Sea Shepherd vs Pirate Fishermen!

Source.

Mark this day in your calender!

I'm gonna say something positive about the SSCS!

Ever since he did expose the PIPA sham, I got a lot of respect for journalist Christopher Pala - and contrary to my deep skepticism whenever the SSCS post one of their breathy statements, I'm consequently inclined to believe what he is reporting here.

I must say that I'm impressed.

This is a job well done, and kudos to Sea Shepherd for having doggedly persevered.

(And before you ask - yes it did hurt. But what is fair is fair)

PS - Martin adding insult to injury here!

Vaquita - it' not gonna be easy!

Read this.

Yes as always it is complicated.

All-the-more, huge kudos to the Mexican authorities for having initiated their rescue plan. My sources also whisper that the SSCS may be pondering to try and help by stationing a vessel in the Northern Sea of Cortez. If so, well done and godspeed - tho I fear that persuading the authorities to deputize a pirate ship filled with amateur do-gooders will require some major skills!

Anyway.

Great to see that after all the talk, there is finally meaningful action - so here's to it translating into progress on the ground!

The Ocean is no Place for the Ignorant, the Arrogant and the Craven!

Source.

Sez the Grand Mufti of conservation BS!

Indeed!

That would be the same dude who tells his naive volunteers that they must be prepared to risk their life, or whatever, when they go molesting the Japs in Antarctica - only to then do a strategic runner when confronted with the prospect of having to proudly justify his heroic actions in court!

Anyway, have you seen this shit?

A prominent Shark conservation advocate writes, I have no words to describe this piece.

Not me - so there.

• Shark attacks are on the rise.
  
  Maybe - but not last year.
  Yes the long term trend may well be ascending - but if one factors in population growth and the ever increasing number of aquatic recreationists = potential victims, the overall, already infinitesimally small per-capita risk of Shark strikes may even be decreasing!
  This however with caveats, see below!

• It is in fact more dangerous to play golf than it is to surf or scuba dive, because statistically more golfers die each year from lightning strikes than people die from shark attacks.
  
  Because???

• To start with, we are diminishing bio-diversity in the ocean. Overfishing has removed 90% of the fish from the sea since 1950. Every single commercial fishery is in a state of decline. This is not just bad news for humans who eat fish, but it is very bad news for sharks, orcas, whales, seals and dolphins who have no choice but to eat fish. In other words, starvation is a very big motivation for opportunistic attacks.
  
  What a load of horseshit - predator/prey cycles anybody?
  And are we only decimating the prey - or is it not rather so that we have disproportionally targeted predator populations among which the Sharks?
  The truth is that there is not one single documented case of more Shark attacks occurring because of overfishing!
  
  In fact, when it comes to some GWS populations, we may be experiencing the exact opposite!
  Having protected the Pinnipeds, we are now seeing more GWS in California, the East Coast of the USA and also Western Australia! And there are authoritative voices claiming that the Tiger Shark population of Hawaii may be increasing owing to the protection of Sea Turtles!

And not every commercial fishery is declining!
Yes most if not all are severely depleted - but owing to good management, several are rebounding, especially in the US!

• Halal demands for live animals?
  
  Right.
  Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep producing dozens of bodies and thousands of tons of animal feces and urine are the cause of n=3 Shark strikes in 2011, n=2 in 2013 and n=1 in 2014? By GWS and not the ubiquitous scavenging Tigers?
  Really?
  
  The fact is that there are more water users going to ever more remote locations and extending their season due to better gear. And at the same time, after decades of protection, there are more large GWS and there is more of their coastal Pinninped prey. You draw the inevitable conclusions.
  And anyway, considering the infinitesimally small risk of those Shark strikes, the main factor here is plain and simple chance and bad luck - nothing more nothing less!

• Shark drumlines, meant to discourage sharks from approaching beaches, actually create another attraction. Sharks and other creatures become snared and entrapped and they die; this in turn attracts more sharks, bringing them within close proximity to the beaches.
  
  I see. Snared and entrapped. In a drumline.
  And anyway - are there more or less Shark strikes on beaches with drumlines?

• Climate change, ocean acidification and pollution are other factors affecting the migration patterns of sharks.
  
  Oh yes oh yes - especially acidification!
  Evidence = a big fat zero, especially the implicit assertion that those factors would attract Sharks to the coasts where they would then strike people.

Long story short?

This is everything I despise about Fat Paul's breathy brand of fake conservation messaging.

As usual, it is nothing but a sequence of moronic and misleading pulled-from-the-arse factoids that is then picked up and parroted as the latest truth by his googly-eyed devotees - remember the Earth Doctor?

What pisses me off is that as a result, the movement is then perceived as being dominated by extremists and idiots, once again making it that much more difficult to achieve tangible results on the ground.
Remember this?

Kirsten E

December 27, 2012 at 5:17 pm · Reply

Popularizing science is a very difficult thing to achieve. It is worth considering that misinformation becomes widespread because it appeals to the general public’s sense of Right and Wrong, where soundbites with some tenuous connection to a factual foundation fit firmly into a black and white worldview. It is not surprising that sympathetic individuals fall prey to exaggerated claims, because they lack the background, ability, or dedication to look deeper.

I am guilty of being a bit of a loudmouth when discussing shark conservation, but as it is my intended career path I am always looking to further my knowledge. The difficulty is that most people’s introduction to these issues is not from researchers, but from organizations like Sea Shepherd or documentaries like Sharkwater, who seek a reactionary, emotional impact to make a point. Once that impression is made, it is very hard to scale it back to a more realistic discussion, perhaps because it lacks the same shock factor that appeals to people’s indignation in the first place.

It’s ironic that conservationists can be their own worst enemy.

And the Huffington Post?

More and more, it looks like there is really zero editorial integrity but that instead, they will post just about anything by anybody, with not an iota of even the most cursory fact checking.

Not impressed!

PS - David is on it as always! :)
PS2 - it now says, This post has been edited to change factual errors contained in the first version.
Right. E.g where it now basically states that having removed 90% of the big predatory Fishes (= including Sharks!), the remaining 10% of Sharks are hungrier and are thus striking people.
FFS!

Vaquita - last Call!

It's nearly over.

The Vaquita is about to go extinct.

The reason - accidental entanglement in gill nets of poachers targeting the Totoaba, once again an expensive and totally useless Chinese "delicacy".

Article here.

And the SSCS, defender of Cetaceans?

Nowhere in sight but instead, wasting time and money on non-conservation issues - which begs the question, what does that "C" really stand for? Anyway, you may want to remember that when they once again ask for your money.

And you Whale huggers in the USA?
This is happening on your watch, just south of the border.
Maybe you want to get off your slacktivist arses and do some guarding there and not in Japan!  

Fucking PRIORITIES anybody?

Bad News for the Vaquita.

Fish bladders - driving the Vaquita into extinction.

Read this.

Poor Vaquita.

Since that post 4 years ago, the situation has become all-but hopeless - not because of targeted persecution but as collateral damage of the hugely lucrative and criminal trade in yet another, now critically endangered species favored by the Chinese cuisine and medicine.

And the SSCS, self proclaimed saviors of Cetaceans?

Still nowhere in sight - there is no blood and gore = television ratings to be had here, so why would they bother. Instead, they continue to waste time and scarce donor money in Taiji - and yet, not a single one of those Dolphins is threatened with extinction.

Sea Shepherd - milking the Shark Cull!

Oh yes, this would be another Shark Operation - remember?

Have you seen this?

It's the usual tried-and-tested MO.

Having squandered heaps of donor money, made a lot of noise and achieved A Big Fat Zero like always, Sea Shepherd now want more of your money. For something that has already been done better and pro bono by others who have then posted it online so that everybody could watch it for free.

And money they will get.

Didn't we just mention PT Barnum yesterday?

Oh well.

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!

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!

Shark Shepherds - Diplomacy huh!

Good question!

Sometimes I hate to be right.
The Ueber-Angel's floating babemobile is on its way to Fiji (!) and somebody has had the simply brilliant idea to try and use the Fijian media to put pressure on government to reconsider its ban.
Same old same old - zero respect, just the usual shenanigans and strong-arm tactics, and this not in order to achieve results but merely in order to star, or whatever, in a sensationalist reality show.

From the article
The ship left Honiara yesterday for its Shark Angels mission in the South Pacific where it aims to help stop the killing and finning of sharks on the high seas...

So what about the assertion that
Hunting down shark finning boats was never part of the plan, and neither was the media involvement - just idle talk and outright lies?
This is not diplomacy and outreach; this has either been some pathetically amateurish attempt at disinformation - or it is the symptom of some major clusterfuck and messaging disaster where the laudable intentions of many are being highjacked by the megalomania of a few.
And the SA brand? Who cares - right?

Here's a thought.
When it comes to Shark conservation, both the Solomons and Vanuatu have nothing.
How about stopping there and doing some real, hard work. It'll take several years but what the heck - wasn't it about going where nobody dares to go, or whatever, for the Sharks?

To be continued no doubt!

PS: stellar post by Patric 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...

Very funny!

The Blue Blogs are unleashing.

South Park has taken on Sea Shepherd and many out there have taken that as a pretext to reaffirm their deep misgivings about Capt. Watson's brand of conservation activism.

Prima vista, as a conservationist and as a businessman, I would have to agree.
Whereas others perform miracles within very small budgets, the SSCS appears very short on tangible results - especially when compared to their marketing and to the obvious costs of operating their fleet. It's an ongoing thread of this blog: the money available for conservation and research is finite, a zero sum, and seeing it squandered on a whole lot of hot air instead of being used effectively is profoundly disturbing.

Then again, there may well be a need for clowns and extremists to pave the way for the more moderate, realist and above all, result- and compromise-oriented faction of conservation.

Thing is, when it comes to Cetaceans, the latter appears to be largely non-existent.
I'm not really terribly interested in Whales and Dolphins and may have missed some of the finer points: but from the little I can see, the "movement" is dominated by a highly emotional and all-to-often, frighteningly New-Age-esque agenda that depicts the animals as some sort of preternatural beings and where any attempt at engaging in rational conversation inevitably leads to teary eyes and outright aggression.
Very irritating and sad, really, as any lasting conservation measures will ultimately have to be based on pragmatic compromises - and yes, I'm repeating myself!

But in the end, it's just not one of my wars and I'll keep it like Eric below.
As always, South Park has managed to expose them all and the result is just simply hilarious.
Well done for saying it as it is!

Enjoy!