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
There are shark research websites and then there's the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme website.
Perhaps one of the most exciting and well conceived shark research websites we have come across in the past year - even though it's still in development.
This is how you do online shark conservation messaging and web outreach. Simply gorgeous shark images tell the story while up to date news and reports keep interested media and the public informed and engaged.
We are also not surprised to see this program as a member site to the Shark Alliance, kudos. MWSRP Mission Statement
The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) exists to facilitate perpetual whale shark research projects and to foster community focused conservation initiatives within the Maldives.
The whale shark - the largest fish on our planet. Despite their great size very little is known about these colossal fish. We know they swim the oceans, potentially covering vast distances, eating only plankton, tiny fish and squid; but questions like how long they live or where they reproduce still remain unanswered.
With the news of a 16 foot Great Hammerhead caught and killed off the Miami coast yesterday we thought this would be a good opportunity to look into the state of Florida's tourism.
Florida Tourism by the Numbers
57 Billion - The economic impact of tourism in Florida
6.9% - Current decline in hotel revenue for Miami-Dade region, Florida's largest
10% - Overall decline in tourism since 2007 and falling
Florida needs tourism dollars. The state is in free fall with sharply declining tax revenue, the housing debacle, and in some regions of Florida a shocking10% unemployment rate. It is time for Florida to reevaluate every tourism option they have and that includes shark tourism.
We have been harping on this for a while now. Since the ill fated decision in 2001 to ban shark diving in Florida's waters millions of tourism dollars have gone to places like Bahamas where divers enjoy safe encounters with sharks. Shark tourism, done right, could be plugged into Florida's existing scuba community to begin major tourism revenue generation in one year or less.
Those numbers include hotels, airlines, taxi's, restaurants, time shares, the economy. Since 2001 the state of commercial shark diving worldwide has "matured". With the proper protocols in place, oversight, and even stiff fines for operations that fail to follow shark protocol Florida could become a world leader in safe shark encounters drawing tourists from all over the planet.
One final number to consider - 200 million. The estimated value of commercial shark diving worldwide and growing. In countries like the Maldives, shark tourism already accounts for 2.1 million dollars in tourism revenue, an estimated 100 times more than the export value of shark meat from the region.
Looking at the Great Hammerhead caught yesterday by one tourist from Illinois it becomes elemental to estimate the ongoing value of that animal just as easily. Unfortunately for the struggling hotels, restaurants, and unemployed in the Miami region the only value they will ever see from that shark is on the Channel 6 news archives.
As Sea Shepherd departs from the Southern ocean, once again, claiming to have saved whales from evil whalers let's take a look at their anti whaling efforts in perspective.
This week titular head of organization Paul Watson rammed his vessel into whalers with Animal Planet film crews capturing every moment for season two of Whale Wars. Classic Wagging the Conservation Dog moment with just days to go for Sea Shepherds departure from the area.
The conflict of interest with their reality television relationship goes beyond mentioning, suffice to say it begs the question "what is real and what is staged?"
After this weeks boat ramming spree Watson then claimed "the situation down here is getting very, very chaotic and very aggressive". This statement is tantamount to anti meat protesters ramming their cars into the side of beef processing factories and claiming the same. Add to that a waiting reality television film crew and you begin to see not only the uselessness of actions like these but the abject media fueled cannibalism of the entire event.
What you are looking at is staged eco theater with a side of dead whale at a cost of millions of well meaning dollars from people who really want to see and end to whaling. Like us.
To put this into perspective, this year Watson and company will claim to have saved perhaps 60 whales, that claim, like so many others from Sea Shepherd, will be seriously contested. Meanwhile Watson and company dangerously and egregiously risked a fuel oil breach from either his own vessel or those he rammed in the Southern ocean this year.
In the time it took Sea Shepherd to elicit funds, build a campaign, invite a reality television crew aboard and pump out a mass of seriously massaged media sound bites-whales died worldwide:
At what cost per whale will donors continue to subsidize and support ineffective media theatre brought to you by Sea Shepherd and company. For us the equation is simple:
Has whaling stopped? No.
Will season two of Whale Wars have moments of high drama with vessels being rammed? Yes.
Is this quality eco work? The answer to that question can be answered with the contents of your wallet or your check book. Place you bets where they will be most effective. For our money Sea Shepherd is out of touch, out of game, and out of time.
Cherie McCosker recently blogged about her eco tour experience with Whale sharks in Donsol, Philippines.
Her article is right on target but misses the larger point of the purpose of shark tourism in many regions worldwide:
"My German companion came back on the boat exclaiming, "You should have seen it, you could see the Whale shark get angry. All of a sudden it thrashed about and dove down to the depths of the sea".
As was blogged about a few months ago these animals were once hunted in that region. With the advent of high dollar Whale shark tourism the hunting stopped. Unfortunately local fishermen still kill sharks for squalene (kudos Diveshopp Blog) but these are deep water species that will probably never be monetized by shark tourism. In region after region worldwide when local populations see a financial incentive to keep sharks they do and the catalyst for that sea change is usually shark tourism.
Ms. McCoskers article talks about people touching and molesting Whale sharks under the guise of shark tourism and she has a solid point. But in the larger picture of animals no longer killed in the region one could argue that while imperfect, shark tourism does stop the killing of sharks.
We were speaking with writer Thayer Walker this morning when he gave us the heads up on a new article he just completed for this months Outside Magazine called "Ready, Aim, Sushi".
The article takes an inside look at spearfishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and an unfortunate Tiger shark kill while he was reporting the story:
"Underwater filmmaker Ryan McInnis of InSea.TV accompanied spearfishermen Craig Clasen and Cameron Kirkconnell on recent hunts for tuna in the Gulf of Mexico. During the course of one dive, a Tiger shark charged McInnis. The following short (see website) includes the ensuing back and forth between the divers and the shark."
This morning we called Ryan McInnis to get his take. Our conversation with him revealed a level headed and consummate waterman with a long history in water with sharks. This was a conversation with a diver who was absolutely distraught about killing a Tiger shark.
Here's a quote from our conversation:
"I have been diving my whole life and this was unlike any shark experience I have ever had, or wish to have. All I had was my camera and no spear gun when the animal charged in, fins down, with eyes rolled back, it scared me to death. My buddies came over and saw the animal in an aggressive stance, our vessel was 100 meters away. It closed distance on all three of us and it quickly became evident that we were going to have to defend ourselves. Once the decision was made and the first shot was fired the true horror was now we had to kill it, you never leave a shark just wounded. I have seriously conflicted emotions now, the death of such a beautiful fish made me totally reevaluate spear fishing. This entire event was terribly unfortunate. I think this animal had never encountered humans because of the aggressive manner in which it charged in. We have seen resident sharks become acclimated to us, this animals was not acclimated, it was not going to back down. We postured at the shark trying to look bigger, we swam at the animal, and the last ditch effort was the shot.If getting out of the water was an option we would have taken it, we're not out here to kill sharks".
In the final summation killing any Tiger shark is a tragedy, will this article enrage some? Undoubtedly. Kudos to Ryan for his take on this and willingness to discuss the back story to the story. What we discovered is a man who's equally disturbed by what he saw as a "no win" for both him and the shark.
This mornings AP news covered Cape Towns shark spotters program. The article reminds readers that there are viable solutions to shark and tourist beach interactions that do not always involve the permanent removal of these animals.
Kudos as well to writer Clare Nullis who took the time to really look into the issue of sharks producing an excellent and informative piece:
MUIZENBERG, South Africa - Shark spotter Patrick Davids is glad to see the back of the busloads of visitors who flocked to his powder-white beach over the New Year, distracting him with surfing spills, near drownings and illicit booze.
In contrast to the human hordes, the great white sharks under his watch behaved impeccably, says Davids. He regards the mighty predators as familiar friends with names like Speedy, Nosy, Rosy and Charlize.
The face of the 200-300 million dollar global shark diving industry is changing. Now more than ever operators are realizing the need for site research in tandem with operations.
This paradigm shift is being lead by a few regional and forward thinking shark diving operators like Wicked Diving in Thailand and elsewhere.
Not only are they working to identify individual animals through the successful ECOCEAN project but they are blogging, raising awareness, and educating others outside of their region.
This is the new face of commercial shark diving going into the next decade. Local site preservation, shark research and education are the keywords for an entire global industry. At the rate we are loosing sharks to both habitat loss and fisheries these are the operators who have organically discovered "NoblesseOblige".
As we have long said, shark conservation, site protections, outreach all start with "One" and kudos to Wicked Diving for leading the way in Thailand.
A horrific shark attack in Port St.John, South Africa has prompted calls for the installation of shark attack prevention facilities or shark nets.
The animal identified in this attack was a Zambezi or Bull shark, common to the area. South African authorities continue to be mired in a 1970's attitude towards their near shore sharks species regarding them as a "problem" with shark nets being a "solution".
Shark nets have been roundly condemned worldwide with many anti shark netting programs being likened to the clear cutting of rain forests. Sharks and many other animal species ranging from dolphin to whales are trapped by these 24/7 killers of wildlife.
Right now government officials in Port St.John are also wrestling with the cost of such a project without first taking lessons from other sites world wide where "solutions" to shark "problems" are less intrusive for sharks and in most cases less expensive for authorities:
1. California-Since the early 80's California has gone against the conventional wisdom of shark nets in high traffic areas where both White sharks and people mix. Instead California instituted protections for white sharks, and began a long term education of local populations towards these animals. Today, even after rare shark attacks on humans, the sharks are not demonized but understood to also have a natural stake in the waters as well as humans. Beaches with sharks feature year round warnings and the public is educated.
2. Australia-In Queensland, Australia where Box Jellyfish sometimes kill humans beach side playpens are set aside. These are often large net enclosures that allow swimmers full access to the ocean in set areas with life guards, ceding the natural ocean to wildlife. This would be the optimal solution for Port St.John's waters.
A combination of education, and set aside swimming zones that were netted would work in a cost effective manner for both the government of Port St.John and for oceanic wildlife.
Cost effective shark programs require a willingness to see sharks as proper stake holders in waters where humans and sharks mix. For too long many South African authorities have seen their sharks as "others" to be managed and eradicated. Let's look at this entire issue from the flip side and manage human populations first. A win for all.
We blogged about "newly discovered" Whale shark aggregations in the Gulf of Mexico back in August of 2008.
These unique and seasonal sites have long been known to the shark research community since 2002-but are just now getting the major media's attention.
Whale sharks represent "instant tourism" opportunities for many communities across the planet. The ease in which these animals allow for human interaction and the relative benign nature of these critters make for exciting shark encounters. For the still devastated Gulf Coast region local dive shops have been slow to look into "shark tourism gold" off their shores:
NEW ORLEANS — It was such an unusual sight that the commercial fishing crew in the northern Gulf of Mexico took an hour out of their work day to count the whale sharks swimming around and even rubbing their sandpaper-like backs against the boat.
The crew stopped at 44 to avoid double-counting the dark-bodied fish, some up to 50 feet long, opening and closing their wide mouths as they vacuumed in plankton, fish eggs or small fish southwest of Morgan City, La.
It was the largest sighting in a record year for a study of the world's largest fish that began in 2002 at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Miss.
"As far as your eye could see in every direction, you just saw fish after fish after fish after fish," said David Wesley Underwood of Pensacola, Fla., a deckhand on his uncle's boat, the Norman B. Complete Story
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.
Voices and lots of them. Until now the driving forces behind new shark fishing regulations that would require vessels to come back to port with shark carcass, as well as fins, have been NGO's.
It is time for regular folks to step up to the plate. Once in a long while do issues like these come up for debate, discussion and action.
Make your voice heard. It is estimated that forcing near worthless shark carcass to return with shark fishing vessels in EU waters will curtail upwards of 30% of this out of control fishery. That's an excellent start.
Woke up this morning to a veritable media buffet of shark conservation coverage regarding shark fisheries efforts with the EU.
Over 122 media outlets (not including blogs) have covered this story which is pro shark and pro conservation.
For all the negative shark press these papers put out pushing shark hysteria it is to be noted they also do an excellent job when the news is needed most:
Over the past 20 years, the total E.U shark catch has increased by nearly 35%, to more than 800,000 tonnes. As a result, some of these beautiful species are threatened with extinction, such as the Spurdog.
This week angler, and kayaker, Michael Night decided after seeing several large sharks kayaking one day-to catch one.
The story that follows is a classic case of using the "shark myth shield" to do bad things to sharks. In this case after seeing these magnificent animals from a kayak, Mr.Night went about baiting, hooking and dragging one up a local beach, his reason?
Mr Knight caught this critter not only for "the sport of it" but to dispel the myths about sharks "I wanted to show people that they are out there all the time and they don't cause any harm," he said (sound of wet palm slapping forehead).
This statement boggles the imagination and is unfortunately much of the excuse we are seeing worldwide for humans conducting themselves in a manner with sharks that is abjectly inappropriate. The misguided attempt to dispel a nebulous "myth about sharks".
Next time Mr.Knight...grab a mask and snorkel instead.
"NIMBY" is an acronym used by the Pentagon during the height of our mis-adventures in Iraq. It's stands for "not in my backyard", and what, you may ask does this have to do with shark diving?
Recently "Da Shark" from Beqa Adventure Divers told a film crew they would not use his operation to access sharks. Essentially the entire shark production was little more than exploitative "shark porn" with a tailor made shark script from L.A.
These scripts are typically produced by non shark people and attempt to bend sharks into the script, not work with the animals as the operators know them. This particular shows script has made the rounds within the industry and has been denounced by everyone who has seen it.
Here is the complete post from Beqa's blog this week.
This is also "Da Sharks" personal take on the industry as a whole. "NIMBY" also stands for industry leadership in this case. As operators we have become the unwitting gate keepers for the ongoing perception of sharks. In the final summation it is up to us to look at our dive sites less as Biological ATM Machines and more as complete shark sanctuaries.
Da Shark:
We're all in this together.
I refuse to believe that the Channels cannot treat predatory Sharks in the very same way they have finally learned to treat the terrestrial apex Predators: as iconic, endangered, fascinating and essential elements of their habitats. It obviously works commercially or they wouldn't be airing those shows - Right?
Fiji would have some wonderful Shark stories to tell, combining huge Sharks with grassroots Conservation and ancestral beliefs, all set against the magical backdrop of the South Pacific - it sure wouldn't take a rocket scientist to weave that into a fascinating narrative.
But alas, all we get is more requests for the same, tired, endlessly re-hashed garbage. How does that dovetail with the new green image those guys are trying to portray?
Felix over at the excellent blog Oceanic Dreams posted a return email from Bimini shark researcher Doc Gruber this week.
The email was in response to a TV producer who wanted an expert opinion on the subject of diving with, and feeding, 'dangerous' sharks; specifically, how these activities affect or alter shark behavior, and also whether Dr. Gruber would consider cage-free shark diving a "hazardous" activity. Posted emails like these serve to enlighten our community and help guide future conversations about sharks and television and the industry as a whole. Kudos.
Typically questions like these are stacked for eco-edutainment programming that feature bad things with sharks. Doc Grubers response serves as a template for well reasoned and pro shark thought on the matter. It's hard to fault the opinions of a guy whose entire life has been spent in the company of sharks:
"I feel that shark dives produce several very beneficial outcomes for humans and sharks. First exposing divers to sharks, safely and professionally - and in a beautiful environment will inevitably turn fear into fascination. Quickly these people become ambassadors for shark conservation. Further it produces jobs and income for areas and folks that need the work - especially in an economy such as the Bahamian one.Tourism in the Bahamas is the country's life blood, and sharks are a draw". Complete Post
Actual organic messaging opportunities that tie-in daily tea use with shark fins: 1
You are looking at "brilliance in a cup" a way of getting an eco message across an entire culture without the use of bull horns, placards, or expensive bus shelter posters. By enabling and messaging a culture's other consumables you back door your conservation message in a culturally benign manner. In many cases two and three times a day per consumer as tea use in Asia is a daily ritual with many repeat tea sessions.
We like it and kudos to designer Pablo Matteoda from Argentina. We're pretty sure this is a case of unintended consequences, but like most marketplace widgets, your market is defined by users and right now we know a waiting market of roughly 800 million.
We have been trying to get a post out about Google Earths new Ocean. More to the point the stunning content interface that is sure to be be a game changer in the months to come. Thus far our efforts have come up short.
Enter Peter Etnoyer from the Deep Sea News blog. Sometimes you just flounder around trying to encapsulate how utterly striking new technology is. And then sometimes you just give up and say with gratitude "yeah, like he said":
Etnoyer on Google Earth
Ever since yesterday’s release of Google Earth 5.0, I have been trying to convince myself that playing with the new Ocean layer is part of my job. It seems to be working. I’m a graduate student who occasionally gives talks to high schools about the deep-sea.
I’ve tried before to use Google Earth as a presentation platform. When the projection was right, I could spin the globe the Gulf of Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico effortlessly. We would go island hopping on the digital globe, jumping back and forth between the Powerpoint, the DVD player, and Google Earth. Now, I won’t have to. It’s all there together.
We got the following email this week and naturally, passed on this project.
We have also harped on this industry subject ad nausem. Suffice to say as long as industry members provide the media with the negative shark images and video that sell advertising, there remains little incentive to produce better shark programming.
It's not that the desire for better shark programming does not exist or that Discovery Networks are essentially evil. They are not. Discovery buys some fantastic shows from truly visionary production companies. It would seem though that no one has shown Discovery how to do shark productions better, cheaper, and more cohesively. Until that day comes expect more of this:
Hello,
We are producing a new show for the Discovery Channel called “XXX.”
The show is an adrenaline-packed series that highlights extraordinary incidents caught on tape! I am interested in possible footage you may have of incidents where the sharks got “too close”. For example, we are doing another story of two cage divers off the coast of Mexico that had a Great White shark get its head stuck in the cage and they had to escape out the top. Can you think of any incidents like this, or similar, that was caught on tape?
We would love to license this footage from you, and of course you would be compensated for the use of the material. We sometimes also like to couple the video with on-camera interviews with the people involved. Also, keep in mind that this is a Discovery Channel show, and will in no way be sensationalized. We want to educate our viewers on the beauty and power of the Great White!
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Please let me know if you have any questions, as I would be happy to answer them for you.
What was once a surfers secret, became a researchers secret, and now is the open secret.
San Onofre, California, is a verysharky place.
If you have ever had the absolute pleasure of being in the company of shark watcher Ralph Collier from the Shark Research Committee (as we have) he'll tell you the reason why.
According to him most the critters you will find at San Onofre over the next three months are juveniles who are there for the annual Grunion Run. The Grunion (small bait fish) are filled with high calorie eggs, think of these little fish as "white shark power bars" and the whites who are swimming these waters are scooping them up by the mouthful in an all-you-can-eat three month shark buffet.
As for the surfers? Unless you are paddling out to the lineup wearing a pair of vintage silver sequinedMicheal Jackson Thriller Glovesyou should be fine.
It was no surprise to read another blog post from the surf community about this seasonal event because if it's any date over the next three months "Mr.White" is at San Onofre
We spent the last couple of days with Greg Davis owner and coder extraordinaire of the rapidly exploding scuba board Dive Buddy. The question on the table was blogging and content. One of our major issues with eco blogging or industry blogging is cross pollination.
Let me explain. For the most part scuba boards are insular, they want to keep their communities insulated from the outside and that is how they monetize their sites. This also fosters, to a degree, "group think".
At the same time salient industry thought, eco news, local dive news, and more happens outside these communities. The only way for this content to get in is if someone brings it in and that is the crux of the matter.
In many cases community members blog outside their scuba communities and do not have the time or effort to move these posts back into the scuba board. We are losing the conversation by blocking this tide of industry thought and discussion. Enter Greg Davis.
We joined his site in 2008. What struck us at first were the divers who had been attracted to his site with it's ease of navigation and ability to communicate with others. This, as it turned out, was simply a great crowd of divers.
"If you build it, they will come" as the saying goes, and Greg built it, the scuba community.
Back to blogging. So this weekend we discussed cross pollination and Greg built a program that allows outside blogs to automatically post to Dive BuddyIn a word brilliant. The blogger gets what amounts to double Google points for content, the Dive Buddy members get fresh new content to discuss, disagree with, or add to (the foundation of community) and Dive Buddy once again becomes more user friendly knocking down the oldschool scuba board paradigm of keeping members insular.
The entire program is still in Beta, but the idea is there. If you are a dive shop anywhere in the world, shark diving operation, or industry member who blogs about the industry, dive sites, eco news check out "the house that Greg built". In today's world content (good content) is king. The rise of serious online communities are driven by industry content and those few industryvisionaries who capitalize on it-driving the industry conversation forward on a variety of topics.
A few months ago we had a few things to say about the ill conceived and ill timed PETA Shark Week campaign featuring this image.
This week PETA announced a pro shark campaign in Florida to coincide with annual shark migrations and the negative hyper media that usually follows in it's wake.
This smart media tactic piggybacks on a natural shark event and effectively allows PETA to insert it's messaging into the local conversation.
Singer Island, Fla. -- The annual migration of hundreds of sharks off the South Florida coast has prompted PETA to create a pro-shark banner that will fly over Singer Island's beaches on Saturday from 12 noon to 3 p.m.The banner, which reads, "Sharks Aren't the Only Predators. GoVegetarian!," is part of PETA's campaign to raise awareness about the plight of sea animals who are killed for food.
Every year, more than 50 million sharks and billions of other sea animals are killed and consumed by humans, while sharks killed fewer than a dozen people last year.
PETA wants those who are concerned about predators in the water to think about the terror and pain that sharks experience as they bleed to death after their fins are hacked off to be made into "delicacies" such as shark-fin soup and shark steak. Many species of shark and other fish have been decimated by overfishing. According to an international team of scientists, 29 percent of fish species have "collapsed," or declined by 90 percent.
"Sharks are much more likely to be attacked by humans than the other way around," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The most dangerous predators of all can be found lined up at the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet."
We have been following the efforts of a small group in India in tandem with a few well known NGO's who are reversing the wholesale slaughter of whale sharks in their region. Replacing the "one time take" instead with new whale shark tourism initiatives.
In our world whale sharks represent "instant tourism". In places where whale sharks aggregate divers throng from all over the planet to interact with these gentle giants. In many cases a daily rate of $200USD per diver is not uncommon. For a place like India $200USD represents a yearly wage for many impoverished fishermen rapidly providing the incentive for further protection of this species and others.
Existing whale shark dive protocols and ease of interaction with these animals allows operations to focus on the marketing and sales aspect of bringing whale sharks to divers. For India this program could be ramped up in a short period of time.
This organic and quite remarkable effort has paid off. Now, more often than not, whale sharks accidentally caught in nets are released with the help of a local team from "Save Whale Shark".
India Today writer UdayMahurkar detailed the story of whale shark conservation in a simply terrific article this morning:
In September last year, fisherman AmrutlalChauhan and helpers spread their nets in the sea near the Saurashtra coast, hoping to catch some fish. But what got trapped in the net took them by surprise. It was a 20-ft whale shark. A timely call was made to the local ‘Save Whale Shark’ campaign activist DineshGoswami who along with personnel of the forest and fisheries departments came to the spot to cut the nets open and set the giant fish free.
At DEMA this year we were discussing the state of shark tourism with a number of tourism representatives from all over the world.
As we have long pointed out shark tourism enables local populations to sustainably manage sharks. The value of shark tourism in places like the Maldives is US$2.3 million a year-an estimated at 100 times more than the export value of that islands shark meat.
This is an industry drumbeat that's been gaining acceptance over the years and is now being adopted by forward thinking NGO's.
Unfortunately in many places this paradigm has also become a race between local fishermen who harvest sharks, for both fins and quick profits, and the newly developed and existing shark tourism operators in the region.
No where is this more aptly highlighted then recently in Malaysia and Mabul Island. This week State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun took the extraordinary step of calling for an investigation of shark fishing activities in the region. This is to applauded and kudos to the minister for this stance.
If Mabul Island and surrounding region is to retain it's sharks, local efforts in tandem with government are the key:
"Nature lovers and the global conservation community are fast becoming very influential lobbyists whose action could hurt the State's tourism industry in the long run if they decide a boycott of Sabah to protest against activities perceived to be cruel to whales and sharks," minister quote.
On a recent media swing through You Tube we came across this eco tourism "gem". It's always important to keep a predators food source on top of your head when promoting wildlife tourism.
This particular operation is set to expire any day now:
Without a doubt the recent and horrific shark attack on a swimmer in South Africa last week ignited several wide ranging debates in the press about everything from shark culling, to raw sewage discharge, and even the controversial use of shark nets.
Herald Online reporter Dineo Matomela should be noted for his coverage which looked systematically into the causes, the sharks, and the over all shark situation in the region.
Makes for facinating reading and a template for non sensational shark journalism-tackling the issues of humans and sharks in a thoughtful manner:
A ZAMBEZI shark was responsible for attacking and killing a Port St Johns lifeguard at the weekend, Natal Sharks Board head researcher Geremy Cliff said yesterday.
He said warm waters along the Eastern Cape coast in summer attracted the sharks. Seasoned lifeguard Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 27, was attacked by the shark on Saturday afternoon while swimming with a friend at Second Beach.
He was bitten on the shoulder, right arm, back and buttocks. Cliff said an examination of Bangilizwe‘s body had established that a Zambezi (bull) shark had attacked him.
The Lumocet is a new pedal powered wet sub that will be making it's debut soon on a proposed transatlantic voyage. Think Wright Brothers with a side of Indiana Jones meets McGuyver:
Inventor Ted Ciamillo plans to pedal nearly 2,000 nautical miles from the Cape Verde islands to Barbados at a depth of around two metres, surfacing at night to sleep under a tent erected on top of the sub, according to New Scientist magazine.
Editors Note: Every once in a while along comes a tech storyline made for television. If these guys make it even half the distance they are planning the end result will be a thrill a minute programming-cue the adventure, cue Nat Geo.
File this post under shark "awareness". After news this week that a research team on South Africa's Breede River caught and tagged what is now the largest Bull shark on record, locals who swim and fish in these waters are quoted as seeing this as a good thing:
Cape Town - Cool-headed Witsand residents have accepted their toothy marine neighbour with some pride and are not about to be scared away from their beloved Breede River by any shark, big or small, they say.
Witsand hit the headlines this week after a huge four-metre female Zambezi shark, heavily pregnant with at least four pups, was caught about 5.5km upriver from the estuarine fishing village. Locals said they were more amazed than frightened at the appearance of the shark, estimated to weigh around 650kg.
For some it was proof of what they had believed for years, after regular sightings of large shadows under the water and mysterious disappearances of fish from fishing lines.
Responding to a recent tsunami of bad shark press in Australia, South Africa, and elsewhere this month, writer Linley Boniface takes on the issue of sharks and the media:
I never thought I'd say this, but I am bored with sharks. This summer, it has been impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the TV without being subjected to yet another daring shark escape story.
On closer inspection, these yarns have invariably turned out to involve nothing more thrilling than an exceptionally timorous surfer paddling for safety after spotting a fishy shadow pottering quietly along the shoreline, minding its own business.
While sharks in Australia do, as the Australians rather wonderfully say, "take" the occasional swimmer, Kiwi sharks are about as predatory as a newborn ladybug. Occasionally, a shark will accidentally graze a surfer's calf with a tooth, while yawning: cue national panic and the mass closure of beaches.
Silliest of the many absurd shark reports the media has pestered us with this summer was one from Radio New Zealand. The national broadcaster quoted Constable John Paul Tremain as urging people to stay away from beaches near Dunedin because a large shark had allegedly chased a couple of surfers from the water.
RNZ said Constable Tremain did not know the "exact size or breed of shark" - terrifying news in itself; someone is breeding the things! - but was convinced it was "lurking with intent".
Lurking with intent? Intent to do what? The sea is where sharks live: sharks no more lurk in the sea than I lurk in my house.
It's a commercial shark diving industry sore point we have harped on for a while now.
The ban on chumming and shark diving in Florida waters was poorly conceived back in 2001. This complete ban was conducted under a negative media storm by a well organized anti-shark diving lobby.
At the time a nascent US shark diving industry was comprised of just two operations.
Today Florida's waters teem with commercial shark diving species. An estimated 10-20 million dollar tourism industry sits idle as hotels and restaurants across the region shut down under one of the worst recessions in recent history.
Meanwhile, Florida's sharks are relegated to weekly news reports that do little to dispel the Jaws mythos with recent titles like "Shark Frenzy Caught on Tape" and the ever popular "Shark Alert". The state of Florida's-state of sharks-is at an all time low with an ever present perception that the waters of Florida are filled with rapacious predators waiting to strike.
The reality could be further from the truth and only the commercial shark diving industry can, if given a chance, work to dispel that media fabrication about sharks.
It is high time Florida reconsidered commercial shark diving operations off it's waters. Done right, with serious and lasting species interactive protocols, and even the threat of fines for industry infractions, Florida could ramp up a shark diving industry in less then two years that would feed local communities desperately needed tourism dollars.
If the ban on shark diving in Florida was in part done to stop the fear of shark attacks on humans, we would suggest the bans goals have failed. It is time to rethink sharks in Florida.
An excited team with the South African Shark Conservancy caught what is now the largest Bull Shark on record in South Africa.
In a scene worthy of any action film, team members were towed 2 189km up the Breede River before the critter became tired enough to load up with tags and release:
Long-standing fishermen's tales of huge Zambezi sharks in the Breede River have been confirmed - and huge means just that.
Last week, researchers on an expedition to confirm the presence of this species - also known as bull sharks - not only caught one of these sharks, but the catch proved to be a world record at 4m (13 feet) and weighing more than half a ton. Complete Story
Team tracking discoveries:
1.This Zambezi shark - who we have named NyamiNyami (the Zambezi River god) is the largest of its kind known to science, measuring 4 metres total length. The previous known maximum length for this species was 3.4-3.5 metres;
2.The discovery of NyamiNyamirepresents a significant range extension for Zambezi sharks in South Africa, as they were only known to occur to Cape St. Francis in the Eastern Cape;
3. NyamiNyami appeared heavily pregnant, suggesting the Breede River may serve as an important nursery ground for these sharks.
Editors Note: The tracking data coming back from this female is invaluable to the understanding of this species behaviour. Needless to say you do not want to be a fisherman in that region...or do you?
Filmmaker and show host Scott Cassel with the Undersea Voyager Project has long hypothesized that the wholesale collapse of the shark populations in both Mexico and along the west coast of the USA has lead to a veritable oceanicplague of giant squids.
His theory is bearing fruit, as untold numbers of these super predators are being found as far north as Oregon in population densities never before seen. As Scott recently told us "these animals breed at a rate of millions, if you take their primary predator out of the loop, they will explode on to the scene and dominate the niche the sharks vanished from".
Scott has a way of being right about his observations on the ocean:
BODEGA BAY, Calif. (CBS) In Mexico, they are called the "red devil" and "the beast" in Central America. They are jumbo squid: deadly, fast moving creatures with tentacles that can suck the life out of a human being.
The squid are devouring parts of large populations of native fish in Northern California.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has been tracking the population explosion of the squid. In just a few years, they have gone from occasional visitor to numbering possibly in the hundreds of thousands.
"It's a stout, very muscular animal, very high speed, excellent vision," said Karl Menard of the Bodega Bay Research Laboratory. "They are called the jumbo flying squid for a reason. They can actually leap out of the water and project themselves into the air into schools of nearby fish.
O.K, so we just finished a post about why direct action campaigns against cultural food items are most often ineffective.
Then there's the curious case of this food item which, by the looks of things, is allowing the blowfish population off the coast of Japan to remain intact:
Blowfish testicles have left seven Japanese ill, one critically, renewing public fears over the dangerous delicacy.The group ate raw meat and baked testes of blowfish - known in Japan as fugu - at an upscale restaurant on Monday in Tsuruoka, an old castle town 350 kilometres north of Tokyo.
They were treated at a hospital for numbness in the hands and legs and other symptoms. One of them was in a critical condition yesterday.
There are shark research websites and then there's the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme website.
