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.

Bizzare - Shark Nets Used as "Census" Shark Finning Blamed

For the past several years we have been vocal opponents against shark nets and drumlines along the Gold Coast of Australia.

Drumlines and shark nets are antiquated shark protection systems, a 1950's solution to issues between sharks and commercial tourism.

Frankly, we can do better.

The image featured here is a Gold Coast caught white shark from 2009 on a drumline set to "protect" bathers from these animals. Typically these sharks are disposed of at sea, the public is largely unaware that just off their pristine beaches, sharks are being killed indiscriminately.

So you can imagine the head shaking going on after reading an article this week where shark net managers along the Gold Coast are noticing smaller numbers of sharks caught in their nets...and are blaming commercial shark finners for sharks disappearance.

"Startling figures yesterday revealed shark nets had caught 40 less sharks in the past 12 months compared to the same period in 2001/02"

"In the 2001-02 financial year 78 sharks were caught in nets off the Coast but by 2009-10 the number had dropped to 37."

You can files these observations under "WFT".

Perhaps shark finning has something to do with the drop in numbers, or perhaps breeding populations, after close to 50 years of slaughter in the name of shark free beaches, are finally crashing. Perhaps it is an ugly combination of both factors and a few not yet identified.

The point is, this weeks article from shark net and drumline mangers is a bit much, even to the eyes of the most jaded shark conservationist.

Let's start rebuilding local Gold Coast shark populations by removing the shark nets and drumlines, because any data coming from these "merchants of death" is suspect and absolutely not a solution, except for smaller populations of sharks.

3944 Animals over 20 Years? Wonky Shark Net Math

The Australian Gov just announced that, over the past 20 years, shark nets designed to keep swimmers safe off Australian beaches have entangled an additional 3944 animals from rays to whales.

3944 animals over 20 years?

Somehow this number seems a bit low. Granted these nets are up on a seasonal basis September through April, but one might assume many more animals have been caught given that some 47 nets are in place.

We're going to look into this, contacting the actual vessels involved in netting operations and the conservationists on the other side of this issue who are calling for a take down of the nets.

If there's one thing we have come to discover about government statistics, wonky math tends to rule the day one hard data gets filtered though politico's.

Let's see if there's a story behind this story.

Save Our Seas - Thomas P. Peschak

Once in a great while someone in our industry comes to the table with compelling, reasonable, and frankly conservation changing media (see video). This week our hats come off to photographer Thomas P. Peschak who along with the Save Our Seas Foundation have taken on the issue of South African Shark nets.

We have been talking about this issue for many months after the first, second and then third Tiger shark kills at Aliwal shoal. This is conservation action at work, spending time, money and resources to bring home an issue and help save sharks on a regional level. This is also industry leadership.

Kudos to everyone involved. SOS has hit a home run with this effort. Please support them.

Thomas P. Peschak is an award winning photojournalist and marine biologist based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the chief photographer for the Save our Seas Foundation and travels extensively to document shark conservation and research around the world.

Download Tom Peschak's Africa Geographic article as a PDF here.