1. The People of Somalia have been dying from Radiation sickness caused by the dumping of radioactive wastein their coastal waters . As a result their natural fishing grounds have been contaminated as well. This is anongoing reason why piracy continues, to protect their ocean from illegal dumping.

2. The high poverty levels and lack of resources makes Somalia a hard place to live in and survive.Poverty is a large reason many of the people of Somalia choose the life of piracy. 3. This is what a typical Somali Pirate looks like out on sea. The mask will hide their identity in case they take hostages, butnot all pirates wear masks. The weapons are used more to intimidate the boats they will hijack, but they will be used if thevessel being hijacked isnt cooperating or they are under attack. 4. Khat is a plant that is harvested in Somalia, it is chewed by pirates to give them a high. It is considered astimulant similar to cocaine in which it makes you alert and it suppresses hunger. Khat is regularly chewedby pirates through out the day. 5. Somali Pirates boarding a vessel will usually find an easy way of getting on the vessel. In this case theywere able to board the vessel through an unconfirmed object on the side of the vessel. 6. Victims of the hijacking are usually taken as hostages for a ransom. Ransoms can sometimes reachmillions of dollars. Hostages are also sold off as slaves if ransoms arent paid or if they are not killed. 7. Not all pirates are successful in their raids. Piracy has also become a very serious crime in recentyears and pirates have become a big target for naval forces around the world. 8. Suspicious ships are usually stopped and checked by naval forces for any evidence of piracy such asguns, stolen good or sometimes even hostages. 9. With recent piracy attacks plummeting and increased security around the Somali coast, it seems as ifthe glory days of piracy are coming to an end