As an individual who deeply loves sharks, it really upsets me to hear about how sharks are finned. Everyone is terrified of sharks. This annoys me because they aren’t the horrible bloodthirsty monsters the media portrays them as. They are just animals like the rest of us, trying to get by in the world.

I'm a 12 year old girl who's been obsessed with these animals ever since I was 9 or 10. For me, they're the most interesting thing. There are over 500 species of shark, from the tiny dwarf lantern shark to the HUGE gentle giant Whale Shark, which are filter feeders ( they eat plankton and other micro-organisms ).

Some have incredible traits, like the Greenland shark being able to live for over 500 years! Or the tiger shark, which can eat almost anything  ( lots of these things, like car registration plates, suits of armour and chicken coops aren't great for them, as you can imagine ) I want to be a dive instructor and/or shark biologist when I grow up. But a few years ago when doing a project in school, I found out that 100 million are killed every year. I was in shock. So, I wanted to put together this petition to try and help out as much as possible. 

Every year, over 73 million Sharks are killed every year for their fins. While the shark is still alive, the fisher person cuts of its fins and then chucks it back in the sea to drown, (most species need to swim forward to filter oxygen from the water) or bleed to death slowly in agony. This is just plain cruelty. Shark fins don’t even contain any nutritional value.If you add this figure accidental fishing, the number would be closer to 250 million. If this continues they may be completely wiped out of our seas and oceans by 2050. We need to Act now. Your first step should be to sign this petition. 

Sharks are fascinating creatures that keep ecosystems in check, and without them these ocean environments would collapse. Coral reefs wouldn't thrive, and sea life populations would die. With them however, these populations flourish.

Thank you for your time.