They may be successful predators, but sharks are vulnerable. Shark populations are declining all over the world. The populations are declining mainly due to over-fishing. They are used as a food item in many parts of the world, shark-fin soup is particularly popular in Asian countries. Sharks are also easy to catch, you put a baited hook in the water and if a shark is nearby it will bite the hook.

So they are easy to catch, easy to kill. Apart from the catching however, what works against them is their low reproduction rate. Sharks produce only a few pups, compared to fish who produce thousands. So when a shark is killed, its difficult to replace the missing sharks. The shark also has to be several years old before they are capable of reproducing.

Thus, world wide there is unfortunate decline in the numbers of sharks. This does not apply to all species. Of the hammerheads, the great hammerhead is most vulnerable to over fishing, and is currently endangered because of this. Without problems as such, the sharks thrive in their natural habitat: the open seas.

While some sharks seem to be disappearing, scientists are, surprisingly, still having their first encounters with some species of sharks. One shark that was recently discovered was the prehistoric Greenland shark. This shark puzzles researchers. Yet as researchers come to know this and other sharks better, they find that there are still more questions than answers. Researchers do know that sharks can be cunning, ferocious, and even comical. They certainly do not however, deserve their reputation for mindless evil. Sharks have been swimming the oceans for over 400 million years. They survived the extinction of dinosaurs and will probably be here long after we are gone. And so, sharks should be respected for the great creatures that they are.