Inspired by recent data on shark deaths, two data visualization heavyweights have created a stunning infographic to put the numbers in perspective.
A recent report published in the journal Marine Policy (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X13000055) revealed that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/100-million-sharks-killed-every-year_n_2813806.html). The paper added that the number of sharks killed could actually be anywhere between 63 million and 273 million.
In stark contrast, only 12 humans were killed worldwide (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/travelnews/2012/02/120210-shark-attacks-deaths-fatalities-science/) by sharks in 2011, according to National Geographic.
Horrified by these staggering numbers, Joe Chernov (http://jchernov.com/) and Robin Richards (http://ripetungi.com/) created an infographic to illustrate these shocking figures. It was, The Huffington Post was told, a "passion project" for the pair.
By using the data in the report, Chernov and Richards determined that 11,417 sharks are killed per hour (see graph below).
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(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1059154/original.jpg)
In a 2009 report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature noted that one-third of open ocean sharks are threatened or near-threatened with extinction (http://www.iucn.org/?3362/Third-of-open-ocean-sharks-threatened-with-extinction) due to overfishing. According to the website for Pew Charitable Trusts' global shark conservation initiative, many sharks are killed (http://www.pewenvironment.org/campaigns/global-shark-conservation/id/8589941059) -- often inhumanely -- for the Asian delicacy shark fin soup.
Find out more about this infographic at Chernov's blog (http://jchernov.com/post/46445834470/man-bites-shark).
Via: HuffingtonPost