Transcript sharks
If There Were No Sharks… By Sarah, Evan, and Jessica Mrs. Nash’s Class Cumberland School Whitefish Bay, WI. Some Shark Species are in Danger of Extinction People: Number One Shark Enemy Dangers to Sharks • Over-fishing • Global warming • Pollution The Ocean Without Sharks: A Sad and Gloomy Place Sharks Attract Tourists Without Sharks People Would Lose Money Sharks help make new inventions • These shark dermal denticles (scales) helped scientists to invent new materials. Without sharks, this diving suit could not have been made Sharks may hold the cure for cancer Web of Life • Some ocean animals eat plants, but others eat • • • • animals to survive (predators). Tiny plants in the water are called phytoplankton. Tiny animals in the water are called zooplankton. Billions of plankton drift through the ocean providing food for other animals. When animals are eaten by other animals, they pass on energy and help create new life. Ocean Food Web top predators sea birds tern shark small and moderate sized fish mullet hawkfish tiny animal and plant life Plant plankton Animal plankton Sharks: An important part of the food chain Sand Tiger Shark Extinction > Too Many Sea Birds > Sea Birds Eat all the Tuna Would it matter if only one shark species was extinct? • Each of the shark species has its own food chain, so the loss of any shark species would change the ocean differently. Different Places> Different Diets> Different Effects • Great Whites live in cool coastal waters and eat seals, seal lions, and large fish. • Hammerheads live in warm coastal waters and prefer to eat sting rays. • Makos live in the open ocean and eat mainly fish. We Need Them All! • Without all of our sharks the ocean would be a • • completely different place. Even the loss of a single species of shark may have a big effect on the ocean because of the sharks’ position at the top of the ocean food chain, and the many animals below the shark on the food chain that may be affected. We don’t know for sure what the specific effects would be, but we do know that the effects may be disastrous.