This is one of those classic East coast/West coast stories about sharks that fail to address the overall look at the health of a species.According to Discovery Blue sharks are not as bad off as once thought:
Although many sharks are experiencing population declines of up to 90 percent now, a new study on western North Atlantic blue sharks has found that numbers of the colorful species there are currently down, but not out.
Other reports had concluded that the region's blue sharks were declining by around 60 percent, but the new analysis reduced the estimate by half, finding that populations of the 12.5-foot-long sharks have dropped by only 30 percent since the mid 1950s, when large-scale fishing practices began in that part of the Atlantic.
Editors Note: The main problem with this story is that "localized good news" from a major new source like Discovery gets transmitted to a huge audience. The facts on the ground point to a worldwide Blue shark population that is in serious decline. Especially hard hit off the West coast where these animals have been tracked migrating to Japan and back...mostly migrating to Japan, fewer and fewer animals ever make it back leading to a virtual collapse of the adult population off our shores.
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