This month, during the 25th anniversary of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, people around the world are talking about the awe and beauty of sharks. But there's something quite serious going on with these top predators that people may not know: They are disappearing from our oceans, and fast.
Sharks are critically important. They have roamed our oceans since before the time of dinosaurs, but their long reign at the top of the ocean food chain may be ending. Industrial fishing over the past 60 years has drastically depleted shark populations. As key predators, their decline has risks for the health of entire ocean ecosystems. Now it's time to make sharks count.