Essay on An Inside Look at Shark Finning - 1233 Words

Every summer, when parents take off work and kids are out of school, families plan a summer vacation. 42% of those vacations take place on sandy beaches underneath the summer sun. Americans splash in the waves, sip refreshing drinks under their oversized umbrellas, build sandcastles, and revel in a beach tan that will hopefully last them all summer. While eating seafood and enjoying the beach can be viewed as the ultimate summer vacation, humans impact our oceans more than we think, and it’s much more catastrophic than spending our summer vacations at our favorite beaches. There are currently over 440 species of sharks in our Earth’s oceans, but despite roaming our ocean’s waters for millions of years, sharks are constantly at risk of†¦show more content†¦The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) â€Å"strongly advise women who may become pregnant, pregnant, nursing mothers and young children to avoid some types of fish and eat fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.† According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), consuming high levels of mercury can be extremely dangerous. â€Å"Once in the human body,† says NRDC, â€Å"mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system.† Just as the FDA and EPA suggested, this is crucial information for pregnant women and young children. The NRDC states, â€Å"During the first several years of life, a child’s brain is still developing and rapidly absorbi ng nutrients. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child’s development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities.† However, adults aren’t out of the line of fire either: mercury poisoning can negatively affect fertility and blood pressure, and could cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss and could possibly lead to heart disease, says the NRDC. Shark fin soup is made out of a wide variety of sharks such as Mackerel Sharks, or Great Whites, Ground Sharks, also known as Hammerheads, and Dogfish Sharks like Bramble and Rough Sharks. The Dogfish Sharks are relatively small sharks and areShow MoreRelatedShark Finning Is The Removal Of The Shark999 Words   |  4 PagesEvery year there are thousands and millions of sharks dying in the ocean simply, because of a soup? Not a soup that makes you feel or look any younger, nor does it cure a sickness, but because of a delicacy. Sharks are at a high demand mainly in East Asia. Shark Finning is the removal of the shark’s fins while they are still alive and throwing the rest of its body back in the ocean where it takes a painful death. Seeing that sharks are on top of the ecosystem, their population is also decreasingRead MoreDisney: Losing Magic in the Middle Kingdom16116 Words   |  65 Pagespresented only in English. Criticism of the Chinese Menu, Firework Displays and Disney Suppliers In adopting China’s cultural legacy, Disney planned to offer shark fin soup for wedding banquets in its hotels. This was criticised by environmental groups both locally and internationally citing animal cruelty30 and the associated decline in shark populations. Ecology group World Wildlife Fund announced in June 2005 that it would mobilise its 5 million global members to send e-mail protests to Disney