humans killing thousands of sharks per year
Vs
humans killing millions of cows per year
this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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This comment sent me into a little rabbit hole.
In the US alone, humans kill, on average, 1 cow per second (over 33 million a year). That is including calves.
edit: In the US alone, humans kill, on average 1 shark per 10 seconds (over 3 million a year).
I imagine the US is not killing a lot of sharks. At least not intentionally (ignoring pollution or accidents.)
There is a bigger market than you think. Shark meat is part of Asian, Caribbean, Latino, and Hawaiian food culture. You can find dozens of different shark products in grocery store, and that's not including pet food. It can hide under different names like white fish or ocean fish. ~~So I would guess from high hundreds of thousand to low millions.~~ Dug deeper, it is estimated around 300 to 500 thousands from shark fisheries. But, 2.5 to 5 million from bycatch...
Their is also recreational fishing. Which is responsible for 100 to 150 thousands shark killings per year.
So that's a comfortable 3 to 5 million a year in the US alone...
And coincidentally, there is some scandal happening now about critically endangered shark meat sold under false labels.
https://gbej.org/americans-unknowingly-consume-endangered-toxic-shark-meat/
~~___~~
Where did you get these numbers? A quick search engine look up is giving me far higher numbers.
100 million sharks are killed by humans each year vs 300 million cows.
It's also worth noting that a profession where you spend every day in close proximity to cows is very common. Meanwhile, a profession that regularly has you in close proximity to sharks is way more niche. Make of this what you want.
Shark milking is one of the most dangerous professions out there. It doesn't surprise me that the industry is under reporting deaths.
Whereas cow fucking is even less accurately reported, and isn't even a profession. It's almost inevitable, really, whenever a MAGAt's left alone with livestock long enough —and the rampant cow rape's only a fraction of that number, too. 🤦🏼♂️
Yup! Though it's worth noting that cows, while beautiful, are not necessarily gentle. They can fuck your shit up.
Also, does this stat separate cows from steers/bulls? It says cows but it feels like it means bovines of all genders.
If you look up the definition of cow, it includes this:
(loosely) a domestic bovine animal, regardless of sex or age
So, it is maybe an informal use of the word, but not unrecognized.
I think this is one of those "so many people use it wrong it's now 'right'" situations, but yeah people definitely do often use it wrong like that.
It once was wrong. When it becomes one of the definitions, it's no longer wrong. That's how language works.
Ehhh, kinda. If enough people call a duck a chicken for dictionary.com to add
- (loosely) some call ducks chickens
That doesn't mean ducks are now chickens, it just means so many people were incorrect it had to be noted.
It isn't only misuse. Sick now means very nice. That didn't happen because people didn't understand the meaning of the word sick. Language just changes, and dictionaries acknowledge common use.
Yes, in this case it probably came from generations of people not understanding the difference between a cow and a bull. And most people only see cows irl, not a lot of places have fields full of bulls. I was pretty much raised understanding that "cow" was both a general term and a specific term. No one uses the term bovine in real speech.
Yeah that's the "kinda" part, sometimes for sure that happens, but that's different than say something like "literally now means figuratively due to people misusing it" doesn't mean it's actually correct even if a dictionary were to adopt it.
Furthermore I believe words don't have to be in the dictionary to be "correct," imo embiggen is a perfectly cromulent word whether or not some people who compile a book agree. I just don't think that "many being incorrect" deserves to be a reason words change to new meanings necessarily, maybe sometimes, but sometimes also "no they're just wrong."
Bovine is more scientific, I can't say that I've heard it in regular speech myself, but 'round here people usually say cow, steer, or bull depending on which it is.
There are 3 types of lies.
-
A lie.
-
A god damn lie.
-
And statistics.
Just Me, killing 300 a year (͡•_ ͡• )
thats a lot of champagne
Is this Gears of War?
Don't kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow had the chance he'd eat you and everyone you care about.
They wouldn't. They can't eat meat, it would kill them.
That however wouldn't stop a cow from getting their revenge.
They don't care. It's not about sustenance. It's about sending a moossage.
Udder bullshit.
*she'd
It's a quote from an episode of the Simpsons. I don't know who wrote that but I left it verbatim.
wow i was a grade A moron for ever not watching the first 10 seasons of the simpsons
Mosquitoes: 🥷
"Hehe check me out I'm gonna [[give that dumbass a diesease]] and he won't even realize it"
Mosquitoes: “those are rookie numbers.”
Mosquitoes may kill the most people per year, but they aren't nearly as terrifying as screw worms
Stairs killing 600k a year.
If true, guns would be real jealous
Gave it a google
Falls down stairs cause an average of 12,000 deaths per year in the United States.
That's actually pretty close to the US intentional homicide by firearm rate, so without factoring in gun suicides stairs are keeping up!
The cows kill count would go up even more if you count air/water pollution and food borne illnesses caused by their manure on produce
The shark kill count would go up way more if we started milking them on an industrial scale.
Shark fins are sadly harvested on an industrial scale :(
Do tell how that works. Are you imagining herds of cows roaming among the lettuce rows?
Here's an FDA report on a Romain lettuce E. coli outbreak that resulted in 5 deaths. There's a couple of ways E. coli can get from cow intestines to lettuce: cow manure gets into irrigation canals/streams, and a downstream farm uses that to water their crops; manure used for fertilizer is not properly treated; cows get into farm fields that they shouldn't be in. Lettuce is particularly susceptible because it is often eaten raw.
Ah! Makes sense. Your reasoning makes far more sense in the former rather than the latter examples. :) Yes, I'm sure livestock gets into vegetable fields now and again, but farmers and ranchers are mostly two different professions.
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I have been herding cows upwards in the mountainside. I have had a cow slip and fall onto me, luckily only onto my legs before running off. I could easily see how such accidents would kill a lot of people every year.
A cow slipping and falling on you would be one hell of a way to die
Oh yeah? Look up how many people a year are killed by hippos.
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