Monday, April 25, 2011

Yucatan - more dead Bull Sharks

Heartbreaking. More grisly pictures in Rick's post.

Rick has just posted some very sad news.
After two Shark attacks in Cancun, the authorities have gone on a rampage and 70 Bull Sharks, some of which pregnant females, have apparently been killed in one night.
Full story in Spanish here.

Very sad and very stupid, too.
As amply demonstrated by Hawaii's Tiger Shark culls in the 60ies and 70ies, killing large coastal Sharks that roam large ranges does not work. Also, much like their unfortunate brethren in Playa, these Sharks apparently only congregate along the Yucatan peninsula to reproduce in Winter, meaning that they are not even resident. I understand that this may have looked like a political necessity in view of the overriding importance of tourism - but in practical terms, the "problem" has neither been "fixed", nor have the beaches become safer.
All this has achieved is to further imperil local biodiversity.
Oh well.

Great to see that Rick is increasingly focusing on Sharks.
Very much not a tree hugger, he's quite a formidable campaigner and has a reputation for getting things done effectively and efficiently. Having him join "our" camp is very good news indeed.

Big man: looking forward to more sharky posts! :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How about getting rid of the drug cartel instead of killing sharks!!!!!!!!!!!