Sharks Forever Stamps, 2017 Sheet – Everyday Cards and Letters

Each realistic stamp image is labeled by species: “MAKO SHARK,” “THRESHER SHARK,” “GREAT WHITE SHARK,” “WHALE SHARK,” and “HAMMERHEAD SHARK. Styled in lowercase letters, the words “usa forever” also appear on each stamp.

As difficult as it can be to put our primal fears and vulnerabilities in perspective, people are realizing that we pose far greater danger to sharks than they do to us. They are overfished for food and sport. The practice of “finning” — cutting off shark fins for a soup delicacy, only to throw the incapacitated animal back in the water — dooms a great many sharks. They are slower to reach reproductive maturity than other fish, and though they bear more developed offspring, because of unsustainable fishing this is no longer an evolutionary advantage over egg laying. Many populations are in collapse.