Trophic Cascade - Wolves and Rivers!

Source.

Really, really nice!
Story here, in reverse here, paper here!

Enjoy!



And the Sharks?
Re-read this and this!

Extinction Soup - World Premiere!

Source

Great news from the team!

Dear Friends,

We have very exciting news!  While we push to complete the film in the coming weeks, we have been invited to Premiere at the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival.  The details follow:

World Premiere of EXTINCTION SOUP

@ 11th Annual San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival

When:  Saturday, March 8, 2014 @ 1:00pm

Where: Bay Theater, on Pier 39, adjacent to the Aquarium of the Bay, Embarcadero at Beach Street, San Francisco, CA

Purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/11th-annual-san-francisco-international-ocean-film-festival-tickets-10445626149

After the screening, please join our Director/Producer Philip Waller and Executive Producer Stefani Brendl for a 3:00pm Panel Discussion: Shark Sanctuaries and Ecotourism.

For more Festival information:  http://www.oceanfilmfest.org/film-program-2014/film-program-2014-saturday-march-8/

If not for all of your incredible support, we would not be in this position, and we want to thank you again.

Please let us know if you plan on attending the festival as we would love to meet you in person and say hello.

Best,

Phil, Stefanie, Sidney, & Travis

and the entire Team for Extinction Soup

Be there!

NZ GWS Tourism - the Guidelines!

Source.

So here they are.

For the time being, they are only interim guidelines.

I must say that I like the approach as the authorities are not barging in unilaterally but instead trying to work cooperatively with the operators that get one further chance to do things right until a likely final review in 2015.

People in the know tell me that once they get enacted, the rules are likely to be part/condition of the permits (= you breach them, you lose the permit) rather than regulations, this also because this would allow for more flexibility and much easier enactment and/or changes.

I must say, I find them rather good.

Just this: how about some thoughts about best location(s), number of operators and possible rotation to avoid the all-too-common chumming wars, and amount and frequency of berleying. But the first two aspects may well be best legislated elsewhere - and anyway, I'm neither a GWS diver let alone operator and my specific know how is consequently limited.

So you commercial GWS folks out there - thoughts?

You can best e-mail any questions or suggestions to Kristina Hillock who reports to Marine Species and Threats Manager Ian Angus, the gentleman mentioned here. This is a great opportunity to contribute to getting it right from the get-go, so please do take the time to make some constructive comments.

Thank you!

NZ GWS Tourism - here come the Regulators!

Good advice, seldom heeded! Source.

Hmmmm...

Read this.

Looks like the controversy about those GWS dives has turned into outright confrontation, prompting the authorities to step in. I'm always wary about bureaucrats trying to regulate stuff they got no clue about - so fingers crossed that they don't try to reinvent the wheel but instead resort to the tried-and-tested, and rather good templates from South Africa and South Australia.

Looking forward to my sneak preview of the regs.

Hopefully they will also address this shit - conservationism indeed!

Oceana - really?

Oceana ad - totally misleading.

Have you seen this?

Yes Oceana are once again screaming victory - which begs the question, was it one?

And was it for them to claim?

Anyway.

In this truly remarkable article, I find this

Wasting Donations 

I recently learned of this website. 
When you register for a free account you will see the CEO of Oceana, Andy Sharpless took home $242,612 of your donation money in 2012. Must be nice. A simple search will also reveal that Sharpless is among 9 other executives at Oceana that earned a combined $1,598,613 in 2012. Oceana spent $894,836 on travel expenses alone in 2012. The salaries of these top 10 executives at Oceana and the travel expenses in one year alone equal close to Leonardo DiCaprio’s generous $3mil donation.
Perhaps Oceana should use donations for actual effective ocean conservation rather than using it for personal agenda? Or maybe Oceana should focus on lowering their overhead a tad? Or how about just being honest? Sigh.

Wow - just wow.

To put things into perspective, running the Great Fiji Shark Count for one full year = two month-long nationwide counts + data analysis costs less that 5,000.00 bucks.

Makes me wanna puke.

Fiji's Tuna Industry - the Saga continues!

Foreign distant water fleets: reaping and pillaging the SoPac. Source. 

Remember?

And I cite.

The number of vessels fishing for tuna continues to increase in the Pacific, with last year’s 297 fishing boats setting an all-time high. 
But 45 more purse seiners are now under construction in Asian shipyards, which will “cause sustainability problems in the fishery,” he said and raised “serious concerns about the increasing number of vessels fishing in the region.

“What we now see from the 2012 fishing data is more boats in the fishery, higher overall catches, smaller fish sizes and the lowest ever levels of fisheries biomass for these tuna stocks.”

Marshall Islands fisheries Director Glen Joseph said as bad as it sounds, the situation is worse. “It’s not just bigeye tuna raising concern,” he said. “Swordfish catches are raising a red flag.”
And yellowfin tuna is reported by scientists to be near its maximum sustainable yield. “If distant water fishing nations support sustainability of the resource, then they need to commit to a 30 percent reduction in catches,” Joseph said. “It’s not a question of should they do it or not. They have to do it or face the consequences.”

And here's another one.

Many blame the foreign tuna fishing fleets with their large-scale operations that buy the rights to fish in Western and Central pacific fisheries, and whose numbers are steadily increasing.
In the past decade, China's fishing fleet has ballooned with hundreds of new heavily state-subsidised boats now operating in the southern Albacore tuna fishery.
Greenpeace's Nathaniel Pelle says in return the Pacific nations are paid access fees but often their slice of the estimated $7 billion a year Pacific tuna industry is less than 10 per cent.

Rosetti Imo, a bio-economist with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, says the loss of the local tuna industry would be a huge economic blow for the region.
"In terms of value to the Pacific islands and how our economies rely on this resource its very, very valuable and most of our small economies rely on this resource absolutely", he said.

Fisheries management experts say one solution might be withdrawing or cutting back foreign access to their exclusive economic zones.
Greenpeace's Nathaniel Pelle agrees: “In the long term there is no benefit of having this system of reliance on selling access to foreign vessels, the economic benefit is going to come from having a stable fishing population.” 

Looks like everybody knows what needs to be done.

Leadership anybody?  

Fiji Weather - temporary Respite!

Yesterday - click for detail!

Today

Well, it has been interesting!

And it aint over quite yet.

The centre of TD15F is currently almost stationary, just to the north of Vanua Levu. Cloud associated with the depression has moved northward (as shown on MTSAT image inset) and we can expect an early break from heavy rain for the central and southern divisions however it is expected that more heavy rain will affect Fiji later today as the tropical depression moves back over northeastern parts of Fiji. 
As the system moves southeast (see FMS forecast track map) rain will continue heavy at times over the east while clearing away from the western and central divisions. There remains a significant risk that TD15F will intensify into a tropical cyclone as it passes over the east of the country tomorrow.

Remain vigilant!

Lindsay!

Hah!

The mystery has been unveiled!

This is of course who is holding that Bull Shark baby! 

Sadly, Lindsay has however already left Projects Abroad after having played an important role in setting up the river Shark project.

But she may be back soon with Broadreach.

Maybe - if I can get myself to forgive her for her repeated public fawning over those totally boring South African Great Whites! :)

Anyway, nice interview!

Non-invasive tagging of Sharks!

NIMBY! Source.

Watch this.

As I said, it's a good thing.

Winram's comments to that video mention Austin's paper, and the whole exercise is being depicted as some major change of direction in Shark tagging, which I would of course applaud.

Just this.

We've been doing just that from day one = 10 years ago.

Literally from the very first time we've met to discuss how we could work together, Juerg has made it a point that he wanted to utilize the least  invasive techniques possible. Consequently, and despite of the obvious increased risk of losing the tags (and lose them we sure did!), we've decided to attach our PAT tags and acoustic tags exclusively underwater. And more than that: because of my personal aversion against leaving those anchors in the Sharks, we've even experimented with hiding tags in Tuna heads and then feeding them to the animals, alas with mixed results. 

In fact, and to the great chagrin of several people, we have not tagged a single Shark for the past five years pending the development of less invasive attachments.

And!
Whereas I see no problem with catching those babies (and here), we will never hook and haul up any Sharks within the SRMR, ever.

And that's a promise.

Anyway - nice to see that others are catching up!
Just sayin'! :)

Fiji - back to Square One!

This back-and-forth is unnerving.

So there.

Source.

GWS Predation in South Africa - Infographic!

Click for details!

Nicely done!
Source here.

Fiji - where's the Cyclone?

Compare this map to that of the last post!

Notice something?

Yes the cyclone has vanished!

And I cite

TD15F will follow a very complex path and some changes to the current forecast described above are likely over the next few days and as always listen closely to weather advisories and warnings from local authorities.

You don't say! :)

Anyway.

More guesswork tomorrow!

Fiji - are You ready?

So there.

The rain is here and the cyclone is just around the corner.

The tracks are currently all over the place, meaning that it could  affect more the West, or the East - but it is coming and if you haven't completed your preparations, you should do so asap.

Right now it looks like D day is gonna be Sunday.

Outlook here.

You know what to do!

Bimini - another nice one!

And talking of a handful of good people.

A friend in the know writes.

You pretty much nailed it.... 

A special mention must go out to Andy Murch - who was a proper gentleman when he came to Bimini.

First he sent out email feelers to a bunch of people based in Bimini to ask advice on the best way to do a Hammerhead trip when coming to Bimini. After being advised to use local operators, he followed through on the advice. According to the dive staff on the boat his team and guests were very well behaved and conducted themselves appropriately on all dives.

So there - kudos Andy!

I found this trip report that pretty much confirms everything my friend says - and there are some stellar deep water BRUV videos you don't want to miss.

 

Enjoy!

 

Fiji - Cat 4?

The forecast has changed.

This would be a Cat 4.

It's obviously only a forecast that may or may not eventuate. So far, the FMS has merely deigned to finally issue a heavy rain alert so expect more concrete information about a possible cyclone by earliest tomorrow.

Or not.

In any case, take all the necessary precautions - if the forecast is correct, this will be very slow moving and consequently rather devastating.

Fiji - Something's brewing!

Watch out.

This looks ominous.
Especially in the West, it's gonna be heaps of rain and maybe even a Cat1.
Forecasts here and here, warnings here, animation here.

You know what to do!

Indonesia - Manta Ray Sanctuary!

Source.

Huge belated congratulations!

Watch this.

I'm sure that many have contributed.

But for me, this is once again the very personal success of the tireless efforts of the indefatigable DaMary and Shawn, and their Manta Ray of Hope project.

Details here.

Bravo - I'm fucking proud of 'ya!

Diving with Bull Sharks!

Thank you Gary!

This is really nice.
And the pics are really nice, too!

Bimini - Something nice!

Source.

Watch this.

This is great stuff.

Particularly big kudos to Winram who has donated his time and his money. The current world champion, he's the better waterman and shines through his modesty and feats rather than the usual pathetic self promotion - and yes I will certainly leave it at that!

Well done!

And here's another real nice one by Jillian and Duncan.
I love dubstep!
Enjoy!

The raping of Bimini!

Money shot - if that doesn't say it all!.

Boy was I wrong.

Remember?

As soon as I posted it, I got swamped with angry e-mails and comments. I didn't post any of them as they were bad for tourism and would have simply led to even more aggro.

But it's getting ever worse, so there.

But first, read this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this about the risk of popularizing locations without proper management in place.

It obviously applies to fishing - but it applies equally to all the other competing and mutually exclusive users of that resource, namely the scientists, the operators and the tourists!

And this year, they are all in Bimini.

The usual pathetic gang of hypocritical self promoting media whores and Shark pornographers; the elderly self proclaimed silverback of Bahamian Shark diving who throws around his weight, threatens to sue everybody and hand feeds the Hammers to prove that HE can; most revoltingly, the competing researchers who publicly rubbish the work of the Sharklab; the narcissistic bimbo in her moronic Shark suit; the self declared star photographers with their talentless retinue of camera toting wannabees; the interaction junkies that will never just sit back and admire but must always grab, feed and molest; the Facebook Shark warriors who must post a Hammer to their timeline; the external interlopers who leave nothing on the island but instead cause direct harm to the local economy, tourism and dive industry.

And the list goes on and on and on - it's all there on the blogs, the tweets, the Facebook pages and in the media, because of course in this day and age, nothing has any value whatsoever unless it is being conducted on camera and then paraded to the masses.
They know who they are - and so do you!

And with the notable exception of a handful of good people that find themselves embroiled in this shit, not a single one of those folks gives a fuck about the Sharks.

Forget all the bullshit about how they love the animals, and how what they do helps conservation. It's not about the Sharks, it's all about them - the money, the pathetic little fame, showcasing the most distorted close-up of a Hammerhead, capturing the footage for the next hit piece on Shark Week, enacting the latest in a series of stupid product placements with a Shark in the background, hobnobbing with the celebs - you name it, it's all there.

And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goals, all the way to harassing other divers and resorting to underhanded defamation, public insults and threats, and even fist fights - which is then amply reciprocated by the locals!

And the Sharks?

Yes all those stunts are disrespectful of the local community that has taken the time to pen and circulate a code of conduct that discourages hand feeding and grabbing - but the Hammers don't give a shit.

Like Eli correctly remarks, they come close and allow those interactions because they don't mind - and I may add, very much to the contrary of those terrified Sharks that get hauled up to boats where throngs of hollering teenagers stick on bling, pose for trophy selfies and then take a ride for the cameras once they get released! Yes it's research, some of which vital - but the shenanigans are not, and you may be well advised to clean up your own act before engaging in finger pointing!

And then, there's the fiasco with the Bulls.

A witness with heaps of experience and zero agendas writes.

At the Big Game Club and Marina there is a dedicated program to wow visitors by feeding the bull sharks that frequent the area.
There's even a sign tied at the end of the dock to woo passing boaters to stop and "enter a shark cage and see bull sharks in the wild." At the south dock a floating dock has been installed and a partially submerged shark cage placed there. "Customers" get in the cage and the hosts take carcasses tied to ropes and tease the sharks into a frenzy where they're flopping all over the surface, tails up, heads up, fins up. There are usually eight or more large and girthy bulls present during the feeding and that many swimming under the docks almost 24/7.

These same animals are now being fed, hand fed, teased, pushed, ridden, just outside the gate by anywhere from one to six boats per day. The Bulls come in with high tide, but at low tide hang around Hammerhead Beach. They are now B-list stars of Hammerhead Beach and getting fed by more and more divers under variable conditions on a daily basis. The chum offshore is a big problem. 20 bulls at a time is the norm now. More animals than have been seen in previous years and because of hand feeding they are white hot. They went from nothing out there to a chum tsunami. Not surprised they come in frisky.
The other day my boss, also a diver and captain, saw one guy luring a shark to jump up onto the dive platform of his sportfish in pursuit of the bait he was teasing it with.

The local kids now say they're afraid to swim and I can't say that I blame them.
My concern is that sooner or later a swimmer, a kid with feet hanging in the water splashing, a drunk who falls in is going to be severely if not fatally injured by one of these conditioned and aggregated bull sharks.
One bad bite and there will most likely be an imbalanced and severe response that will lead to the killing of every bull shark in sight and possibly every other shark that is reachable. This would include Doc Gruber's Caribbean reef shark feeding spot and the hammerhead feeding area, too where right now there are many bulls joining in the feeds along with numerous large nurse sharks.

This is serious.

It looks like after the initial cautious approach where there was only a bit of food stimulation, some yahoo at the BBR has obviously decided to jack up the entertainment value by amping up the Sharks; and after last year's shenanigans where Stuart Cove set the precedent by barging in and trying to lure away the animals by dumping several hundred pounds of bait for his usual Shark pornographer friends, it has now become a free-for-all where every idiot believes that he's God's gift to Shark wrangling.

Contrary to the ever more appalling stupidities at Tiger Beach, this is however not happening in an remote completely isolated and thus rather safe location but instead, right in front of the beaches and smack in the middle of heavy traffic by other aquatic recreationists.

It has become a grave public hazard and must be stopped at once.

The locals?

A friend writes.

People on the ground will get hit with the classic and sadly effective industry missives if they do anything to stop the shenanigans:

1. "They're just jealous of our success" 
2. "They're just haters" - (add to this #1 as an extension) 
3. "They haven't done anything for REAL conservation" - (add to this #1 and or #2 as an extension)
4. "They just want all the sharks for themselves" - (add to this #1, #2 or #3 as an extension)

Thus endeth the lesson from the Big Book of, "Stupid Things Shark Industry Folks Say." Please read through chapters 19 and 44 this week, there will be a test Thursday on, "How to finger bang a Hammerhead while denying that you are doing so to a concerned industry and the media." Also please submit your final draft images and videos for shark saddles, and moronic conservation quotes at that time.

Yes maybe - but this cannot be allowed to continue.

They've been warned last year, and this by multiple sources, that this was gonna happen, and that they had one year to set in place the necessary framework for developing this organically - and I'm sorry to say that there has been zero leadership and that they have spectacularly failed.

And now?

Like in other places where self regulation has failed, the regulator must step in. Those stupid antics pose an imminent danger to the local population, and the foreign interlopers are blatantly circumventing if not directly breaking the law.

Solutions?

• Chumming, baiting and feeding.
  The chumming needs to be regulated (limited amounts, designated localities), access regulated and coordinated, hand feeding and luring the Sharks to the surface prohibited, there needs to be a one mile exclusion zone from the coast, there need to be heavy fines for transgressors, jail and confiscation of vessels for repeat offenders, etc. In view of the risks to the general population, this can be decreed and enforced via urgent police ordnance.

• Foreign liveaboards.
  Those are not visiting yachts, those are intruding unregulated businesses. There needs to be business licenses, working permits, tourists need to pay daily fees akin to hotel bed taxes, imported goods like fuel and food need to be taxed, operators must submit to local rules including those of the BDA, etc. I'm sure all of that is already in the law books - now it must be enforced.

• Commercial shooters.
  They are doing business, and they must obtain the necessary licenses and pay appropriate deposits upon entering the country.

Not rocket science is it.

That's how we handle it in Fiji in order to protect our tourism industry, and it works.

Long story short, this is a fucking disgrace.

Everybody has a story and plenty of excuses - but at this stage, it doesn't matter anymore who said and did what. There are no good and bad guys here anymore, everybody is equally complicit in this epic fiasco. And with the season drawing to an end, immediate improvements are unlikely - so let's all just hope and pray that nobody gets nailed by a Shark.

And then, you got to clean up this fucking mess.

You got 10 months time - so stop fretting, grow a spine, take control and just fucking do it.

And then go and earn the money you and the local community so amply deserve to make.

The Flake!

Source.

Finally!

I've seen them literally everywhere, especially on wrecks.

They actually look like iridescent blue, coruscating metallic flakes, much like glitter - and when one tries to touch them, they hop away and often disappear in the process. I've kept on asking and asking and asking, and whereas most of my friends have noticed them, too, nobody has ever been able to come up with an answer other than "some kind of Plankton". 

Check this out.

This one is entangled and probably dead, but still brightly iridescent.

Fabulous stuff!

Turns out this is a male Copepod, 

Great post here, paper here.

One more mystery solved - thank you!

The Shark Tourism Paper - here comes the Cavalry!

Happy tourism Sharks in Fiji - worth 42.2m not 223k!

Remember that ridiculous paper about Shark tourism?

I told you the cavalry was coming - and here it is.

In scientifically polite lingo, this is about as devastating as it gets - and what is even worse, is that the mistakes and omissions are so unequivocal and the whole paper, so pathetically shoddy, that it appears that the authors haven't even bothered to pen a reply.

Which begs the question, peer review anybody?

Click for detail! 

I say, retract that shit.

At least it will silently disappear and not keep haunting you for the rest of your academic carreer.

Baby Bulls!

Finally!

So here they are.

These are this year's first tiny baby Fiji Bulls that are getting the treatment by the volunteers of Projects Abroad. Congratulations to the intrepid fishermen, to Gary who showed them how to do it and to Juerg who found the time to attend and oversee the science.

Lovely album here.

Kudos!

Blue Marlin vs Mahi Mahi!

Source.

Cool.
Story here.

The Nadi Workshop - Spillover!

Top left-to-right: Api, Ben and Tumbee
Middle left-to-right: Ingrid, Colin, Perry, Juerg and Netani
Bottom left-to-right: Gary and Angelo - click for detail!

Apologies - I'm currently simply too busy to blog.

Just this.

Looks like the big Shark meeting has been a great success as told here by Angelo.

And it has had direct repercussions for us.

Several participants have made time to come and say hi, and most have managed to partake in a  stellar Shark dive with plenty of Fiji Bulls and great viz. It just so happens that our dear friends Juerg and Gary are visiting, resulting in the rather epic picture above where the notable absentee is Demian who merely managed to squeeze in a short cameo before gallivanting off to some other remote destination where he's championing the cause of Sharks.

Fortuitous or not, a meeting like that will always have consequences.

Keep watching this space!

FINdonesia - Project Update!

Source.

 

Read this.

This is how you do it.

This ensures the required transparency and accountability whilst not endangering the success of the project that for obvious reasons must rely on a fair amount of discretion - and should you not know what I'm talking about, read his blog!

Well done Mark!

Meanwhile, Extinction Soup is going from strength to strength.

Interest remains overwhelming, to the point that Stefanie has re-posted her perks on the project website - including one last week of BAD Shark diving for two!

So, what are you waiting for!

WildLifeRisk - one more gruesome Video!

Source.

And it's not only about those poor Whale Sharks.

Here's another look at the Shark slaughtering industry.

As per this older post by Gary, this is about much more than just the fins and the soup - and those in the movement that continue to indulge in racist attacks against the Asians would be well advised to have a long hard look at who kills the majority of Sharks (yes that would be the EU) and where the demand for those bogus dietary supplements comes from, namely predominanly Europe and the USA!

Solutions?

And yes, I'm very much repeating myself!

Anyway, watch.

Palau - Marine Sanctuary!

Source.

Remember?

And now it appears that it has been enacted.

I still find it silly - why not let Fish stocks recover and then fish sustainably according to strict, science based guidelines whilst slowly building a domestic fishing and seafood processing industry? If managed sustainably, seafood is a totally renewable resource - so why forfeit that source of income for the country?

Oh well.

Looks like some NGOs have spent a lot of time and resources to have it their way. Good on them as it will look good with the donors and will undoubtedly generate brownie points for the individuals that have conducted the negotiations.
For them, it is undoubtedly a great coup.

For Palau, not convinced.

NOAA vs US Fin Bans - good News or Shenanigans?

Of course AJ is absolutely correct.

This got nothing to do with finning, zero - and shame on NOAA for that idiotic wording!

I mean, seriously!

But the news is good, at least at first glance.

If you consult the Recent Updates on the right hand side, NOAA is backing down from wanting to overturn the Shark fin bans in California, Maryland and Washington, this in essence because whilst prohibiting the sale, trade and possession of Shark fins, those bans contain language exempting the Shark fishermen. And whilst I STILL find it egregious that in those states, anybody can buy a legal Shark steak but cannot consume a soup from the fins of that very same dead Shark, it is nevertheless a good development.

But then again, maybe not so much.

If those exemptions are the critical aspect - what about those other states that have none? May this be a ploy to silence many of the most vocal critics like California's Huffman, only to then go and play bully comparatively undisturbed elsewhere?

As always, we shall see shall we not.

The biggest prize for the anti-ban mafia within the administration is obviously, to succeed in revoking the bans in  Hawaii and those US Pacific territories - and you can rest assured that WESPAC will do and say anything to achieve that aim. 

After all, it is they who started these shenanigans in the first place.

So by all means, let's rejoice about this victory.

But let's keep a very wary eye on further developments!

To be continued no doubt!

Big Shark Meeting in Fiji!

Very cool.

Details here.

Kudos to Pew and CORAL for having organized this, and to Fiji for hosting it!

Projects Abroad - Vacancy!

Now THIS is a chance of a lifetime!

Vacancy: 

Marine Biologist with Instructor rating needed for our Shark Conservation and Research Project based in Fiji.

Your Role:

• To carry out shark research in line with our Conservation Management Plan. 
• Coordinate scientific work with our international and local project partners. 
• Help develop and grow future scientific projects on a local and global scale. 
• Train research volunteers in all aspects of our scientific work. 
• Organisation and coordination of all field and related activities. 
• Supervise research volunteers. 
• Data collection, analysis and reporting. 
• Assist with teaching of dive courses when needed. 
• Administration.

Requirements:

• Marine Science Degree or similar
• PADI OWSI or higher
• First Aid certification
• Fluent in English
• Must be able to work as part of a team
• Very flexible approach to work
• Long term commitment (min 1 year)
• Proven experience of working with sharks is a big advantage.

We offer:

• 1 year contract with view to extend, subject to a 3 month probation period.
• Basic salary
• Accommodation
• 3 meals a day
• Comprehensive insurance
• Return flight to your home country after 1 year
• Visa related expenses
• Internet and phone
• Two days off a week
• Excellent in country support and benefits
• Working with some of the world's most renowned shark scientists and experts.

Please only apply if you have the relevant experience.

Only success applicants will be contacted.

Closing date for applications is: 10th February 2014.

Send a cover letter, CV and photo to Andy Hill:

Email: andyhill@projects-abroad.org

You can find all the details about the project here.

Good luck - and hopefully, c'ya real soon in Fiji!

FINdonesia - Last Chance!

Indiegogo here, FB here, blog posts here.

Projects Abroad - Global Shark Campaign!

Source.

Awesome!

And talk about perfect timing!

I started this particular journey in 2002, and this year marks BADs tenth anniversary - and I must say that witnessing what was then considered nothing but a stupid pipe dream by an absolute lunatic evolve into a veritable global movement with its headquarters in Fiji is really somewhat humbling. 

The more as contrary to all those Facebook pages, this is the real deal, with hundreds of volunteers in dozens of locations spreading the gospel but above all, with several important long term research projects under the guidance of world-renown scientists providing for invaluable data that will help better protect and manage local Shark stocks.

Obviously the whole thing is still in its infancy.

Much like with the local project in Fiji, much needs to be learned and refined, and it'll take some time before everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as envisaged - but herein lie the challenge and the fun, and I have no doubt that Ingrid and her team will deliver in spades!

Pending the establishment of dedicated blogs, please follow their evolution on FB and here.

And don't be shy.

Should you want to become more than a mere Like-button-pushing slacktivist and instead make a real contribution, here's the page for submitting your application - and lemme tell 'ya, space is already scarce!

It's gonna be a life changing experience - and that's a promise!

PS Martin here - vinaka! :)

Ridiculously awesome Picture!

Click for detail!

ANIMALS, THIRD PLACE. "The Predators" by DRAGANA CONNAUGHTON. 

"This osprey just dove into the water as soon as I got to the beach. 
I threw my towel down and started shooting. Much to my surprise I had no idea it was a baby bonnethead or hammerhead shark. Once I reviewed the photos I was so excited to have captured this moment with accuracy, sharpness and proper exposure. Out of hundreds of attempts to capture this I was finally rewarded with what I think is a great shot of a bird of prey in action with a very special meal."

Win a Dive Holiday in Fiji!

Pic by Andrej Narchuk.

Details here.
Good luck!

Is Fiji losing its Tuna Industry?

Same old same old - re-read this post! Click for detail!

Remember?

Now it could well be too late.

Fiji Fish has closed down its Tuna fishing arm and another prominent player has stopped half of its fleet and is laying off its staff.

Government is promising action and we shall see where this goes.

Let's hope this is not too little too late.

When I wrote that post linked at the top, Greenpeace had not yet published its report and upon finally reading it, I cannot but fully agree with every single word - read it, it is as short as it is compelling!

There are plenty of good recommendations but for me, the take-away message is that the shenanigans need to stop, the fishery needs to become sustainable and that monitoring, enforcement and prosecution need to improve - but above all, that our local governments need to build capacity towards developing smaller scale and locally owned fisheries whilst telling those industrial and highly subsidized foreign-owned vessels to fuck off!

To be continued no doubt!