads to explosions in other populations and the trickle-down effect can cause entire fisheries to collapse. These effects are being felt in a variety of locations and increasingly endanger the livelihoods of sustainable fishing communities worldwide.

The job of convincing the world to protect sharks will not be easy. Although you are more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark, sharks still kill about 15 people a year worldwide because they often mistake humans for prey. The key is to educate people that sharks are of great scientific interest and are extremely vital to the ocean ecology.

Sharks are the world’s biggest fish. They have very high intelligence and are equipped with some of the sharpest senses in the ocean. Many of the 350 species of shark can detect a wriggling fish up to a mile away and can smell a single drop of blood in a vast ocean. People are discovering new things about sharks every day and have found many uses other than just putting them on the dinner table. For example, some recent studies have suggested that sharks’ immune systems may yield important clues to future anticancer agents. If sharks do become extinct, the oceans might be a tiny bit safer to swim in, but they won’t be as beautiful, healthy or diverse.

Nearly everyone knows what a great white shark is today thanks to the 1974 movie Jaws, that told the story of a great white shark preying on a tourist resort and the trials of the three men who eventually kill it. Although the movie Jaws depicted the great white shark as a ferocious man eating killer, humans are not really on the menu of most great white sharks.

It is true that great white sharks are quite carnivorous though, and usually prefer prey with high fat content like tuna, rays, other sharks, dolphins, porpoises, whales, seals, sea lions, sea turtles, sea otters, and even the occasional seabird too. Great white sharks are the world’s largest known predatory fish and can have a life span of over 30 years. Great whites seem to prefer warm waters with temperatures between 54 and 75 °F and the largest populations are found off the coasts of Australia, South Africa, California, the northeastern US, Mexico, New Zealand and in the Mediterranean. Female great whites are larger than the males and can reach 20 ft. in length and over 4,000 lbs. in weight.

Great white sharks are ferocious hunters that take their prey by surprise but they are not indiscriminate eating machines. While it is true that the great white shark is one of just four species of sharks that do make unprovoked attacks on humans, it is also believed that they typically do not target humans on purpose. Many incidents seem to be cases of the great white viewing bathers or surfers from below the surface and mistaking their silhouettes for that of seals. Great whites can tell in the first bite whether or not their prey is edible and tests have shown they don’t really like the taste of humans because we are too full of bones and not enough fat.

It is not uncommon for great white sharks to test-bite humans, buoys, and other floating junk in their attempts to identify food. As a result, most human bites from great whites are thought to be misguided test-bites. Even though the great white is usually considered the top predator in its habitat, they are occasionally preyed upon by some of the larger orcas (killer whales) in those areas of the world’s oceans where the territories of both species overlap.

In order to be able to hunt fast and agile prey the great white has adapted to the task in several different ways. One of the most surprising and least understood adaptations is that great white sharks may be more sensitive to small electric fields than any other animal on earth.

Great whites have the ability to detect electromagnetic fields emitted by the movements of living animals thanks to an extra sense given to them by the Ampullae of Lorenzini. The Ampullae of Lorenzini is not the name of an Italian civic organization, even though it might sound like it is. The purpose of the Ampullae in sharks was not understood until 1960 when they were identified as specialized receptor organs for sensing electric fields.

The Ampullae of Lorenzini form a network of canal openings in pores in the shark’s skin and terminate in clusters of small pockets of a jelly-like substance. The Ampullae provide sharks with a sort of sixth sense capable of detecting the tiny electro-magnetic fields living creatures generate. Great whites are super sensitive and can detect electrical energies down to half a billionth of a volt.

All living creatures produce electrical fields when their muscles contract, and sharks use this fact to detect the weak electrical stimuli from the muscle contractions of their prey in the water. The shark’s Ampullae sense the electric fields in the water by detecting the difference between the voltages at the skin pores and at the base of the electroreceptor cells. Sharks can also detect the electric fields of oceanic currents around them and the electric field their own body creates when swimming in the magnetic field of the earth. Almost like an internal GPS system, this ability enables them to sense their own magnetic heading and find their way around the world’s oceans.

Great white sharks have been known to attack and even sink boats up to 33 ft. in length, occasionally knocking people overboard in the process, although eating humans did not seem to be the main purpose of the attacks at the time. Researchers observing great whites attacking small boats from underwater have suggested that once again, the Ampullae of Lorenzini were at play and the sharks were simply attracted to the boats due to the electrical fields they were generating. Now that more knowledge about the Ampullae of Lorenzini is coming to light, humans are learning to use the shark’s electrical sensing abilities as part of a defense strategy and at least one enterprising company has created a magnetic ankle bracelet for divers to use as a shark repellant. The anklet gives off an electric field that sharks seem to dislike and they turn away when they encounter its charge underwater.

Ampullae of Lorenzini or not, the great white shark may be a top predator but that does not mean their future is guaranteed to be bright. Recent increases in fishing for the great white have caused a steady population decline and even though no accurate numbers are available, the great white shark is now considered an endangered species.

Fishermen target many different types of sharks for their jaws, teeth, and fins, and as sporting game fish too, but the great white is rarely the direct target of commercial fishing operations. Compared to other ocean creatures, very little is really known about great white sharks, but it is considered a vulnerable species and any international trade in great whites now requires a permit. One bright spot in the situation recently occurred when New Zealand gave the great white protected status out to within 200 miles of that country’s coastline and added a $250,000 fine along with six months in prison to provide sufficient deterrent.

If you enjoy fishing to any degree and are interested in kicking it up a notch, there is one fishing expedition that is sure to blow your mind. Have you ever though or considered shark fishing?

Many people haven’t because they don’t want to go out and do it themselves, but there are companies that offer tours with professionals to do just that. They will teach you the ins and outs of shark fishing and make sure that you are safe, but that you have a great experience as well. Shark fishing is much the same as regular fishing, only bigger, better and more exciting overall.

If this sounds interesting to you, perhaps you should check into one of the many shark fishing trips that set out every day on the coasts. When you take a shark fishing trip, the company that escorts you will have everything you need to successfully catch a shark from shark fishing gear to shark fishing tackle.

You cannot use a regular pole to catch sharks because they are so much bigger than any other fish you’ve ever dealt with. Therefore, they will have specialized, reinforced poles along with large pieces of meat that will entice the sharks to bite. Shark fishing equipment is expensive so you wouldn’t want to go out and buy it all just for a trip. That’s why the shark fishing companies will have you covered.

In addition to shark fishing, there are also people who will take you out shark diving. This is where you will actually be in the water alongside the sharks snapping pictures and safely protected in a metal cage. Imagine being that close to such a beast. It really will be the thrill of a lifetime, something that you will talk about for the rest of your life. Shark diving and fishing can be done successfully and, most importantly, safely when you are will the best, most experienced company possible.