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If you're like
me, you may have had no idea what a basking shark was until
recently, when a 20-foot member of the amazing species went
viral in a TikTok video when it was spotted off the coast of
Cape Cod in the United States. Basking sharks are incredible animals that
typically grow to 26 feet long and around 11,000
pounds! Despite their daunting size, they
are completely harmless to humans — they don't have
teeth, eating instead by swimming around with their
mouths wide open and catching plankton and other small fish.
But the lack of threat that they
pose to people has not been returned; thanks to commercial
fishing and other human intervention, basking sharks
are listed as endangered on the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species. In fact, there are only an estimated 10,000 of
these incredible sharks left in the world's oceans
today.
Thanks to their endangered
status, the animal has legal protections in many countries,
including in the UK. That's why it's so bizarre that
Ireland has zero legal protections for them —
even though Ireland appears to host 20% of the world's
basking sharks. Will you sign the petition urging Ireland to
pass legislation that would make it illegal to harm or harass
basking sharks?
Thank you,
 |
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Lauren
The Care2 Petitions Team
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P.S. Basking
sharks pose no threat to people, but commercial fishing and
human intervention are driving them towards extinction. Sign to save the sharks! |
