In recognition of Shark Awareness Day, a blue shark near Cork, Ireland
© Cultura/REX/Shutterstock
In recognition of Shark Awareness Day, a blue shark near Cork, Ireland
Our Shark Awareness Day celebrity is a blue shark swimming in the cold waters off Cork, Ireland. The inspiration for its name comes from the blue shark’s back color, not its mood. It’s currently listed as ‘near threatened’—a status all too common for sharks today. Why celebrate an apex predator that most humans associate with horror movies? Because without sharks acting as population control on other marine life, the world’s oceans would be a very different place. Blue sharks eat a lot of squid and fish, and like land predators, help to keep their prey from overpopulation. Mother Nature keeps us in a delicate balance, so it’s important that we don’t accidentally remove a vital member of that system… even if that creature seems scary to most of us.
Related Images
Ice cave at sunset in Vatnajökull, Iceland
The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Trumpeter swans at Kelly Warm Springs, near Kelly, Wyoming
Rodrigo Koxa riding the biggest wave ever surfed, on Nov 8, 2017, off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal
Coast redwoods in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, California
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in Ilwaco, Washington, for the formation of the modern US Coast Guard
Sperm whale mother and albino baby swimming off the coast of Portugal
Gentoo penguins airing grievances in Antarctica
Bing Today Images
