Hammerhead sharks in danger

This video is called Shark Academy: Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks.

From Wildlife Extra:

US lists four species of hammerhead shark under its Endangered Species Act

The US National Marine Fisheries Service has recently listed four populations of scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, under the American Endangered Species Act (ESA), because of severe threats posed by human exploitation.

“It’s sobering that we must begin adding shark species to the endangered species list,” said Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for WildEarth Guardians, an American non-profit organisation.

“Our oceans are in serious trouble and this is only the first step toward protecting and restoring the ocean ecosystems that these amazing carnivores call home.”

Shark species worldwide are dwindling in the face of heavy fishing pressures, with animals killed for their meat and fins.

Sharks are also accidentally caught and killed in the course of fishing operations targeting other species. In fact, experts consider fishing to be the greatest threat to the future of all shark species.

Most sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead, maintain oceanic ecosystems as apex carnivores. Ecosystem stability and biodiversity, the preservation of which is the main goal of the ESA, can suffer from the removal of this top predator.

Scalloped hammerheads can be grouped into six distinct populations distinguished by genetics, geography, and behaviour. The new listing rule protects the Central and Southwest Atlantic populations and the Indo-West Pacific populations as Threatened, and the Eastern Atlantic and Eastern Pacific populations as Endangered.

“The listing of the scalloped hammerhead is an important indication that the human exploitation of marine species has taken its toll,” said Michael Harris, Director of the Wildlife Law Program that was launched last year by the American organisation, Friends of Animals, to use environmental laws to protect wildlife and their habitats.

“In fact, nearly half of all marine species worldwide face the threat of extinction as a result of anthropogenic action, including destructive fishing methods, pollution, climate change and ocean acidification.

“It is about time that our government took action to protect hammerheads. Now they should do the same for the many species still awaiting review under the ESA.”

Listing under the ESA has proven to be an effective safety net for imperiled species. Proponents say the law is especially important as a bulwark against the current extinction crisis.

Due to human activities, plants and animals are disappearing at a rate much higher than the natural rate of extinction. Scientists estimate that 227 species would have become extinct if they had not been listed under the ESA.

Listing species with a global distribution can protect the species in the United States and help focus resources toward enforcement of international regulation and recovery of the species.

Tens of millions of sharks are killed every year — mostly for the sake of a bowl of soup — but conservationists hope that that the multibillion-dollar trade in shark fins will soon be more endangered than the sharks. Several trends are coming together — including high-profile pledges in China to swear off the traditional soup, to laws banning shark fins from menus, to new international export regulations that are due to take effect in September: here.

USA: Sharks in Cape Cod Town Draw Tourists, Flipping the ‘Jaws’ Script: here.