Fishing Gear Is Hurting Sharks… Watch What We Found Underwater 🦈😢 #sharkdiving #avi

Mahalo/Thank you to @OneOceanDiving shark safety-biologist-conservationist @Faith Fairing for capturing these moments on your @GoPro 💙🦈🌊❤️🫶 I've seen and removed so much fishing gear, that sometimes I forget to share it, and I know I should share it more because out of sight is out of mind and most people don't spend as much time in the water as we do so they don't realize the silent suffering many marine species endure because of entanglement in marine debris. More whales than ever are losing their tails because of industrial fishing gear and I see the impacts on sharks, seas turtles, corals, and more species around the world. There is much that people can do to help mitigate this when they shop, but if they are not aware of the issue, then they cannot make an educated decision about the impacts of their consumer choices. More than 50% of marine debris comes from the industrial fishing industry. Regardless of where this line came from the chaffing can lead to infection, it can affect their ability to utilize their lateral line to hunt, it may negatively affect their social hierarchy movements, and behavior. Sharks agitated by fishing gear tend to display that agitation and may be more impatient with others and spontaneously bolt when spooked by the contact of the metal against their side or underside. Fishing gear may accumulate bio fouling and lead to increased drag in the water, shiny or colorful tags or tackle can compromise their countershading, hindering their ability to predate by reducing their ability to go unseen in order to ambush their prey. Long lines may wrap around as a shark rolls when feeding or mating and cut into their gills, and dragging metal tackle is a potentially lethal catch point if they swim close to reef and it snags they will starve to death or suffocate if they cannot swim away entangled and wrapped up as I have seen happen in the past. Thank you to those wonderful Jawsome people coming out with the team @oneoceandiving to help support more time on the water to monitor the sharks 💙 #sharkdiving #oceanconservation #sharksafety #sharkbehavior #sharkid_avi