WEBVTT
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♪ (music) ♪
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Biodiversity is really how we define
our own existence, isn't it?
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♪ (music) ♪
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It's us and say tens of millions
of other species
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that occupy this planet with us.
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♪ (music) ♪
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It's like there's this incredible web
where we're all connected.
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And when you start to lose
these linchpin species,
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the environment starts to fail.
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♪ (dramatic music) ♪
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When we translate human activity
into these forces of extinction,
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♪ (dramatic music) ♪
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there are several major factors
that are contributing.
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♪ (dramatic music) ♪
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One of the major drivers of extinction
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is that we hunt some species to oblivion.
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♪ dramatic (music) ♪
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It's what we're doing with sharks now.
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♪ (dramatic music) ♪
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With the explosion of demand
for shark fin soup,
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♪ (dramatic music) ♪
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global estimates for the shark fin trade
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put it in the neighborhood
of a billion dollars.
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It's a huge amount of money.
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So sharks are targeted
by fleets around the world.
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They may simply cut the fins off
and then release them
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to a slow and very unpleasant death.
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Do you keep all the sharks
or put the bodies back?
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You cut the fin? Then toss.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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We don't actually know
how many sharks are in the ocean.
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What we do know is that the big sharks,
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the apex predator
in the open ocean food chain,
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their numbers have declined
between 90 and 99%.
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♪ (melacholic music) ♪
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Sharks have survived
four mass extinction events.
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They've been around the planet
longer than dinosaurs.
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A lot longer.
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Sharks have ruled our oceans
for over 400 million years.
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They've been responsible
for regulating and maintaining
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the entire balance across our oceans.
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Now we're in a situation where sharks
are being removed from that system.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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Humans are really the single
most impactful species
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this planet has ever seen.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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We have these prehistoric brains
and we have this god-like technology,
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and when you bring them together,
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the result is not necessarily a happy one.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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You know, species
are like a house of cards.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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You can't just sort of take
one card out of the deck
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and not expect the deck to crumble.
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪
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♪ (melancholic music) ♪