The shark diving industry blog covering sharks, shark cage diving, shark conservation and things we find "amusing" since 2008 www.sharkdiver.com, www.sharkdivers.com, www.divingwithsharks.com
NAPLES --
Shark research at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s
(DEP) Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) will have
the national spotlight tomorrow in a segment of Ocean Mysteries with
Jeff Corwin. The new production, launched jointly by the Georgia
Aquarium and Litton Entertainment, is part of the Litton Weekend
Adventure Saturday morning three-hour educational programming block on
ABC. The shark research episode, featuring RBNERR’s fisheries biologist
Pat O’Donnell, along with Mike Hyatt and Paul Anderson, PhD., two of the
other researchers involved in the study, is scheduled to air tomorrow
Saturday, Nov. 5.
“We
are thrilled that the Rookery Bay is being recognized in this
production,” said Rookery Bay NERR Manager Gary Lytton. “Millions of TV
viewers nationwide will have a great opportunity to learn more about
sharks and the importance of mangrove estuaries as shark nurseries
through our collaboration with Corwin and the Georgia Aquarium.”
Five
years ago, Rookery Bay NERR’s long-term shark monitoring program caught
the attention of Florida Aquarium veterinary staff working to improve
captive shark handling techniques. Subsequently, Rookery Bay NERR
entered into a cooperative research effort with the Florida Aquarium,
the Georgia Aquarium and Shedd’s Aquarium in Chicago. The collaborative
shark stress response project required access to wild-caught sharks,
such as those encountered monthly in RBNERR’s project.
As
production plans got underway at the Georgia Aquarium for Ocean
Mysteries, the Rookery Bay shark capture project became the perfect
opportunity to put Corwin in close contact with wild sharks. Filming
took place aboard a Rookery Bay NERR research vessel in the Ten Thousand
Islands in August 2011. The crew encountered four sharks: two
lemon (Negaprion brevirostris), a bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) and a
blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus). While the cameras rolled, the sharks
were measured, weighed and had other data recorded before being tagged
and released with Corwin’s assistance and enthusiastic explanation of
their significance to the ocean ecosystem.
Programming times vary during the Saturday morning Litton’s Weekend Adventure on ABC. Check your local listings.
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.
We have been critical of the Georgia Aquarium in the past and remain skeptical of the "scuba interactive whale shark exhibit" at this site.
But a new exhibit plans to educate the world to the plight of sharks and at first blush this looks interesting:
The world’s largest fish tank will soon offer visitors the world’s first look at a new exhibit, “Planet Shark: Predator or Prey.”
The new Georgia Aquarium exhibit opens Oct. 3, but we got the first look at it this week. (As always, I enjoy an up-close view of shark teeth and Shop-Vacs.)
It was developed in Australia and moved into the Aquarium’s 10,000 square foot exhibition space, where its first views include intimidatingly large shark models, a row of shark jaws, piles of shark teeth — and the message that sharks ought to be more afraid of humans than we are of them.
“Planet Shark” curators Craig Thorburn and Mike Bhana dedicated an entire gallery to fishing practices and consumer products that lead to the deaths of about 100 million sharks every year, according to Oceana, an ocean conservation organization.
“Sharks can easily sustain cultural uses by Pacific Islanders,” Thorburn explained as we walked through the exhibit. “They didn’t reckon on us, our fishing methods, our factory ships.”
For Thorburn, “Planet Shark” is a competitor in the race to capture imaginations. Sharks are an exciting, mysterious villain for movies and magazine covers, but in the U.S., you’re far more likely to be killed by a deer than a shark. His thought: if young, curious minds can learn about sharks, how they’re researched and how they’re portrayed, maybe their population will increase.
“Watch them, enjoy them, respect them,” Thorburn said. “They’re not meant to be cuddled, but they have just as much right to be here as we do.”
By default public Aquariums educate and entertain. Charismatic megafauna, like Tiger sharks and Hammerheads are becoming frequent visitors to aquarium collections.
This week, the children visiting the Georgia Aquarium discovered the complete range of shark behaviors, much to the obvious shock of the parents and one very unlucky stingray. Warning Graphic:
Found on the Internet over at our new favorite blog Oh, for the love of Science. Sometimes blog posts are perfect just the way they are. When this happens we re post the whole thing:
How often do you get to say that you are doing something good by drinking? Well, up through World Oceans Day on June 8th (yes, I only just found out about this) , Shark Trust Wines will be donating 30% of your total purchase to The Ocean Project, the world’s most extensive network for advancing ocean education and action. All you have to do is type TOP into the coupon code. Of course, you probably want to donate as much money as possible to The Ocean Project, so you should probably stockpile up on wines. At $10 a bottle, that won’t be hard!
Your options are:
SIX GILL Syrah
REEF SHARK Red
WHALE SHARK Chenin
GREAT WHITE Chardonnay
Any other time, Shark Trust Wines donate 10% of profits to organizations that deal with shark conservation and research. Included on the list are the National Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium, Florida Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium and Mote Marine Laboratory. So drink up! (Like you needed an excuse to pour yourself a good glass of wine…)
Ok, I guess I SHOULD comment on the EU plan of action for sharks that was released on the 5th of February, but since both my hard drive and I decided to crash on the same day (no worries, it was just a cold for me and I had a recent back up of my hard drive so I didn’t loose that much data), I haven’t had the time or energy to go through it yet. I will return to it later.
So, my blog today will be about sharks in captivity. I have to admit that I have a very split opinion about this. Or maybe not… Let’s say I have an opinion. Here it is:
I love sharks! I love to swim with them, dive with them, watch others dive with them on tv and I like to see them ”live” in aquariums. For you, it might be the last statement that is the hardest to understand (since this is a blog which I guess mainly people who likes to go diving with sharks read. I often meet people who think that it is crazy to go diving with sharks!).
All my holidays I tend to plan so that I will either be able to swim with sharks or see them in nice aquariums.
But - there is always a but - I want the sharks to be healthy in the aquariums and I like diversity above ”mass consumption”.
I realize that any aquarium most likely is too small to be an ideal place for a shark. They should be allowed to swim freely in the ocean. Still, I think that letting people see sharks with their own eyes makes them more willing to help saving them. Sharks are not as easy to love as a seal pup or a smiling dolphin (I don’t know about that really – I have loved sharks ever since I could talk, but many people tell me about their fear of sharks). You have to work harder to make people as aware and fascinated as you are yourself. One way is to show them sharks on tv, an other to have them on display in aquariums.
But not all aquariums are ok. The film clips below were shot in Denmark. So far that is my favourite shark aquarium in the world. I guess the tank is a bit crowded, but the sharks look fine. No bruises or nasty wounds, no strange swimming patterns and a high diversity. I’ve been to several aquariums in the US where there have been lots of sharks – in fact, they have been lying in droves – but just 2 or 3 species. Those aquariums have not impressed me at all – although the sharks look ok. I don’t know if it’s because we in Scandinavia have to buy all our tropical sharks and ship them for lots of money to our aquariums – and therefore we can’t afford to overcrowd our tanks - whereas aquariums in Florida just go out with some fishing gear and takes as many sharks as they want. It could be that the sharks give birth to pups in captivity as well, but monocultures are boring and makes me a bit sick.
I went to a shark aqaurium in Germany. The tank was big and not too crowded with the four sandtigers that they had, but it also contained a poor lemon shark that was swimming in circles just above the floor. You could see a circle in the sand where it had been spinning around. That was very sad to see! Especially since I have since learned that you can cure this behavior with the correct medicine!
There is an other reason why that dive below was so excellent. As a biologist I know that nature is unpredictable. You might pay a lot of money to go very far away to end up with… scrubbing the boat from fishblood and not seeing a white shark for a whole day (that happend to me in South Africa in 1995). In an aquarium I know that I will have sharks around me – for sure! Also, since I took up diving I became what we in Sweden call an “ear child”. After a few dives I get ear infections and are not allowed to dive anymore for a while. If you spend a lot of money to go on a diving holiday you don’t want to get ill! Especially not before you have seen those sharks! Luckily I can snorkel ok and many sharks prefer that, but still there are some adventures where you will have to dive to see the sharks. The hammerheads off Cocos Islands are at the moment just a dream dive for me.
So, do I think that it is ok to have any specie of sharks in captivity? No I don’t think so. Some species adopt better than others to being held in captivity. That said, given the chance, I would gladly watch the captive whale sharks in Georgia, the white sharks that they have had in Monterey and the goblin sharks in Japan. I know it’s not politically correct, but if that is my best chance to see them “live” at all, I’m in.
In the best of worlds I would just have to grab my snorkel and jump into the water and be surrounded by sharks. For me here in Scandinavia, it isn’t as easy as that.
P.S. Since over 18 years I share my life with a pet tarantula. Yup, 18 years. In the wild, she would probably not have lasted more than a few years. Now we can look forward to say, 45 years together… Sometimes the sharks might be safer from predators – like humans - in aquariums… D.S.
We have been blogging about this ongoing debate for the past year. This morning the Associated Press has come out with an article that takes on the newest trend in scuba diving-Commercial Aquarium Diving:
AP Report: SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Still enthralled, Debra Kurtz described how a 6-foot-long zebra shark, a predator that patrols the western Pacific and Indian oceans, swam around her head.
Then there was the playful 300-pound, green sea turtle, an endangered species from tropical waters, that kept trying to crawl underneath her as she knelt in the sand.
Her favorites, though, were the angelfish, which clustered around her to take sand showers, swimming through the grains of sand she let slip through her fingers.
Not bad for an hour's worth of scuba diving. The 44-year-old sales and marketing management consultant from Vernon Hills, Ill., was a guest diver at the National Aquarium in Baltimore while on a recent business trip. A growing number of aquariums across the country from Denver to Duluth, from Long Island to Tampa are opening their exhibit tanks to certified scuba divers.
We have blogged about the current trend of commercial aquariums that allow "divers" into their enclosures for face to face encounters with sharks.
Like it or not this is a trend-and a poor one at that. Commercial aquaria were never constructed and designed as underwater public encounter spaces. In 98% of them-these for profit public encounters-are an afterthought. Basically these aquaria are becoming hybrid organizations at best.
Why not build a state of the art public dive encounter site complete with sharks, safety and education? Seems like a far fetched idea? We're closer than ever.
Here's the growing list of aquarium adventure dives for your review:
Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta. A whale shark, the world's largest fish, is the prime attraction. One 30-minute dive daily. There is also a swim option, with no diving experience required ($290; www.georgiaaquarium.org).
Florida Aquarium, Tampa. Dive with the Sharks. One 30-minute dive daily ($150; www.flaquarium.org).
National Aquarium, Baltimore. Wings in the Water and Atlantic Coral Reef tanks are available for diving. One 30-minute dive in each tank, every other Saturday. ($295; www.aqua.org).
Epcot Center, Orlando. Epcot Dive Quest, sharks, eagle rays, sea turtles, plus 60-plus fish species, 40-minute dive twice daily. ($150; disneyworld.disney.go.com).
Underwater Adventure at the Mall of America. Offers dives to Fisherman's Hollow and Shark Cove on Wednesday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons ($195). There is a swim option for those without diving experience: snorkeling Rainbow Reef, on Friday afternoons and Saturday and Sunday mornings ($80; www.underwaterworld.com).
We have been updating you on the Georgia Aquarium's efforts to bring the public to their captive Whale Sharks in a new and some say...yes we say-ridiculous manner, with the addition of paying "thrill divers".
Those in world of commercial aquariums dance a fine line between captive animal ambassadors and commercial exploitation.
Monterey Bay Aquarium has managed that fine line with their ground breaking white shark program. If there was ever a road map to follow this program would be it. Unfortunately the folks over at the Georgia AQ have not seen this map.
Meanwhile the rest of the research and whale shark community remains unimpressed and in some cases in open rebellion:
Georgia Aquarium invitation riles some conservationists
Isla Holbox, Mexico — Georgia Aquarium officials want to hold the next international whale shark conference in Atlanta, but some conservationists bristle at the idea because the world's largest indoor aquarium exhibits the huge polka-dotted fish.
Editors Note: One look at the Georgia AQ website and the Monterey Bay AQ website shows how P.R is won and lost by pushing the envelope from captive animal ambassadors to commercial exploitation. Georgia AQ needs to make a decision fast. Either break with traditional aquaria completly and become a full fledged commercial operation, or cease allowing "thrill divers" into captive whale shark enclosures. Clearly there's little room for a hybrid operation that seeks to maintain credibility within the research and traditional aquarium communities.
There's little good to say about the Georgia Aquariums decision to allow divers into the premier whale shark exhibit. We blogged about this months ago when they first announced the idea. Now it seems they have started the program and the L.A Times was there to document some of the first dives.
From the L.A Times article let us plainly show you why this is not a good idea:
"A diver named Kevin xxx broke into a flailing aquatic break-dance."
As an aquarium who's animals are already pulling "double duty", all of these magnificent animals are on a one way trip, adding paying divers to the mix is just plain wrong. Adding divers who feel that breaking into "a flailing aquatic break-dance" is a good idea-even worse.
It comes down to respect. Respect for the animals, respect for the aquariums legacy, respect for the idea of animal ambassadors. In a rush to increase corporate profits and bolster slowing attendance rates it would seem the Georgia Aquarium has lost its way.
There's an old saying here, and never truer in the case of the Georgia Aquarium "Just because you can do a thing, does not mean you should do it".
Since when did big aquariums decide that they would open their tanks to every Joe Diver in the world for instant shark thrills?
It started a few years ago with one or two smaller aquariums offering shark dives. Then as we reported last month the Grand Daddy of them all the Georgia Aquarium decided to offer interactive Whale Shark encounters.
Here's the rub, for years, aquariums have fought for legitimacy, saying that animals in captivity were ambassadors for the species. In 99% of these cases they were right.
Now the party line has shifted as aquariums look for new ways to generate revenue and to attract media attention. In the case of Florida they have been at this since 2001, about the same time that all commercial shark diving in the ocean was banned.
May we suggest a middle ground here?
Perhaps, if someone with say, $500,000,000 would be interested in building the ultimate dive attraction, it could be created for divers from around the world, indoors, with plenty of sharks for all.
Total commercial, total experience, instant sharks for all. Shark Diver is standing by with site plans and a logo.
Let us be the first of what will probably be many people, eco-groups, and divers to call "Bull-Shit" when we see it.
Recently, the Georgia Aquarium announced to one and all-real live scuba diving experiences and snorkeling experiences with their much coveted Whale Sharks...part two.
You see, the first set of Whale Sharks they had in captivity died mysteriously and they just Fed Ex'ed in another set a few months ago.
Look, this is not the way to run an aquarium, and the good folks in Georgia should know this. Whale Sharks are a unique and amazing shark species. While we are all for wild encounters with these critters, aquarium dives are just plain wrong.
Fact: If you cannot even keep the Whale Sharks you have alive for more than a year, then you absolutely shouldn't be charging "Scuba Yabbo's" to go dive with them.
We had a feeling that something like this was going to happen, after all this corporate aquarium is sponsored by the Home Depot, and what do they know about sharks?
