Deep Connection - An introduction to Namibia's sharks

[Music] thank you this is the Atlantic Ocean on namibia's Coastline which is over 1 500 kilometers long you can look out over the chilly Waters and watch Cormorant Surfers Pelicans African fur seals dolphins and sometimes whales clear even from land that our ocean is home to many different species but there are so many more species that we can never see from land [Music] animals that spend their whole lives underwater and that play important roles in keeping the ocean healthy animals like sharks sharks are just one group within a bigger group of animals that scientists call condrictions or sharks and their relatives most of the fish like hey can clip Kalyan and Cobb that namibians know and eat have skeletons made of bone but condrictions or sharks and their relatives have skeletons made of flexible cartilage the same stuff that gives your nose or your ears in their shape and structure that's why convictions are known as cartilaginous fishes there are a few different types of condrictions first there are the sharks we all know what they look like but they are sharks of very different shapes and sizes in namibian waters they range from the very huge to the very small basking sharks which are the second biggest fish in the sea can reach up to 12 meters in length but don't worry basking sharks are gentle Giants they have tiny teeth and feet by filtering Plankton microscopic fish lava from the water the great white shark one of the ocean's most well-known Predators also lives off namibia's ghost it can reach up to 7 meters in length although most of them are smaller so imagine two or three adults lying end to end that's the length of a fully grown great white shark [Music] at the other end of the spectrum are the little sharks that live close to shore in Namibia scalp forests the dark shy shark is one of the smallest and gets its name from the fact that when it feels threatened it curls up and hides its face behind its tail as if it was shy shy sharks are really beautiful and only reach about 60 centimeters in length they're also found only along the west coast of South Africa and the coast of Namibia they don't live anywhere else in the world aside from sharks there are two other groups of animals in the group scientists call chondrythians skates and rays are very closely related to sharks but they have flattened bodies that are round or diamond shaped whereas most sharks have torpedo shaped bodies lot of different skates and Rays live in Namibia Seas including Blu-rays spear nose Gates and the species which lives on our Coastal Waters the common eagle ray guitar fish which some namibians call sand sharks are very common in Shallow coastal areas the guanine or topna people are namibia's coastal tribe and they used to hunt guitarfish with Spears top the name for guitar fish is aurobic one of the ways in which skates are different to raise is that Rays give birth to live young whereas skate produce egg cases also known as mermaid presses which they attach to the seabed the little ones develop Within These egg cases and then hatch back into the ocean you might have seen these egg cases washed up on the beach where they're well disguised amongst the seaweed different sized and shaped egg cases come from different species of skates and some small sharks like shy sharks also produce egg cases [Music] the last group of fishes that are also constrictions are the weird but wonderful chimeras also called ghost sharks many people have never heard of them because they mostly live in the Deep parts of the ocean however in Namibia Anglers often catch one type of camera close to shore it's called The Saint Joseph shark or elephant fish you can see why it's called an elephant fish it has a long snout that looks a bit like the trunk of an elephant [Music] there are 87 different types of sharks skates rays and chimeras living off the oceans of Namibia and there may be many more that we do not know about yet sharks have been given a bad reputation by humans over the years some people are afraid to get in the sea because they are scared of sharks but in truth many more sharks are killed every year by people than people killed by sharks and because many shark species reproduce very slowly and don't produce lots of babies many species have become endangered because of overfishing certain species of shark and Ray have disappeared completely in some countries there are many reasons why we need sharks skates rays and chimeras in namibian Seas expeditors help maintain the balance in ecosystems by regulating the populations of their prey and help to maintain biodiversity biodiversity is the word used to describe all the many different forms of life in a place when we talk about biodiversity in the ocean we mean the huge number of different plants and animals everything from seaweed and kelp to starfish mussels jellyfish crabs and crayfish edible fish Dolphins seals sharks and much much more abide diverse ocean is a healthy and strong one and we rely on a healthy ocean in many ways the healthy ocean provides good fish for us namibians to eat and to sell it also provides jobs and incomes for us Namo beans a healthy ocean and Coast are also places we can use to relax have fun and spend time with friends and family the environment and ocean there is no tourism industry we have nothing to show our tourists and we most certainly don't have happy animals to show tourists either tourism is one of the biggest industries we have here in Namibia and it employs thousands of people having a healthy ocean is crucial for the survival of our industry phytoplankton are tiny plant-like microorganism they produce massive amount of oxygen in the ocean and about half of all the oxygen in the atmosphere when it comes to life in the ocean it be cleans with phytoplankton as primary producers they produce food for shellfish such as oysters mussels abalones and also zooplantern tiny animal like microorganisms zooplanktons are consumed by fish Lobby baby fish and they grow to be consumed by bigger fish such as sharks by birds and also by human beings if you remove phytoplankton from the ocean eventually the ocean will collapse it is also imperative to take care of our ocean to maintain its health and its biodiversity for our generation and many more generations to come we need healthy seeds to ensure a continued supply of oxygen so even if you live far inland it is clear to see that our lives are linked to the ocean sharks in their relatives are an important part of the healthy ocean and if we want all the benefits that a healthy ocean provides us with such as Jobs fish to eat and air to breathe then we need to look after our sharks skates rays and chimeras there are many ways to ensure that our oceans stay healthy and that the shocks and their relatives in namibia's waters don't disappear some types of fishing catch a lot of sharks skates and Rays accidentally Namibia needs responsible Fisheries that don't overfish sharks and Rays some human activities modify the coastline and by doing so may damage or even destroy habitats where sharks and other marine animals live activities like seabed mining for things like phosphide pose a threat to Marine habitats and marine life including sharks and their relatives we should protect our oceans and coastlines from destructive projects plastic from our lives in land often ends up in the ocean we may not see it so often in Namibia but ocean currents carry in discarded fishing gear and plastic from other coastlines many marine animals accidentally eat this plastic filling up their stomachs and causing them to starve every year we have to do thousands of rescues to catch seals entangled in fishing line rope and packaging straps and it is extremely important that we help those seals we should all try to use less plastic and always ensure that your rubbish goes into a bin with a lid so the wind can't blow it into the sea and if you can't avoid using plastic make sure it goes into recycling bin when you're finished with it if you like to go fishing and you catch a shark skate Ray or Chimera be sure to handle it with care never pull these animals by their tails you can injure them that way for small sharks and skates and Rays try to remove the hook quickly and then carefully return the animal to the water for larger animals get help if you can one person to hold a shark and the other to try to remove the hook keep the animal in the water if possible they need to have their gills in water to be able to breathe if you can't get the hook out after one minute cut your line as close as possible to the hook and release the animal carefully into the ocean sharks and their relatives aren't so scary what's scary is the thought of an ocean without any sharks so let's come together as namibians to learn more about our sharks skates rays and chimeras and to protect them the health of our oceans and our own health and well-being depends upon it [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Protect Africa's Sawfishes

Views: 6,414

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Id: Uk0lILpgrYk

Length: 12min 45sec (765 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 12 2023