By: Sabriah Al-Bahish and Surina Belk- Gupta

Our goal is to make the public aware of the causes of shark finning, the effects it has on the ecosystem, and the dangers it puts sharks in.

We are going to create a trifold with facts about shark finning and it’s effects that we can easily set up at a park in order to inform the public of the shark finning issue. After informing the people about the issue we will ask them to sign a pledge. The pledge will say that the people who sign it promise not to support shark finning. We will send all of the signatures collected to SharkSavers.org, an organization devoted to saving sharks from things such as shark finning.

Scientific and Technical Innovation: explore the natural world and its laws; the interaction between people and the natural world; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on communities and environments; the impact of environments on human activity; how humans adapt environments to their needs. Ex: Other countries participate in the shark fin trade because it is in very high demand in Hong, Kong China. This is one example of how people adapt the environments to their needs.

For the first three times that we went out to spread awareness, we brought a table to set up near the running track at the Rice University campus. We also brought the trifold, a few signs, and the pledge. People would stop to look at the trifold while we explained our project and shark finning. When we finished explaining, we asked them to sign the pledge in order to show that they learned something and to show that they support sharks everywhere. We decided that it would be even better for the cause if we could raise some money to send as well as sending the signatures. For this we made hot chocolate to sell for one dollar per cup. (We brought the pledge and signature sheet as well.) Although we didn’t bring the trifold, we still informed the people because the major goal of our project was to make the public aware of the shark finning issue In addition to doing what is mentioned above, we also made a Shark Awareness Quiz and a Shark Awareness Flyer to pass out.

Shark Awareness Quiz Q#1: When sharks are finned, which fins are removed? Q#2: How many sharks are killed annually due to Finning? A: 100,000,000 B: 50,000 C: 50,000,000 D:2 Q#3: What is the cost of a shark fin? A: 66 dollars per pound B: 450 dollars per pound Q#4: How many humans do sharks kill a year? A:10 B:25 C:6 D:100 Q#5: What is actually the most dangerous animal in the world? Q#6: How many species of sharks are endangered? A:12 B:7 C:126 D:64 Q#7: After the Finning process, what percentage of the shark is wasted? A:97% B:78% C:35% D:100% Q#8: What was the first shark species to be endangered? A:The Tiger Shark B:The Hammerhead C:The Gray Nurse Q#9: Which city is the Shark Finning Capitol? Q#10: How many sharks are killed an hour? A:15,000 B:25,000 C:270 D:11,417

The Shark Flyer

Throughout our research we learned about what happens to sharks after they are finned, why there is such a high demand for shark finning, how shark finning and the eliminating of the sharks affects the ecosystem, and a little bit about how we can help. There is a very high demand for shark fins because in China shark fin soup is considered apart of their history and culture. A long time ago, the emperors would serve their guests shark fin soup. Today it is in very high demand because of the culture that it represents. Other countries participate in the shark fin trade in order to supply the high demand for shark fins in China (and other countries as well). Shark finning is the process of removing all of the shark’s fins. After the shark finning process, the still living is tossed back into the water. From here, death is certain (it is just a matter of how the shark will die). They can die of blood loss, suffocation (a shark without fins cannot move, and if a shark doesn’t move it can’t breathe), or they could be eaten by other animals. The elimination of sharks has a devastating effect on the ecosystem. Without sharks, the populations other ocean life species with grow to an unhealthy amount. This can cause several other species the go endangered or even extinct. Because shark finning is such a large global issue, there isn’t much we can do directly. However, by gathering signatures to send to sharksavers.org we are helping to save the sharks and to spread awareness about the shark finning issue.

During the process of our project, we were faced with a few problems. For example, sometimes we had a hard time gathering signatures because our location was the corner near a running track. Sometimes people didn’t want to stop running. Another problem we face was the weather. Our action taking portion of the project took place outside, so when the weather wasn’t so great we had to cancel our plans.

Throughout the course of this project we learned many things about shark finning and shark awareness. However, we also learned that doing something is a lot harder than just saying that you are going to do something. It takes a lot of work to set something up and put yourself out there. We have a lot more respect for organizations devoted to making the world a better place because we have seen how difficult it can be to do even the smallest of things. Overall, we are happy with the work that we did. We gathered 54 signatures and raised a total of $56 dollars to send to the Shark Savers organization.

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