Chuuk's Young Champion blogs about her groundwork on Chuuk's Shark Sancutary

FROM THE YOUNG CHAMPIONS BLOG NETWORK
CHUUK: Groundwork for Chuuk's Shark Sancutary
April 17, 2012, WENO, CHUUK

People tend to think that sharks are harmful predators that harm both aquatic life, as well as human beings who dare enter dark waters. How wrong they are! Today sharks are in danger from their most terrifying predators, us humans. Humans tend to forget that a shark only attacks a person when it is being provoked or senses that it is in danger, while we continuously fish them nonstop for profit or just for the heck of telling friends or others about a shark that one caught.

A White Tipped Shark here in Chuuk
Sharks have really slow growth and low reproductive rate, because of this their number is rapidly depleting. Today their population has really declined to the point where they are not able to fully perform their roles as top predators in the marine environment, causing possibly unchangeable damage to the marine environment.

Here in Chuuk, The Chuuk Conservation Society has started a petition on a Shark sanctuary. So far I've gotten more than hundreds of signatures from students, faculty and staff from the different schools in Chuuk who support the idea of having a shark sanctuary here. After collecting all the signatures, my boss, Mr. Wisney Nakayama, the director of CSS, presented it to a few of the government officials of Chuuk. The director met with Willy Kostka, the Director of the Micronesian Conservation Trust, on this matter. We are optimistic about how the idea is moving, because although it’s a bit slow the end results will be immense!

/s/ Kriz in Chuuk