Kudos From Beqa Adventure Divers - 1000

We remain big fans of BAD in Fiji, and this week received some high praise from an operation that has been "leading by example" in their region. Thanks guys:

Patric of Underwater Thrills has just reached this milestone and we feel compelled to shout a big Kudos and Congratulations!

I've said it before, the blog by Shark Diver is as good as it gets: always up-to-date, always interesting, sometimes funny, often brilliant and visionary. And thankfully, often controversial, scathing and unflinching - the way a Shark Diving and Conservation blog should be!

Shark Conservation has recently made very satisfying inroads and we should be thankful for that - and persevere and redouble our efforts!

Sharks continue to be brutally slaughtered by the tens of millions - not only by the industrial Shark finning mafia but also, by the members of the oh-so-noble IGFA.

And they continue to be demonized by the mainstream media - and alas, also by Shark-related media like Discovery's Shark Week who I hear will insist on producing this season's idiotic anchor show "Deadly Beaches" in spite of the outrage by the Shark Conservation Community. Have we managed to keep them out of Fiji or are they trying to sneak in under the radar? Keep watching this space!

And there remains a sad and increasingly lonely group of yesteryear's Shark Diving Operators who insist on tarnishing the reputation of the whole Industry with their reckless cowboy antics and still treat Sharks as mere ATM machines. Which begs the question, who will facilitate Deadly Beaches in the Bahamas?

And whilst this is going on, the relevant Authorities continue to dither and precious resources keep being squandered on frivolous science.

All very dire.

Much to do for people who care. Like Patric. Buddy, very well done and may you continue to entertain, amaze and inspire us for many years to come!

Editors Note: Oh, we will;)

The Long Hand of Dick - Conspiracy

This week a NASA satellite launch sent a 278 million dollar Carbon Observatory into the cold, dark waters of the Antarctic.

Conspiracy theorists are screaming foul claiming the "Long Hand of Dick Cheney". Their theory goes something like this:

1. Dick Cheney, minion of big energy, sought to derail the Carbon Observatory from day one. Keeping an eye on rising carbon gas levels is not good for the coal or oil guys.

2. Many of Dicks senate buddies, who believe in The Rapture were helping Dick derail this project. They (senate buddies) do not believe in global warming as a general rule and no new "wacky science" was going to change that view.

3. The satellite failure was a direct result of industrial sabotage brought about by unnamed "Friends of Dick".

So there it is. But a look through the lens of Occam's Razor suggests that this floating observatory might have actually failed with a 59 cent lowest-government-bid widget that misfired at a critical moment.

Or the Rapture Guys made it happen with the help of Big Oil and Coal.

Most disturbing in any of this, is not the loss of a 278 million dollar bird, not the fact that Dick Cheney et al hate global warming...it is that fact that members of our government who have the ability to direct and change government policy for the rest of us actually believe in The Rapture.

Goonch Attack-No, Seriously!

And you think sharks have a bad reputation...try being a Goonch.

Turns out these voracious critters found in rivers on and around Napal and India have been scarfing up local swimmers like Pez:

An 18-year-old Nepali disappeared in the river last year, dragged down by something described as like an “elongated pig”.

But the first victim of a goonch attack was thought to have been a 17-year-old Nepalese boy.He was killed in April 1988 as he cooled himself in the river.

Witnesses said he was suddenly pulled below the surface.Three months later a young boy was dragged underwater as his father watched helplessly.

Editors Note: We're in the process of designing a Goonch proof cage system, no, seriously!

Shark-Free Marinas Initiative, Bahamas

In the spring of 2008, Shark Diver was alerted to a female Tiger shark that was taken off Freeport, Bahamas.

Shark Diver is a commercial shark diving company which runs shark charters in the Bahamas and worldwide.

The animal was caught by a sport fisherman and displayed at a local marina where it was cut open to reveal several half-dead pups inside, some of which were dropped into the marina and struggled to survive for a few days.

We have decided act with the creation of the Shark Free Marinas Initiative.

The Government of the Bahamas allows sport fishing for sharks and we fully support sustainable catch and release fisheries. However, the taking of gravid female sharks for a one-time photo op and a set of jaws is a senseless waste of a valuable resource.

The Shark Free Marinas Initiative is a way to work with existing resort marinas in the Bahamas and worldwide that cater to sport fishing vessels, seeking their cooperation in asking them not to allow sharks to be taken and displayed at their marinas. This initiative, in turn, encourages the use of catch and release programs and promotes sustainable regional fisheries.

Each marina and resort that supports this initiative will receive both, a metal sign and logo we have created to post in their marina office, and the following information for posting on their marina websites:

(Name of resort and marina) supports the Shark-Free Marinas Initiative in the Bahamas region. The Bahamas is home to many shark species and the healthy reef systems that support these sharks. We feel the one-time harvesting of sharks for photo images or souvenir jaws is not in the best interests of the Bahamian people or Bahamian tourism.

Worldwide, sharks are being decimated for fins and jaws at a completely unsustainable rate. An estimated 60 million sharks per year are taken in this manner. By asking vessels not to arrive at our facilities with sharks, we hope to encourage responsible sport fishing, thereby ensuring a lasting and healthy population of sharks in Bahamian waters for future generations and contributing to the overall health of the Caribbean.

Please practice catch-and-release with all sharks and enjoy our facilities.

Welcome to the Bahamas.

Editors Note: This initiative is not only limited to the Bahamas and the several marinas who have expressed an interest in joining it (press release to follow). As a concept we will allow and help promote any organization or group to use this logo to enact their own regional Shark-Free Marinas. In places like Florida and the East coast this could conceivably help redirect shark kills and weigh ins. It offers the opportunity for marinas to claim the "Green Card" while at the same time redirecting fishermen into sustainable fisheries.

Special thanks to Richard Theiss RTSea Productions for video PSA's.

Shark conservation. One blog, one website, one person at a time.

Mc Great White-Chum Slick's Take

We have no idea who's the fertile mind behind The Chum Slick Blog but it's hard to not spray coffee all over the place after reading a post or two. Case in point, we were going to take a run at the following shark story posted in the Sun this week-but after reading the C.S take on it, and spraying coffee all around...why improve on perfection?

British tabloids love to pimp their Shark hysteria this time of year. Witness last year's Cornwall Great White hoax. This year, The Sun is pimping McJaws, a supposed Great White spotted by submarine camera off an oil rig in the the Scottish North Sea--120 miles off Aberdeen.

Shark "expert" Doug Herdson of the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth said:

"There’s no reason why it couldn’t have travelled here from the coast of the US. There’s plenty of food in the North Sea and the temperatures are fine for them. Sharks are attracted to rigs because the water near the structure is warmer. If there was going to be a Great White in the North Sea, it would be likely to be found near a rig."

[the sun]

The funny thing about this comment is that Great Whites favor colder water, since they are basically warm-blooded Sharks. But forget about all of that, the picture clearly shows a Porbeagle Shark. While Porbeagles are becoming increasingly endangered because of overfishing, they are not unheard of in the North Sea. Here is photographic proof.

Oh, and here is the important part. There has never been a recorded attack of a Porbeagle on a human being. So the Scots better get back to fearing Nessie. If they want Great Whites, they can go down to South Africa.

--Sharky