S.A Shark Nets - Wagging The Conservation Dog - And Wrong Sounding Muppets

Pizza box tops and lipstick...now THAT'S conservation!

Word on the street is that Shark Angels, those rough riding take-no-prissiness step children of Sea Shepherd, have managed to get the shark nets in  Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area taken down.

Or at least they will come down sometime in the future, and when they do you can thank the Shark Angels for it:

"Thanks in part to the hard work from several shark angels for almost four years, KZN Sharks Board has buckled under the pressure and has recommended the removal of four gill nets in the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area within the next year. This includes nets at both Scottburgh and Park Rynie and is a monumental step towards the abandonment of shark nets throughout the country – and hopefully at some point, the globe. The announcement, which came at the quarterly meeting of the Aliwal Shoal Forum in KwaZulu Natal, was made quietly and without fanfare - because it signals the weakening of the Sharks Board and constitutes an incredible triumph for those working hard to protect sharks, who have been struggling to achieve the removal of the nets since 2008." 

Like many out there in the conservation space this news seems a bit odd to us...like wrong sounding Muppets.

But in fairness, let's all celebrate this news. Four nets, a victory, and Julie Anderson's redemption in the shark conservation space for years of mismanaged stage craft masquerading as an attempt to sell a Reality TV show...wait a minute...now we see it.

Could be the coffee kicking in but, stay with us here, if one wanted for the sake of argument to sell a Reality TV show about an org that saved sharks, and one happened to be peddling said show to various networks (we know because we walked into said networks weeks after), wouldn't one also want to post victory notices on websites even though said victories were:

"made quietly" and "without fanfare" and "recommended" and "within the next year"

Yup. Check that box. It's known as Wagging The Conservation Dog a distinct media specialty of Sea Shepherd and it's media clones. You take an issue, front run it to assume some sort of conservation victory, spread the story far and wide and sit back and collect donor dollars...or eye balls from networks.

Kinda of like wrong sounding Muppets and ENRON. In the conservation space the rules say you post actual victories, you celebrate actual change, you give thanks to folks who work hard for animals.

The rest is just media nonsense and for the sharks in Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area who will be killed in nets this week, next week, and the week after, the Shark Angels "victory" is as short lived as the animals that keep dying in them.

Mike's Blog - The Issue Ongoing.

Now for some amusement:



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.

Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd, Cowardice Under Direct Action Fire?

Interpol, the worlds police, have issued a Red Notice for Paul Watson titular head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Watson is currently on the run exhibiting a simply stunning display of abject cowardice in the face of Direct Action.

This is a wake up call to his donor base both large and small. Your conservation money, the money you had hoped would be used for change, has been taken from you by a slick conservation media machine.

And while no one wants to get inside the mind of the Sea Shepherd faithful for fear they will discover an overweight hamster on a giant wheel wheezing to a techno version of Kermit The Frogs, "It's not Easy Being Green," one has to ask, why run Paul?

Paul Watson is more than happy to send his volunteers/unpaid reality tv actors into situations that ultimately put then in harms way while he himself is unwilling to even step into a court room where he would get to explain his Direct Action policies to the widest audience he has ever had.

Watson instead has crafted a series of inane excuses for his lack of,  "Doushitemo" (at any cost), which flies in the face of far too many of Watsons own stump speeches to his donor base where he regales them with tales of personal bravery on the high seas.

About that, as it turns out Watson is also not above faking his own assassination attempts to bolster his claims of conservation bravery. This is an organization that, "at any cost," spends donor money to pump out slick conservation media fakery, year after year, to garner more donations.

It's a Conservation Möbius Loop of the worst kind.

After 30 years Sea Shepherd has proved an abject failure as an organization for actual and lasting changes to wildlife.

They have become unfortunate parodies of themselves and in the minds of their donor base, "too big to fail." There's a meme out there that suggests, and is propagated by Sea Shepherd, that if they stop their Direct Actions the entire world will go to hell in a hand-basket because there are no other organizations out there to fill the void.

It's a lie.

In fact there are plenty of small boots on the ground organizations out there, thanks in large part to social media and smart phones, that need your help now. They are the real face of conservation, not the donor paid vacations in the South Pacific with Sea Shepherds elite Shark Angels - an ongoing conservation sham where the biggest hurdle this "elite team" faces has been the lack of access to dwindling supplies of glitter lip gloss and SPF 50.

You have a choice, dig a bit deeper in your search for a conservation organization org that delivers change, or continue to support a bloated increasingly irrelevant organization that at it's core (Paul Watson) fails to live up to the ongoing hype.

Paul Watson as an conservation organization leader has shown to the world that his organization does not deserve your respect, admiration, or money.

For many out there in the conservation sphere this is not news. For the Sea Shepherd faithful who like the idea of wearing pirate shirts and being part of something grand, this is gut check time.

Support something new, try something small, grow an organization that delivers conservation change and one that you know will spend your conservation money wisely. Fact is when any organization gets to over 11 million dollars in revenue resources and it's Conservation CEO is placed on Interpols Red Notice you have to wonder...are the worlds animals really being served here?

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.