Film Exposes Threats To Survival Of Great Whites

New documentary on great white sharks, watch the Island of the Great White trailers, and the CBS report, which i reckon had better summary footage.

Film Exposes Threats To Survival Of Great Whites
Jan 15, 2009 05:46 AM, CBS8

"I've been filming for 5 years now and never seen aggression either towards divers in cage or myself," Richard said.

"I wanted to present a realistic portrait of these animals, but also wanted to show working relationship between eco-tourism boats, the shark diving boats and the Mexican researchers that are there... why have they chosen Isla Guadalupe," he said.

"We're losing up to 100 million sharks a year, primarily to feed the Asian demand for shark fin soup and other shark products in these Asian countries," he said.

Richard hopes "Island of the Great White Shark" will give people a better appreciation for the fight sharks face every day to survive.

"We are not on their menu, that we don't need to fear these animals. They certainly are top predators and have an important role in marine ecosystems and we need them, but we should not necessarily fear them or fear putting our toe in the water," Richard said.

Mini-sub to probe behaviour of basking sharks

Basking sharks are one of the three shark species protected under CITES. They are the second-largest shark alive (after the whale shark) yet are gentle filter-feeders. Only 8,200 of them left!
We need to protect these unique sharks before they disappear!

The ocean is one big watery plane. Exploitive fishing practices in any region can affect populations miles away. Stop eating shark fin!

Mini-sub to probe behaviour of basking sharks
15 January 2009, By LOTTIE RAY, Isle of Man Today

THE Isle of Man is to host a conference on basking sharks this summer following four years of ground-breaking research.

The Island's basking shark population has received worldwide attention since a shark tagged in Manx waters crossed the Atlantic in 2007. It was previously believed basking sharks on this side of the Atlantic were a completely different group to those off the Americas.

Manx Basking Shark Watch (MBSW) plans to join the Shark Alliance, a group of scientists calling for worldwide protection for all shark species.

'Every year tens of millions of different sharks are killed for their fins, so people can eat shark fin soup,' said Jackie.'This is a very cruel practice. The fins are cut off and the shark is thrown back into the sea to die a slow and painful death.'

It is estimated there are now only about 8,200 basking sharks left.

'We are close to losing them,' said Jackie. 'This practice must be stopped and our tagging work lends power to the scientific argument against it.'

Our evidence that these sharks cross the Atlantic has put a whole new light on the urgent need for worldwide conservation measures to be taken.'

lovesharks.sg CNY dinner

This weekend we had the pleasure of having an early Chinese New Year dinner at Lotus Vegetarian Restuarant, taste testing their S$358++ (10 pax) festive set menu with local bloggers Camemberu, Ladyironchef, Sheepishvegetarian, Singapuradailyphoto, Southernoise-gluttony, Superfinefeline and Leafmonkey.

Yes, you, you, you and you. All of us are guilty of being a murderer. And the real cause for their destruction, the demand for shark fins, a Chinese delicacy, always present during weddings and festive occasions. - Ladyironchef

Marketed as a health tonic, yet high in toxic mercury content, and usually bleached during production to give it a more desireable shade, Sharkfin doesn’t belong on anyone’s table this Chinese New Year, nor any wedding dinners for that matter. - Sheepishvegetarian

Photography courtesy of Bianca Polak

Lousy photography courtesy of Sharkman

Photography courtesy of Ladyironchef

As shark fin itself has no real flavour, it can be emulated with vegetarian ingredients such as kelp and green bean. For lovers of "shark fin" broth, vegetarian shark fin soup is a pretty good alternative! You can get it from 24-hour eateries such as Hong Kong Tea House (86 East Coast Road) to high-class places such as Lotus Vegetarian (201 Balestier Road, Quality Hotel).

Thank you all who celebrated Chinese New Year early with us!

Maldives moves to protect whale sharks

Saving creatures in their natural habitat is the only true act of conservation.

Maldives moves to protect whale sharks
The Maldives has taken the first steps towards establishing a protected area for whale sharks.
14/01/09, Dive Magazine

The Maldives has taken the first steps towards establishing a protected area for whale sharks. The government-backed initiative is being supported by biologists, diving professionals and representatives of the local community.

For years, the Maldives has been renowned for its whale shark encounters, which, while not as seasonal as those of the Seychelles, occur throughout the atolls during most of the year. Several locations - notably the exposed outer reef of South Ari Atoll - have emerged as whale-shark hotspots and attract boatloads of snorkellers on a daily basis.

So far, a database of 100 individual sharks has been compiled and is being used to track the movements of these sharks around the atolls. The group is also investigating stories of other whale shark hotspots across the archipelago: it is thought that the sharks journey around the Maldives in order to find seasonal eddies that concentrate their favourite food - zooplankton - into relatively small areas. The long-term plan is to establish protected areas in which snorkelling and boat activity will be controlled, and the sharks will have a refuge from open-ocean fisheries.

Scuba diver helps get shark fin soup off menu

A good example of what one person can do to start change. Hopefully scuba divers in Singapore can do the same and get active for our environment!

Scuba diver helps get shark fin soup off menu
2:00 a.m. January 10, 2009 Ed Zieralski, Union-Tribune
Staff Writer

Some local scuba divers and an executive chef combined this week to eliminate a controversial seafood item from a menu for a Chinese New Year celebration.

Scuba-diving enthusiast Carl Robbins noticed the menu in an advertising flyer from Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino.

Among the offerings was shark fin soup, the controversial Asian delicacy that relies on the fins of sharks, some of which are finned and released in a mutilated state back into the sea. The practice is being blamed for a decrease in shark populations around the world.

Outraged, Robbins sent e-mails to Barona and alerted fellow scuba divers and watermen. Robbins, citing Web sites and documentaries, detailed why it's inhumane to offer such a menu item. It's been estimated that every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Robbins' e-mail to Dean Thomas, executive chef at Barona, explained his stance.

“The negative impact seen in our world's oceans through the ruthless slaughter of sharks for nothing more than their fins has been well-documented. It is a practice that has been long identified with organized crime not to mention the inhumanity towards the sharks as well as the enormous impact to our oceans and therefore to our world.”

Robbins' e-mail and others drew an immediate response from Thomas, who removed shark fin soup from the Barona Chinese New Year celebration menu.

Shark fins removed from 'front window' of China-based website, but apparently still available to buyers

An investigation into the seemingly good news of Shark fin sales halted on Alibaba.com.

Commerce will always find a way, as long as the demand for shark fin still stands. The ONLY way to stop the massacre of shark populations worldwide is to STOP EATING SHARK FIN NOW.

Shark fins removed from 'front window' of China-based website, but apparently still available to buyers
11:37 AM, January 9, 2009, Los Angeles Times

As suspected by conservation groups and subtly alluded to Thursday on Outposts, sharks around the world probably are no safer than they were before Alibaba.com, on Jan. 1, stopped allowing the open sale of shark fins on its global marketplace website.

That's because some wholesalers, while they can no longer list shark fins on the site, apparently are still selling them on request to interested buyers.

Shark fins, you may recall, are the key ingredient for shark-fin soup. Fins are obtained by fishermen who net and haul sharks aboard, slice off their fins,
and discard the writhing sharks, which sink and slowly die.

It is perhaps the most disgusting form of fishing on the planet -- yet, demand for shark-fin soup remains high in many parts of the world.

Outposts salutes Shark Diver for exposing the loophole in Alibaba's new guidelines.

Shark Diver, during the first week of January, claims to have posed as three different buyers asking for 11,000 pounds of shark fins from 11 sellers. Nine reportedly responded positively, and the other two did not respond. Shark Diver, a commercial shark-diving company, sourced 88,000 pounds of shark fins.

Shark fin sales halted on Alibaba.com

Moore good news for the new year and a great follow up to Yahoo! owns 40% of Alibaba.com, the largest marketplace for illegally harvested shark fins.

Shark fin sales halted on website
10:11 AM, January 8, 2009, LA Times

For years, Alibaba endorsed the wholesale slaughter of sharks and the brutal practice of finning live sharks at sea, by offering shark fins, which are used to make shark fin soup, to be listed for sale on its site.

Dozens of companies from around the world sold shark fins, a sad testament to the popularity of a dish that is especially regarded throughout Asia. Anyone could purchase the product in bulk.

Alibaba ceased allowing the sale of shark fins on Jan. 1. This was regarded by many as a major victory for shark conservation because most species of sharks are considered to be in jeopardy.

However, optimism remains guarded because the demand for shark fins remains high, so the fishing effort, presumably, has not diminished.

Here's to this small step for our sharks and more such developments in conservation this year!