There's a good chance you've never heard of shark finning, and many people haven't. “Finning is an inhumane practice that involves cutting the shark's fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. Unable to swim or pass water through its gills, the shark dies from suffocation, loss blood or predation by other species. (Kelly 2003) You may be wondering why this should be important to you, it should be important to everyone since the shark is the most important equalizer of the sea. It is important to realize that humanity will end by disappearing if all the sharks disappear. Sharks have long sought out their fins, the most valuable part of a shark. They are rolled up or captured in a net and brutally stripped of all their fins while they are still alive. They are then released alive into the ocean to suffocate, starve, or be eaten by another predator. They lay helpless on the seabed and slowly died a painful death. The rest of the shark's body is thrown away as it is considered waste, the meat is considered terrible and nowhere near as profitable as its fins. The shark's body would only take up space on the boat and hinder the amount of profitable parts they could fit on the boat. A shark-free ocean is actually a catastrophic and adverse problem in terms of marine ecosystems, and an extremely possible risk. one if things continue at the pace they are. “This is an urgent concern, and we risk living in a world effectively devoid of sharks,” said Stuart Sandin, a marine ecology expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “Fishermen around the world are devastating shark populations. » (Murray 2010) Phytoplankton is the reason the ocean can support life, without this vital place...... middle of paper ......e. It would be a travesty if the animals that survived the dinosaurs were only seen in books. You can help by raising awareness about this problem, you can sign petitions to ban shark finning in your area, and not buy from companies that sell the soup. . Protecting sharks means protecting our future, our children and ourselves. Friends don't let friends eat shark fin soup. Sharks' reputation hurts their conservation, people can donate money to cute little animals and animals that aren't tied to a negative stigma. Hopefully, knowledge of how sharks help humans can make people understand that sharks are our necessity for survival. Kelly, Erin and Jim Waymer. “The decline of sharks.” Florida Today: August 1, 2003. ProQuest. Internet. April 16, 2014. Murray, Ben. “A world without sharks”. Participate. Np, August 5, 2010. Web. April 16. 2014.