While Amazon says it supports ocean conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the Ocean Conservancy, one activist has found that the megasized online shopping giant also allows the sale of endangered Mako and Bull shark teeth.
Alice Cimino, the founder of OceanKin Conservation, was appalled to discover on the Amazon website the sale of shark products in the form of shark pups preserved in bottles and offered as gifts along with Mako shark teeth.
Two months ago, Cimino launched a petition urging Amazon to ban the sale of shark products on petition platform change.org which has garnered an overwhelming response with over 51,000 signatures and rising.
While Amazon has now removed the shark pups in bottles, the company still permits the sale of endangered Mako shark teeth and Bull shark teeth, according to Cimino:
“I am trying to encourage Amazon to align their actions with their words as they profess to be a company with good values.”
As she dug deeper, Cimino uncovered surprising contradictions within the global shopping giant’s policies and sustainability credentials. Through the company’s Smile program, Amazon supports ocean conservation organizations like WWF and the Ocean Conservancy. The company also outlined plans to be completely carbon free by 2040.
However, Cimino explained:
“Allowing the sale of shark products not only sends the wrong message to consumers, it is also at odds with the ethics Amazon claim they have.”
Sharks populations are in critical decline, with a 70% decrease over the past 60 years, she said.
“If we don’t stand up for this keystone species, our oceans ecosystems will collapse, it’s that simple. Amazon should stand by their sustainability statements and work with the marine community to protect the oceans most important apex predator, the shark.”
You can find a link to OceanKin’s petition at www.oceankinconservation.com, and for further updates and information on the campaign go to OceanKin’s Instagram and Twitter accounts.
