Shark Amigos – Website & Videos

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Updatable website and videos for collaborative shark conservation effort

Videos explain how much visitors and residents of the Galapagos value their sharks. While they may not always see eye to eye on a lot of issues, fishermen, scientists, and dive guides all share, with visitors to this site, their respect for the shark, and the economic importance of shark preservation. Popularity of shark fin soup's impact on sharks, conservation efforts, and evolving protection policies are presented.

Shark Amigos' goal is to share the stories all stakeholders and to facilitating dialogue encouraging positive pressure on governments and consumers around the world to protect sharks.

Sharks have 450 millions years of evolution in which they still conserve ancestral but fascinating characteristics. The exorbitant number of teeth that they produce and re-grow constantly, suggests that over a few years, a shark may grow tens of thousands of teeth!! Yes, sharks are predators. But that is why they are so important. At the top of the food chain, sharks keep the oceans in balance. Without them, the entire marine ecosystem could collapse.

Mighty hammerheads, and many other types of sharks, have been decimated and graceful oceanic whitetips have almost disappeared – nearly a third of all shark species face extinction. The reason? The demand for shark fins drives an industry, causing nearly 73 million sharks to be killed every year, predominately for use in shark fin soup. At around $400 a pound.

By just harvesting the fins, which take up less space on a boat than the rest of the low-value shark carcass, fishermen are able to stay out much longer and pull in many more sharks.

Meet a community of fishermen, scientist, and locals are working together to preserve their sharks.