Sharks in Sabah Are Going Extinct

Attended a talk about sharks by Prof Steve Oakley from The Green Connection at The Sabah Society last Thursday.

If you knew how shark's fin was harvested, would you still eat that bowl of shark's fin soup?

The fins are chopped off when the shark is still ALIVE and the shark is then thrown back into the sea to make room for more fins (more valuable than shark's meat).

What do you think happens to the shark later?! They can't freakin' grow back a new fin can they? The sharks are unable to swim normally and either suffocate or get eaten by other fish. Can you imagine the waste?

Here are pictures by someone called Dicky Ho who encountered a dying baby whale shark.

This cute baby whale shark was swimming in shallow water at the beach... But what you can't see in this pic is that...

...the shark's fin was missing. And it was badly cut and scratched all over. They had to put it out of its misery.

Whale sharks are huge, harmless, plankton-eating sharks in the sea. And this one was just a baby. Next time you see shark's fin on the menu, remember what the shark went through to give you that 'dish'.

Malaysia is the 10th highest shark-hunting country. How is this possible you ask when there are barely any sharks left Malaysia? Most of it is caught by deep sea fishing vessels that even sail as far as Hawaii.

Sharks can only be spotted by divers in the deep sea of Borneo now and only in the shallow waters of Lankayan and Sipadan island in Sabah. I have never seen any sharks in Mengalum (KK area) aside from the migrating whale sharks that visit every year. There are no more sharks left in the peninsular.

Sharks keep our seas healthy and balance our ecosystems. They generate thousands of $ for the tourism diving industry. Tourists are not paying $ to see finned sharks at the fish market.

Do sharks a favour before it is TOO LATE!