VISITORS to a Yorkshire Coast aquarium are being told more people are killed by falling coconuts than sharks as part of a campaign to save the predator.

Scarborough Sea Life Centre is marking Shark Week, which starts on Monday (4), with a deluge of facts about the creature to help conservation.

“With anything between 70 and 100 million sharks being killed every year, many species face a real threat of oblivion,” said resident marine expert Lyndsey Crawford.

“The common perception of sharks as mindless man-eaters doesn’t help their cause, and, frankly, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Sharks are essential to the balance of life in our seas, taking out the weak and the sick and playing an important role in the evolution of other species.

“We need to wake up to the fact that their loss could be disastrous for our seas, and since the seas produce most of our oxygen, ultimately it could be disastrous for the planet.”

The Centre will be hosting special shark talks, shark arts and crafts sessions and shark quiz trails among many other shark-related events until Saturday May 10.

For more information go to www.sealife.co.uk/scarborough.