Australia to kill Great White Sharks?

A article in the "Australian" reports that: "WEST Australian Fisheries officers are determined to catch and kill a great white shark suspected of having established itself at unpatrolled swimming beaches along the southwest coast since Christmas."
  
Wow, I guess the shark should know that it is not supposed to swim in an unpatrolled swimming area. They want to hunt and kill the shark simply because it's a shark, not because it has attacked anyone. The article further states:

Tony Cappelluti, from the Fisheries Department's shark response unit, said his team was almost certain they were seeing the same shark. "Our assessment is there's a shark of 3-4m, and it's a white shark, which is high risk, in the area," Mr Cappelluti said.

Almost certain? Well, I'm almost certain that a 3-4 m white shark is a juvenile that's still eating fish. Mr. Capelluti concludes by saying:

"(So) we've deemed it to be an imminent threat under the guidelines because there's possibly going to be people in areas we can't get to or can't guarantee we can mitigate the risk by getting them out of the water and keeping them out of the water."

Wouldn't it be easier to advise people not to go swimming in unpatrolled waters?

I wonder if this has to do with how we portray sharks in the media. "Shark Week" type shows and news outlets seem to cater either to those who find the most creative ways to get a shark to bite a gopro or anything else in sight, or those fools who go and ride the sharks to show how "docile" they are. Reporting how sharks really are seems to be almost non existent.

As I'm writing this I'm watching the local CBS news in San Diego, reporting that a 16 white shark that was tagged on the east coast has been spotted 17 miles off the coast of Florida. Their "expert" says that people have been advised to stay out of the water. ..... they spot a shark 17 miles away and advise people to get out of the water? .... really?!

Maybe, if we want to protect the sharks, we need to focus on educating the media, as well as government and beach safety officials, to give them an accurate description of the sharks. We should respect them for the wild predators they are, but there's no need to fear them!

Cheers,

Martin Graf
Managing Director
Shark Diver 

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

"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:

Sea Shepherd - Popular Culture and South Park

When Sea Shepherds plans for a new reality television show with Animal Planet were announced - we had to the following to say about it:

"Perhaps one of the most chilling departures from the entire 40 year global eco movement was this year when Sea Shepherd traded it's last shred of dignity and credibility for the cameras of Animal Planet and thus began Eco-Edutainment Television, where media messaging and outright fabrication of events have subsumed the horrors of actual whaling. Where dead whales and story lines are traded with advertisements for SUV's and laundry detergent. This is a meeting of eco media and horror that never should have happened and now that it has will change the landscape of the global eco movement for years to come."

No truer words have been written about the ongoing embarrassment to the global eco movement that is Sea Shepherds Whale Wars.

We're not the only ones to take notice, popular culture commentators South Park decided to expose Sea Shepherd this week in what can only be described as "Skewering the Emperor with no clothes."

We have been covering Sea Shepherds media rise and mistakes for the past year in an ongoing series of blog posts. In one year Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd have managed to completely redefine the term for "conservation," taking the concept from quantifiable metrics for eco success to a series of often inane talking points and million dollar media spectaculars that leverage main stream media's desire to sell advertising as their conservation vehicle.

Meanwhile whales keep being killed, year after year, while Whale Wars ratings climb. It is high time we discuss and enable real and lasting conservation efforts. Reality television shows are not conservation, and fortunately South Park has just embedded that idea with the next generation of conservationists.

Sometimes the best way to enact conservation change is with a popular culture backlash.

Unfortunately Sea Shepherd is soon to announce a new reality television show with sharks in the coming weeks. We're pretty sure the folks at South Park are looking forward to that announcement as well, while the rest of the shark conservation world cringes at the prospect.

See complete Whale Whores episode here.

Ranting for a reason-Smiling at "Da Passion"

The gents over at Beqa Adventure Divers (Da Shark!) are never short on words when it comes to those who do questionable things with sharks. We also wondered about the merits of this brand of "shark science" having seen it as a stable "go-to experiment" on almost every shark show since the days of the "Flying Sharks":

Sharks have weak bites, say scientists. And who gives a damn, says I.

I've ranted about it before, it just pisses me off to see rare and valuable scientific resources, and brainpower, squandered on such trivia! Does it get any more useless, wasteful and stupid than this?

Cui bono?

Is this going to save a single Shark from Extinction?

Because, and I shall never tire to repeat it, in 2009, the only possible justification for any Biological Research is Conservation. Funding is extremely scarce and hard to come by and just cannot be squandered on such frivolous and unnecessary projects, full stop!

Plus, I cannot even begin to try and fathom the ethics of "knocking out" big and threatened Sharks to then electronically stimulate their jaws - for Nothing! Guys, for crying out loud!!! What would you say if somebody traveled to China and did the same thing to an effing Panda???

Huh?

Shame on you!

Shark Conservation? Anyone? Anyone?

Got an email from Dan who's a regular contributor. Dan runs a private yacht charter business in Miami and for obvious reasons would like to remain-"just Dan":

Hey Shark Divers,

This was sent to me today maybe you can use it to help save sharks or something.

Tight lines,
Captain Dan

Editors Note: Mother of god man, it took us all of 5 minutes to even realise she was standing next to something and another 5 minutes to realise it was a big seal...or something (click image). Not sure how this works into shark conservation, but heck we'll run with it.

Save the sharks from humiliations like these!

Jamaican Shark Diving Adventures

Question: How can you tell the difference between an eco minded shark diving company and one that's perhaps...a bit lacking?

Answer: In today's website world anyone can make claims like "100% safety record", the fact is the consumer needs to digg a lot more than they do to discover the truth. Not all companies out there will admit serious and ongoing operational problems...even if it's the right thing to do.

In the case of these unrepentant yabbo's anyone with half a brain can see this is probably not the best of vacation ideas. Not only do you get a dorky looking pirate hat in Jamaica to go wrestle sharks, but chances are you'll be drunk in the process:

"See Pirates of the shark's cove and the rambunctious and hilarious Shark Show!" D'arrrr!

We'll say it again for anyone who cares to listen. "Sharks are magnificent animals, isn't it enough to just get to see them in their natural habitat?