Atlantic White Shark Conservancy – Based on the southern tip of Cape Cod, the conservancy’s main mission is white shark research and education.

Click here to support their work or keep reading to learn how they’re taking action. And since sharks are “ indicators of ocean health,” as sharks go, so does the delicate balance of marine ecosystems.įrom gathering data to educating the public to advocating for underwater life, many conservation groups are on a mission to protect these prehistoric creatures before they are lost to history. Of the thousand known species of sharks and rays (sharks’ closest living relatives), over a third of them are at risk of extinction. Overfishing (hunting for their meat, fins, and other parts before they can reproduce fast enough) is their biggest threat along with unintentionally getting caught in fishing gear and the effects of climate change. “Sharks are in crisis globally,” says the WWF. But many species of these aquatic apex predators are now in danger of dying out forever.

They’ve even survived five mass extinctions, including the asteroid that wiped out 75% of life on the planet.

Older than dinosaurs and trees, sharks have endured a lot throughout their 450 million years on Earth.

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