BY TYLER FARDELL
Sharks are a very polarizing animal. Many are afraid of them and avoid swimming at the beach, while others love the impressive creatures and do all they can to protect them.
Dr Vincent Raoult from the University of Newcastle is one of the latter and along with 72 other similar minded scientists from all over the world, they recently undertook a study trying to determine where different types of sharks mainly feed.
“If we know where sharks get their food from, we know which areas may be useful to protect”, Mr Raoult said.
Shark numbers have steadily declined for hundreds of years, with an estimated 10 percent of shark numbers remaining.
The main reasons behind the saddening decline include hunting, recreational fishing, sharks getting caught up in nets or rubbish and overfishing.
“We have already seen the impacts of overfishing on the sea-food industry and the livliehoods of many fishermen and now we’re seeing it on sharks”, Mr Raoult said.
“Many sharks have been unable to find any food or having to travel longer and longer distances to find a food supply”.
The scientists are hoping the results of this study will go a long way to ensure areas where sharks regularly feed are left alone by commercial fishermen.
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