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Oceans

About This Collection

As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is celebrated on June 8th each year. This annual event spurred the creation of a special collections around our oceans and the efforts being made in conservation ranging from pollution to habitat restoration to fishing and fisheries.

The special collection continues to grow along with Plastic in Our Oceans and 1Water, with a focus on the challenge of providing clean drinking water to the world population.

Curated by mokiethecat

Shark Bill Passes House! One Step Closer to a #FinBanNow
November 20, 2019
The U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to ban the U.S. shark fin trade. The demand for shark fins incentivizes shark finning, the cruel and wasteful practice of removing a shark’s fins at sea and throwing its body back overboard where it drowns, starves to death or is eaten alive by other fish. Just as rhino and elephant populations have declined due to the demand for their horns and tusks, the shark fin trade is jeopardizing the continued survival of many shark populations. Although shark finning is illegal in U.S. waters, fins can still be bought and sold throughout much of the United States. These fins are often imported from countries that have ineffective shark finning bans or otherwise inadequate protections in place for sharks. The global shark fin trade is a major contributor to the decline of shark populations around the world, with fins from as many as 73 million sharks ending up in the market every year. Some shark populations have declined by more than 90% in recent decades due to overfishing; and one-third of identified shark species in the Hong Kong fin trade, the historic center of the global trade, are threatened with extinction. Music by Adam Lindquist http://adamlindquist.com/