Why It Matters

Why Coral Reef Matter

Coral reefs protect coastlines from storms and erosion. Because of the diversity of life found in the habitats created by corals, reefs are often called the "rainforests of the sea." About 25% of the ocean's fish depend on healthy coral reefs. Fishes and other organisms shelter, find food, reproduce, and rear their young in the many nooks and crannies formed by corals. The Northwest Hawaiian Island coral reefs, which are part of the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument, provide an example of the diversity of life associated with shallow-water reef ecosystems. This area supports more than 7,000 species of fishes, invertebrates, plants, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals. Deep water reefs or mounds are less well known, but also support a wide array of sea life in a comparatively barren world.

Why Sharks Matter

Sharks are the perfect predator and play a crucial role in the evolution of life on this planet. They have lived longer than the dinosaurs and survived five major extinctions. They keep the oceans - our planet’s life force - healthy. We exist, in part, because sharks do. As the apex predators of the oceans, sharks keep other marine life in healthy balance. Removing a top predator increases the populations of animals they prey on, which in turn causes the animals or plants they eat to deplete. Disrupting shark populations drastically affects the biodiversity and balance of the ecosystems they inhabit.
The oceans produce 60-70% of the oxygen we breathe, absorb 30% of the atmosphere’s human-made carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas), and control our planet’s temperature and weather. Oceans are one of our biggest assets in the fight against Climate Change.
  • Sharks are being fished at the rate of more than 100 million sharks per year
  • Shark populations have declined by 71%, globally 
  • Overfishing of sharks is driven by the demand for shark products and as a direct result, 75% of oceanic shark species are now threatened with extinction 
  • Sharks reproduce only after the age of 10 or even more – some as old as 40 – and then produce very few offspring 
  • In the last 50 years, the slaughter of sharks has risen by 400% 
  • In the next decade, it’s anticipated that 20 species of sharks could become extinct 
  
One study in the U.S. indicates that the elimination of sharks resulted in the destruction of the scallop fishery in waters off the mid-Atlantic states of the United States, due to the unchecked population growth of cow-nose rays, whose mainstay is scallops.
Studies in Belize have shown reef systems falling into extreme decline when the sharks have been overfished, destroying an entire ecosystem. The downstream effects are frightening: the spike in grouper population (due to the elimination of sharks) resulted in a decimation of the parrotfish population, who could no longer perform their important role: keeping the coral algae-free.
Two hundred and fifty million years ago, this planet suffered the largest mass extinction on record, and scientists believe this was caused in part by catastrophic changes in the ocean. Sharks play a keystone role ensuring our seas remain healthy.
In the last 40 years, shark populations have plummeted – in certain areas, some species are nearly extinct. We could witness the extinction of the first shark species in our lifetime if we don’t turn the tide for sharks.

Why Dolphins Matter

Dolphins are important to the ecosystem in the sense that they are apex or top-level predators which control populations of fishes and squids and keep the balance of the ecosystem.

They eat other animals – mainly fish, and are themselves a source of food for some sharks and other creatures. Without dolphins, the animals they prey on would increase in number, and their predators wouldn't have as much to eat. They can also tell us a lot about the health of the ocean, such as the presence of pollution or the decline in fish.