Approximately 12.5 million people were stolen from Africa during the transatlantic slave trade, and just under 2 million of them died during the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage is the the name given to the journey from the coast of Africa to the Americas. During this time slaves were shackled together and kept in the hull of the ship, often left to lie in their own feces and vomit. When slaves died, they were carelessly thrown overboard into the ocean, which changed the routes of sharks.

References

1. Michel Marriott. "Remembrance of Slave Ancestors Lost to the Sea". New York Times. June 19, 1994
2. Brendan Wolfe. "Slave Ships and the Middle Passage". Encyclopedia Virginia; visited February 2020