Irrational Fears Part 2

Somewhere in here, imagine a couple thousand more sharks. (Actually, between the two images you're only seeing about 600 sharks. Please do a lot of imagining.)

Twelve people is actually a high per year, as scary as that is. The total for all shark attacks in record numbers only a few hundred. You're more likely to die from alcohol than a shark attack. As the internet meme goes, though, "I too would attack anyone wandering into my house wearing only a speedo."

Revealing swimsuits aside, shark finning is a serious issue and a major player in the wildlife trade.

Essentially, finning is the practice where boats troll for sharks, and upon finding them, lift them out of the water and cut off only what is valuable - the fins. This is equivalent to having your arms and legs cut off - you're incapacitated at best. Once this is done, the shark is thrown back into the water (no one wants the rest of it, and why keep the evidence?) to drown. Since, you know, without arms or legs, it can't really swim anymore.

This fins are then thrown into giant freezers in hot spots around the world, such as Hong Kong, where they are then sent out to the world's top restaurants. Or they are dried and cured, to be sold at a market. Regardless, they all go for consumption.

The main culprit is the infamous Chinese dish, shark fin soup. Most restaurants now only serve a prosthetic plastic version, but some restaurants still carry the real deal. A true symbol of luck and prosperity, this is a dish many are unwilling to give up. As more of the world finds itself in a position to consume things it never could afford before, demand for traditional emblems such as shark fin soup rages and roars.

If we want to save the shark species of the world, we need to get over our fear of sharks and our ideas about shark fin soup. Eating shark can't be cool anymore; it can't remain a symbol of good.

Here are some stats to chew on in the meantime.