Tasteless Bowl of Soup
-Shark Fining Here’s how it works: There’s a Market – Primarily in China where people pride their stature on paying an absurd amount (roughly $100 / 745 Chinese Yuan) for a bowl of shark fin soup. It's said that the soup is tasteless and contrary to Chinese belief scientists have yet to identify a proven medical benefit in the soup. Here's how it works: But why worry - Sharks have been around for roughly 450 million years. Thanks to humanities demand for a bowl of soup many shark species are endangered or have already become extinct due to rapid habitat destruction and shark fining. Scientists say even the less endangered shark species are declining at an alarming rate. Why does this matter? It turns out that we need sharks. Sharks have an essential place in the food chain and are critical to the survival of vital underwater ecosystems. Sharks also have a role in the carbon cycle because phytoplankton in the ocean naturally absorbs carbon dioxide. When we kill sharks for soup - there are fewer sharks to eat small fish and crustaceans (like the food chain gone whacked). This means smaller fish overpopulate creating tons of small fish that eat massive amounts of phytoplankton. As a result, less phytoplankton means less of a chance for carbon dioxide to be naturally absorbed, essentially denying the carbon cycle its natural flow. 745 Yuen is a vast understatement for a bowl of this tasteless destruction Ecological Footprint? It's no surprise that in a world full of waste, the nature of shark fining offers nothing less. When poachers, finners, businessmen or posh Chinese newlyweds score a catch they essentially cut the lucrative fin off for the tasteless soup and toss the remaining 95 % of the shark to sink to a wasteful death at the bottom of the ocean. Read about other problems leading to the extinction of the Shark. So what can you do: 1. Don’t eat the soup 2. Think of a way to get it off the menu throughout the world 3. Help Sea Shepherd or other Shark conservation organizations "NBA star Yao Ming, one of China’s most famous athletes, pledged to give up shark fin soup to promote the protection of sharks." Save Sharks.. 
