- Thursday, July 28, 2011, at 10:00 AM
Mythical, cinematic, frightening, mysterious, hunted, mutilated, and in great danger… the living collections of the Museum have been enriched with six new sharks: five small ones and a female with a wingspan of 1m30.
These young blacktip sharks are joining the already present species: leopard sharks, nurse shark, not forgetting the catsharks that reproduce abundantly in our aquariums dedicated to the Mediterranean Sea.
Objective: Raise public awareness, act to save endangered species
Our new residents play the role of ambassadors, spokespersons for the cause of sharks worldwide. They thus allow the Oceanographic Institute to raise public awareness and draw attention to these magnificent lords, who are now in great danger.
Sharks, predators turned prey…
Sharks are among the great marine predators just like tuna, swordfish, and other large fish (cod, hake, groupers, etc.). Exploited for millennia, they remained very abundant until the development of industrial fishing.
Today, their numbers have dwindled considerably.
Many factors around the world contribute to their decline: overfishing, bycatch, pollution, and habitat degradation.
But the main cause of the disappearance of sharks is undoubtedly international trade and the ever-growing demand for fins, meat, shark liver oil, and other products.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), nearly 20% of the world’s sharks and rays are at risk of extinction. Each year, more than 100 million sharks are removed from the oceans.
The Mediterranean, which hosts numerous species of rays and sharks (including the Mediterranean Manta ray, the great white shark, the great hammerhead shark, or the Mako shark) unfortunately holds the record for the number of threatened cartilaginous fish species.
More than 30 species are directly threatened with extinction, such as the Maltese ray, the blue shark, and the shortfin mako shark.
Despite being banned in the Mediterranean Sea, drift nets continue to be used and capture many sharks.
