2012 will be a pivotal year for new initiatives and I was keen to see how many of the groundbreaking efforts of 2011 were shaping up for the new year.
What I soon discovered was a group of rabid and misguided shark conservation loons going after talk show host and comedian Rosie O'Donnell over pictures of her taken three years ago with a dead shark.
Three years ago, really? And you call this conservation? So much for 2012.
Rosie caught the sharks under the tutelage of Mark the Shark a well known Florida based shark fisherman who likes to goad the shark conservation world, and a few special individuals in particular, into foaming at the mouth indignation over dead sharks on docks.
The mainstream media is having a field day with this non story and Facebook, sadly, is in its usual righteous fury over images that have nothing to do with the Rosie O'Donnell of today, or even the news that as of 2012 Tiger sharks and Great Hammerheads are now protected in Florida waters.
Lead by You Tube video sensation, "Mr. How To Speak Australian" Erik Brush, an overly passionate under-informed shark gadfly who, when not on You Tube with his starkly creepy basement videos, can be found hawking his second rate book about the end of the planet. The rabid shark conservation community is joyously shooting themselves and the shark community at large in the foot.
It is time to stop.
Like a bad smell emanating from the sewers of a slow news cycle, shark conservationists are latching on to this ridiculous story with the ferocity of a ragged street dog in Latin America who has found something rancid in the gutter to eat.
Images from three years ago do not make for a news story and I am pretty sure that the serious shark conservation world could do without side shows like this one that make Sea Shepherd and Paul Watson's brand of "make it up as we go along" media output look like University of California - Berkeley's School of Journalism.
We can do a lot better in 2012. We have to, because this was a piss poor way to start the year.
11 comments:
Thanks for coming back after 25 days of vacation and coming back to trash the advocates that have been fighting for sharks on the front lines. This Rosie story reached millions and contained important messages such as ....
"Hammerhead sharks are considered overfished around the globe, being highly sought after to serve the ravenous demand in China for shark fin soup."
The Rosie O'Donnell deal has brought the shark conservation discussion to the mainstream public. The issue has been discussed on TV in Fort Lauderdale, newspapers in England, on the radio in Ottawa, Canada and has reached countless people through literally hundreds of news affiliates. People weren't talking about shark conservation .... now they are!! Millions of people have been reached.
I sense a little jealousy in this article that you haven't done anything that has created this much attention for sharks. What have you done that has told millions of people about the critical Hammerhead problem? You just have your little blog that doesn't even make a blip on the radar.
So just remember that if you weren't on vacation for 25 days, you could have been involved ... but you weren't involved .... you were vacationing like Obama while the rest of us fought for the shark message to be heard. Rosie was a platform to get the message to the masses. No matter how things unfolded, it got the message to millions that Hammerheads are in serious trouble and are a favorite for shark fin soup.
Maybe you should do something of your own to raise the issue with millions of people instead of taking vacation for a month at a time. While you are sippin on tropical drinks and watching bikinis, we are fighting back against the shark killers. So don't come back after a month of being offline, living it up in the sun and shoot your mouth off. If you had been around you could have influenced things. So sorry, you lost credibility when you were absent .... now to come back and shoot your mouth off is just plain obnoxious.
Ahh yes, the irate concerned conservation voice. While the points you bring up certainly are points they lack anything that resembles a strategy.
This this the dark black beating heart of lowbrow conservation.
Becoming hysterical over three year old images is moronic from a media side, sad from a conservation side and ultimately shows the small minded meanness of the folks behind the push to get Rosie.
Frankly I don't care about her or what she did three years ago, I do care that a small vocal bunch of idiots are making much ado about nothing.
Look, I have been in the media game along time, shark conservation even longer, if you took the time to read about me you might know that.
Unlike many in the lowbrow world I do not post you tube videos of my exploits, I do not run out to get exposed for everything we do to kick the can down the road for sharks.
Frontlines for sharks?
What are we in grade 6?
If you want to make a positive impact, instead of gutterizing three year old dusty dead shark images, how about taking Rosie out for a shark diving trip as part of her show?
That's how you reach millions, good luck cannabaliing your next soft target and you can drop the faux "I am so offended" crap.
It does not work here.
An online bullying campaign to boost already grotesquely bloated egos is not conservation.
This whole thing didn't get anybody "talking about shark conservation," they were talking about Rosie O'Donnell and nothing else.
Widespread positive media about the new legislations protecting Tiger and Scalloped and Great Hammerhead Sharks would have got people talking about shark conservation but this abortion of a campaign left that firmly in the shadow.
Another golden opportunity fucked up by kneejerk reactionism, well if taking three years can be described as "knee jerk" of course.
Hear, hear, well said sir. And while we are at it, let us mention once again how important it is to have credible voices speaking for shark conservation, not Mr.E Brush.
I assume he means well, but frankly he and his creepy You Tube videos are a liability for anyone who wanted to paint shark cons as nothing more than basement dwelling loons.
Sorry to Eric and Eric's fringe clan but there's no evidence anywhere that remotely suggests the loss of sharks in the world = the loss of oxygen to breathe.
That's a statement pulled right out of someones fat ass, ground through the rumor mill and hysteria of Facebook, and regurgitated onto the plates of ordinary world citizens just looking for some plain facts.
Can we do better than this, we have to.
Hey Pat!
Great blog post was hoping you would start posting again!
Where did all these crazy people come from? Attacking Rosie over some old pictures?
The commercial fleets killing millions of sharks are laughing all the to the bank while these nuts are screaming to the media like PETA.
Three year old shark pictures where was everyone when she caught those sharks in the first place? Something stinks alright thanks for the post.
Have you seen this yet?
http://southflorida.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-should-rosie-odonnell-be-getting-grief-for-killing-sharks-20120113,0,2330230.story
About as truthy as it gets!
Just read it Shawn. At least one sane voice, Carl S had some sage words as well over at Huff Post.
He always does.
Methinks this one is about notching conservation belts and war hammers and a patent dislike for the personage that is Rosie.
Oh the pathos, the humanity, the drama...over a couple of dusty pics that Mark put up to piss off the radicals.
I wonder if they have stopped foaming at the mouth yet, he must be laughing his ass off right now.
Too bad 2012 started out on such a lame note I was hoping for better, much better.
By the way where the hell are all the serious folks?
If they have any sense? Sitting this stinker out.
What's with his teeth, his hair, and that hat!?
This is the guy who is making all the Rosie fuss?
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