Target: José Raúl Mulino Quintero, President of Panama
Goal: Help ensure survival of endangered species using Panama’s offshore habitats as nurseries.
While espionage-style tales of marine life being equipped with sophisticated spying devices have dominated headlines in China, across the world quieter and conservation-friendly forms of surveillance are helping in the fight to save endangered species. Exhibit number one is the scalloped hammerhead shark: a sensitive and easily frightened animal that has proven difficult to study by traditional means. Researchers have instead turned to tracking devices and underwater cameras to join the marine life on their long journeys from the Galapagos Islands to their nesting waters.
Unfortunately, these journeys are increasingly perilous for the critically endangered species — the first sharks to receive protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Illegal longline fishing still occurs in marine reserves, creating deadly traps that ensnare the sharks and other marine life. Further compounding the troubles is Panama: home to the sharks’ birthing and nursing aquatic regions. While the nation has banned the lucrative international shark trade, it still permits fishing practices that enable the capture and consumption of countless pregnant and baby sharks.
Sign the petition below to urge the government of Panama to do their part in protecting this at-risk species from extinction.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Mulino Quintero,
Scalloped hammerhead sharks travel to Panama’s offshore expanse in order to ensure the survival of their species. During their journeys, they encounter multiple hazards, including illegal longline fishing. These living representatives of biodiversity and marine diversity need a safe haven, and that safe haven should rest in the region they have chosen to give birth and nurse their young.
The international shark trade ban was a promising start. Please strengthen these safeguards by making these sharks off-limits for artisanal fishing practices. Do not let Panama become their death sentence as a species.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Kris Mikael Krister
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