Fiji: Shark Fin Ban!

Click for detail!

Well well.

Read this.

Obviously it's a good thing - albeit with caveats, i.e.

• My gut tells me that this is less about conservation and more about CITES as from a practical point of view, a blanket ban eliminates the need for cumbersome species identifications and NDFs.


• The way I see it, this should merely be considered a stop-gap measure pending the establishment of sustainable management much like in the case of those Shark Sanctuaries


• Where I come from, the saying is that The Good is the Enemy of the Better = is this for Shark fins only, or have they also included the Rays, or at least the increasingly endangered Wedge- and Guitarfishes, see at top?


• What about whole, or even partial Sharks, see this?
  Detail detail!


• With Fiji being a pioneer in Coral planting - here's to there being an exemption for certified sustainable mariculture!

And this self congratulatory piece of horse manure?

No, Fiji did not join, and this got nothing whatsoever to do with those folks, zero = for the record and lest anybody forgets, THIS is their legacy in Fiji! 

Seriously, what a fucking disgrace!

Anyway.

Let's go Shark diving - sustainably!

PS - q.e.d. = Giant Guitarfishes and Wedgefishes, collectively called Rhino Rays, are now the world’s most threatened marine fish!
 

Operation Requiem - NOTHING huh!

Well well.

Talk about having ears on fire!

The pageviews of the Operation Requiem post have literally exploded, meaning that heaps upon heaps of people have chosen to click on the post instead of reading it on the blog, most likely in order to check out the comments.
Betcha that many of them are associated with those orgs, and betcha that this scribe has been the object of a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth?

And yet, there have been ZERO comments in support!

Not a single voice defending the oh-so-noble intentions and stellar achievements of those people, not a single attempt at justifying the project, let alone the stupendous expenditures, not a single answer in response to the following simple questions?

• Is the babemobile under its vociferous captain honoring the given assurances and patrolling the waters of Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu that gave such warm welcomes?


• Are the SSCS and/or the Shark Angels working collaboratively with those several South Pacific governments and NGOs as announced - and if so, where, and what are the results?


• And what of those LMMAs - what is the progress there?

Is that really it?

Is there really gonna be zero accountability for this monumental fiasco?

Really?

And if not - lemme cite myself.

It's all so fucking pathetic.

Under the executive direction of Andersen who would give an arm and a leg, or for the matter, any body part for being featured on national media, the Shark Angels have become the repository of all those hypocritical Shark media whores, starting from the great pornographer all the way down to all those desperate self promoting wannabees. No wonder they endorse Shark Week - they all desperately want to be in it and will certainly never bite the hand that could once propel them to perceived fame and riches!

And the others?

I'm frankly totally baffled.

Not the shameless self promoters. Not the Sea Shepherd drones. Not the media whores. Not the Shark pageant kids. Not the chicks with the moldy duck wings.

Those who really want to make a difference, who invest hours upon hours of their free time trying to educate the public or running campaigns, those who want to get the job done and don't appreciate and are frankly embarrassed by those relentless pathetic shenanigans by the narcissistic leadership and its cronies.

WTF are you still doing there - you are being tainted by association!

You know who you are.!

Operation Requiem - Anniversary!

Where's the  babemobile now? Source.

So there.

This brief exchange reminds me of unfinished business.

It is now one year since Julie Andersen and Co got their hands on Sea Shepherd's pointy babemobile and embarked on a junket across the South Pacific - and it is now high time for one last look at that shit.

But first.

Remember the bombastic announcement?

It still makes me puke whenever I watch it.

Like I said from the outset, the whole BS about kicking ass, stopping at nothing, putting one's life on the line and being willing to DIE had nothing to do with conservation but was instead Andersen's attempt at starring on some sharky Whale Wars clone on Animal Planet. But worry not, I'm not about to bore you with yer another repetitive rant. Should you really have missed the whole kerfuffle when it happened, you can check out what I've posted here when I awarded it the Shark Conservation Con of the Year.

Instead, I want to talk about this.

Sounds great doesn't it - were it not for the fact that like the whole campaign, it's just simply a big heap of BS! To wit, protected one of the world’s largest marine reserves, stopped illegal fishing = boarded legal purse seiners in the PIPA! Talk about a double con: the specific activity but also the fake protected area! 

Anyway.

Even if one overlooks the details, the general gist of that page is that Andersen's junket has been a great Shark conservation success and that it has paved the way for greater and better things to come, see the reference to several partnerships with local governments and NGO’s and the laying of the groundwork for the establishment of locally protected marine areas in 3 countries.

And the reality one year later?

• Is the babemobile under its vociferous captain honoring the given assurances and patrolling the waters of Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu that gave such warm welcomes? 
• Are the SSCS and/or the Shark Angels working collaboratively with those several South Pacific governments and NGOs as announced - and if so, where, and what are the results? 
• And what of those LMMAs - what is the progress there?

Or may Operation Requiem STILL be nothing but a scam?

I'm asking because I am hearing and reading NOTHING - and I betcha it's because NOTHING is happening! From what I can discern, Andersen has been terminated, see below;  Fisk, meh; and the sly Ms Basset is back to being her radical shepherdette self in Hawaii. Initiatives from those quarters, let alone successes in protecting the Sharks in the South Pacific: a big fat zero.
On the contrary: Tonga under its Shepherd of the Sea has since opened its doors to unlimited Shark fishing and finning - and the PIPA has since been fittingly outed as a scam! 

Or not? Surprise me!

The Pacific Voyagers?
Having employed some of the voyagers, my impression was that this was nothing but yet another junket on other people's money, namely some wealthy and IMO hopelessly romantic and credulous German dude who came up with and financed the whole exercise - and observing the local leaders parade around in their big SUVs whilst preaching sustainability to others has certainly done nothing to dispel my reservations.
I believe that this pseudo-cultural retro movement does nothing in addressing the aspirations of the young generation of Pacific Islanders that are desperately looking for a vision of the future, foremost of which decent jobs and decent lives. For that, like anybody else, they will need to have a good education and then be willing to work hard - and I'm concerned to see zero reference to that in the Voyagers' messaging. But as always the proof is in the pudding, and it remains to be seen whether now that the voyage and with it, the indiscriminate funding have ended, there will be any lasting and tangible legacy.
But I'm obviously digressing - progress for Sharks, zero!

Sea Shepherd?

If my suspicion is accurate and NOTHING has happened in the past twelve months and that consequently, the overarching campaign is nothing but hot air - why, exactly, is this stuff still on their website? 

Whereas I will always remain opposed to the personality cult and its brand of radical activism, Sea Shepherd's largely overlooked Shark conservation activities in the Galapagos have been nothing short of stellar. And I must also say that as of late, I've been rather impressed with Gary Stokes' work at CITES and more recently, on the airline and shipping lines campaigns - the more since trusted friends think very highly of him. Plus, would that be a vintage BAD t-shirt? :)

So why tarnish the Shark conservation effort with this shit - the more as the Pacific is already so well served by the literally countless NGOs and especially, Pew?

Or again: surprise me!

And the breathy Director of Shark Campaigns?

According to this posting on SSCS France, she has been terminated because when questioned about her association with Scubapro that stands accused of supporting marine Mammal captivity, she has by no means put her life on the line, or whatever, but has instead chosen to continue taking Scubapro's money - and no I'm not at all surprised!

But fear not, she's obviously completely unfazed, still desperately kissing Discovery's arse and already working on her next Shark con - and talk about a revealing choice of name if ever there was one!

To be continued no doubt - alas!

2012 - The Bad and the Ugly: new Nominations!

And on a completely different note - but then again, maybe not so far off topic!

 

2. New Nominations

• Biggest Shark Conservation Fail - Fiji Shark Sanctuary Campaign
  
  What can I say - literally!
  As a foreigner on a visa - only so much!
  Anyway, the Sanctuary is toast and the Authorities have decided to instead manage Shark fishing via a NPoA Sharks. I've seen one of the many drafts and it talks about having it ratified by Parliament, meaning that any such measures will be implemented, if at all, after the elections in 2014.
  Meanwhile, this is continuing unabated.
  
  And the reasons for this debacle?
  One is certainly the campaign itself.
  Instead of quietly concentrating on assisting government in drafting the actual legislation, the campaign managers decided to roll out a premature national awareness campaign. The frothy activism and associated NOISE were increasingly been viewed as an irritant by the the powers that be, and the media announcements finally managed to activate the Shark fishing industry that mounted a vigorous opposition, much along the lines of this shit.
  And when Sea Shepherd announced that they were coming to Fiji to kick ass, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back - see below!
  
  And what about this.
  There must always be a cohesive medium between the various factions and a complete ban on longline fishing (while it would solve all conservation problems) is just not realistic as it wouldn't address the inherently important issues like food and economic security. We must always remember that we are talking about the livelihoods of many Fijians, many Pacific islanders for that matter Joel Evans therefore we must take all the variables into consideration and try to achieve that essential yet elusive balance.
  
  Sorry Art - love you, but this is just idle clap trap!
  We're talking about 130+ METRIC TONS of Shark fins that get exported annually, principally brought in by the Taiwanese long distance fleets (likely now from Tonga, too) that pay no taxes, create no jobs and sail away with the profits whilst a handful of Asian traders are lining their own pockets - and those are merely the OFFICIAL figures! Essentially, Fiji is acting as a turntable for the produce of IUU and very possibly also finning that is being perpetrated by foreign interests on the high seas, and this much to the DETRIMENT of the SoPac that is being stripped of its marine resources!
  
  And then there's the massive increase in coastal fishing for Sharks that is already effecting the dive sites and impinging on a totally sustainable and non-extractive industry worth approx. FJD 80  millions to the country, and on countless jobs in the tourism industry - and we're not even talking about the ecosystem services that so far remain unquantified!
  
  This is all about making fast profits and got nothing whatsoever to do with Pacific Islander livelihoods, food security and jobs, the more as the Sanctuary decree had an exemption for Canacana fisheries!
  
  And the National Plan of Action Sharks?
  Compared to sanctuaries, traditional management measures are complicated and extremely costly to implement. Does Fiji dispose of the necessary resources and if not, who is going to provide them - and with that in mind, what are the chances of this being a successful undertaking?
  
  Solutions?
  None I am at liberty to discuss in public - but clever minds are working on stuff!
  QUIETLY!

• Shark Conservation Con of the Year - Operation Requiem
  
  I've said it before, like others,  I'm of two minds about Fat Paul.
  He has managed to alert the public to several issues he holds dear - but he's also a total bullshitter and now it turns out, a total coward! And the SSCS - read these posts by Patric who obviously cares much more than I ever could!
  
  And the track record after those 30+ years of NOISE and simply stupendous expenditures?
  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - the Canadians continue to bash those Seals to death, the Japanese continue to hunt those Whales, the Faroe Islanders continue to hold their grinds, and the guys in the Cove continue to butcher away and don't give a rat's ass about Hollywood, end even less about the krazy new age shepherdettes!
  Those are the FACTS - but who cares, right?
  
  A shame really, because the frothy bullshit and NOISE drown out the few remarkable legitimate initiatives, like the Society's involvement in the Galapagos or e.g. what the fiery and irreducible Gary has achieved by relentlessly chipping away at CITES - and buddy, it sure looks like it's gonna be a win for you and zero for me! :(
  
  And this?
  SPOT ON - re-posted specially for YOU Megalobomb! :)
  
  
  
  Full video here!
  
  But I'm digressing as always.
  What I really wanted to talk about is Julie Andersen's junket where she, boyfriend Wildman and a couple of sea shepherdettes paid themselves a pleasure cruise throughout the Pacific on donor money.
  
  This was the bombastic announcement.
  Chances are that after I post it, they will make it private like the version on Vimeo. WTF - I thought they would be PROUD of it and wish a maximum of people to see it???
  Take special note of the usual SSCS bullshit of putting one's lives on the line and being ready to DIE for one's clients - incidentally, just like Fat Paul!
  
  
  
  Just remarkable ain't it.
  
  The truth?
  This is nothing more than Andersen's narcissistic attempt at finally getting her own television show, specifically some kind of Shark Wars on Animal Planet. Compare the above to this trailer for Seal Wars where Andersen made a cameo appearance and contributed NOTHING as always, and you can discern how this shit was concocted.
  
  And how about this
  On Andersen's and his webpage, Wildman describes his work in 2012 as follows
  Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - "Operation Requiem" - Underwater and Topside Cinematographer, Producer, Director, Editor - Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, Vanuatu, 2012.
  Think this is anything but a commercial venture? And, did they obtain the required shooting permits, and state that this was a shoot for Sea Shepherd?
  With Discovery having halted all projects following the defection of Brooke Runette, we can only hope that nothing will come of it - but who knows, the more since Andersen is certainly crafty in the game of smoke and mirrors!
  
  Anyway.
  Should you be interested in details, do peruse their News from the Field - and LO, you will discover a long succession of inane (and I note, poshumously embellished) posts about... NOTHING SUBSTANTIVE!  
  Our South Pacific shark campaign under the direction of Julie Andersen has just completed an awesomely successful campaign in Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati - MY ASS!
  Collaborative relationship with Tonga huh - SHOW ME!
  
  But that's the SSCS for you!
  It has long morphed into a cult - and if the disheeples want to continue ignoring the evidence and pay for that fraud, too bad for them! My only grievance: that pseudo-conservation hydra is very good at vacuuming up resources that could do so much GOOD if they were donated to legitimate orgs instead!
  
  But Fiji is of course unforgivable.
  I was frankly astonished to find a pretty accurate description of what happened here - and no I don't know who that blogger is.
  The perpetrators who weaseled in posing as Shark Angels: squeaky SSCS Director of Shark Campaigns Andersen, boyfriend and illegal commercial shooter Wildman and rabid shepherdette Basset who then had the audacity to publicly sport a SSCS shirt in a Fijian village! All aided and abetted by, inter alia, Sarah Fisk, another shepherdette and PHD on a visitor's visa - talk about a total lack of RESPECT for the wishes of her host country!
  You can see them clowning around in Fiji here - whilst pretending to be somehow involved in a conservation success they had NOTHING to do with, ZERO!
  
  So, were those disrespectful fools the principal cause for the Sanctuary's demise?
  NO they were NOT - but having personally been at the Fisheries offices when it all went down, I can attest first-hand that it is THEM, and the idiots helping them, who have tipped it over the edge!
  And this after Andersen and Fisk were told by both Coral and Pew not to come!
  
  I say, WHAT A FUCKING DISGRACE!
  All to satisfy the sick personal ambitions of one person - not to mention the pecuniary agenda! And from what I hear, it may not even be over as they are STILL trying to weasel in!

• Shark Troll of the Year: Sean Van Sommeran
  
  Check out the word's definition here.
  Then compare it to SVS's Hyena wails here - merely one example of literally hundreds of similar ones he finds the time to post each year!
  Like I said during the Junior controversy, I have a grudging admiration for the man as he is passionate and DOES things - but boy-oh-boy, talk about a dude with a paranoiac hatred of what he appears to consider the conspiracy by the authorities and the academic establishment!
  And then, there are his rants against Shark provisioning - as legendary as they are completely misguided!
  And this? Still in no way resolved - or is it?

• Shark Fruitcake of the Year: still and unequivocally Erik Brush!
  
  But this year, we got ourselves an runner-up!
  
  
  
  Behold the self promoting Scott Cassell (52 miles non-stop huh - THAT ALONE would be fodder for another post...) who has single-handedly revolutionized everything we know about the GWS in the Northeast Pacific by claiming that he befriended a female named Spots in the Farallones only to later be reunited with her in Lupe, a migration hundreds of tags have been unsuccessful in documenting!
  Having then discovered images of her de-finned and de-jawed carcass from Baja and wanting to bring Spots' fins home, he then took a junket to Asia on sponsor money where he proceeded to EDUCATE the masses about the risk of an imminent invasion of Humbold Squid - yes, in ASIA!
  And, on his off days, he travels to Tiger Beach, again on sponsor money, to play fetch with Emma! AND, he teaches us that when you eat sharks and tunas, you are responsible for grizzly bears attacking people in Alaska! Ring a bell? It's all about Collier's dreaded DOMINO EFFECT and got certainly nothing to do with this!
  
  Red flags anybody?
  Whatever - right? It's all FOR THE SHARKS ergo totally legit!
  Simply too weird to be true? If you DARE because it's painful (WARNING!), watch THIS !
  Wow!

• Idiotic Shark Conservation Meme of the Year: The Oxygen Myth
  
  No, not THAT ONE!
  After last year's treatment, only a total fruitcake would dare spout those idiocies in public - oh, and of course JESSICA, now freshly re-named!
  Case in point - now it's about Global Warming, too!
  
  
  
  
  No I'm talking about the following!
  
  And I cite.
  Studies show that over 70% of the planet’s oxygen is generated from the ocean. Plankton are at the greatest risk of ocean acidification, and it is the plankton that creates that oxygen - which is being fully seconded by the OCEAN GODDESS herself who teaches us that Our living ocean generates 70% of the oxygen in our atmosphere and sequesters carbon emissions that have risen over the last century.
  
  Or to quote Chris Hartzell the pompous bloviating fireman.
  The debate over whether the ocean or the forests has been strong.In the 80's scientists who studied the ocean and the forests doing field work discovered approximately 60% of oxygen came from diatoms in the ocean (plankton) and 20% from the forests. However, today scientists say it is almost 50/50. However, it should be noted that the scientists in the 80's did actual field work for 100% of their sampling while today's scientists attribute their results to roughly 50% field data and 50% computer modeling. Either way, if diatoms were to take a big hit in the ocean, the global oxygen supply would be catastrophically hit and it is estimated that between 1/3rd to half of the human population would die off.
  Wow! Truly the man is a CORNUCOPIA of erudition - and not only about Sharks!
  
  And guess what: it HAS taken a big hit!!
  Look no further than this paper by Boyce et al  that comes to the conclusion that we have lost 40% of the Phytoplankton since 1950 - which is being fully confirmed by our very own rocket scientist, Tony Marr!
  
  And the consequences?
  Let my try and illustrate this with one of Jessica's sillygisms that goes thusly
  Major premise: 70% of the atmosphere's oxygen is generated by the Phytoplankton in our living ocean
  Minor premise: 40% of that Phytoplankton is toast
  ERGO: we've just lost ourselves 28% of the planet's oxygen!
  
  Bingo - and it's all SCIENCE ergo TRUE!
  We haven't caught on to it quite yet - but we're ACTUALLY all writhing on the ground gasping for air, just like the truly unequaled Chris has announced!
  
  Wow - again!
  But wait a minute: how come when I calibrated my O2 analyzer before yesterday's dive, it did not show 15.12% but 21% as usual? Read this drivel and you will discover that the ocean's oxygen production trope is at best a misconception and at worst, bunk science and disinformation.
  Tu quoque Sylvia?!?
  
  And then, read this - seriously, DO!
  Straight from the frothy Piranha tank, it documents how the Phytoplankton paper was the result of sloppy research coupled with a sloppy peer review process coupled with a sloppy journal that failed its due diligence as it wanted to stand out by publishing a BIG story. It is bad science, published prematurely - in brief, TOTAL BS!
  Tu quoque Boris?!?
  
  Back to the Sillygism!
  Major premise: not so fast!
  Minor Premise: HELL, no!
  ERGO: Phewww!

• Least impressive Shark Conservation Initiative - Listing the NE Pacific Great White Sharks under CESA and ESA
  
  Short story here.
  
  First, to the easy part.
  This matters because, as apex predators, sharks protect other fish populations by keeping seal and sea lion populations in balance. Sharks also play a crucial role in protecting barrier reefs. In short, if we lose our sharks, we lose our ocean's nurseries.
  
  Our Pacific coast needs great whites.
  As some of the oceans' top predators, they keep the food web in balance.
  As much as we may fear them for their bad rap, we need great white sharks to keep our oceans healthy. Just as wolves keep deer populations under control, great white sharks play a critical top-down role in structuring the marine ecosystem by keeping prey populations in check, such as sea lions and elephant seals, benefiting our fisheries and abundant wildlife.
  
  Sharks and barrier reefs huh.
  Apart from attributing to GWS faculties that apply, if at all, to completely different species, these statements suggest that apex predators are automatically keystone species. The FACT is that GWS are clearly NOT - and this especially if the postulated number of 350 were correct!
  Seriously, to suggest that a few hundred Sharks could control the Pinniped populations (estimates here) from the tip of Baja all the way to Alaska and over to Hawaii is just simply LUDICROUS - especially considering that GWS do not prey on Pinnipeds until they are large sub-adults, and even then only during a very short season before moving offshore!
  And the hint that the exploding Pinniped populations may endanger fisheries - may we be painting the specter of predator overpopulation, and this at the expense of species that have barely recuperated from decades of human exploitation?
  
  But that's just the usual stupid hyperbole.
  Same-same for this stupidity (yes there are TWO petitions!) - upon reading that for example, on the eastern seaboard of the United States, a decrease in Great White Sharks resulted in higher populations of mesopredators like the cownose ray and decreased populations of bivalves like scallops (Myers et al. 2007 at 1849) I've simply stopped bothering!
  FYI Myers et al. 2007 at 1849 states that The remaining four elasmobranch-consuming great sharks were caught too rarely to detect trends from this survey. Two of those, great white (Carcharodon carcharias) and sand tiger (Carcharias taurus) sharks, were each caught only once and early in the UNC survey (in 1974 and 1978, respectively).
  Graph here - see any GWS?
  
  The REAL problem here is that the 350 number is just bullshit!
  Yes it may be the best available science but then again, does a deeply flawed population estimate even qualify as such? Expect vigorous rebuttal from the jugular-slicing ninjas shortly - and if so, will that then become the best available science and thus completely invalidate the petition?
  
  And the petition proper?
  Certainly voluminous and erudite - but once again, fraught with obvious shortcomings, the principal other being that there is no evidence whatsoever that the population is declining, let alone that the US West Coast population is at serious risk of extinction!
  In fact, there is evidence that the population may be INCREASING which would also account for the increase of incidental bycatch of juveniles!
  
  “These majestic predators are vital for the health and balance of our ocean ecosystems,” said David McGuire, Director of SharkStewards. “Even the removal of one sexually mature individual from a population this small can have serious impacts on the population as a whole. They need stronger protection immediately.”
  Yeah, right David - whatever!
  
  Leaves the consequences of the listings.
  Probably overly harsh - especially at the federal level where an ESA listing would imply sweeping management measures throughout their immense habitat that would likely unnecessarily impact even the remotest commercial fisheries regardless of their actual GWS bycatch statistics - and thus likely lead to both unnecessary loss of income and unnecessary investment of resources for monitoring and enforcement. That can't be good can it.
  Considering what we know about the philopatry of this specific GWS population, wouldn't it have been much more credible and thus less controversial, and also more efficient (= cheaper) to concentrate on the known hot spots (= essentially, the nurseries) and regulate the specific fisheries that lead to the bycatch - this always assuming that the associated mortality is really impinging on the recovery of the population, something that is very much debatable?
  
  Anyway.
  This being CALIFORNIA, chances are that CESA listing will be granted regardless of the shortcomings - and if so, like the fin ban, it will be nice but certainly not good!
  
  Like I said here
  This is never happening in a vacuum - this is being used to advocate legislation that will deprive fishermen of income and quite possibly, of their livelihoods. With that in mind, we owe it to them, but also, to ourselves not to cheat and to use misleading perceived "marketing", or whatever, but to be truthful and fact based instead.
  
  And we got ourselves a runner-up!
  This is actually really good - so why the misleading Petition?
  The problem for Sharks is OVERFISHING and specifically in the Gulf, the problem is POACHING - not finning which as far as I understand it is illegal in all US state and federal waters anyway! And the tens of millions - we simply do not know whether they are being killed for their fins alone!
  The depletion rates? That would be Baum and Myers 2004 that is however controversial - and since then, there has been Baum and Blanchard 2010 that comes to different conclusions, albeit for a different time frame and a larger area. So what is the best available science, the more as from the first document, I learn that Texas has enacted vigorous management measures that may well have led to improvements?
  Is the hyperbole really necessary and above all, does it add to the credibility of this project?

• Irritant of the Year - Shark Wunderkinder
  
  I must confess, after the disappointment with Madi Pip I may be a wee touchy.
  But then again, check this out.
  
  I am DISGUSTED with our kind! THE OCEAN IS THEIR HOME! Our home is on land! WHEN YOU ENTER THE OCEANS, YOU ARE A GUEST ENTERING THEIR HOME! YOU (WE) ARE THE ONES INVADING THEIR HOME!! OUR HOME IS LAND! THEIRS IS THE OCEAN!!! THEY WERE THERE BEFORE US!! IT'S THEIR RESIDENCE. IF YOU ENTER THE OCEAN, IT'S A RISK YOU ARE TAKING AS THE INVADER!!! Are we seriously going to start a cull to kill sharks so people can safely swim in the waters!?! Are you crazy!?!? That's not going to work. Sharks are going to continue coming around. Sharks are going to end up being killed off. Many species are critically endangered, now including the Great White Sharks....
  
  And-so-on-and-so-forth!
  This particular specimen is Shark Girl Hannah, a Floridian like the whispering BooBoo that is equally somehow associated with Shark Savers. They are but two of a long list of young Shark advocates that come across as being very ENTHUSED! Can't quite put my finger on it - but to me, it's all a bit LOUD and a bit MUCH!
  But then again, maybe it's an age thing - theirs and mine!
  
  As always, we shall see!

And here endeth the ominous list - believe it or not!

All FOR THE SHARKS - what else!

PS: Check out Part One, Part Two and Part Three!

2012 - The Bad and the Ugly: Track back!

So there - here comes the juicy part!

WARNING - LAST CHANCE TO STOP READING!

You have been warned!

1. Track back

Last year's list is here!

• Shark Research Institute.
  
  Meh.
  The Jersey Girl, the remarkable prez (Film maker, German TV star and one of the top 26 Shark experts on the planet no less!) and the other featured names, or whatever, continue to shine through... wait for it.... NOTHING!
  Did they once again mooch off other peoples' achievements? Who knows and frankly, who cares! And this? Q.e.d, see above under Shark Con! So don't be a sucker - and should you want to donate to a REAL Shark research institute, choose one that actually DOES engage in research and send your money to Doc's Shark Lab!
  
  But THIS is scary!
  Remember the Doha fiasco?
  Has there been a moment of accountability and reflection, and have the lessons be learned?
  
  The question then and now is
  Have the Shark conservationists met, are they coordinating their efforts and pooling their resources, and are they going to be sending their best, most seasoned negotiators to represent the whole Shark conservation movement - or are we going to see yet again the same convention tourism by yet again the same motley uncoordinated naïve and clueless group of amateurs who will pay themselves a trip to Bangkok in order to protest, pontificate and vociferate?
  And in the case of the SRI, I hear: hobnob, small talk and sippy champagny?
  
  Take a wild guess!
  I've talked to a lot of people who have attended Doha and their assessment of the SRI delegation has been nothing short of DEVASTATING - and now those folks want to do it again!
  I mean, seriously, just go and check out Jupp's Facebook page that is all about the SSCS and zero about the SRI (= because there's NOTHING to report - q.e.d. again!), and look at the righteous platitudes, populist hogwash and Watson-esque poetry he chooses to propagate - from the PRESIDENT of a Shark RESEARCH Institute?!? Seriously!!!
  
  And THOSE are the people that are asking for your money to go and represent YOU?

• Shark Angels.
  
  Turns out that I was wrong in lumping them all together!
  There are valiant members who shine through brilliant advocacy at the grassroots level, and the Franco-Belgian chapter is actually quite impressive - so kudos to them.
  South Africa? Meh - it's one year later and STILL zero results!
  
  And then there's the Californian outlayer consisting of Andersen and her claque of sycophantic half-sized bimbos sporting black-dyed chicken feathers (seriously!) and rabid vegan sea shepherdettes that are frankly a bloody disgrace - see Part Four under Operation Requiem!
  
  The question being: is that even Shark Angels - and do the other legit members want to be associated with that whacky shit?
  And if not: maybe one should get rid of the narcissism and the KRAZY and boot her out, just like Shark Savers have done a long time ago, only to emerge much improved and way more credible in the process?

• United Conservationists
  
  What if conservation became easier than rallies, protests, radical groups and letter writing? What if the ability to save ecosystems, species and ultimately humanity was put into your hands and was as easy as the click of the mouse? What if the power returned to the people? What if we united and started a revolution to save the planet, and ultimately ourselves?
  
  Yeah, right - WHAT IF!
  Long story short: NOBODY GIVES A SHIT - thankfully!
  There's now, I hear, a movie nobody apart from daddy's paid journalists has watched; a book nobody apart from daddy's paid journalists has read; a campaign that is unraveling (and here); a REVOLUTION that ain't happening; a non-for-profit (maybe!) without a board now that mummy and daddy have stepped away; and a guru-esque salesman who has fallen victim to his own marketing - which also covers what I've written under Personality Cults one year ago!
  Hell, it is so bad that even Andersen has fled the sinking ship!
  Time to shut this down and go get an honest job, how about that!

• The California Shark Fin Ban is holding.
  
  For now!
  The way I read it, an injunction has been rejected pending the case proper - or was this the final judgement? If so, phewww; if not, good luck - and I mean it!
  
  And this being CALIFORNIA, the Sharktivists have already embarked on the next flawed Shark conservation initiative - see the next section!

• Erik the Mad Hatter of Sharkitarianism.
  
  My research into sharks lead me to a ground breaking and shocking scientific discovery and I spent years of research with scientists and experts around the world to get all of the data down for my book, "The Sixth Extinction". What I have written is by far the most powerful conservation book and in fact the most important book that anyone will ever read.
  
  Excerpt below!

• ABC4
  
  I must say, he really IS a great shooter - watch this.
  
  
  
  I will never like the riding and am really disappointed that GoPro promotes that shit to their thousands upon thousands of customers.
  
  But overall, excellent stuff!
  And, people tell me that this year, he has not partaken in any outright Shark porn!
  
  And still, I just don't like or trust the man - which I'm sure causes him countless sleepless nights :)
  E.g., does one really have to pander to the loons and trolls in order to belong, or whatever?

• Discovery Channel
  
  I once signed the boycott petition and don't watch that shit unless somebody tells me I have to - and nobody has. I hear that things are slowly improving, which is good news indeed.

• Erich Ritter
  
  He's still at it!
  After more than a decade of spouting pseudoscience, we're STILL waiting for the GROSSE WURF, the rolling out of his seminal peer-reviewed paper on his visionary THEORY OF EVERYTHING on Shark-human interaction!
  
  Instead, he has written a BOOK - ANOTHER one! Yay!
  No I'm not posting titles and links lest I be accused of aiding and abetting - just this: would you buy a book purporting to teach you about Bird-human, or Mammal-human interaction - get the gist? Not to mention the fact that he really hasn't got a leg to stand on - those very same lunatic hypotheses have already been falsified by a hungry Bull Shark nearly a decade ago, camera running!
  Anyway, see below!
  
  WARNING!
  A friend who has watched it writes, That's 6 minutes and 42 seconds of my life I will never get back!.
  Indeed - you have been warned!
  
  
  
  6:38
  In the presence of Bull Sharks in shallow water: Recommendation: STAND STILL!
  WOW - pass the coochie to the left hand side!

To be continued!

PS: Check out Part One, Part Two and Part Four!

Sea Shepherd in Fiji - WTF???

Definitely NOT a bimbette - as proven by the many comments!

Oh for crying out loud.
I really loathe giving more bandwidth to that disrespectful fiasco - but now, Julie Andersen has really crossed the line.
So there.

So, apparently, this is all a terrible misunderstanding.

• The bombastic video? A misunderstanding!
  It turns out that there was really no intention of creating a rapid response force to do battle all over the world, and that, really, nobody is actually gonna be putting their lives on the line to fight the battle no-one else would take on!
  So what is this - just a lot of self congratulatory bullshit aimed at impressing the credulous sheeple and perpetuating the myth of the death-defying pirates? Probably - and it works! Case in point: They risk their live to saving wildlife, they are the best!!!
  So what are we to believe? The sanctimonious assurances on the project website or the on-camera statements by the self enamored Leaders? Talk about a case of institutional schizophrenia and of trying to brazenly upstage Stefanie and her Pacific Shark Initiative!
  


• The plan to come to Fiji? A misunderstanding!
  The first press release of May 14 reads, and I cite: Captain Watson will captain one of at least two ships that will leave Australia next month for Fiji to begin the hunt for illegal shark finners. Most certainly a misunderstanding!
  And Paul Watson's statement that The Sea Shepherd South Pacific Shark Campaign Operation Requiem is departing the Solomon Islands for Fiji under the leadership of Shark Angel Julie Anderson? A misunderstanding, much like the article in the Fiji Times!
  Anyway, tempi passati. We now learn that they have made a new plan (= by changing the one that did not exist to start with?) and that the floating babemobile is going somewhere else, and thank God for small favors.
  Whatever - right?
  


• And the involvement of the Shark Angels? A misunderstanding!
  Despite of the banner suggesting the exact opposite, I learn that this is really an initiative by Sea Shepherd only, because Shark Angels is a separate organization! For once, I am really tempted to take this at face value, the more as the blog is on the SSCS website and that a press release informs us that Julie Andersen, founder of Shark Savers and Shark Angels, joined Sea Shepherd to lead the organisation's global campaign to save sharks from extinction.
  So let's take that to the bank - Andersen works for Sea Shepherd.
  The obvious question being, does Shark Angels even want to be associated with this shit, and has anybody there even been consulted?

And now, she is here.
So much for Again, Sea Shepherd has no intention of entering Fiji!
David describes it as follows
Told they weren't needed, told they weren't wanted, asked to stay away to avoid causing offence but still they go and the first thing they do? Start spreading longlining propaganda only two weeks away from the decision as to whether Fiji introduces the world's greatest shark sanctuary. Has Sea Shepherd crossed the line from tasteless self promotion to the totally indefensible? Three years of hard work jeopardized for a PR stunt... and Patric has posted this.

Those posts are about this utter stupidity.
So some pampered bimbo from the US has made the mind-boggling discovery that fishermen are just ordinary people trying to make ends meet like everybody else, and that they do not like it when somebody tells them not to fish. Wow - and to top that off, the representative of none other than Sea Shepherd (!) comes to the conclusion that conservation is not just about taking a black-and-white stand! Priceless!
And in communicating these revolutionary insights to the uninformed masses, she is offering the guy a global platform for asserting that the fishing industry has not been consulted (a bold faced lie), that the Shark Sanctuary will be useless and that it won't happen anyway because there is no consensus from the fishermen, as if the latter was ever gonna be a realistic option.
And this on the website of the SSCS???

And that's not all!
After complaining about having been obviously denied permission to act as a volunteer teacher, she then has the audacity to go to a remote village and teach? And to then brazenly pose (again!) with the kids? And maybe even film?
Because it didn’t matter what the government thought?

And all of this on a tourist visa???

Needing and loving the light?
Indeed: the limelight, and this at any price! I mean, seriously, how many more pictures of Julie Andersen can the world possibly stomach! Look at me me me me ME!
No she is neither bad, nor is she a political activist, or whatever - quite to the contrary, she is probably well intentioned. But she's not very smart, lacks substance, understands nothing and is quite obviously a narcissist and rather shameless self promoter.
Not to worry, given time these things tend to sort themselves out.

But here and now, it is simply unacceptable.
This noise is now directly affecting the Fiji Shark Sanctuary Campaign.
Please do read this post by Shark Defenders. These are the facts (e.g. four consultations!) and these are the organizations government has chosen to invite and engage with when considering Shark conservation measures.
Fiji is awash in NGOs big and small, and the marine conservation community is tightly knit and pervaded by a spirit of cooperation despite of the inevitable competitive aspects. With some notable and rather inexplicable exceptions, they all have tacitly agreed not to interfere and to let the campaign run its course and when asked for opinions, they all tote the company line and defer to the decisions and leadership of the project team.

This is a process.
It includes regular information and consultations, and now that government has announced that a decision is forthcoming, several entities are starting to discuss ways to facilitate the implementation after a possible, but by no means certain (!) positive outcome - and let there be no doubt that this crap is certainly not helping!
The specific strategies will vary depending on the specific content of any forthcoming Shark decree - but from what is transpiring now, they will certainly neither involve pointy boats with green volunteers playing deputy sheriff, nor will there be a need for parachuting in foreign volunteer teachers and the like.
Teaching is the exclusive domain of the Ministry of Education and when it comes to outreach & awareness, the local NGOs are more than capable of deploying their Fijian staff who know exactly what they are talking about, and how to best get the message across.
Having said this, any assistance from abroad will be welcome - provided that it is being solicited and that it is genuine and not merely showboating for the media.
But not now.

This is why I am so pissed off.
This very much smells like the attempt at yet another brazen conservation heist - Palau all over again. The org is not welcome, and the individuals representing it have been told in no uncertain terms to wait and not to interfere. And yet they do and to my dismay, it very much appears that somebody here in Fiji is aiding and abetting.

Look, guys.
You know who you are and I am not going to point fingers because of a sense of local solidarity and in one case, even respect and possibly even friendship. I know that opinions and agendas differ and in the case of the industry, I also understand the need for bums in bunks, and the allure of being featured in the media. But with all due respect, this has now gone far beyond being private for family and friends and simply diving with Sharks.
The way I read it, those people should not be here to start with. And now that they are, instead of acting like legitimate tourists, they are upsetting the process at a critical time, and need to be reigned in. As a minimum, tell them to enjoy their holiday, keep a low profile and above all, to shut the f up!

If this continues unabated, it will end in tears.
Everybody here knows where they are now, and where they are going to be in one week's time. There is a strong indication that this involves capturing commercial media and if so, your identity will be eventually revealed - and you may want to make sure that you are not going to be embarrassed when it does?

Just a suggestion!

PS Patric on conservation boondoggling and St. Paul here!
PS2 David here!

Sea Shepherd in the South Pacific?

First things first: read this.
The Fiji Blog is the official blog of Fiji's Ministry of Information.

What followed was a flurry of e-mails.
My friends being who they are, there was a lot of laughing, smirking and conspiratorial winking - so for the record: Beqa Adventure Divers have nothing whatsoever to do with that.
We are a foreign owned company and have no bearing whatsoever on what Fiji's government do and say. As Sea Shepherd HK's fiery Gary Stokes reveals, we limit our activities to feeding Sharks for money and to pursuing our ego-driven campaigns - and yes, we generally just stand on the sidelines and claim to be conservationists whilst having the audacity to critique others for actually doing something!
Well said!

PS! Gary has reached out & we're cool - I think. :)

Anyway.
What we did do, was to politely turn down a request by the SSCS for a few days of filming in the SRMR. As I said here, we want nothing to do with the dolphinization of Sharks, and we also certainly don't want to be in any way associated with Sea Shepherd's radical brand of conservation.
Having met him years ago, I don't like him much - but I do respect Watson for being one of the preeminent marine conservation activists. What I however hate are the personality cult, the hyperbole, the bullshit media, and the fanaticism and glaringly uncritical adulation by his devote followers - and let's not forget the simply atrocious poetry, barf!

Remember?
And if not...


Huge H/T to David!!!

Oh yes yes, I'm critiquing - again!

We were reinforced in our decision when a SSCS representative started making the rounds here in Fiji.
There was talk of an Animal Planet shoot, of two vessels coming here to hunt for illegal Shark finners, of roping in Ratu Epeli, of buxom bimbettes frolicking with Sharks etc. - in brief, some kind of Shark Wars, or whatever, combined with the usual self promotion by the Shark Angels, both of which I particularly despise.

But now, I read this.
Looks like someone has been listening, as this is really rather good, and kudos for that!

But is this the whole story?
You be the judge of that.



Well well.
Looks like nothing has changed after all.

I say, this is not the Pacific Way.
Nobody is asking anybody to put his life on the line (or was it, putting her life online? Detail detail!), and we down here have zero need for self-appointed deputy sheriffs, the more as this could once again lead to unwelcome political implications.
What we do require is intelligent, informed, committed and passionate people who help in advocating and then, implementing locally appropriate Shark management and conservation strategies, and this in a constructive, respectful and consensual way. This means hard, quiet and persistent work on the ground, and pursuing strategies that are diametrically opposed to Watson's interventionist approach.
This also means providing for resources for capacity building, monitoring, enforcement and prosecution - meaning time, talent and money and not foreign vessels playing policeman whilst starring for sensationalist reality shows.

Long story short?
Better change the playbook - or you'll be quickly celebrating the requiem for Operation Requiem!
My honest advice - free of charge!

PS: David - brilliant!
PS2: Patric on the Watson Doctrine & con-ninnies here!

And the saga continues...