Why Sharks Matter

[Music]

Biodiversity is really

how we define our own existence, isn't it.

It's us and say tens of millions
of other species

that occupy this planet with us.

It's like there's this incredible web

where we're all connected, you know.

You start to lose these linchpin species

the environment starts to fail

when we translate human activity

into these forces of extinction

there are several major factors

that are contributing.

One of the major drivers of extinction

is that we hunt some species to oblivion.

It's what we're doing with sharks now

with the explosion of demand
for shark fin soup.

Global estimates for the shark fin trade

put it in the neighborhood
of a billion dollars.

It's a huge amount of money

so sharks are targeted
by fleets around the world.

They may simply cut the fins off and
then release them

to a slow and very unpleasant death.

You keep all the sharks
or put the bodies back,

done cut them.

We don't actually know how many sharks
are in the ocean.

What we do know is that the big sharks,
the apex predator

in the open ocean food chain,

their numbers have declined
between 90 and 99 percent.

Sharks have survived
four mass exticntion events,

they've been around the planet

longer than dinosaurs,
a lot longer.

Sharks have ruled our oceans
for over 400 million years.

They've been responsible for regulating

and maintaining the entire balance
across our oceans.

Now we're in a situation where sharks
are being removed from that system.

Humans are really the single
most impactful species

this planet has ever seen.

We have these prehistoric brains
and we have this god-like technology

and when you bring them together,

the result is not necessarily a happy one.

You know species are like a house of cards

you can't just sort of take one card
out of the deck

and not expect the deck to crumble.

You