Man Eats Shark

The great sharks of the world are vanishing, sacrificed for Chinese soups. Shark fin soup is a status symbol in the world's most populous society; apparently a wedding banquet is not a wedding banquet without it, and a bowl of the stuff can fetch up to $200 in Hong Kong. That demand has fueled a global fishery and led to rapid depletion of shark species. The New York Times reports that hammerheads and great whites "have been reduced by upwards of 70 percent in the last 15 years, while others, like the silky white tip, have disappeared from the Caribbean." 60 countries have so far adopted regulations against shark finning, but in this report from the beaches of Ecuador, it's evident the slaughter is still going strong.