Shark Diver NZ - Video Blogging From Site

Last week, after some delay, we announced Shark Diver New Zealand. For many in the shark community who have their "ear to the ground" the announcement of Stewart Island and Oceania was a forgone conclusion (Mike aka Da Shark).

Unfortunately the discovery that the only operator in the region also runs a commercial shark fishing and finning operation caused us to remove our name from this operator and any further dealings with him.

While it is "legal" to catch both sharks and fin them in New Zealand we will not support any commercial shark diving operator who engages in this activity. The operator in question does several toms of shark fin each season while also attempting to make money showing people white sharks.

His vessel information:

Vessel Number	Vessel Name	Operator Number	Operator Name	IMO Number	Callsign
62742	Lady Anna	9280045	William Peter Scott, Beatrix Fredericka Scott		ZM2929

It's a simple choice. You either support shark conservation, or you're part of the problem.

For us it was an easy choice to make.

For others in our community you are now on notice. Do you support the conservation of sharks?

"Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus"

One of the highlights of 2009 was the introduction of the Dorsal Fin Blog to the world of sharks, conservation and media.

It would seem that 2010 will be as informative and amusing under their "seasoned media eye."

Kudos for this weeks media find, Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus. A film that has plenty of cheese for everyone:

Task Force Created To Ban Shark Feeding Tours

HONOLULU -- New efforts are under way to ban commercial shark feeding tours on the Islands.Hawaii Kai lawmaker Gene Ward on Wednesday announced the formation of a shark task force to eliminate commercial operations except those with educational and scientific purposes.

The group wants to enforce a state law that makes it illegal to feed sharks within three miles of shore.

The formation of the task force comes about two months after Hawaii Kai community members strongly opposed a shark tour in their area, which ultimately caused a planned operation in Maunalua Bay to be called off.

Deadly Waters, Sharkbite Summer...

The 2009 line up of Shark Week starts August 2, with a series of programs designed for one thing only, thrills and sensationalist television.

Brought to you by a small handful of operators and self styled shark researchers who have yet to fully understand the negative impact of their actions on sharks.

While a growing industry chorus demands that Discovery Networks cease programming that harms the perception of sharks - we would like to propose a second action. Let's take a "hard look" at our own industry and individual members who enable productions like these.

Ironically we all know who are behind these productions, and many of those involved profess to love sharks. Some are even actively and recently engaged in shark conservation efforts.

To what end?

Folks, it's not Discovery Networks problem, they are just doing what they do because we allow them to do it. Let's stop booking the vessels that enable the productions, let's start calling out the operators who enable the access to these sharks.

Let's start by cleaning our own house.

Yes, we know, it's a radical and once again unpopular thought.

But then again this blog has never towed the company line. Ever.

Hawaii - Tours Pose Little Risk

Three cheers for reporter Christie Wilson with Honolulu Advertiser who, bucking recent media trends in Hawaii, has introduced a story about what is not happening with commercial shark diving operations in Hawaii.

As we have been covering, politicians and anti-shark diving groups reacting to a tragically poor operator roll out in Hawaii Kai have called for a complete ban on all operators in the region.

To close existing commercial shark diving loopholes, this growing anti-shark diving group is demanding legislators to:

"(1) prohibit use of public facilities such as parks, piers, ramps, and harbors by shark tour operations;
(2) prohibit advertising of commercial shark tours in any print and electronic media; and, (3) prohibit commercial use of shark cages or other devices designed to place humans in close proximity to sharks or within shark habitats."

Citing a recent research study today regional commercial shark diving operators came back (finially) with the one thing they had at their disposal - research data:

"When it comes to offshore caged shark diving tours, there is no evidence of any risk to nearshore recreational users," said marine scientist Carl Meyer. "People need to understand there are already sharks in these initial shark-feeding areas and if these shark tours were a real problem, we would have seen it manifested by now by an increase in attacks.

"The study reports other factors that make the tours a minimal public safety risk include the fact shark-diving tours mimic the activities of crab-fishing vessels operating in the same area for more than 40 years, and that inshore recreational stimuli, such as a surfer paddling on a surfboard, "are substantially different from the conditioning stimuli associated with tour operations ... and, hence, unlikely to stimulate a conditioned feeding response."

Editors Note: THIS is one reason why operators work in tandem with shark researchers. To exclude shark research within operations is to blind yourself to important data about the animals you make a living with.

Additionally, ongoing data sets provide impartial answers to questions and accusations leveled by the anti-shark diving lobby at our industry members. These accusations are typically taken from a well worn "play book" of "raw meat hysteria".

The operators in Hawaii have a long way to go - but today, they just began the road back to credibility in the public eye. Kudos to all involved in both this study, and to reporter Christie Wilson.

Update: Reporter Leila Fujimori from Hawaii's Star Bulletin also ran with this story this morning. Kudos.

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus - Must See

Got an email from a guy who's deeply embedded in the fight to save sharks from finning last night, and what does he keep track of in his spare time?

Better than "Snakes on a Plane" more thrills than "Killer sharks in Venice":

AU West Bioregion Bans Whaler Catch

More good news for shark conservation this week as Australia's Fisheries banned the taking of large Dusky whaler sharks to commercial fishermen:

Department of Fisheries shark scientist Dr Rory McAuley said WA’s new regulations would assist in the protection and, in some cases, the recovery of at-risk species within the Family Carcharhinidae, which all whaler sharks belonged to.

“Dusky whalers and sandbar sharks have been identified as being over-exploited in the past and are species that are particularly at risk,” Dr McAuley said.

Further details of the new arrangements, with illustrations of how to measure a whaler shark correctly, are now available from the Department of Fisheries’ website at www.fish.wa.gov.au

Rodney Fox - Industry Leadership

This week The Age newspaper in Australia featured an outstanding article on white sharks and commercial shark diving operator Rodney Fox.

Along with son Andrew, the Foxes have remained stand alone industry leaders to shark conservation efforts and the perception of sharks in general. Their operation remains a template for doing things right with big predatory animals.

Some excerpts from the article:

When people come out with us, we make an effort to calm it down to a sort of spiritual, eco-tourism experience. Everybody wants to see sharks jumping up in the air, smashing into the cages, biting the platform, breaking teeth.

So we have to tell people: You're not allowed to touch the sharks. We're not allowed to make them jump out of the water. If we do, the sharks bash themselves up and go away, and it's a lack of respect for such a majestic animal.

Complete Article.

True "Sharkitarians"

Frederic Buyle's underwater images of man and shark continue to appear around the Internet like rare found jewels. This is simply a great series of images.

His latest set can be found at the blog of Daan Verhoeven. If you can get past Daans "messianic vision" towards large predatory sharks and comments like these:

"Notice how her eyes seem to have the slight squint of pleasure?"

This photo set and the remainder of his observations are pure shark. Daan even coined a new term we kind of like for those who play with sharks, "Sharkitarian".