The Value of Shark Diving in the Bahamas - Paper!

Caribbean Reefies contribute 94% of total revenues - source.

Nice!

Read this paper!

Shark Diving in the Bahamas is worth $ 109m per annum.

That is great - but it could be a lot better. 

Turns out that owing to those foreign liveaboards, approx. 50% of potential domestic revenues are lost in Bimini, approx. 85% in Cat and a whopping 97% in Tiger Beach - and more money is being lost to those mooching film crews that barge in without the required shooting permits.

No wonder the BDA wants those foreign vessels gone.

Anyway, great paper.

Enjoy!

Rick about Shark Diving!

Awesome!

So here's the whole presentation.

I did miss it since early in the morning I'm at best sub-human and even scarier than usual (and yes Rick there will be hell to pay!) - but it is exactly as anticipated, highly informative, highly erudite and with the right focus on all the relevant aspects, so bravo bravo bravo!

And the picture at top?

Nothing to do with Sharks but everything to do with Rick - do check out his twitter feed and join the resistance!

But I'm digressing as always.

Enjoy!

Shark Feeding in Hawaii?

Cool - watch.

And here is the really nice piece by Nathan.

As very much intended, this has generated quite a debate behind the scenes - so for the benefit of the wailing whacknuts and Hawaiian anti-Shark lobby, let me state the following as unequivocally as possible: I'm on the record as being against Shark feeding for the sake of it - and I certainly do not at all advocate trying to establish near-shore Shark feeding tourism in the central, highly populated islands of Hawaii!

So there:

• First and foremost, any such operation would lack the required social license.
  Yes I totally consider the whole 'aumākua bullshit and its hypocritical high priests to be nothing but a scam, and that the haoles parroting that nonsense are either naive, or crazy, or clueless, or gutless, or all of the above - but the Hawaiian anti-Shark-feeding lobby with its hypocritical native con men is very much alive, and history shows that any attempt at setting up such a venture would be instantly suppressed by widespread public outcry all the way to outright violence.

• There are also important public safety considerations.
  Any regular near-shore baiting would undoubtedly end up attracting and aggregating Tiger Sharks, the one species most implicated in local Shark attacks - and given Hawaii's bathymetry, this would inevitably happen very close to shore and in close proximity to population and tourism centers and/or recreational hotspots like the surf breaks. With that in mind, any such attempt would be simply unconscionable.

• And finally, there may simply not be enough other coastal Sharks to justify setting up dedicated businesses.
  Yes the mentioned paper by Marc Nandon may, or may not have technical flaws that would likely be revealed in his upcoming follow-up paper; but I'm equally convinced that its gist is spot on, insofar as the collapse of Hawaii's coastal fish populations, see below, is undoubtedly severely depressing the population of Reef Sharks - see the comments section to that post.

So cool down folks.

We may very much differ on the details - but the end result is the same!

But that is all irrelevant anyway.

Shark feeding in Hawaiian state waters is, and will certainly remain illegal; and soon and very much courtesy of the clamoring Floridian troglodytes (and here) and little Marco, it will also become illegal in federal waters, as will operating boats that carry divers to Shark feeds.  

And places like the Bahamas, Mexico and yes, Fiji will continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

That said, I however strongly advocate the establishment of coastal no-take MPAs! 

Central Hawaii's coastal fish populations are but a shadow of the past (and here!) and continue to get hammered by the natives and by the hypocritical new age whacks. But despite of the irrefutable evidence and the urgency of the situation, even the slightest attempt at setting aside some urgently needed fully protected areas continues to get thwarted by the usual native con artists and those corrupt bastards at WESPAC (and here!) - and the haoles and especially, local government simply lack the balls to show some leadership and finally put an end to the reverse racism and the never-ending appalling shenanigans (Makani Christensen right here!).

And THAT is what I told Nathan.

Anyway.

It is what it is - and with all that pervasive aloha-spirit-induced spinelessness, I got zero expectations that things will change anytime soon.

But hope, as they say, springs eternal.

Aloha everybody! :)

Shark Proof?

And talking of pied pipers.

My pal Jaap alerts me to this article.

I must say, I rather like it - the gist being that the Shark Shield is OK (albeit with caveats) whereas the rest is essentially crap.

Bingo.

And yes,

In reality, the best technology we have is probably first aid. Modern skills and medicine mean that the chances of shark attack survival are around 80%.

Absolutely!

Get a couple of these as having used quite a few, I can attest that they really work - and then, don't do anything stupid and enjoy the ocean!

Bull Shark vs Spearo!

Wow - watch.

A shame for the Shark.

But that's one helluvan aggressive animal and the reaction by the spear fisherman was definitely in self defense and meant to only fend away, the more as he did not fire the gun.

Story here, usual reactions here.

Yes they are running!

And this is why we love this dive so much.

Wildify?

I'm pissed off, so there.

And I cite,

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?

Right.

Regular readers may remember that stupidity from the 2012 recap where Julie Andersen's disastrous Operation Requiem and Rob Stewards moronic United Conservationists got the treatment they deserved. Thankfully, Andersen and the Shark Angels have since become utterly irrelevant, and I can certainly leave it at that; and with the whole moronic Revolution thingy having gone down the drain like anticipated, I was actually hoping that Rob would finally have the decency to just go away.

Alas, no such luck.

Turns out that the increasingly ghastly Justin Bieber of Sharkitarianism is still at it.

Don't get me wrong here.

Back then, Sea Shepherd's Sharkwater was different and did touch a nerve, and seeing the little privileged kid go and dive with Sharks and talk to actual Shark people was somewhat endearing. 

But far from being the genesis for the shark conservation movement, it was an early product of it. And rather than saving Sharks, the whole circus marked the beginning of the Dolphinization of Sharks and spawned a whole generation of self-promoting copycat Shark media whores and charlatans that have since become the bane of serious Shark conservation efforts worldwide.

And much like little once endearing Justin, little once endearing Rob has quite obviously since morphed into a little bizarre self-important  narcissistic megalomaniac.

To wit, this frankly shocking piece of smug garbage in the SOSF mag.

Wildify huh -  Pass the kouchie 'pon the lef' hand side!

But then again, totally not surprised.

Not by the smug brain farts, not by the fact that the new movie is once again gonna be a product of Sea Shepherd's slick  bullshit media machine, not by the resounding success of the funding drive despite of the usual conceited BS. After all, considering that 2016 marks the moment in time where Idiocracy became a reality, Rob's disjointed visions, or whatever, sound positively intellectual by comparison.

What however shocks me is the endorsement by the once stalwart, science-centric SOSF.

Or maybe not. Whereas the principal has always shunned any publicity and personality cult, the underlings and their sycophantic entourage increasingly do not - and shit like this is the inevitable consequence of that.

Oh well, whatever.

And yes, granted, maybe a tad harsh.

But it pisses me off. There are plenty of great people out there actually doing incredibly impressive stuff and achieving remarkable, hard-won progress - and having that little egocentric shit publicly belittle that collective effort is deeply offensive.

So get smart, people, and stop glorifying those pied pipers.

And should you really want to inform yourself about Conservation Ecology, stop listening to the self serving propaganda and e.g. start reading this excellent blog.

Minicene anybody?

Anyway.

Happy New Year! :)

Sharkbanz Test!

Repellent my ass!

And if that bite wasn't revealing enough.

Just saw this.

Doesn't come much clearer than that does it.

Shame on those con artists at Sharkbanz - and again, shame on Shark Defense that continues to promote the indefensible.
Pun intended!

 

Fiji Bull Sharks - full Circle!

Kerstin - intrepid and extremely successful!

Finally!

We've detected two of our pregnant Bulls in one of our rivers!

Despite of our best efforts and more than a dozen years of research into the life history of Fiji's Bull Sharks, coming up with concrete evidence linking Shark Reef to one of the putative river nurseries has always eluded us as the tags would come off and the frequent floods would wash away the receiver arrays. But we've persevered, tinkered with the hardware, tagged a dozen pregnant Bulls in October and deployed new receivers in several rivers - and bingo, and this despite of the horrendous weather and floods a fortnight ago! With this having been little more than a small trial run, expect much, much more of the same next year!

And the river are teeming with babies!

This is obviously recruitment time, and Kerstin and her assistants from Projects Abroad and  the USP are reporting impressive numbers from all monitored rivers - the bad news being that absent any management let alone protection, the little Sharks are being obliterated by the local fishermen. 

This may well explain the disappointing numbers later in the year and is of course cause for grave concern, not least because it is also directly impacting on the long-term viability of Fiji's thriving Shark diving industry. But now that we have the evidence, we shall certainly go and speak to the powers that be - so fingers crossed!

To be continued no doubt.

Happy New Year everybody - may 2017 bring many more fantastic adventures!

Sharkbanz - q.e.d!

And I cite, nor would a band worn on one's wrist prevent a bite to the other hand

Bingo.

Check this out - glad the kid is OK.

And then, stop being suckers - the bloody Sharkbanz and those other bracelets, and those wetsuits etc are all scams! What does work, albeit with caveats, is the Shark Shield!

So be careful folks - and use your common sense!
 

Everything you need to know about Shark Diving in Fiji!

Nice! :)

Kudos to Sam for having listened and above all, understood!

She was here during the very low season when the pregnant bulls go to the rivers and the others abscond for mating, so thank you for still having found it worthy of a piece on Singapore's online dive mag GoodVis. With Singapore being Fiji Airway's newest destination in Asia, this could not have come at a better moment.

Much appreciated!
 

And talking of The Great Fiji Shark Count.

With five full years finally in the bag it's time for some data analysis and publishing of results - so keep watching this space!

Enjoy Sam's article!

Dean Grubbs about Bycatch - epic!

This is really as good as it gets.

Remember Dean Grubbs the slayer of the exploding Cownose Ray myth?

Now he has penned this excellent and exhaustive overview about fishing by-catch, a veritable tour the force that touches on all the important topics from the infamous Dolphin-safe Tuna all the way to all that at boat and post-release mortality that continues to doggedly threaten the effectiveness of those Shark sanctuaries.

 This is an infographic - open in new tab!

Required reading.

Bravo Dean - and bravo SOSF Magazine for continuing to lend a voice to such an impressive array of illustrious contributors, and for the slick way in which all that science is being presented.

Well done!

Xmas Video!

Remember Pelagic Life and their Call of the Shark Project?

This is the video from their latest Pelagic Safari.

I actually heard of it one month ago in Playa when some of his friends complained that Jero was not only incredibly lucky, but that he also always managed to get the shot on top of that.

And get it he did!
Obviously I love it, as it exemplifies everything that makes the people, and the deeds of Pelagic Life so special.

So without further ado.

Enjoy - and Merry Christmas!

Shelley!

Source.

Check this out!

Yes that would be she, the one and only!

We met serendipitously a few years ago - and lemme tell you, it has been quite a revelation! Turns out that Shelley is very much one of the good ones, very impressive both professionally and as a person, and I've become a huge fan. And if you haven't read her latest papers, click on the above link and do - and above all, learn, especially that operating with faulty numbers and under faulty assumptions is doomed to fail!

We've since kept in touch and I must say that I've learned a lot, something that is very much reflected in this blog where I've gradually transitioned towards a more holistic and pragmatic definition of conservation as trying to keep mortality below sustainable levels = we need to focus not on individuals but at the (local) population level and we need to consider all causes of mortality very much including habitat loss and in the case of Sharks, the overfishing of their prey, etc - and there the situation is dire indeed!

This dive has been in the planning for as long long time.

You truly only become a real friend once we've thrown you to our Sharks - but Shelley is incredibly busy so finding an adequate time has been challenging. But finally all stars did align as the WCPCF did hold its latest meeting here in Nadi, and she was able to slip down to Pac Harbour a day in advance - and throw her to the Sharks we did.

Despite of not having dived for 25 years, she not only survived but did so admirably - so here's to continued friendship and continued collaboration!

The WCPFC meeting btw was, again, shite.

It looks like ultimately, and contrary to the ICCAT that appears to have at least saved the Atlantic Tuna where stocks appear to be recovering (and btw Patric: you owe me a bottle of vintage Chateau Petrus!), those guys don't even care about properly managing their Tuna - so don't be surprised about zero progress for the Sharks that are treated like pests and at best a side show!

Anyway, this can't go on like that. 

Methinks in a few years the WCPFC will have lost all relevance: the North Pacific with its large tracts of international waters will become a free-for all where stocks will get hammered by the Asians; the Tropical Tuna will be more or less managed by the PNA; and the Southern Pacific Tuna, by the parties to the Tokelau Arrangement.

We shall see - but that's my prediction.

To be continued!

Fiji Weather!

Christmas Eve weather - fingers crossed!

Well well.

As they say, be careful what you wish for.

So, we got ourselves the weak cyclone slash tropical depression to suck away some of the heat - and suck away it did, so at least the coral must be happy!
Looks like after several days of howling winds and biblical deluge, the bloody system is slowly moving away - so here's to a sunny Christmas and provided that all that brown water manages to dissipate in time, to some epic Shark dives!

With The running of the Bulls fast approaching, you may well be in for a real treat!

So, what are you waiting for!

Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve!

Source.
 

Great news!

Read this.

Looks like Playa's Sharks and especially, their habitat are about to be protected, meaning that the petition by Saving our Sharks has equally been successful. Quintana Roo has been experiencing an explosion of only partly controlled tourism, and this measure could not have come soon enough.

And the Shark tourism activities?

There, too, news are excellent as it appears that like in Guadalupe, baited Shark diving will be tolerated within the Biosphere but only provided that the operators adhere to the code of conduct and possibly, that they join and thus contribute to the efforts by Saving our Sharks.

Bingo.

This once again goes to show that given the necessary leadership, responsible dive operators can make a huge difference. As a reminder, Shark diving in Playa and the push to protect them have all started with Chino Loria and Phantom Divers - and the rest as they say is history.
 

Obviously, Phantom Divers are a member of Global Shark Diving, you global alliance of responsible and long-term sustainable Shark diving operators.

Well done!

 

1982 - The Sharks!

Awesome!

Featuring many of my heroes.

Including the world's most famous piece of Shark bait testing the first Shark suit, a rather insane feat that earned her a bloody hand and a bite to the buttocks at 41:34 - remember Collier's demented dog and the moronic paper that ensued?

But I'm obviously digressing.

Enjoy!

Südsee: Paradies am Abgrund!

Check this out.

Faszination Erde by the ZDF is Germanic blue-chip nature programming, and Dirk Steffens is their Attenborough.

Very nice indeed.

Projects Abroad and Mangroves for Fiji 09:00ff, BAD 18:15ff.

Enjoy!

Playa Sardines!

Charlie with one of his girls. Source.

So, I finally went diving with the Caribbean Sardines.

It was great.

Of course I dove with  GSD member Phantom Divers and I must really say that Chino has created an awesome slick, professional, fun and above all, very safe Shark diving machine that is among the best I've experienced anywhere - and yes, witnessing Charlie, and Ramón with their babies has been a special privilege.

Plus, progress on the conservation front has been simply stellar.

Under the leadership of its new full time director Luis Lombardo, Saving our Sharks is progressing from strength to strength, with more than 40 dive shops and dozens of boat captains observing the code of conduct and contributing funds, with substantial money going to fishermen in exchange for not fishing Sharks, with continued research and public presentations by Shark researchers, and with massive outreach to the public and to schools.

Bravo!

And then there was that remarkable tooth.

A present by Ramón who collected it right in front of me, it looks totally different from any Bull Shark tooth we've ever found here in Fiji - and trust me, we've found a few! 

It's the tooth on the left, together with two large Fijian ones - and considering that those Caribbean Bulls are a distinct genetic population with individuals that are notably smaller than those in the central Pacific, its size is simply spectacular. But then again, those are Mexican Sharks - small in size but packing a mighty punch! :)

Click for detail!

Anyway, nice to be home again.

It's the low season when the pregnant Bulls travel to the rivers to pup whilst the others are getting ready for mating and in turn appear to lose their appetite for juicy Tuna heads - but we've got heaps of other Sharks, and this also gives us a chance to focus on the countless Fishes.

It's already hot hot hot - so here's to a tropical depression to suck away some of the heat, as parts of Fiji are already experiencing dangerously hot surface waters.

But that's the topic of another post.

To be continued!

DEMA 2016!

See you in Las Vegas, booth 7115!