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The 'Jaws of Life'
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If you don't know sharks you might call them the 'Jaws of Death'. But if you are familiar with the complexity of the biological balance in the ecosystem in the oceans of the world, you will know that those are indeed the 'Jaws of Life'. The aim of this website is to introduce these wonderful animals to you. Let me tell you why I call them the 'Jaws of Life'... |
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Health
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SHARKS ARE DANGEROUS, BUT ONLY WHEN THEY ARE DEAD!
They belong either in the ocean or on the harzardous waste dump!
Isn't it ironic that shark fin soup, which is believed to be an aphrodisiac, can actually make people infertile because of the high methyl-mercury content? |
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Common Sense
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Swimming with sharks is one of the most exiting things I have ever done. It is a feeling of going into another world; their world, and that is what we seem to forget so often. Whenever we enter the water we are in their world, not in ours. We are guests and should behave with the necessary respect... |
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Baron Jupp Kerckerinck
zur Borg
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In 2003, I went on a cage dive with my daughter Philipa to watch Great White Sharks in the Pacific at Isla Guadalupe in Mexico. I was so intrigued by those wonderful animals that I decided to spend a lot of time and effort talking to people about sharks and their senseless slaughter all over the world... |
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Species & Families
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Scientists classify fish into two main groups: Osteichthyes, and Chondrichthyes. Osteichthyes, or bony fish, are the vast majority of fish in the sea, they have a skeleton composed purely of bone. Chondrichthyes, on the other hand, including sharks, skates, and rays, have a skeleton that is made of cartilage... |
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February 6, 2012 |
Search SharkProtect.com: |
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Jupp Kerckerinck is
available to talk to your
group about sharks.
For an interesting
addition to your school,
club or special event
Contact Me today. |
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Email-A-Friend About
SharkProtect.com!
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If you would like to tell someone about SharkProtect.com, drop them a line right now. |
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Join the
SharkProtect.com
Mailing List
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Let me periodically send you news & events from the shark community. |
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Isn't it ironic that shark fin soup, which is supposed to be an aphrodisiac, can actually make you impotent?
Sometimes sharks kill humans but 15 million times more often, humans kill sharks. Sharks have existed for over 400 Million years; that's 150 Million years before the first Dinosaurs roamed the earth. We don't exactly know what killed the Dinosaurs but we do know who is killing the sharks, it's the human predator - the most destructive and irresponsible predator on earth!
It is hard to understand that Dinosaurs, which are long extinct, interest us more than sharks who are essential for our survival. Their slaughter is of little interest to most people or governments. Especially to those who make a lot of money by killing them by the millions, cutting off their fins while the shark is still alive and selling the fins for a soup in China. Those who run this often illegal business, can make more money then the drug runners.
We humans seem to believe that everything is ours for the taking. We are exploiting the oceans strictly for money and we seem to forget the old warning of the Cree Indian Chief, "Once you have cut down the last tree, poisoned the last river and killed the last fish you will realize, that you cannot eat your money." We still have a long way ahead of us in educating the public.
As a matter of fact, people kill approximately 100 Million sharks every year and I wonder how many are left. Here you see how terrible finning is and how the sharks die a terrible death of starvation and suffocation. Imagine somebody catching little Bambi, cutting off its four legs and throwing it back into the woods. If that happened anywhere in the world there would be an uproar. Animal rights activists and Movie Actors would go nuts. The police would be searching for the perpetrators and a judge would certainly sentence them to long prison terms. But when the same things happens to millions of sharks, nobody really cares. With the exception of organizations like The Shark Research Institute, The Shark Trust, Sharkprotect, The Elasmobranch Societies, Wild Aid and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and some others, there are very few who care about sharks. But most people just don't know the facts and that's why this website is so important, because it tells you all about it. |
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This is horrible because millions of sharks
have to die for shark fin soup. |
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Governments don't seem to care much either. The practice of finning, as described above, is not illegal in many countries. Sharks don't have a political lobby and most politicians are not educated enough about sharks to know how important they are for our own survival. As far as I know only The United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa imposed a ban on finning. The European Union has too, but is not enforcing the law. Spain, Costa Rica, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan are exploiting, if not looting, the oceans, promoting the killing of sharks and make lots of money by selling shark fins. |
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This is the disgusting result of finning,
after which the shark is forced to die
a horrible death. |
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But sharks deserve our respect and protection from senseless slaughter. They are among the most elegant, highly developed, most mysterious and misunderstood animals on earth. Just because they live in the ocean and we don't know much about them does not mean that they are not important to us. Let's keep in mind that 'terra firma', the land we live on, only makes up 28% of our planet. The other 72% are oceans and they are very important for our own survival. Dr. Sylvia Earle, the world famous oceanographer and marine biologist, likes to point out: "No Blue - No Green". Our Planet is more blue than green and without a healthy Blue, there can be no Green.
Sharks are the apex predators in the oceans and play an important part in keeping them healthy and well balanced. They are predators and they occasionally bite and even kill humans. But so do elephants, bears, crocodiles, lions, snakes and bees and domestic dogs. The sharks are rarely the aggressor, they only react to situations.
Don't get me wrong, I am not your typical animal rights activist. I am a hunter and I was a fisherman until I started diving. Now I prefer swimming with fish rather than pulling them out of the water. But I do eat game and fish and I strongly believe in sustainable resources. I am not a militant activist. But I am very concerned with the well being of wildlife and don't want to see any of it extinct.
 The biggest problem are those people who kill for money. Big fisheries who operate with long lines of up to 40 miles long. They use thousands of baited hooks, with styrofoam floats, which are baited with fish and often with dolphin meat. The Japanese fleet alone uses approximately 100 million hooks per year and they kill tens of thousands of sea birds like the albatross and others. They kill up to 40,000 sea turtles every year and millions of sharks, tens of thousands of dolphins and many seals. Others use drag-nets, which destroy the bottom of the oceans and are just as bad. Those people are so ruthless, they throw 90% of their catch back into the sea because they cannot use it. They call it By-catch. Unfortunately, those 90% are already dead before they make it back into the water. All in all, these fisheries throw away 44 Billion pounds of marine animals per year, which is 25% of the total world catch. How long can we allow this waste of resources to continue?
I detest people and countries who participate in the senseless slaughter of sharks, or any animal for that matter. There is nothing against harvesting animals for human consumption or clothing, as long as it is done within reason. To slaughter whole species for personal gain, however, is irresponsible and a disservice to human kind. It is high time that more governments admit that they know about it and are willing to put an end to it. The EU (European Union) has approved regulations making finning illegal but to this day they have not had the balls to inforce their own rules. The greatest exporter of shark fins in Europe is Spain, but there are many others who endanger our well being by their greedy and irresponsible behavior.
By the year 2017 nearly 100 species of sharks will have been extinct. In the eyes of many scientists, the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is already biologically extinct. They will not be able to recover and our grandchildren might never see them. Sharks live quite long, mature late and reproduce very slowly. That all makes them very vulnerable to over fishing. According to new science, there are only 3,500 white sharks left in the world. Only 10% of them are sexually mature females. How can they make up for the many who get killed every year when they only have 2 or 3 pups every 2 years?
Every business that sells shark products, no matter what it is and what excuse they have, is contributing to the demise of a wonderful creature. Some of those people might even tell you that they are concerned about the shark population. Please don't believe them. Their only concern is their bank account. They don't give a damn about sharks or the ocean.
Don't buy: Shark sculls, Teeth or any shark products. You will only help those who make money in the most irresponsible way.
Don't eat shark meat. It contains very high levels of methyl mercury. Recent studies from the University of Mainz, Germany, shows how dangerous shark meat is for your health. It can potentially kill you. Organic mercury can be 100 times more toxic than non-organic mercury. Some shark steaks in this study contained 50 times the amount of methyl mercury than is recommended by the EPA. Methyl mercury can destroy your nervous system, make people sterile and impotent, destroy your kidneys and can cause birth defects in babies if eaten by pregnant women. Also, sharks do not urinate. Their urine is absorbed into their muscles and that's why shark meat is full of uric acid. Be careful when ordering Swordfish because many times they will sell you Mako or Porbeagle shark. Sword fish has been badly over-fished and is almost impossible to find.
Don't believe that shark products help against cancer. That is a stupid fairy tale. There is absolutely no scientific proof of that.
Spread the word about the situation of sharks and how we must protect them. Contact Me today, I will be glad to come and talk to your organization, club, school or college. I will do this free of charge.
Join the Shark Research Institute, where people are working hard to protect sharks. If you need a name, Contact Me and let me know or look at my Links. |
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