By now you know there are a number of direct reasons sharks and their relatives as dying- such as overfishing, bycatch, and shark finning. Yet there is another indirect way that we are losing these animals... by losing their habitat.
"When a natural habitat (such as mangroves or coral reefs) are altered so dramatically that it no longer supports the species it originally sustained.”
- the definition of habitat loss
how are habitats altered or destroyed?
There are various ways that the habitats used by sharks and their relatives are altered or destroyed. Some can be easy to spot: cutting down mangroves sinking your anchor into coral reefs. When a fishing nets has been left discarded over a patch of seagrass? That's habitat degradation! Indirect acts of habitat degradation includes pollution (such as agricultural runoff choking kelp forests or oil spills near the Antarctic) , which can affect water quality to point where that area becomes uninhabitable. Mining and aquaculture are other culprits of degrading habitats to the point where it is no longer healthy.
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#Finfact: Elasmobranchs that live in fresh or brackish waters are likely to be the most affected by habitat degradation. Why? These areas are some of the worst-hit by habitat degradation due to their close proximity to human populations that tend to use these areas as their personal dumpsters. For example, the rare Ganges shark Glyphis gangeticus had a small range in the lower reaches of the Ganges–Hooghli rivers in India, and due to the degradation of its habitat, is now rarely seen.
Many Chondrichthyans (sharks, skates, rays, and even some chimaeras) use coastal and estuarine areas as havens to feed, give birth, mate and transition from neonate to juvenile to adults. The animals that live close to shore (such as coral reefs, mangroves, etc.) for all or part of their lives are more in danger of facing habitat degradation than those who live in the open ocean. We are already seeing the decline in many vital environments...
Many Chondrichthyans (sharks, skates, rays, and even some chimaeras) use coastal and estuarine areas as havens to feed, give birth, mate and transition from neonate to juvenile to adults. The animals that live close to shore (such as coral reefs, mangroves, etc.) for all or part of their lives are more in danger of facing habitat degradation than those who live in the open ocean. We are already seeing the decline in many vital environments...
Learn about some of the habitats sharks and their relatives inhabit, and what threats they face.
