Hi ranchers, this is Coen and I read the article Shark Hunt from Time for Kid’s.

Things I noticed

I learned that shark attacks barely happen in the U.S.

I was surprised that scientists used videos to count and study sharks.

I never knew that millions of sharks and rays are killed each year.

I can’t wait to learn more about sharks.

What about you?

Here is the article, in case you don’t have it at home.

SHARK HUNT

Scientists are using videos to count and study sharks around the world. The goal:  to help prevent extinction of big fish.

A shark smells prey and swims toward it. The meal is some bait attached to a camera on the ocean floor. The big fish heads to the camera, and it is caught on video. The scene is not for a movie or TV show. It is global FinPrint, a project to create the first worldwide census of sharks.

 The three-year project began in June. It also focuses on rays. Both sea creatures face challenges to their survival. A main goal of FinPrint is to find out where sharks and rays need help the most.

“Sharks and rays are under threat from fishing, habitat loss and climate change,” Demian Chapman told TFK. He is a marine biologist at Stony Brook University, in New York, and the lead scientist for the project. The team includes researchers in the United States and Australia.

                                                                              Finding the Hot Spots 

Millions of sharks and rays are killed each year. According to a 2013 study, around 100 million sharks are killed yearly. The fish are hunted for their meat and fins. In part of Asia, the fins are prized for shark-fin soup. 

Scientists want to learn more about the areas where sharks are doing well. “We want to find the hot spots, the places that still have lots of sharks and rays, and determine what makes them hot spots,” Chapmen says. Researchers will compare information from hot spots with data from areas where there are few sharks and rays or where the number of fish is unknown. Underwater cameras play a key role in the project.

Scientist study the video and note when and where a shark or ray appears. To make sure they don’t count the same fish more than once, scientists record its size, species, and markings.”We add all this information to the database,” Chapman says.

Global FinPrint will be finished in 2018. Chapman says the information in the census will be useful to governments and organizations that will want to protect the fish. “It will help determine what conservation efforts are needed around the world,” he says, “and how to choose areas for protection.”

Power Words

census: an official count or                                                                                                                      survey of a population                                             prey: an animal that is hunted and killed 

                                                                                                          for food

database: a set of information stored in a                                                                                                                                         computer 

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