Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
My friends and family have always appreciated my obsession passion for sharks, because it makes me extremely easy to shop for. In the spirit of the holiday season mantra that it is better to give than to receive, here is a list of some shark-themed gifts, including some that actually benefit shark research and conservation. If you buy in the next few days, there’s still time to get many of them delivered by Christmas.
The gap between how humans treat dolphins and how humans treat sharks has gotten wider. Many ancient cultures worshiped sharks as gods. Now it’s hard to get people to agree to take basic steps to ensure that species of sharks don’t go extinct, while they’ll try to move heaven and Earth to save 16 dolphins. It’s hard to get people to care about the brutal, unsustainable, and wasteful practice of shark finning that’s wiping out whole species of sharks, but a movie about a single dolphin that loses a fin is considered a must-see family classic.
The success of “Dolphin Tale” got me thinking. Dolphins and sharks are both top predators, so dolphins are no more ecologically important than their elasmobranch counterparts. Dolphins have it much easier than sharks. The world isn’t fair to sharks, just because they were born with behaviors that makes it harder for them to benefit from a growing global concern about biodiversity. This is a fact, decades after the birth of the environmental movement.
I am not a shark. I’m not a dolphin either. I’m a human, and I was born into a completely different set of circumstances than either group of marine predators. Life wasn’t as hard for me as it is for a shark. This doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on sharks. I still believe that it’s possible for a group of sometimes-unpopular animals to get the legal protections they need to avoid extinction. Still, even decades after the birth of the environmental movement.
Like most marine biology geeks, I’m a huge fan of Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”. In addition to a heartwarming story of a father trying to bring his son home to their aneme…anemeneme… amenememe… anemone, the film showcases an enormous variety of beautiful real-life coral reef species. According to research published today in Conservation Letters, however, we may soon only be able to see some of these animals in the movies. The paper, titled “Extinction Risk and Bottlenecks in the Conservation of Charismatic Marine Species”, concluded that many of the stars of Finding Nemo are in deep trouble.
The Beneath the Waves Film Festival is now accepting submissions for the 2012 meeting! This festival, now in it’s third year, is associated with the Benthic Ecology conference. It is one of the few film festivals in the world that brings the scientific and filmmaking communities directly together. This year, the festival will be in Norfolk, Virginia … Read More “Beneath the Waves Film Festival: Now accepting submissions!” »
The influence that Star Trek has had on our society, from cell phones to the name of the first space shuttle orbiter to providing hope of a better future to victims of ethnic cleansing, has been well documented. However, what does Star Trek have to do with saving the oceans? As it turns out, quite a lot, and I’m not just talking about the plot of Star Trek IV (in which Kirk and company have to go back in time to rescue a whale whose species was driven extinct by human exploitation).
Star Trek is fundamentally about curiosity, exploration, and respect for all forms of life. This can be found from the Enterprise’s stated mission (“to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before*) to the Vulcan code of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), and you’d be hard-pressed to find a popular television series that portrays scientists better. The ideals of Star Trek have quite a bit to do with saving the oceans, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
As you read this, I’ll be on a plane over the Pacific Ocean. I’m on my way to Auckland, New Zealand for the 25th annual International Congress for Conservation Biology! This meeting, organized by the Society for Conservation Biology, brings together conservation scientists from around the world. I will be live-Tweeting talks and plenary speeches … Read More “WhySharksMatter is headed to New Zealand for the International Congress for Conservation Biology” »
Thank you all for your support in the 2011 blogging scholarship! It really means a lot that so many of you voted for me and encouraged your friends and followers to do the same. All told, over two hundred of my Twitter followers Tweeted or re-Tweeted messages about the contest, many of them every day … Read More “Thanks for your support in the 2011 blogging scholarship!” »
Today is the last day to vote for the winner of the 2011 blogging scholarship, which provides $10,000 towards research and education expenses to the winner. The final decision comes down to votes, and I need your help for the last push! Please vote for me (my real name, as it’s entered on the voting … Read More “It’s the last day to vote for me to win $10,000 for shark conservation research!” »
There are still a few days left to vote for me to win the 2011 blogging scholarship, which provides $10,000 towards research and education expenses to the winner! If I win, some of the money will be used to support shark conservation research at my lab. It will help support our citizen science program, which … Read More “There’s still time to vote for me to win $10,000 for shark conservation research!” »
We’ve often heard that “the solution to pollution is dilution”, but according to one theory, the best way to reduce pollution in the first place may be to encourage economic growth. This is best modeled by a simple theoretical figure called a “Kuznets Curve”. According to the Kuznets curve, extremely poor nations pollute relatively little, partially because they lack the technology and resources for large-scale industry. Moderately wealthy nations have the technology for large-scale industry, but not the resources for pollution-reduction measures. The wealthiest nations are able to create large-scale industry and can also afford to purchase pollution reduction technology for their industries (or alternative industries entirely).
Read More “Do richer nations pollute less? An evaluation of the Kuznets curve” »