240 whale sharks rescued off Gujarat, India

Mangrol (Gujarat), Jan 26 (IANS) From being hunted in hundreds for their liver oil till a decade ago, about 240 whale sharks have been rescued off Gujarat's coast since a conservation project was initiated in 2004, an official said Tuesday in this coastal fishing town.

Rahul Kaul, senior director with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said that the programme that was started in 2004 was the first one of it's kind to pave the way for voluntary conservation at this scale.

'The fishing community willingly agreed to sacrifice its economic gain, displaying exemplary sense of responsibility to the marine environment in which it thrives while the government has come forward to provide relief for the loss of the fishing net to the extent of Rs.25,000 and Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL) has been funding the project,' Kaul said on the sidelines of a function held in Mangrol in Junagadh district to celebrate 'Whale Shark Day'.

The WTI in concert with the Coast Guard and Gujarat's forest department with funding from Tata Chemicals have been spearheading a conservation movement for the whale shark, endearingly known as 'Vhali' in the state.

In 2009, TCL and WTI had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a conservation project to create awareness and undertake research to save the endangered species that visits the coastal shores of the state between January and March.

The MOU also undertook a study to explore whale shark tourism opportunities in the region, making the project a unique one in the country.

Rishi Pathania, manager (community development) with TCL, said the whale shark conservation project along with the Mithapur coral reef securement project stood out as two of the largest corporate-supported conservation initiatives in India aimed at creating a conducive environment for the well-being and breeding of marine life species in this coastal region.

A decade ago, whale sharks were brutally hunted in hundreds along the Gujarat coast for its liveroil to waterproof boats and also for its meat, which was exported. On May 28, 2001 whale shark hunting was banned in India.

Every year, Whale Shark Day is celebrated to spread awareness amongst people, specially the fishing community. This year, the fishing town of Mangrol went a step further to adopt 'Vhali' as its symbol.

Sea Shepherd - Mastering Reality Disasters?

We would like to congratulate Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet on a fantastic staged event for television - perhaps one of the best staged disaster moments of 2010.

As production people ourselves we know the hazards and very real dangers of staging live disasters for television. It's a highly technical world only professionals can effectively operate in.

Multi-million dollar staged disasters are often canceled at the last minute due to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) non-compliance or studio fears of death and dismemberment. Sea Shepherd on the other hand have found a way to circumvent all of the requirements for staged disaster television by only allowing volunteer crews and staging the events against non-paid, non-union, Japanese whalers.

By-passing all clean environmental requirements for television productions by producing this man made disaster in the Antarctic ocean was another master stroke. The clean up of several thousand gallons of bio diesel spilled by the Ady Gil and retrieval of the vessel from the sea floor would have cost Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars Productions millions if this disaster had been filmed in the USA.

Brilliant!

Managing to move Sea Shepherds $2 million dollar vessel Ady Gil into the path of Japanese whalers was a quirk of nautical timing by a seasoned captain who knew his vessel and the direction wind, waves, and engines were carrying it. Catching the whole thing on video from the Bob Barker at just the right angle was pure reality television.

We were doubly impressed with the witty and show branding quote from SSCS Paul Watson immediately after the stunt, "Now we're in a Real Whale War!" reminding the global audience that this is, after all, Must See TV!

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have clearly evolved from earlier staged productions such as Paul Watsons being shot by Japanese whalers. In terms of production quality and emotional leverage that earlier staged event was not one of the top three of the 2007 reality television season.

Kudos to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson, and Animal Planet for once again bravely leading the way into a new decade of reality television firsts. The televised disaster staging they have created together keeps getting better and better, and their complete and ongoing circumvention of all production norms and safety regulations allows their organization to literally shoot-for-the-moon.

We're looking forward to more man made disasters in the coming months!

More on Sea Shepherd Conservation Society here.

Follow Up-Bahamas Shark Story

Last week we blogged about a developing story out of the Bahamas involving the crew of the Gulf Stream Eagle and a mysterious overturned vessel surrounded by Tiger sharks.

We contacted owner/captain Mark Rose in Florida to get the back story. The story he told us was too grim to blog about then, but now the story can be told. It's one of desperation and high seas drama unfolding in the dead of night off the coast of the Bahamas last week.

Warning-this video covers adult themes.