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In a Mirror Darkly (44) |
Monday May 5, 2008, 4:14 pm
Sharks Repelled by Metal That Creates Electric Field
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080501-shark-repellent.html
"A metal mix that reacts with seawater to produce an electric field could help curb the global death toll of sharks caught inadvertently on longline fishing gear.
An alloy of the rare earth metals palladium and neodymium caused captive sandbar sharks to avoid hooked bait, according to a recent study released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). " |
In a Mirror Darkly (44) |
Friday May 9, 2008, 8:33 am
Sharks Cut and Left to Die - Outlaw the Practice of Shark Finning Once and For All
sign petition
Target: U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: Oceana
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/971738577
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Robert R. (64) |
Monday May 12, 2008, 5:24 am
Sharkwater to challenge Jaws stereotype
Movies like Jaws and Open Water portray sharks as vicious man-eaters
Movies like Jaws and Open Water portray sharks as vicious man-eaters and every year attacks on swimmers make for sensational headlines.
But Canadian underwater photographer turned filmmaker Rob Stewart is trying to change the perception of sharks as killers with his award-winning documentary, Sharkwater.
The film challenges many of the myths and historical stereotypes about creatures which pre-date the dinosaurs.
“The fact is sharks do not eat people - more people are killed by pop (soft drink) machines than sharks,” Stewart told AAP.
“Every year there's seven to 10 billion swimmers swimming in areas where sharks hunt. “There are 60 to 90 shark bites every year, five fatalities.
“That makes sharks the least harmful predator on the planet.”
Stewart first fell in love with sharks as an animal-mad child.
“Sharks were an animal we knew so little about, they were enigmatic, they were from this world we had no idea about, so I always wanted to figure them out,” he says.
“But I was also afraid - I'd seen Jaws.”
His first encounter with a shark was a life-changing one.
“I met my first shark when I was nine in the Cayman Islands and it was afraid of me,” he says.
“Every shark I met after that was afraid of me.
“So it was a really shifting experience for a young impressionable kid. I got excited about them instead.”
Ever since, Stewart has wanted to change the way the rest of the world views sharks.
After failing to get his message across through his photography and magazine articles, he decided to make a movie about them.
Despite having no filmmaking experience, Stewart set out to make a beautiful underwater shark documentary.
Sharkwater features stunning images captured by Stewart of the majestic creatures in their natural habitat.
In one of the opening scenes Stewart is seen stroking a shark that swims contentedly in his arms.
At other times he free dives and glides peacefully among a school of sharks.
However, in the process of making the movie Stewart became aware of how badly shark numbers are being threatened by the shark fin industry.
Alongside the scenes of his extraordinary encounters with sharks are horrific images of the animals having their fins hacked off and being thrown back into the ocean to slowly drown.
The film quickly turned from a nature documentary into a human drama as Stewart and a crew from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society were targeted by gun-wielding South American coast guards, illegal fishing boats and the shark fin mafia.
Stewart also had a personal battle to save his leg from a flesh eating disease.
“(All of that was) way scarier than any shark,” Stewart says.
“I'd never been chased by mafia, or coast guards with machine guns, or hospitalised and almost losing a leg - all of that was a totally new and terrifying experience.”
The illegal trade in shark fins is a multi-billion dollar industry, rivalling the illegal arms and drug trade in profits.
About 100 million sharks are killed for their fins each year to supply the lucrative Asian market. Their populations have been reduced by 90 per cent over the last 50 years.
Stewart says every country with a coastline is involved in the shark fin trade, but that it's just done with more finesse in the developed world than it is in third world nations.
“Australia is now one of the top 20 shark fishing nations in the world,” he says.
“There's 16 countries plus the European Union who have banned shark finning, but none have banned the importation of shark fins.
“Which means you can fin as many sharks as you want, as long as you put the fins on a shipping boat before you bring them into port. That's a loophole the size of a country.”
Sharkwater has won 26 international awards and made more at the box office in Canada than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.
Stewart hopes the film not only changes people's opinion of sharks, but encourages them to fight for shark protection.
“We want an international shark commission, we need a global ban on shark finning, a global ban on the trade in shark fins, and we also need to curb the demand,” he says.
“But also the most important thing is to revolutionise the way we work with the natural world.”
Stewart explains that sharks have a vital role at the top of the marine food chain and their extinction would have dire consequences for human life.
“The one animal we fear the most is the one we can't live without,” he says.
“By 2048 every single fishery will have entirely collapsed, at which time we'll have 10 billion people on the planet and 2.5 billion people will be displaced by rising sea levels.
"We waste 64 billion pounds (29.03 billion kg) of fish every year as by-catch, which is just thrown back into the ocean dead, while eight million people die of starvation.
“So what I'm hoping the movie does is make people realise life depends on life, we can't just destroy ecosystems without regard to the fact that we're part of one.”
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AUTHOR: ROBERT R.
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male
committed relationship
Flitwick, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
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| SHARES FROM ROBERT'S NETWORK |
| Jul 6 |
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Alert: Rabies Fund Supports Cruel Dog Experiments by Angel H.
(0 comments
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discussions
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—
Rabies Fund Supports
Cruel Dog
Experiments Dear
friends, please ask the
Rabies Challenge Fund not
to torture and destroy
dogs during its upcoming
"study." A sample message
is provided below. Thanks
for writing!
Kris C... more
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Blog: Natural Born Healers. by Sugar B.
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—
Psychologist Gail F.
Melson, author of Why
Wild Things Are: Animals
in the Lives of Children,
advocates children and
families having pets
because the interaction
provides benefits on many
levels. Her research has
found that animals are
important... more
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Poll: Group Question... by Angel H.
(0 comments
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discussions
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)
— We are forming a Peace,
Healing, and Prosperity
Meditation
Circle that will
take place on or around
the power of the full
moon each month. We truly
hope that you can join
us. Please see the
details below. Help us
get the word out and
forward this... more
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Alert: PLEASE SAVE BAILEY by Marla D.
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—
Forwarded Message:
From: Palrfact@aol.com
Sent: 6/16/2008 8:41:18
P.M. Eastern Daylight
TimeSubj: STATEN ISLAND
NY-A483744..BaileyGerman
shepherd mix. Give this
girl a chance!!!!
STATEN IS... more
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| Jul 5 |
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Blog: Open Letter to Nahas Angula Prime Minister and People of Namibia - Namibian Seal Cull by In a Mirror D.
(4 comments
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discussions
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—
Seal Alert-SA Press
Release, 6 July 2008
&
nbsp; On 1 July 2008, the
same day Namibia started
its annual 86 000 seal
clubbing season, 93% of
which is baby seal pup
based, France took over
the presidency of the EU.
Sta... more
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