The selachimorpha, or more commonly known shark, is part of the chondrichthyes family (fish that have a cartilage based skeleton) and live in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, for example great white sharks can be found near coastal ocean areas while the goblin shark lives thousands of feet deep in the ocean. Sharks can grow sometimes past 20 feet long and can weigh up to 4000 pounds depending on the species. Sharks are carnivores that feed off mostly other fish and aquatic mammals, but sometimes also turtles, birds and even other sharks. The biggest natural threats to sharks are other sharks and orcas, or sometimes referred to as killer whales.
Shark species are also a victim of overfishing. Sharks are in serious danger of going extinct in the near future, with the sharks being captured for their fins to use in products like shark fin soup, a delicacy in parts of Asia. Often times, the sharks will be captured, have their fins taken off, and then thrown back into the water leaving them unable to navigate the ocean and they sink to the bottom and are easy prey for other animals and the ocean itself.
All across North America there are efforts put forth to combat shark finning. For example, it is illegal to participate in any way in shark finning in Mexico's waters as of 2007, and also 8 US states have adopted the same laws, along with the city of Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Even with this, shark finning is still widely practiced and legal in most of the world, and if something is not done about this issue soon, there will be no turning back.
Author: Anonymous
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