Punching Through The Blog Barrier - Da Shark!

Capt Zissou Approves - Breaking the Blog Barrier 2011

First there was the speed of sound.

Then the speed of light.

Barriers that man has surmounted with guts, know how, and heroic effort.

Today we celebrate the Shark Blog Barrier being broken in Fiji as Mike, aka Da Shark, announces his 1000th blog post.

For the past several years Da Sharks blog has been an industry mainstay, offering up ideas, kudos, and pithy, salted commentary with an industry and conservation focus. 

Why are independent industry blogs important?

Because the shark diving industry, an offshoot of the dive industry, needed it. Prior to the advent of the shark blogs, the industry was a tribal and fractured affair with little direction and no real conservation focus.

In many cases it was an industry that reveled in glorifying stupid stunts with sharks as an industry norm.

All that changed when operations discovered that not only were they being observed on an international level but actions taken with sharks were being talked about, discussed, and even picked over with the best ideas, best practices, and best conservation efforts being recognized.

Additionally the broader industry discovered that shark conservation was a key element to success.

No longer was it just acceptable to make money with sharks and repeat, the concept of regional stewardship for sharks was nurtured by the shark blogs with some first rate leadership examples and and quickly adopted by many.

It is now a fast growing trend.

The impact of the shark blogs will remain one of the shark diving industries least told stories, but today we celebrate the 1000th blog posts by one of the industries leaders. Like what he has to say or not, agree with his positions or not, the Fiji shark blog has blown open the doors on the discussion of sharks and conservation/industry development to a global audience.

And the entire shark diving industry is a better place for it.

Kudos to 1000!

Contextualize Your Outrage - Well Said, Well Written

As a shark blogger who often delves into conservation issues to offer up opinions, ideas, and yes even conservation strategies, I was blown away this week by Ricks post over at Deep Sea News who tackled the recent expose on illegal shark fishing in Galapagos.

His post echos many I have read over the years and some that I have penned talking about the triumvirate of conservation.

1. Money

2. Strategy

3. Enforcement

His post is a perfect summation of the challenges that face shark conservation and a road map for next generation of shark conservation groups and individuals seeking to help sharks globally.

Yes, the loss of this many sharks in the Galapagos is a blow, it is also a wake up call to the global shark fin trade and the need, moving forward, to start thinking and acting differently.

If your not one for reading long well thought shark conservation summaries here's the crux of Ricks post:

So while we appear to be getting better at establishing legislative protection for sharks, where the rubber hist the road is in the enforcement of that protection. And enforcement takes funding, training, monitoring, consequences, public awareness, and a judicial process prepared to prosecute. Expecting open water to somehow police itself is as realistic as expecting a bank to safeguard its holdings without surveillance, guards, and a prosecutorial system.

Complete post here.

The Trash Talking Blog-Dogs

Last week we posted Carcharhinus longimanus - Bahamas New Shark Rush, an in depth look at how new shark site development and ongoing conservation efforts *might* go at Cat Island, Bahamas.

The Op-Ed was directed at industry members vying for this site and these unique and increasingly rare sharks, 99.3% are estimated to have been fished out of the Gulf of Mexico alone.

At least three websites are now inviting divers to come and dive with Oceanic whitetips in the Bahamas, and at least one operator has responded to last weeks post.

The ideas brought up are certainly worthy of further discussion and even action, if you can get past the label, "Trash Talking Blog-Dogs";)

More trash talking here, Hic Rhodus hic salta indeed!

SDM BLOG FOR...

There has been a lot of blogging going on from the trash talking blog-dogs out there lately. Mostly on how to interact with sharks and how to conduct an eco-business. Here is the deal when it comes to Eco-tourism from my perspective - shark diving tourism, and catch and release shark fishing are the sharks only hope. I am not going to go into catch and release fishing in this blog, but regardless of my opinion, or your opinion, it is a necessary evil. Not everyone is going to dive with sharks, and sport fishing is the largest spenders of trickle down economics in the marine world. So more on them later.

Here is the deal - As I said, Eco-tourism is the sharks only salvation. The reality is, whether you like it or not - Governments do NOT care about sharks, or saving sharks - or the environment - THEY NEVER HAVE, AND THE NEVER WILL! What they care about are two things...money and votes. So if you have a lot of money you can convince the government to protect sharks, by throwing them large sums - then sharks will get some protection. But, if you do not have a shit load of money, then you better have the votes behind you to keep their butts in office. Other than that, they don't care about the cause, they care about their own agendas, and keeping and sustaining their power.

For a government official to care about creating marine protected parks, or shark sanctuaries, they need to have a good reason, and that reason is money - and money now. A goverenment officials term is short so they need to make and steal as much as they can before their term is up, or they get booted out. A shark diving tax is a great incentive that puts money into a government officials pocket today and is a great way to ensure that sharks get protected in the long term. Right now the fishermen are the ones putting this kind of money into the officials pockets, so who do you think they are going to support when it is time to vote?

Anyone who believes that a government official is going to do the right thing is gravely mistaken and by the time they admit it or figure it out, it is going to be the death of the species. So the thing that is going to lead the charge for protecting sharks is creating shark parks, or shark sanctuaries, or marine reserves, or whatever you want to call it. Then bringing in eco-tourism to create a trickle down economy that will benefit and stimulate the local economy, as well as tacking on a shark tax that could go into the appropriate hands to ensure that sharks will remain protected indefinitely.

I think that continuing to protect individual species of sharks globally is a noble effort, but is it enough? Truthfully - I believe that protecting individual species is a bandaid to a much bigger problem. Honestly - Do you really think that an Indian fisherman, or an Asian fishermen in a little panga in a third world country is gonna throw back a full grown oceanic whitetip, or a scalloped hammerhead because CITES has ruled that these species are uncatchable and must be thrown back. Hell no! If they can't sell it, (which they always will be able to, regardless of any CITES ruling), they will just eat it. They are just surviving, trying to feed their families, making money anyway they can. So govenrment meetings and agendas, and conservationists hopes mean shit to them.

I wrote about this back in April but its worthy of a reminder...

-A true conservationists job and efforts needs to go into creating marine reserves, or shark parks, or shark santuaries. Of course these sanctuaries will fly better with officials if there is already eco-toruism in place. (they will see money much faster that way.)

-Another devision of the conservation/eco-operators (joint effort is a must) job is to help create a policing effort to protect the parks. Funding must be created and raised for this very important job. Parks are pointless without protection.

-MORE Eco-operators need to be invited in to help stimulate the economy and creat trickle down economics. This is always the hard part, as shark operators are often greedy and hate to see competion come in. Trust me on this one, I am very well versed in this subject.

-At this point science could be invited in to find out where these sharks are going to breed? Or where these sharks are migrating to when they leave the area. That information could then be used to help create more shark sanctuaries, and the cycle begins again.

____________________________________________________________

The problem right now within the shark diving world, is there are too much politics. No one is communicating with each other, lots of back stabbing, and crying, and I'm right-they are wrong, BS. None of it works. We all don't have to like each other, we don't all have to get along, but if there really is any love for these animals, then we all need to set aside our egos, agree to disagree, and get the fucking job done.

Shark Blogging - Making Complete Sense

1800 blog posts and two years later Underwater Thrills has commented and opened the conversation on pretty much everything in the shark world, both good and bad.

One of the things we noticed, along with other early bloggers, was the need for our industry to show leadership.

Leadership in the form of conservation initiatives, film productions featuring sharks, and operations that treated the host country, the sharks and our divers with the same respect our industry was asking from politicians and those who would oppose commercial shark diving.

Today I was sent a blog post that made complete sense, from an industry member we have featured in the past reacting to major media and images online that served to reinforce the notion that our industry was populated by high octane thrill seekers with little care for the resource or the animals.

This post is a 180 degree change from earlier media and needs to be read far and wide. The writer makes complete sense and by challenging the "status quo" of the industry or even proposing ideas and plans for the future that others might disagree with is showing that quality that is most needed, leadership.

Our industry can only hope to be all that it can with open discussion. Painful though it may be sometimes it is necessary to look at where we once were, and visions for the future. 2010 was a sea change of opinion, web changes, operator lead shark initiatives, and positive media for sharks lead by operations who reacted to or who were lead by change.

Kudos for the post. We may not see eye to eye on 99% but when we do, it's nice to know someone will step out and get recognized.

Pete Thomas Outdoors - Brazil Shark Fin Bust

If you have not yet become a fan of the Pete Thomas Outdoors blog you should do so soon.

Investigative journalism is what this blog is all about. And it's no surprise because Pete is a reporter with a free reign to cover just about anything. Fortunately one of the things he cares about are our oceans, and more specifically sharks.

Pete covered a recent shark fin bust from Brazil that no one is talking about yet. One ton of fins destined for Japan with a $29,000 fine.

"The owner of the export company in Brazil was fined $29,700 and crews of the fishing boats also are expected to be penalized for illegally slaughtering sharks."

Good to have Pete on our side.

Complete story.

Planet Shark Blogger Day - Georgia Aquarium

Dear Blogger,

You are invited to attend Planet Shark Blogger Day at the Georgia Aquarium on Saturday, February 20, 2010, to experience Planet Shark first hand from 9:00am-6:00pm (last admission at 4:00pm).

You will receive FREE admission for you and one guest.

Please RSVP to scott@creaxion.com by Wednesday, February 17 and include your blog’s web address for verification. Your tickets will be available for pick up at Georgia Aquarium Will-Call, located at the main entrance, the day of the event.

Planet Shark Blogger Day invitation has been attached to this e-mail for more information. Please feel free to extend the invite to fellow bloggers.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Keep Fishing Sharks to Support Research?

The world of shark conservation often works at cross purposes as agenda driven groups push for conservation strategies that have unintended consequences.

From direct action protest groups who ultimately embed resistance and cause disparate fishing interests to successfully band together against conservation, to "Shark Messiahs" who push unsustainable messaging about what sharks really are - top order predators.

This week Loblaws' Canada (a grocery chain) announced a ban on the sale of shark meat and a few species of fish declaring them unsustainable.

Clearly a win for the shark conservation folks, but hold on a minute, researchers now claim this ban will damage research efforts as the vessels they use to tag sharks are the fishing vessels that catch sharks for sale at Loblaws' Canada.

If your faith in the shark conservation movement is being shaken at this point, you might not want to read the entire story. The take away from this story is the need for all groups to look beyond just their immediate efforts and push for a holistic approach to conservation.

If you think the chances of that happening anytime soon is as good as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society actually stopping Japans whaling efforts or the Canadian Seal hunt - you would be right.

This blog often points out issues and trends that mature over time, one thought, one idea, and one post at a time.

Sharks and research in Canada.

The Million Dollar Vote - Shark Conservation Win

Georgienne Bradley from The Imaging Foundation is the smartest woman in the shark conservation room right now.

With her small team she has managed to create a tsunami of interest in the Chase Charitable Giving Event and with your help her team can capture the ultimate prize of One Million Dollars for shark conservation efforts.

Why are we supporting this effort?

Bandwidth. Bradley's team have managed to capture a lot of it all over the Internet and beyond and that is the cornerstone of today's conservation world.

Bandwidth.

Please support this effort today with your valuable vote. Yes we know Haiti is also an important issue right now so do two things in the next 24hrs.

1. Donate 5-50 for Haiti relief efforts.

2. Vote for The Imaging Foundation.

Haiti thanks you and the sharks thank you. A double win in 2010.

2010 Florida Shark Fishing Regulations

Here are the new shark fishing regulations for the State of Florida.

As a barometer for the sport fishing industry the State of Florida is making improvements to shark fisheries.

■ New additions to the prohibited species list are sandbar, silky and Caribbean sharpnose sharks.

■ Sharks must be landed whole. This means filleting and removing heads, fins, and tails of sharks at sea is not allowed. Gutting and bleeding of sharks at sea is allowed to preserve the meat.

■ There is no minimum size limit for Atlantic sharpnose sharks, blacknose sharks, blacktip sharks, bonnethead sharks, finetooth sharks, and smooth dogfish, all other sharks must be at least 54 inches long (fork length) to harvest or possess.

■ Sharks may be harvested with hook and line gear only. Additionally, snatching and use of multiple (e.g. treble) hooks with natural baits is not allowed.

■ There is a bag limit of one shark per person per day and a maximum of 2 sharks per vessel per day.

■ Smooth dogfish and the Florida smoothhound are now included in the shark regulations. For a complete list of regulated sharks please visit MyFWC.com. Many sharks are difficult to identify and it is up to anglers to learn how to properly identify the sharks they harvest.

Please visit MyFWC.com to view shark identification information and other management information.

Happy Holidays from SharkDiver.com!

It's kind of a tradition here at Shark Diver posting this image.

It features a shark we named in 2004, "Shredder," with the image shot by Christy Fisher.

This image serves as a reminder of all the shark diving folks, research folks, and media folks we have come to call friends over the years.

Good people who have made the business of shark diving and shark conservation a very exciting place for us.

We are honored to know these unique and special people and look forward to the new decade of shark diving adventures, discovery, and conservation with you all.

Farewell 2009 and very Happy Holidays!

Oceanic Whitetip Sharks - Hawaii

If you have not yet discovered iDive Sharks consider this an "insiders tip." This week Mark Oronzio shared his Oceanic Whitetip footage from Hawaii.

Increasingly rare due to fishing pressure and sought after for their overlarge fins these remarkable critters make better close encounter video.

Kudos:

GSI - A New Tool For Shark Conservation?

As we say farewell to 2009 and hello to 2010, new tools are becoming available for shark conservation. Soon the issue of shark fins will be changed from a "cultural issue" to an "endangered species trafficking issue."

It's all in the DNA:

Millions of shark fins are sold at market each year to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy, but it has been impossible to pinpoint which sharks from which regions are most threatened by this trade.

Now, groundbreaking new DNA research has, for the first time, traced scalloped hammerhead shark fins from the burgeoning Hong Kong market all the way back to the sharks geographic origin. In some cases the fins were found to come from endangered populations thousands of miles away. These breakthrough findings provide strong evidence for enacting international trade protection for hammerhead sharks at the March 2010 CITES meeting in Qatar.

Vero Beach Municipal Marina now a Shark Free Marina

Vero Beach Municipal Marina in Florida is now registered as a Shark Free Marina.

The mission of the Vero Beach Municipal Marina is to provide efficient first class service at reasonable cost to resident and visiting boaters in a manner that reflects well on the character of the City of Vero Beach. In order to fulfill our mission Marina personnel are trained to:

• Exercise time and material cost consciousness, while implementing business practices that meet Marina Industry and City Standards. These practices are carried out in a labor-intensive activity requiring acute safety awareness on the part of each employee.
• Act as goodwill ambassadors for the city by promoting tourism and local business patronage.
• Insure that Marina and Mooring operations maintain a favorable relationship with neighboring residents, clubs and businesses.
• To promote Clean Marina practices and assist in developing programs and procedures to keep the Indian River clean and environmentally safe.

Located on the East side of the Indian River Lagoon, just north of the Merrill Barber (Hwy 60) Bridge, the City of Vero Beach prides itself on being a center for maritime information and hospitality for over 3,000 visiting boats each year. These visiting boaters spend a phenomenal 20,000 overnights with us. Rental moorings and slips are available on a daily or monthly basis (call for monthly details). Gasoline, diesel, and pump out services are available on our 70 ft. fuel dock. Approaches to the fuel dock are 8-10 ft. Facilities and services include free bus service to town, Laundromat, TV lounge, WiFi, mail drop and pick-up, bicycle and vehicle parking, restrooms, showers, trash disposal, waste oil disposal, and a park with picnic shelters and barbecues.

Support their business by dropping by their facility at:

City Marina at Marker 139 on the Intracoastal Waterway
3611 Rio Vista Boulevard, Vero Beach, FL 32963
Phone: 772-231-2819
Radio: Monitoring VHF CH 16 working CH 66A
Business Hours: 0700 to 1900
E-Mail: marina@covb.org

Are you a marina owner/manager? Follow their example and register your facility with Shark-Free Marinas today.

Want to get involved with SFMI? Visit our Regional Ambassadors page for more info.

Shark Cowboy - Liar or Looney?

November was a not a good month for shark researchers and extreme media gaffs.

From the Farallones to Australia and now Richard Fitzpatrick the perception of qualified shark research is being modified by a few within the community who have chosen to seek the media limelight.

"Riding a tiger shark is awesome, said Mr Fitzpatrick, who left Cairns this week on a diving expedition tagging sharks in the Coral Sea."

Richard Fitzpatrick represents a new and startling brand of shark researcher, those that do extreme things with animals and use research data to justify their actions, leading many to question the work being done.

"He admits most people think he is either "a liar or a loony" when he tells them he lassoes sharks for a living."

Like commercial shark diving, invasive shark research practices are under scrutiny. There are some who might argue that "the ends justify the means" with invasive shark research.

We maintain reality television shows and basic stunt work with sharks have no place within shark research community and media gaffs like this week with Richard Fitzpatrick only lower the bar for others who perceive shark research as a hybrid entertainment entity.

Shark Cowboy, Liar or Loony?

To Mr. Fitzpatrick and those who would emulate him, we would suggest the answer to that question might be both.

Invasive shark researchers seek media at their own peril, this weeks offering once again delivers a black eye to the entire effort.

That's one small step for sharks...

Senate Committee Passes Bill to End Shark Finning in U.S.

WASHINGTON, November 19, 2009 - Oceana commends the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today for passing the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.

"Shark management in the U.S. has suffered for long enough," said Beth Lowell, federal policy director at Oceana. "It's time to enact this shark finning bill into law."

The Act would require all sharks caught in U.S. waters to be landed whole with their fins still attached. This would put an end to shark finning, the wasteful process of cutting off the fins and discarding the carcass at sea.

Landing sharks with their fins still attached allows for better enforcement and data collection for stock assessments and quota monitoring. The Act would also close a loophole that allows the transfer of fins at sea as a way to get around current law. Additionally, the bill would allow the United States to take action against countries whose shark finning restrictions are not as strenuous.

"Finning is threatening shark populations worldwide," said Elizabeth Griffin, marine scientist at Oceana. "The U.S. should be a leader in helping to solve the problem of shark finning."

The Act was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in April. Similar legislation (H.R. 81), introduced by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), passed the House of Representatives in March.

ABOUT SHARKS:

Sharks have been swimming the world's oceans since before the age of the dinosaur, but today some species face extinction. Each year, commercial fishing kills more than 100 million sharks worldwide - including tens of millions for just their fins. Sharks are especially vulnerable to pressure from human activities because of their slow growth and low reproductive potential.

Sharks can be found in almost every ocean and play a vital role in maintaining the health of the oceans. Many shark populations have declined to levels where they are unable to perform their roles as top predators in the ecosystem, causing drastic and possibly irreversible damage to the oceans. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, more than half of the highly migratory shark species are now considered overexploited or depleted.

For more information about Oceana's campaign to safeguard sharks, please visit www.oceana.org/sharks.

Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the world's oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America, Europe and South America. For more information, please visit www.Oceana.org.

Farallones Tagging Mishap - RTSea Productions

However you want to characterise last weeks tagging incident at the Farallone Islands many within the shark community have unanswered questions.

RTSea Productions added their voice and overall assessment yesterday:

Controversy is now dogging the white shark tagging efforts of Dr. Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute. The SPOT (smart positioning or temperature) tagging began in Isla Guadalupe under the eyes of a film crew for a National Geographic Channel program to air on the 19th. It involves a technique whereby the shark is hooked and reeled on board, aerated with a water hose, while the crew literally drills and bolts a satellite transmitting tag to the shark's dorsal fin.

This is a rather elaborate tagging technique that has generated much concern within the shark conservation community (click here for prior posting about the Isla Guadalupe taggings, and here are two from other sites: click here and here).

Now, Dr. Domeier has moved northward to the Farallon Islands and, with the approval of Maria Brown, superintendent for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, has been tagging sharks there but with less than optimal success. Apparently, one shark swallowed the hook deep into its throat causing the bait's float to become lodged in the shark's jaws, thereby blocking access for the aerating water hose and requiring the cutting of the hook by working straight through the shark's gills. All in all a disaster in humane animal treatment as far as I'm concerned.

While there are concerns about the stresses this type of tagging places on the shark, there is also the question as to the need for more data acquired in the Northern California area. Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford, Dr. Pete Klimley of UC Davis, and others have amassed a considerable body of data that tracks the migratory patterns of these animals. They and their colleagues just recently issued a detailed report that can be viewed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, published online on 11/04/09 in the Biological Sciences section ("Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks").

I always felt that this particular tagging technique was a more elaborate mousetrap than necessary. Now its efficacy has become controversial, the California data may ultimately be redundant, and the National Marine Sanctuary must defend a decision to allow catching a protected species in a manner that would most likely not be allowed for, say, a protected marine mammal.

Too many questions, too much controversy. . .

Read article in Bay area bohemian.com.

Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks

Fascinating reading coming from The Proceedings of The Royal Society this week (click on image) with tracking/DNA data from a multi year effort at the Farallons, Point Reyes and Ano Nuevo off the coast of California.

Paper Highlights

"Hawaii is likely to be an important foraging area for white sharks. Extensive use of waters surrounding the Hawaiian island archipelago in winter and spring was evident from 13 satellite tag records (22% of tags with offshore tracks) and five acoustic tags (10% of 2006 and 2007 deployments) detected opportunistically by receivers stationed near the islands of Oahu and Hawaii (together comprising six males, six females and six unsexed individuals) (figure 1). The most precise geopositions and acoustic records from Hawaii included Argos endpoint transmissions (n = 8) with location errors of 150 m s.d. (Teo et al. 2004) and acoustic tags detected at fixed locations (n = 5). These occurred in slope and near shore waters along the entire 3000 km archipelago from the big island of Hawaii extending through the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to Laysan Island and Midway Atoll (electronic supplementary material, figure S2). While this distribution includes areas with colonies of endangered monk seals (Baker et al. 2007), detailed dive records from four recovered satellite tags (three females and one unsexed; three separate years) indicated that the dominant behaviour, when not transiting (Weng et al. 2007), was a precise diel vertical migration, between the surface and 600 m, consistent with foraging within the deep scattering layer community (Shepard et al. 2006) (electronic supplementary material, figure S3)."

Read study here.

NBC's Today Show D- on Sharks

If there was some kind of award for shoddy, hyper inflated, negative shark coverage, NBC's The Today Show would get it.

Over the past several years they have been the media leaders in 1970's style "horror shark" media hits.

If there was an award for honestly in shark media, new Blue Blogger Dorsal Fin would get it.

This week DF earned an extra tall shark statue for calling out The Today Shows ongoing and dare we say it, "moronically half fabricated shark based clap trap."

Actually, we liked that so much we'll say it again, "moronically half fabricated shark based clap trap."

The media's responsibility for balanced shark reporting is paramount and the only way they will be made to come to their senses is if we all take the time to point out when they stray completely off the media reservation.

In The Today's Show case that is several times a year, with few if any media hits highlighting research, science, and the ongoing decimation of worldwide shark populations.

Balance. In the world we live in it is needed now more than ever.

Kudos to Dorsal Fin for providing some.

Maui Bans Shark Tourism - Surfer Attacked by Shark

Not weeks after Maui City Council members voted to ban non existent commercial shark diving to "protect swimmers and divers" in Maui - a surfer was bitten this morning by an estimated 6-8 foot sand shark.

He was surfing in the "Kalama Bowls" area of a local beach park shortly after 6:00 a.m. when he was bitten on the upper right thigh and the lower part of his right ankle, according to Maui County officials.

The unfortunate negative intersection of sharks and humans will continue to happen regardless of commercial shark diving operations in any given area.

Maui has never had commercial shark diving in it's waters.

Shark do not target humans as a general rule.

Maui's political decision to ban shark diving was just that, a political decision, and with this mornings unfortunate incident proved one thing for certain...sharks do not regard political decisions.

Commercial shark diving is under assault by a global anti-shark diving lobby that trades in on the fear of sharks. When bans are proposed "public safety" is touted as the net benefit to the community at large.

With this latest case in Maui, the anti-shark diving lobby has been exposed for what they are.

Simply put, purveyors of fear based nonsense.

Dr. Sylvia Earle's Deep Search Foundation - Whale Sharks

Isla Holbox is perhaps the best known commercial whale shark encounter sites on the planet. A surprising success story of commercial shark diving and growing site research and conservation.

With little known about these "gentle giants" a scientific expedition lead by Dr. Sylvia Earle's Deep Search Foundation chronicled it's time here from July 11th - 15th, 2009 in an in depth series of blog posts.

Great reading for those desk bound shark adventure seekers.

About Deep Search Foundation

Founded in 2008, Deep Search is dedicated to exploring and protecting Earth's ocean, the cornerstone of our planet’s life support system. More than 70% of Earth is covered by ocean, and 94% of our habitable space is in the seas. Yet, we have explored less than 5% of the ocean and protected only a fraction of 1%. These figures pale even further when one considers the deep sea.