THE STORY OF THE DEFINDERS

The DEFINDERS is an organization that focuses on ensuring that proper knowledge and education about sharks is distributed to the public. As climate change causes sharks' natural patterns to change, forcing them to come further in shore, and humanity's population continues to increase, we are subject to more human-shark interactions. The media is extremely guilty of spreading false information about these cartilaginous fishes, leaving sharks in a false light of misconception. This ultimately leads to the death of millions of sharks. Human will go out and hunt these creatures for sport in the name of protecting humans from danger, when they truly don't pose a threat to humans. Moreover, if it is conveyed that sharks are simply man-eating monsters, it becomes extremely hard to protect them from the biggest problem of all: finning. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed every year due to finning, a practice that involves cutting a shark's fins off and throwing the carcass back into the water. The shark will ultimately bleed out or suffocate to death because many sharks have to keep swimming to breathe. That becomes impossible without their fins. 

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Now, I know that a lot of you are probably wondering: "Okay but why does this matter? Why are sharks so important?" Sharks are apex predators, and apex predators are the organisms that resides at the top of the food chain. Furthermore, sharks are a keystone species which means that without them, the flow of energy within the food web is thrown into disarray. If sharks were to be removed from the system, it wouldn't just affect the organisms they prey on directly, but every other organism within that system as well. As this imbalance occurs, it will eventually affect the photosynthetic organisms that are responsible for 50% of the oxygen HUMANS breathe. So, as you can see, this isn't just a battle for the oceanic environment, it's a battle for the terrestrial environment too. Life on Earth simply can't function under these circumstances, which could ultimately result in the demise of the entire planet. And yes, that means humans too. 

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DEFINDERS strives to reroute these misconceptions by using our voices and our platforms to properly educate the public about these magnificent creatures. With that, we desire to fashion a community of educated individuals that can fight for shark protection, because as you now know, misconception will ultimately lead to the world's end if we humans don't change our practices. Join us in this fight. Join us in saving our sharks, our oceans, and our planet.