Photo courtesy of Jennie Sundberg

Six-year-old Marcus lives in Stockholm with his mother, father and big sister. He is a beautiful blonde-haired boy who was recently awakened to the truth about the plight of our planet’s sharks.

In autumn of 2007, Marcus went with his mother to the Aquaria Water Museum  on Djurgarden in Stockholm, Sweden. During his visit, he came across a school group on a study trip and sneaked in to listen to the guide who was explaining how vast numbers of sharks are captured to have their fins cut off to make shark fin soup.

After learning about the cruel treatment of sharks, Marcus was impassioned to do something to save them.

As his father is a web designer, Marcus asked him to create a website called “Save the Sharks.” The website also has English and Chinese translations. Within one year, the site had accumulated over 18,000 members from all over Europe. On August 8, 2008, Marcus handed over a list of “Save the Sharks” protesters’ names and signatures to the Chinese Ambassador in Stockholm.

Answering to the press, Marcus said: “You can make a big difference even if you are very young … I don’t understand why people are doing this? If the sharks could talk, I would tell them to stay away from the boats and the fishermen.”

Some facts about killing sharks and shark fin soup:

*The sharks are captured at sea and have their fins cut off.

*About 95% of all sharks that get their fins cut off are expected to be thrown back into the sea where they bleed, starve to death or are eaten by other fish since they cannot swim without their fins.

*Shark experts estimate that about 250,000 sharks have their fins cut off every day. Most of the 14 studied shark species in the Atlantic have decreased in population by 60-90% in the last 15 years.

Sources: www.savethesharks.se

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