Saturday, November 30, 2013

Yet Another Shark Attack Blog

Hello again everyone. Well by now you've probably heard the news that a 19 year old was bitten by a shark and died from blood loss in Australia recently. For those of you who have read any of my previous shark attack blogs, you'll probably find a lot of this as a repeat, but for those of you who haven't, which judging by the large increase of traffic here, this could potentially give you a new view on sharks and their relations with swimmers and surfers. As my usual disclaimer for these blogs, well here it is. I find it sad that this 19 year old has passed away after being bitten by a shark. I am also saddened by the fact that the media is once again blowing the incident up to make the shark look like something it is not, a monster.

When you look at a shark, chances are the first thing that you will be drawn to is it's teeth. You know, those really sharp pointy things in their mouth. Clearly many species of shark have teeth that could very easily do a heavy amount of damage to human flesh. Looking at the below picture of the mouth of a sand tiger shark I'm sure will prove my point here.



So first of all why do some species of shark have these sharp teeth? To find the answer to that you will have to look at the natural diet of the animal. In the case of the sand tiger shark shown above, their natural prey consists of tough bony fish. These fish have very tough skin, so the shark has narrow, yet sharp teeth to grab and hold onto the fish. Other sharks, like the white shark (seen below) have thicker, but still very sharp teeth to grab and tear larger prey such as seals.

Now take a quick second to think about the human body. We do not have any large amount of protective blubber or thick scales to protect us from things such as shark teeth. Our skin, and muscle for that matter, is very fragile no matter how you look at it. (Paper can cut us. Enough said) So when a shark that has an incredible bite force bites us it is basically the same as us biting into a soft ice cream cone. It goes right through with virtually no effort. Now that we know why shark bites do so much damage to us, lets look at why a shark may bite a human.

The most obvious reason that a shark may bite a human is in it's own defense. Often times fisherman get bit by sharks. One can probably understand that an animal who has gotten hooked in the mouth and possibly shot would not be the happiest camper and when you have teeth like a shark does, you use them. Or if a bottom dwelling shark is just resting on the bottom and a person steps on it, it is probably easy to understand why the shark would be a little upset. Those are what I like to call instances of self defense.

Another reason that sharks will bite people is because, much like humans, sharks are curious animals. They do not know what everything in the ocean is. Often times when a shark bites a person it is an exploratory bite with no intent to injure at all. How can that be you ask? Well unlike humans, the sense of touch for a shark is located in their mouths, so how these animals get a feel for something is to nibble it. This is why you always here of sharks nibbling on boat rudders or gently biting the back of a boat with no apparent malicious intent. Now, in my opinion the majority of times a shark bites a person (unprovoked) is a result of an instance of a case of mistaken identity. I'll break that down a bit more cause it can be a tad confusing.


Ok so first of all take a look at the two pictures above. The top is a sea lion surfing and the bottom is a human body surfing. At first glance of course we can tell the difference between the two. So take a closer look. The human is flat on his belly just like the sea lion with his head out of the water. Both the sea lion and the human are actively swimming and sending vibrations through the water that sharks can pick up on. The human has his body generally in a straight line with the exception of his arms that are probably moving as he swims. The sea lion is in that exact same pose. So pretend you are under the surface. The murky deep. It's dark and you see a shadow at the surface of an area where you know you have caught your dinner before. If you are a hungry shark do you really think for a moment that what you are about to bite is not what you have bitten time and time again? So you make your approach and before it is clear that what you are about to bite is not what you originally thought it was, you roll your eyes back to protect them from the obvious protest you are about to get from that animal. You bite, but realize what you have bitten is not what you think it was. Here's where things get interesting. The shark vanishes. Very, and I mean very rarely does a shark come back for a second bite once it realizes what it has bitten was not a food item.

What happened in that scenario, what I believe to be the most common scenario between bathers and sharks is a case of mistaken identity. The shark mistook the body surfer for a sea lion, realized it's error the moment it tasted the human and left and did not return to maul, maim, or eat the human. Simply put sharks do not naturally eat humans! The same scenario plays out for surfers as well, but it is even easier to see. You have a long body (the board), two flippers towards the front (arms), and two at the back (legs). Sounds familiar right?

From underneath it looks shockingly like this to a shark.

Another thing to keep in mind when you see the words shark attack flash across your t.v. screen is just how rare these incidents are. According to the International Shark Attack File, in 2012 there were 80 unprovoked incidents of a shark biting a human worldwide. Now think about the times you've gone to the beach and the amount of people you've seen go in the water. Now think of that on a global scale and you can get an idea just how rare these incidents are. Another thing to think about is that 80 is really not a large number at all when you look at large animal negative interactions with people. One example I love to share is that in the U.S. alone, roughly 22 people are killed by cows. In one year there is an average of less than 1 person being killed by a shark in the U.S.. Another example is the amount of people who are killed annually by hippos in Africa. That number is a whopping 2,900 every year. That is far higher than the 80 that you may think is so high. Realistically sharks are one of the last things animal wise that people should be worried about being killed by. Mosquitos, spiders, hippos, cows, horses, domestic dogs, deer, ants, and bees all kill more people annually than sharks.

Hopefully these statistics, thoughts, and other facts have helped you to come to the conclusion that sharks really are not all that bad and that when they do bite a person, there intent is not to kill and if it initially was, that intent goes away the moment the animal bites. I'll leave you all with one final statistic that regular readers of this blog I'm sure know by now. While 2012 may have seen 80 people die from loss of blood from a shark bite, at least 100,000,000 (yes one hundred million) sharks were killed by humans. Sharks are killed largely for their fins which are used in shark fin soup. The fin itself is tasteless and does nothing but add texture and mercury to the chicken or beef flavored soup. If you want to learn more about shark finning take a look in my blog archive. There are plenty of blogs about it and there will be plenty more to come about it as well. Or you can always google shark finning and learn about it! Actually, I'm a nice guy. Let me take care of that for you. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Shark+finning I hope all is well with everyone. Thank you for reading and remember when you see shark attacks on T.V. think about the circumstances and do not just jump to conclusions as the media does to get a juicy story.

Operation Kibou Update

Greetings again everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This will be the first of probably two, possibly even three blogs that I'll be doing over the next 24 hours. This one is just a brief update as to what is going on with Operation Kibou. So lets get to it.

Sharks: There hasn't been too much happening when it comes to big news in shark conservation. However I do feel the need to do another blog on shark attacks since once again I had the news on and they were ranting about a shark attack in Australia. Someday I hope not to have to respond to these news reports and that someday people will understand just how and why they happen. Along with that news item, ICCAT has denied an EU proposal at creating catch limits for shortfin mako sharks and to prohibit the retention of porbeagle sharks. Another proposal that would have given more strength to the ICCAT ban on shark finning was also denied, but has gained some new supporters from ICCAT nations. We'll have to see what happens the next time these countries meet, but this is certainly not the best of news for sharks. There is also a new documentary coming out called Extinction Soup. The trailer can be viewed here http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/extinction-soup

I also want to add that this blog is still a shark first blog. It always has been, it always will be. I've gotten a few people asking me about it and, though I'm giving a ton of attention to Taiji right now, this blog, and myself, remain fully dedicated to fighting for sharks. Speaking of Taiji...

Dolphins: There is a ton happening right now when it comes to dolphins (including orcas). As I type this blog, yet another pod of dolphins are being driven to their deaths off the coast of Taiji. December 1st is when Anonymous has declared a day of action against Taiji. The dolphin killers continue to slaughter any and all dolphins that are not chosen for a life in captivity. This is happening right now and it needs to stop. CNN's airing of Blackfish has brought attention back to The Cove and it is attention that should not again be allowed to fall to the wayside. While things are somewhat quiet regarding sharks, I will continue to post often about what is going on in Taiji.

Whales: Sea Shepherd continues to gear up for yet another year of battle between themselves and the Japanese Whaling Fleet. Expect more whaling blogs to be popping up in the near future as the Southern Ocean once again becomes a battleground.

So like I said at the start of this blog, this is just a quick little update as to what is going on on all three fronts of Operation Kibou. Expect to see a shark blog or two pop up over the next couple days along with an update on Anonymous's OpKillingBay as their day of action is tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The "Traditional" Slaughter Has Ended

As I type this blog I have my screen split in half. On one half of my screen is this blog. The other is a much more heartbreaking sight. The other half is the live stream that the Cove Guardians are currently airing from Taiji, Japan. http://livestream.seashepherd.org/ What I am watching right now is just horrific, heartbreaking, and some of the most inhumane things that man can do to a creature of mass intelligence. To give you all a brief idea of what my eyes are currently seeing... What I see right now is a pod, no a family of Risso's dolphins netted in the cove. This family is going to be 100% slaughtered. Not a single one of these dolphins are going to be spared. Knowing that these animals are literally swimming together for a final time is beyond heartbreaking. With that being said though, I do encourage you to watch this stream, or visit the livestream archives that can be found towards the bottom of the livestream page.

Now I'm watching skiffs literally plow through the family in an attempt to scare them under the killing tarps. They're using the boats motors to try and scare the dolphins. They are showing no regard at all for the dolphins at this point. They could very well be striking the dolphins with the boats. It's almost too much to bear. The killers are all yelling at each other and the dolphins as they continue to try and scare them into the killing area. One dolphin has managed to get free of one net, but is now blocked by another. Some of you might be thinking "why don't the dolphins fight back?". Well the answer is simple... Dolphins are not violent creatures. They just simply will not fight back. I can't sit here and describe any more of what I am seeing. I literally feel sick over it. So with that being said, I am going to move onto the real point of the blog.

As you can clearly see, the title of this blog is misleading. Or is it? We are all very aware that the slaughter of dolphins is happening as I type this blog. We also know by now that Japan claims that this slaughter is about tradition. Well, this short blog is to show that..... (Sorry killers now laughing at the struggling dolphins and had to take a moment to breathe) the killing of these animals are by no means traditional standards. Let's take a trip back in time shall we. It could be Japan, it could be the United States, some country in Europe, wherever whaling occurred. Let's set the scene. Weapons used to kill the whale was a spear or a harpoon. In some cases one whale or a couple of dolphins would be killed to feed a family for a decent period of time. The means of catching a dolphin or whale back then involved slow moving wooden ships, or hoping that a whale or dolphin came close enough to shore. Basically, for those people, it was kill a couple whales for various reasons (none of which were money really) and that was it. That was the drive. Let's fast forward to 2013...

The weapons have changed. Spears are still used, but so are harpoons with exploding tips. The spears are supposed to be humane and instantly kill the animal. They do not, and the way in which they are killed is far less respectful than it would have been in the days of old. The next difference is the hunts. No more is it ships just hoping to find them. Now it's radar to track them, high speed boats to chase them, and propellers to cut them. Now whaling and dolphin slaughters are strictly for profit. There is no masking this fact. For example. If there was no captive dolphin trade, the dolphins of Taiji would be able to swim freely. Now though, they are netted off and stabbed to death or sold for biiiiig money. Dolphin meat does not sell for much so it really is the act of bringing these animals into captivity that brings in the big bucks. (The slaughter has started..... I can't watch this anymore right now... It's just way too much). The fact is the "tradition" of whaling died the moment technology began to grow. There is no pride or tradition in using all of man's resources to drive defenseless beings into a cove, preventing their escape and stabbing them all over the place.

Interesting enough....... These marine parks who claim to not be present when the dolphins are killed are also lying as I literally just watched a dolphin get dragged into captivity and not even a moment later a skiff goes by with dead dolphins... The killing needs to stop. There is NO tradition. The majority of people in Japan do not even know about the killings let alone think it's tradition. There is no reason in the world that in the year 2013 that I just witnessed a family of Risso's dolphins being killed. Please, I implore all of you to visit the Cove Guardians anywhere. Facebook, Seashepherd.org, Twitter, wherever. Learn the truth about Taiji and join the fight to save these magnificent creatures

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Proven Fact: Baby Dolphins Need Their Families to Survive!

While good things appear to be happening for sharks and mantas, the dolphins of Taiji are dealing with more of the same. In the times span of 40 hours, over 50 dolphins have been killed. Today, due to weather, there was no hunt, but that did not stop the day from being sad.
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This baby Risso's Dolphin washed up today on the shore. It is believed to be from a pod of dolphins that were murdered on 11/20. In what seems to be becoming a more common trend in Taiji, the Japanese fisherman have been chasing the baby dolphins of the pods back out to sea. They are probably doing this to try and appease activists who continue to document the killing and to show the world that Japan doesn't want to kill all dolphins. Realistically though they are killing those babies. Dolphins are not fish. They are not sharks. They are not rays, the are MAMMALS. Just like you and I, these animals are incredibly dependent on their mothers when they are young. Without them, their chances of survival, just like ours would be in the wild, are slim to none. Yet the Japanese fisherman continue to drive these babies without their families back out to sea where they are uncoordinated, frightened, depressed, and most likely mentally destroyed. Some say it's a nice thing that the fisherman do. I say it's as disgusting as the slaughter itself. Basically what this is is taking a baby and leaving it in the middle of the woods and telling it to go grow up and thrive. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going to happen to that baby.

This cannot be allowed to continue. The answer is not bringing the babies into captivity either. The answer is simple. STOP THE KILLING. There is no reason in the world for a baby to have to watch it's family murdered and then be forced to try and survive on it's own. There is not a reason in the world and if this was a situation of man on man violence, I couldn't even imagine the public outcry. The media would be all over it. So why are they not all over this? Why has there still been virtually no mention of the killings. There have been news reports about Anonymous targeting Japanese websites over the killing, but where is the coverage of the madness itself? Why has the media remained as silent as Sea World on this issue as conservation group after conservation group continues to report to as many people as they can reach? I don't have the answers to that. I really wish I did, but I don't. All I know is that on November 30th, at 4:00am EST Twitter and Facebook will be flooded with statuses, tweets, etc using hashtags such as #ShutTaijiDown, #Tweet4taiji, and #OpKillingBay. Hopefully this storm will generate enough to get some major news network to pick the slaughter up. For now though, I implore you to continue bombarding as many media networks as possible. CNN, Fox, NBC, Al Jazeera, it doesn't matter. This slaughter needs to be brought to the attention of the public as many of them are still blind to it. Things like what is pictured above have no place in our world.

Gateway on Sharks and Manta Rays Released!!!!

Good evening once again everyone and welcome to the first of a double blog! Yup tonight I will be posting two blogs. The first, this one clearly, will be focusing on sharks and manta rays as a pretty big thing has just happened for a few species. The second will be another update on the current battlefield that is Taiji.

On Friday November 22nd, 2013, CITES launched a web section to assist in installing effective measures to protect the new species who were listed a few months ago. The 179 parties involved now have less than 10 months to regulate international trade of oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerheads, great hammerheads, smooth hammerheads, porbeagles, and manta rays. The site can be viewed by following this link. http://www.cites.org/eng/prog/shark/index.php. The addition of these species of sharks and rays are the first since 2007 when the sawfishes became listed under CITES appendices I. They will be the first sharks and rays listed under appendices II since the great white shark was listed back in 2005. The only other sharks listed under the appendices are the whale and basking sharks, the two largest sharks in existence today.

Sharks and manta rays have both been exploited for years and now it seems that people are finally starting to wake up and smell the coffee sort to speak on the issues. Roughly 100 million sharks are being killed every year, largely for their fins, while an unknown number of manta rays are suffering the same fate for their gill rakers. Both the shark's fin and manta's gill rakers are rumored to have some sort of magical healing power that simply does not exist. These animals need our help more than ever before and I would like to take another moment to once again applaud CITES for listing these species under appendices II. For those of you who are unaware of what that means I shall inform you.

CITES works basically by regulating international trade of  specific species. According to cites.org appendix II guidelines are... 

  1. An export permit or re-export certificate issued by the Management Authority of the State of export or re-export is required.

    An export permit may be issued only if the specimen was legally obtained and if the export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species.

    A re-export certificate may be issued only if the specimen was imported in accordance with the Convention.
  2. In the case of a live animal or plant, it must be prepared and shipped to minimize any risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment.
  3. No import permit is needed unless required by national law.
Failure to follow these can result in big problems for the offending countries. Still though this is not enough. The fight to save these animals continues on until shark finning and the manta ray gill raker harvest are put to rest for good. The fisherman are getting more and more desperate as evidenced by the disturbing new practice of shark finning I talked about a few blogs ago. We are starting to turn the tide in this battle, but there is a long, long way to go! For more information and details on CITES and more in depth rules please visit www.cites.org

Turning the Tide in Taiji

Hello once again everyone. To say that is has been a busy few days is a complete understatement. Conservation groups all over the world have once again shifted their eyes to Taiji, Japan. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Anonymous, Dolphin Project, and a number of other smaller organizations have all stepped up the fight to put an end to the slaughter in Taiji. Dolphin Project and Sea Shepherd's Cove Guardians remain on the ground in Taiji, documenting and photograph the horror that is the cove. Meanwhile, Anonymous and an unknown number of civilians (myself included) prepare to strike at Taiji from all angles. Whether it be Anonymous literally attacking Japanese websites, or citizens flooding Japanese websites, facebooks, twitters, etc, the point will be made. We all want the slaughter of dolphins to end. We are tired of sitting idle hoping and asking for Japan to stop the slaughter on their own. It is clear now that after a few years of the world knowing of this slaughter, Japan has no intention on putting this barbaric practice to rest.

Japan claims that the slaughter is tradition and that it helps to feed the country. My response is that traditions die. Slavery was a tradition in the United States, but that came to an end. Back in the old days, it was tradition to burn widows. That ended. The fact of the matter is traditions can change and they certainly can end. The feed the country excuse is pathetic as well. If the intention was truly to help ensure the survival of the Japanese people for the long haul, the Japanese government would not be cramming dolphin meat into cans of tuna, labeling dolphin meat as larger whale meat, or trying to force dolphin meat into school systems. I've written several blogs as to the real drive behind the slaughter and where the Japanese make the most profit, so I am not going to touch on that here.

The response of the Japanese on the increased pressure has been nothing short of infuriating. It's almost as if the response to Anonymous, Sea Shepherd, and the others is nothing more than more brutality and killing. In the past 40 or so hours, over 50 dolphins have been slaughtered with just one having been taken into captivity. What's worse is according to the Cove Guardians, these killing were done "without haste or hesitation". The Japanese continue to show no signs of stopping, but we I will join the many who have now chosen to no longer and quietly sit and do nothing to try and stop this slaughter. Blogging about it is one thing, taking direct action is another and is something I strongly urge anyone who is reading this blog to do. How you may ask? There are multiple ways. Obviously not all of us are not technologically gifted enough to be able to perform the work that Anonymous does or have the ability to get to Japan and do the work that the Cove Guardians and Project Dolphin does. What we do have though is the internet to use as a weapon.

Social media, now more than ever should be use to help put a stop to these killings. Taking a wild guess here, but I'm guessing most of you who are reading this have Facebook or Twitter. If so take action! Speak out against these killings and use any of the following hashtags.
#OpKillingBay
#Tweet4Taiji
#ShutTaijiDown
Join us all on November 30th, 2013 at 6:00pm Tokyo Time (4:00am EST) in a twitter storm hosted by Anonymous as we aim to flood as many newsfeeds, twitter feeds, media feeds, and anything else in protest of the slaughter using the above hashtags. Keep yourself informed on what is happening in the Cove and continue to fire at the slaughter with these hashtags both before and after December 1st. It doesn't take long to make your voice heard. The best thing for civilians like you and I to do is to do exactly what can be found on this website. http://callofthecove.wordpress.com/ Use this as your guide to battle. For us civilians it is the best that we can do to support those on the front lines of this war.

While many of us are fed up with this slaughter, a greater number of people don't even know it is happening. You might be surprised as to what a single tweet or Facebook post can do to a network of people. You never know whose attention you may grab. The time to sit by and read this blog, look at photos, and read about the slaughter has passed. It is time to make a difference in the world. Fight to save these animals. Lets all show the Taiji murderers that the world has seen enough to want this slaughter to end. The time has arrived to turn the tide in Taiji!

Due to #OpKillingBay I have decided to make a Twitter account. The account has the sole purpose of spreading awareness for the same thing that I spread awareness for on here. That would be sharks, whales, dolphins, manta rays, and bluefin tuna. Please feel free to head on over to https://twitter.com/Voiceforsharks and follow along. However I do ask that you please not be offended if I do not follow back. This twitter is not meant to be a personal twitter, it is specifically for this blog and anything conservation related so I'll only be following and retweeting things from conservation groups and organizations involved in conservation. Stay tuned right here or on twitter or facebook for more updates on #OpKillingBay in the coming days.
 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

“If Humans Do Not Change, the Ocean Will Be Dead” Blog on the movie “The End of the Line”

Hello once again everyone. I mentioned earlier in the week that there would be a special blog heading this way soon. Well, I'm very excited and happy to say that it is here! So prepare to read something a little different than what you have read on this blog before. I'll let the author introduce herself, but I can tell you all right now that her words are going to be nothing short of fact. As far as it's relation to this blog I would call it a blog on bluefin tuna, but it concerns commercial fishing in general as well. Before you get to that through I do want to tell you guys that there will be an update on my previous blog regarding Anonymous and their threats to attack Japanese websites over the issue of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji at the end of the special blog. So without further delay, distraction, or anything else I will step aside and let you enjoy...

“If Humans Do Not Change, the Ocean Will Be Dead”
Blog on the movie “The End of the Line”



Hello fine readers! This blog will be about a movie titled “The End of the Line”, and it’s insight into the overexploitation of fish, especially Bluefin Tuna. A little bit about me: my name is Chelsey, I’m a senior Biology: Zoology major, and bear with me because this is the first piece I’ve ever written for a blog. When discussing overexploitation in my Wildlife Management class, we watched the movie “The End of the Line”, and I thought the audience of this blog would enjoy hearing about it. So here we are- let’s get to it!


            The movie began with the story of Cod in Newfoundland, Canada. The residents have built their livelihoods around fishing, so when the Cod went commercially extinct, hundreds of people were without jobs. When I say “commercially extinct”, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a single Cod living; it means that there aren’t enough to harvest. Fishermen in the area have long been reporting to the government dramatic decreases in the fish’s population, however, politicians are slow to act when a decision might lose them votes.  The government only banned fishing of Cod when it was already too late to successfully recover the species to its previous magnitude.

            Following in the same footsteps as Cod is the decline of Bluefin Tuna. In case you don’t know, Bluefin Tuna are top predators- they are huge, aggressive, and they swim so fast that their muscles produce almost enough heat to be considered homoeothermic. Bluefin Tuna is a delicacy, a “trendy” food, promoted by cooking shows, praised by dietitians, and valued for its meat-to-fat ratio in sushi. With such a high demand for this fish, it’s no wonder the species is declining at an alarming rate. This decline is recognized by all biologists and all fishermen, although the exact amount of fish remaining is constantly debated. No matter what the exact amount remaining is, though, we should be working towards conserving this fish for generations to come. The general attitude of commercial fishermen is something like, “I want to take all of the fish I can right now so I can make the most profit.” What they don’t consider is the future of the fish, the future of their career, or the future of the marine ecosystem. Mitsubishi, the motor company, is a key player in the fate of Bluefin Tuna; it is said they control 60% of all tuna fishing. They, too, disregard all concerns for the future of the environment, and focus on their capital. Right now, they have a huge stockpile of frozen Bluefin Tuna, and push their fleets to harvest as many as they can. Why? If the tuna is extinct in the wild, and they have so many fish frozen, they could name their price, and make more money than anyone could dream of. From a business standpoint, this is genius, and almost guaranteed to work at the current rate of decline, but again, this is practically a crime against the Earth, and terribly irresponsible.


Let’s talk about the problem. When settlers first came to North America, some accounts described the seas so full of Cod that you could presumably walk across the water on their backs. This is exaggerated, of course, but the fact of the matter is that Cod were once incredibly plentiful, and I doubt anyone thought they would be in danger of extinction. However, we have made this mistake before. The Passenger Pigeon once numbered in the billions (in fact, one flock of birds could include 2 billion animals!), but due to unregulated harvesting, they are now extinct. The American Bison, too, had an estimated population of 60 million animals in 1860, which was obliterated to a sad 150 individuals by 1889, less than thirty years later. My point? We can drive any species we want to extinction, no matter how numerous they may seem now. Overexploitation of fisheries has always been a problem, but now we are seeing a dramatic increase in extinctions because of our advanced technologies. Huge vessels, GPS tracking, fish finders, and trollers are just a few of the tools we are using to destroy marine life. The main problem with the ocean is that it is unregulated, a free-for-all. The ocean belongs to everyone, but no one wants to regulate its use, and this is defined as “the tragedy of the commons”. Because there is no strict regulation or reinforcement, fishermen haul in as much as they can because no one’s going to stop them. Even if the rules were enforced, they wouldn’t do much good. Regulations are set way too high for the biology of many ocean species. For example, in the movie, biologists determined the carrying capacity (maximum number of animals the ecosystem can support) of Bluefin Tuna to be 15,000 metric tons. They recommended a harvest limit of 10,000 maximum, but lawmakers set the limit at 30,000!! And, even more tragically, the actual catch was estimated around 60,000 tons. At this rate of destruction and irresponsible harvest, the Bluefin Tuna is doomed. What will happen next? The industry will move on to another, lesser tuna, such as Yellowfin Tuna. They will be overfished to extinction, and then the industry will again move on to another fish. In biological terms, this is an “extinction cascade”, and with each species gone, the ecosystem suffers exponentially.


            What solutions are available to us? Marine reserves and consumer influence. We don’t need any further knowledge of this problem; no more research needs to be done before we can start fixing the problem. The time to act is now. We need more marine reserves so that fish and other aquatic animals have a chance to reproduce and recover their numbers. We have marine reserves right now, that are very successful, but they only account for less than 1% of the ocean. The rest is open to fishing. Wildlife biologist or not, common sense dictates that animals should not be harvested in 99% of their habitat, and if they are, the population won’t survive. Establishing marine reserves may seem like a challenge, but right now, you and I can make a difference. We are consumers, and every choice we make influences the demand of products. Know where your fish comes from, know how it was harvested, and be responsible. Monterey Bay Aquarium has a guide called “Seafood Watch” that makes it easy to choose products from sustainable sources. We can all help. For example, get together with some friends, watch the movie, and spread the word. Many people are unaware of the state of our oceans right now, and certain sources predict that by 2050, all of the fish and invertebrates in the ocean will be beyond recovery. If we raise awareness and make moral choices, the Bluefin Tuna, and the rest of marine life can be saved.

Thanks for reading!

Links:
Movie Trailer

Seafood Watch, Downloadable Pocket Guide (Print it!)  http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx






I want to take a moment to thank Chelsey for this blog. Last summer I joined the fight to save bluefin tuna and to say that she really put things into perspective with her blog is an understatement. I've said it time and time again, if the oceans die, we die, and I really think that theory is echoed loud and clear here. It's really not too late to save many of these animals. I strongly urge you to visit the two links she posted, in particular the Seafood Watch guide. If you do not want to print it, dedicate a tiny amount of space on your smart phone and download the Seafood Watch app. It really is a great tool for any sea food eater.

Now for a quick update... Anonymous will make good on their threat to attack Japanese Government websites if the killing of dolphins and whales in Taiji does not end. Anonymous joins Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Dolphin Project in physically trying to put these killings to an end. Anonymous has my full support in these actions as diplomacy will solve nothing in dealing with the type of greed and corruption that has been going on in Taiji for far to long. The following is a statement by 
Anonymous. 

"Greetings Citiziens of the World.
We are Anonymous
Operation Killing Bay (OpKillingBay):


A Call to War

The massacre in Taiji has been going on for far too long. It’s existed on the assumption that it’s part of the traditional Taiji way of life. A lie concocted by Taiji officials. It’s about money. And, while the Japanese Government shares the blame, there are many enablers who profit and/or are complicit.

The gruesome deaths the dolphins & whales suffer is akin to the dark ages. Shoving a metal pipe down their orifice to break their spines. Holding them in a pen,
dividing them into groups: the ones not chosen for captivity slaughtered in front of other family members who go on to live a life of captivity if they survive the shock of seeing their family members massacred.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgDkcXljh4c 

Make no mistake the Taiji is fueled by the prices that aquariums pay for dolphins and whales to be taken captive which can be $100,000.  Those who aren’t suitable for captivity are either cut up for meat or just for the hell of it.  

IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers Association) and WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) masquerade as protectors and regulators of dolphins but are shockingly guilty of doing nothing. IMATA are shady supporters of Taiji because without dolphins (and orcas) they wouldn’t exist. They also have even been seen helping at Taiji. WAZA and its Exec Dir Dr. Gerald Dick have the power to influence and stop Taiji but they do nothing. That is as good as fucking guilty.

SeaWorld and other aquariums are also the main culprits buying their dolphins and orcas from these hunts giving Taiji and others reason to exist. Sometimes even, importing them using loop holes in the laws and back channels.

Fault also lies with the airlines like Fed Ex, Japan Air & others who make a tidy profit transporting dolphins and orcas in coffin sized boxed filled with rancid & stale water to a life of captivity. They need to know and the public needs to know this is not fucking alright. We need to cut off the supply chain and it starts with those airlines who are complicit.

Exposing and breaching these groups will get media attention and put the focus back on Taiji. The public outcry from #BlackFish and the re-emergence of ‘The Cove’ will work in our favor. Now is the time to strike exposing and breaching these enablers will bring the focus back on Taiji and gain valuable media attention - putting pressure on the one entity that can shut Taiji down, The Japanese Government.

So far no one has been able to stop them. But they haven’t felt the Wrath of Anonymous yet. We need to stop this shit. We need to come together and let the world know this is unacceptable. The people have spoken. Anonymous has spoken.

Join us & Support OpKillingBay

We are Legion
We do not Forgive
We do not Forget
We are Anonymous
Expect us 12:1:13

***OpKillingBay Twitter-Storm***
December 1st 2013 1:00pm"

I have no idea what the twitter storm is, but I am very anxious to see just what happens come December 1st. I agree with their statement here and support #OpKillingBay and hope that you will do the same. Love or hate the group, it is high time these criminals in Japan paid for their actions against our oceans. I may not be anonymous, but I do not Forgive. I do not Forget. And I will continue to stand against the actions of Japan and any other country who seeks to destroy our oceans in the name of the dollar bill. As Anonymous would say... Expect us...

Monday, November 18, 2013

Japan to Come Under Fire by Hacktivists

Well there is an interesting title for you right? Well it seems that another organization has decided to step up and take part in the fight against the Taiji dolphin slaughter. That organization is a group of hackers who call themselves Anonymous. The words of Anonymous to the Japanese Government is quite simple to summarize. Stop the killing of dolphins in Taiji or come under attack. These guys mean business and have attacked several government agencies as well as the company known as Sony and even crippled the FBI's website. Anonymous has apparently had enough of the dolphin slaughter and have launched OpKillingBay.

Their warning states...

"Government of Japan, we have been watching you and your sick actions from a very long time. Despite several pleas from the international community, you have not stopped butchering these mammals, for your personal gains. You are putting your people's lives at risk by allowing them to consume whale meat. Not only that, you have brought great shame upon Japan by performing these acts.
"This is our final warning, STOP these slaughters IMMEDIATELY, or get ready to face the extent of our wrath."
Anonymous is also threatening to reveal intercepted Japanese Government transmissions that tell of a program entitled DevoX. This program apparently includes the sale of dolphin meat disguised as tinned tuna! The program apparently includes the Government of Taiji bribing the central Government to allow them to export the dolphin to Western buyers. This news is startling to say the least if it turns out to be true and does nothing but further prove the disgusting corruption and desperation that fuels part of this slaughter.
It is great to see that people are really starting to take action against this horrific slaughter. Whether or not you are for these cyber attacks is irrelevant. More and more people are taking a stand against this slaughter yet the Government of Japan simply allows it to continue and become more corrupt. At this point it's not even about the money. For example, Sea Shepherd offered to purchase dolphins that were brought into the killing cove, yet the Taiji fisherman wanted nothing of it. I just cannot for the life of me figure out what the true motivation is now behind this slaughter, but regardless it needs to come to an end. If it takes people ripping down websites to get a point across. So be it. Apparently the majority of the world opposing the slaughter and countless activists doing all they can to put an end to it is not enough. 
The following two videos are the warnings to Japan...




Friday, November 15, 2013

New Species of Shark Found Off of South Carolina

Hello everyone. Tonight's blog will be relatively short, but contains an amazing discovery. If you have been following this blog from the beginning, you may recall a blog that mentioned that a new species of hammerhead had possibly been discovered. Well scientists have confirmed that the possibility is actually a reality. Just a few short days ago, scientists confirmed that a new species of hammerhead had in fact been discovered. The new species has been appropriately named the Carolina hammerhead. These sharks share an incredible similarity to their cousin, the scalloped hammerhead, as far as looks are concerned.





Take a wild guess which one is labeled as a picture of a Carolina hammerhead....... If you picked the first picture you guessed correctly. To the naked eye, these sharks are virtually indistinguishable. So what is the difference you may ask. The Carolina and scalloped hammerheads have different genetic signatures and perhaps even more telling is the fact that the Carolina hammerhead has 10 less vertebrae than the scalloped hammerhead, making it slightly smaller. The shark also seems to for some reason be far more common off of South Carolina than anywhere else in the world. Out of between 300 and 400 sharks that were studied around the world, nearly all of the ones deemed Carolina hammerheads came from, well South Carolina. The discovery has caused some new concern about the future of scalloped hammerheads though.

For such a long time now, people thought that scalloped and Carolina hammerheads were the same animal. In the study that was done to distinguish the species, over 50 of the 80 sharks that were caught were Carolina hammerheads and not scalloped. The population status of the scalloped hammerhead is now more questionable than ever before. Scientists believed before this discovery that scalloped hammerhead populations dropped by about 90% worldwide. Now with the distinguishing of the Carolina hammerhead we really have no idea as to how many  scalloped hammerheads actually exist. Scalloped hammerheads are an Endangered Species who have gained several protections over the past few years. With this new species being unprotected for now I will be interested to see if and what fisherman will do with this discovery. I would not be surprised to see fisherman in certain parts of the world kill scalloped hammerheads claiming them to be Carolina hammerheads. It's not like they are distinguishable to the average fisherman like the scalloped and great hammerhead are.

File:Sphyrna mokarran at georgia.jpg


You can tell the difference between these two sharks pretty easily from fin sizes to overall body shape and length. Again, between the Carolina and scalloped, this really isn't possible for the average person. With as rare as this species appears to be, I don't think it would be a crazy statement to say that these sharks should quickly become as well protected as other species of hammerheads worldwide. Even where these animals haven't been discovered yet. They are not exclusive to the coast of South Carolina or the United States in general. They have been spotted in other parts of the world so they by all rights deserve the same protections as the other hammerheads. Without a shadow of a doubt, this newly discovered species of shark has a slow reproductive rate and as a result is very vulnerable to overfishing.

The discovery of this shark shows that the oceans of the world continues to change. Look what year it is. 2013. It is 2013 and we are still finding new species of sharks. Just a couple years ago it was a hybrid blacktip shark and now a new species of hammerhead. Imagine if we lived in a world where these animals weren't being completely overwhelmed and destroyed. Odds are we'd have a much healthier ocean than we do now. Odds are that we would have an even more diverse ocean than we do now, not just with sharks, but other animals as well. Probably most important of all, our oceans would be secure for the long term. We wouldn't be sitting here questioning what the future is going to hold for the seas. We wouldn't have to even think about what could happen when the last shark dies. We would be able to look at the ocean for what it is. That of course being one of the most amazing things that this planet has to offer. Which brings me to a small announcement.

Coming soon there will be a special blog done here by my girlfriend. She will be doing a special blog on bluefin tuna. I don't have any details other than that on it yet, but if I hear anything from her as to what else it may be about I will gladly pass it on to you guys. Also, I will be taking a mini break for Thanksgiving from November 26th-30th so there will be no blogs posted during that time. However if something big comes up I'll be sharing it in the Facebook group. My next blog will probably continue the recent trend of shark activity! Thanks once again for reading!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New Zealand to Eventually Ban Shark Finning/ Interpol Warns of Horrific Finning Practice

Hello once again everyone. I hope all is well in your lives with the holidays quickly approaching and what not. Tonight's blog features both good and bad news. The good news coming from New Zealand and the bad from Costa Rica. Both news items are in regards to shark finning. So without further adeu, here we go.

Let's start with the good news. New Zealand, despite being one of the greener nations in the world has never had a full on ban on shark finning.

New Zealand is the little island on the lower right hand side of the map

 There are laws in place that ban fisherman from removing the fins of a shark and tossing it's body back into the ocean if the animal was still alive. However, it is perfectly legal for them to fin the shark after the animal had died. The new rules in regards to shark fins would be similar to rules that other nations have. The new rules would ban fisherman from removing fins from any shark at sea. Very similar to the United States, this means that sharks have to be landed totally in tact. That is certainly great news, but New Zealand claims that the $5 million dollar industry will take at least two years to phase out. That is a long time to change fishing regulations. The shark fin industry in New Zealand is ranked within the top twenty in exporters of shark fins. National airline Air New Zealand has stopped exporting shark fins from the country and more and more pressure is mounting for New Zealand to speed up the transition process. In reality, two to three years is nowhere near quick enough for this change in regulation to come into effect. It is great that New Zealand is changing their ways when it comes to shark finning, but to say that they are dragging their feet about it is an understatement. This country, a country that has fought alongside Australia on the issue of whaling against Japan, is one of the world's greenest nations and yet shark finning remains at large and largely legal at that. If you look around the world, over 100 countries have outright banned shark finning, sanctuaries have been established worldwide, and trade regulations have even been altered in some cases. The time for New Zealand to ban shark finning isn't two to three years from now, it is now. Still though, it is by no means a bad thing to see the country finally acting on shark finning and joining the growing movement to save sharks!

So that is the good news. Now for the frankly disturbing bad news coming out of Costa Rica...

Costa Rican authorities have tipped off Interpol of a horrific new style of shark finning that appears to be taking place in an effort to get around certain shark finning laws. In 2011, fishermen on board the vessel Wang Jia Men thought they had found a loophole in Costa Rica's shark finning laws. What the fishermen did was catch a shark and cut all of the animals flesh off down to the spine off, save for a strip of skin and muscle that attached the fins to the sharks body. The flesh was tossed into the water and the sharks were landed looking like this...

MAINshark
Sharkfin01
Sharkfin02

Kinda disturbing isn't it. The fins were eventually deemed not naturally attached to the shark however and the practice was quickly put to a stop. The Costa Rican Coast Guard reported the incident to Interpol (The International Criminal Police  Organization) back in August and just a few days ago a purple notice to alert other countries of this practice. Though the practice was deemed illegal in Costa Rica, there is no guarantee that it will be deemed as such elsewhere where shark finning laws may not be as restrictive, ironically such as New Zealand's current laws. Should this practice start showing up in other countries, it is beyond imperative that those countries immediately fix the laws to state that what is pictured above is NOT acceptable for landing sharks with their fins attached. However they want to describe it is fine with me, but this simply cannot be allowed to happen. Countries that allow this to go on and yet have finning laws in place are doing nothing but harm for sharks because this will simply become the new norm of shark finning.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Freshwater Dolphins in Laos in Dire Straights

When talking about dolphins, the nation of Laos really doesn't come into play. Now though there is a species of freshwater dolphin that are facing immediate extinction due to a dam that is to be built on the Mekong river.

The area of the very large Mekong river that I am talking about can be found in Southern Laos. As you can see, this is a very important river, stretching from countries north of Laos, it snakes through Laos, borders Thailand, cuts through Cambodia, and empties into the South China Sea through Vietnam. The importance of this river to all of the people living near is simply incredible. With the construction of this dam, the entire river could change. Living in this river is the Endangered Irrawaddy dolphin.

The Mekong is home to the largest known pod of these dolphins left on Earth. That would be a whopping 11 individuals. The greatest threat that this dam is going to pose to these dolphins is the removal of 95,000 truckloads of sediment that are going to be removed from the river to make way for the dam. That amount of sediment is going to alter the hydrological balance of the river. The dolphins, being extremely sensitive to any changes in their environments will probably not be able to adapt quick enough and die. Currently scientists think that these dolphins will all be dead within a year from the start of the dams construction. This would cause the extinction of these dolphins in the Mekong. Another species lost to the river.

In addition to the loss of these dolphins, the Mekong river will see a massive drop in fish populations. The dam will block migratory fish from swimming north or south. Roughly 70% of the Mekong river's fish population consists of migratory fish. This dam is just 1 of 9 proposed dams to be built along the Mekong in an attempt to increase electricity to one of Asia's poorest countries. However, due to it's location, it will have the most impact on both the dolphins and migratory fish populations. The importance of those fish to the people of Laos is indescribable. These are people who are living in 1 room huts with no electricity, no heat, none of the things that we have in the United States. Unlike many places in the world, these people are not going about taking every last fish from the river. They simply can't. They do not have the technology to keep fish fresh and frozen over long periods of time. They catch what they can eat. The only sustainable way of fishing.

Those fish are the main source of protein for these people and this dam could very well see a drastic cut in that supply. The change in the landscape of the Mekong river could spell the end for an unknown number of fish, marine mammals, and ultimately humans in the local area as well.

Scientists and environmentalists are trying to get the Lao government to change their minds on the construction of this dam, but so far the government has not budged. The government feels that the dams will not cause any significant changes to the migratory fish and even the dolphins. While Laos is an incredibly poor country, the choice to build these dams will in the long run come back to bite them. Sure they will increase electricity to the area, but what is the point of having that electricity if some 60 million people can't afford it due to their livelihoods and reliance on the Mekong to survive gets taken from them. What if the fish just decide to migrate elsewhere entirely? What if the dolphins do die and the tourism to see them goes with them? Would those losses offset the potential gains that the dams will provide? I think they will. I think there will be far more losses for the people of Laos and even the surrounding countries than gains from this project.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sea Shepherd's Operation Relentless Prepares to Launch

Greetings once again everyone. Tonight I'll be looking at the upcoming Sea Shepherd Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign entitled Operation Relentless. For those of you who do not know what Sea Shepherd is, check out this history of them on their webpage http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/our-history.html. Operation Relentless will be Sea Shepherd's 10th whale defense campaign in the Southern Ocean. All of Sea Shepherd's vessels are arriving at their home ports in preparation for the campaign. The known ships that will be heading down to the Southern Ocean are...

Steve Irwin
The Steve Irwin

Bob Barker
The Bob Barker

Brigitte Bardot
The Brigitte Bardot

SSS Sam Simon
The Sam Simon

These four vessels will, later this month make their way down to the Southern Ocean in an attempt to prevent the Japanese Whaling Fleet from killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Prior to the campaign, there will be a major court ruling coming from the International Court of Justice that will state whether or not they find Japan's whaling activity to be commercial or not. If the court does rule in favor of Australia, who claims that the whaling vessels are using a loophole in a moratorium on commercial whaling that allows whales to be killed for scientific research, then all eyes will shift to Japan to see if they decide to break international law. The loophole the Japanese are using allows the meat from killed whales to be sold as opposed to being wasted. Even if the International Court rules in favor of Japan a serious issue still stands. How can anyone legally kill whales in a whale sanctuary. It is illegal to kill sharks in shark sanctuaries. It's illegal to kill birds in bird sanctuaries, so why is it okay for Japan to kill whales in a whale sanctuary controlled by Australia?

Last year the Japanese set out to kill
935 Minke whales
50 Endangered Fin whales
50 Humpback whales
A total of 1,035 whales.

Personally my question is why in the world do so many whales have to be killed for research? I highly doubt 935 minke whales need to die to get any kind of real research.... Anyway. Last year, due to Sea Shepherd's intervention, the Japanese whaling fleet managed to kill.

266 Minke whales
1 Endangered Fin whale
0 Humpback whales
A total of 267 whales or 26% of their quota. 768 whales saved by Sea Shepherd.

In order for the whaling fleet to profit they need to achieve 80% of their quota, which they missed by a long shot. Currently the whaling fleet is roughly 200 million dollars in debt.

If the whaling fleet returns to the Southern Ocean this year, you can rest assure that Sea Shepherd will be on their tails. Operation Relentless is set to launch in just a few short weeks. As I did for the past two years, I will be following along and bringing you guys any news I can find about the mission in the Southern Ocean. We will not stop till the killing stops!

Why I Fight

Hello once again everyone. This blog is going to be a bit different from normal. Since I've noticed that more and more people are viewing this blog I decided that it might be a good idea to finally tell the story of why this blog exists and why I continue to fight what many people probably see as an impossible war to win. The war I am fighting, of course, is for the protection sharks, whales, dolphins, manta rays, and bluefin tuna worldwide. So where did this all begin? Where did my want to create this blog and join the fight start? Believe it or not, sharks were not the first thing I wanted to save. Originally I wanted to be a part of the fight to save whales. I watched the first season of Whale Wars on television and just from watching that I could tell something was not right. After doing some research online I learned that the ways the Japanese went about hunting whales in the Southern Ocean was not only wrong, but as the show says, illegal. I was floored that nobody besides a group of conservationists had the guts to do anything about it. I had to wonder though if whales being killed was the biggest thing that are oceans were facing. After all, the save the whales movement has been around for a long time and has a ton of supporters worldwide.

In 2008 though everything changed for me. I was asked to assist in creating a Shark Week program for a small aquarium. I was charged with looking into specific species and conservation for them. What I found horrified, alarmed, scared, and deeply concerned me. The first images I had ever seen of shark finning were before me and I could not for the life of me think of why that practice was going on. My instinct was that people were still outraged over Jaws and still had a deep fear of sharks. It wasn't till later that I found out that a good number of people still do take that movie as fact and not fiction, but that's a different story. Naturally after seeing the pictures of sharks being finned and sharks with no fins in the ocean I had to look into why. When I learned that it was for a soup, everything changed. I've been going in the ocean my whole life. Literally, my dad had me in the ocean when I was a baby. The ocean I consider to be well, simply put, a mysterious and magical place. I had never seen a shark in the wild. I had heard the stories of Jaws, the New Jersey Shark Attacks that sparked a global fear of sharks, but I never once heard of what was happening to them. Millions of them killed every year for soup. Not just any soup, but a tasteless, toxic, and quite expensive soup. I knew right away that this needed to stop. I needed to do whatever I could with the resources I had to help put a stop to it. I went to several of my local eateries in search of any serving shark fin soup (Happily I found none in my area). I visited local pharmacies that are still selling shark products to alert them of the plight sharks are facing. Sadly one person isn't enough to change a store's product line up.

Looking back, the most frustrating part of doing that was going into a G.N.C. store and asking a manager what the bottle of shark cartilage was for. The bottle itself didn't have any uses listed on it and a very weird dosage of 1-5 tabs per day. The manager said it was used to prevent cancer, fix joints, and restore cartilage. When asked how it did any of that she had no answer. When presented with paperwork stating shark cartilage does not cure cancer she had no answer. When shown that there were literally dozens of plant materials that could be used to help aching joints she had no argument and agreed with me that the product is probably not the best. However, they would not pull it because it is a very good seller. At over $20 a bottle, you would think you were buying something that actually performed a miracle. These products have no purpose in being on store shelves. This coupled with the knowledge of shark finning that I had learned propelled me to begin fighting for sharks, the most misunderstood type of animal in the world. No longer did I look at these animals with a small interest. Now I looked at them and still do with a mission in mind to save each and every one of them.

In 2009 The Cove was released. All it took was about a 5 minute segment of that film to get me to realize that what was going on in Taiji Japan needed to stop. I knew dolphins as incredibly smart animals, but had literally no idea that they were being slaughtered. I always thought that dolphins were one of those animals that had captivated the world and that surely no one would kill them. Boy was I wrong on that one. Soon after, Sea Shepherd launched the Cove Guardians who through social media, keep the world aware as to what is going on in Taiji. It was then I knew that I could do my part to help these animals as well. Though I couldn't go to Japan, I could educate people on what was going on overseas. I decided not to take much of a stand on the controversial captivity issue as both sides of that argument have very valid points, but in the end my main concern lies with the animals that are still in the ocean. I launched my first blog (not this one) as a personal blog that would occasionally involve the fight for sharks, whales, and dolphins. Over time that blog would become less about my personal life and more about these animals.

In May 2012, I had a random thought enter my head. If gentle giants in the form of whales and the two largest sharks in the world were being killed off, what about other gentle giants. All it took for me was to type in google Manta Ray Conservation to throw my hands in the air in disgust. It sickened me. Manta Rays, easily one of the most majestic and gentle animals in the ocean were being killed for their gill rakers for false medication. After reading more into it I learned that manta populations, already not completely known, were in serious decline. To make matters worse, the demand for gill rakers was and is growing. Compared to marine mammals, and even sharks, manta ray protection is extremely low. CITES recently listed them under Appendix II however, which brought some much needed attention and protection to these animals. To see hundreds of mantas dead on a dock though.... Was just too heartbreaking and I just could not keep myself from wanting to help these animals as well.

By this past summer I had become very much aware of over fishing and the impact it is having on our oceans. I wanted to find an animal that I could focus on when it came to over fishing. I found that animal in the bluefin tuna. Here you have a massive predatory fish with a high reproductive rate that still cannot keep it's populations up due to human pressure. Sharks are being over fished as well, but their low reproductive rate makes it very understandable as to why their populations are not recovering as quickly as some other fish species. The tuna though, an endangered species continue to be over fished and now we are risking them being lost forever. We need to stop this over fishing of bluefin tuna before it is too late.

So why do I fight? I fight because millions of sharks are being slaughtered every year. I fight because intelligent marine mammals are being slaughtered in some of the most inhumane ways imaginable. I fight because gentle giants are being wiped out for nothing more than a lie. I fight because we are removing every last member of an incredibly powerful fish from the seas. I fight because without sharks we will die. I fight because I don't want to live in a world where the only place I can see dolphins and whales is at marine parks. I fight because there are animals in that ocean that wouldn't harm any animal that it wasn't going to eat. I fight because those animals need a voice in the world too. We are so wrapped up in saving the pandas and the other "cute" animals of the world that so many people forget about the seas. Where it takes nothing more than a glance from a panda to captivate a person and to make a person want to save them, it takes seeing thousands of dead sharks to get a point across. If they were cuter would we care more? Probably. So I'll keep fighting. I'll keep posting on this blog. I'll keep posting images of the brutality of the world we all live in. Just because we don't see them walking with us doesn't mean they don't matter. Sometimes the things we see the least are what matter most. It's quite simple. If the oceans die. We die.

As always thank you all for reading. I hope you all now know why this blog exists and why I am doing what I am doing here. I don't know why I haven't made this post in the past, but hopefully it clears any questions you may have as to why I am doing this.