Our Shark Awareness Day celebrity is a blue shark swimming in the cold waters off Cork, Ireland. The inspiration for its name comes from the blue shark’s back color, not its mood. It’s currently listed as ‘near threatened’—a status all too common for sharks today. Why celebrate an apex predator that most humans associate with horror movies? Because without sharks acting as population control on other marine life, the world’s oceans would be a very different place. Blue sharks eat a lot of squid and fish, and like land predators, help to keep their prey from overpopulation. Mother Nature keeps us in a delicate balance, so it’s important that we don’t accidentally remove a vital member of that system… even if that creature seems scary to most of us.
Does this shark have an Irish accent?
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Happy Astronomy Day!
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World Otter Day
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At ease, it’s Armed Forces Day
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Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
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All in a day s work
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Fire-damaged forest near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado
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Wat Sri Sawai in Sukhothai Historical Park, Thailand
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Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java, Indonesia
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Christmas Tree Point Road and Twin Peaks, San Francisco
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Astoria-Megler Bridge, Oregon
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International Day for Biosphere Reserves
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From the mind of Frank Gehry
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Light show at the skatepark
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And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia
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Vale of Edale, Peak District, England
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Celebrating National Park Week, April 21-29
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Castle on a hill
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Denali National Park
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Put your helmet on, we’re going for a hike
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Land of the midnight sun
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Mangrove Conservation Day
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How do ladybugs winter?
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A wonder in winter
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Twas a night just like tonight
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Get amped for Glastonbury
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Borovets ski resort in Bulgaria
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World Lizard Day
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Happy Thanksgiving from an expert face-stuffer
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Kluane National Park
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Stuben am Arlberg, Austria