Anja Murray: Even though many sharks are predators, it is we humans who pose a threat

Common Angel Shark (Squatina squatina) swimming over sea grass: this species is particularly vulnerable to bottom trawling

Ireland has half a million square kilometres of ocean territory, filled with incredible, strange and beautiful creatures. Brightly coloured anemones live on the seabed among forests of kelp. Huge Spider crabs, more than half a metre across, scuttle about the seafloor. Deepwater coral reefs have been slowly growing for thousands of years, teaming with life and giving shelter to young fish in the deep sea. Sea sponges, one of the oldest groups of animals on earth, fill healthy underwater ecosystems with whorls of geometric colour. But to most of us, the creatures who live in these waters are strange and unknown.

One group of animals at home in Irish waters is sharks. There are 39 different shark species and 28 species of skates and rays (closely related to sharks) living in the ocean around Ireland, long before people ever reached these shores. One species, the common skate, can live to be 100 years of age and get as large as 3 metres — though contrary to its name, this skate is now no longer common. It is classified as ‘critically endangered’ here and is only one step away from being classed as ‘extinct in the wild’.