By Kati Schmidt
Published: July, 2010
Probably as a result of my day job at the Aquarium of the Bay, I enjoy asking people, “What sharks and fishes do you think live in San Francisco Bay?” The question receives a mix of reactions, including rolled eyes and sighs from friends who have already heard this query escape my lips more than a handful of times. More commonly, though, people respond with furrowed brows, blank stares and other facial movements expressing confusion and uncertainty.
To help you respond to this question should we ever meet, or to allow you to adopt it as one of your own, in this ongoing column I will share tales and tails of the deep—although “deep” in itself is an exaggeration, as the majority of San Francisco Bay is less than 15 feet from top to bottom—helping you get to know the wide range of underwater locals, as unique and varied as Bay Area land-dwelling residents themselves.
With the recent opening of “Sherman’s Lagoon: Finning Isn’t Funny,” an exhibit that addresses the travesty of shark finning, at Aquarium of the Bay, this month’s spotlight is on the soupfin shark, Galeorhinus galeus. The species is identified by its almost iridescent, blue to grey tones and the presence of two dorsal fins. “With their sleek body design, they’re the fighter jet of shark,” said Michael Grassmann, Aquarist II at Aquarium of the Bay.
Soupfin sharks are highly migratory animals, found in the San Francisco Bay and in temperate waters ranging from British Columbia to Baja, as well as Chile and Peru. They can be found in schools of up to 50 and, like many other Bay Area residents, are jet-setters, traveling hundreds of miles in any given year, but with the intention of breeding. The animals are ovoviviparous, meaning that they incubate eggs inside their body, and can give birth to up to 52 pups, after a yearlong gestation.
With its comparatively large fins, “soupfin” is sadly not just a clever name. In San Francisco and Tomales Bays, important nursery areas, the species was a prized catch to commercial fisherman; during the California fisheries boom between 1935 and 1944, more than 24 million pounds of sharks were harvested. The animals were sold for use in sharkfin soup as well as in vitamins. Soupfin sharks’ livers are rich in vitamin A, giving them their other unfortunate nickname, “vitamin shark.” This overfishing boom decimated the population and crashed the fishery.
“Soupfins are local ambassadors for the plight facing sharks worldwide,” said Grassmann. While it is known that the population crashed from overfishing, Grassmann noted that as with many shark species, it is unclear how well the population has rebounded.
“There’s nothing funny or entertaining about the practice of shark finning, but because my lead character, Sherman, is a shark, I felt like I had to address this important issue and make the public more aware of it,” said “Sherman’s Lagoon” creator Jim Toomey. Toomey collaborated with Aquarium of the Bay in the development of the exhibit.
The exhibit, which will be onsite at the aquarium through Labor Day, features Toomey’s shark finning-focused comics, daily naturalist-led presentations and an action station; visitors of all ages can create and sign individual letters that the Aquarium will mail to the head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, urging international bans on the horrific act of shark finning.
Worldwide, specialists estimate that 100 million sharks are killed for their fins every year. After having their fins cut off, the sharks are often tossed back into the sea still alive, where they die a slow death. Finning is a widespread and largely unmanaged and unmonitored act that has increased over the past decade. Shark fins are primarily used in shark fin soup, and one pound of dried shark fin can retail for more than $300, making finning a multi-billion dollar industry.
Through its troubled past, the soupfin shark remains a species of grace and beauty. Grassman notes the animal’s curiosity and comfort level, swimming up to him and his fellow aquarists during daily monitoring. See the Aquarium’s four Soupfin sharks in its Under the Bay exhibit tunnels, and take a stand for the animals by participating this summer in the “Sherman’s Lagoon: Finning Isn’t Funny” exhibit.
Kati Schmidt is the Public Relations Manager for Aquarium of the Bay and The Bay Institute, nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. A Bay Area native and aspiring Great American novelist, Kati enjoys the professional and personal muses found from strolling and cycling along, and occasionally even swimming in San Francisco Bay and beyond.
