shark week

Shark week continues... OK, what the heck is squalene? Shark squalene is an organic compound found in a sharks liver. So, what's the problem? Shark squalene is heavily used in cosmetics, contributing to unsustainable fishing and damage to marine life. One reason the population of sharks is declining is due to overfishing for the purpose of obtaining the squalene. Click through to read on!

Happy Shark Week! To continue in the aquatic tradition of this week, we’ll explore a few activities you can do in the H20! (Plus, Shark Week mentions some encounters of Sharks with Paddle Boarders…) For Family Beach Week 2012, I was itching to do something athletic & aquatic… My bike on the boardwalk could only get me so far mentally. Since it’s important to support sustainable tourism where you can to prove that animals are worth more money alive than dead, I was psyched when my cousin asked me to join her in Stand Up Paddle board Lessons. What is Stand Up Paddle Boarding? (Find out more, after the jump!)

Happy Shark Week! The Discovery Channel's yearly celebration of sharks began last night. Last year we took a week to embrace ocean themes, including the truth of Shark Finning. We'll continue the tradition and explore more aquatic green-isms this week... Nothing is more pristine than taking in nature, sitting on the beach and looking at the ocean... even if it's the lame Jersey Shore (compared to Hawaii...) After spending the past week at the Jersey Shore with my family, I was highly disappointed to not be allowed in the Ocean for 2 days due to trash and a "high bacteria count" of the water. If the water wasn't safe for me to take a swim, what's going on with the marine life in the rest of the oceans? Did you know that one of the largest 'landfills' on Earth lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? (Find our more about this plastic pollution garbage, after the jump!)

This post continues our Animal Conservation Week, to highlight animals in danger & steps you can take to help! As we continue Shark Week, shark preservation highlights another problem we're facing in the ocean: Overfishing. 70% of the world's fisheries are fully or overly exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse. That's a scary statistic since previously 'common' fish like Bluefin tuna & Atlantic salmon are severely overfished and (learn more, after the jump!)