David Shiffman

Philosophy of activism: “I bet we can find one million” facebook groups

February 21, 2010 David Shiffman 20 Comments

Uncategorized

It’s time for another “philosophy of activism” discussion, in which we debate a tactic that a particular group of activists is using in order to determine if the environmental movement should adopt it. This time, we turn to Facebook.

As a Facebook addict, I’ve noticed a new trend: groups that say “I bet we can find one million people who (insert your cause here)”. Examples include “I bet we can find one million people who support same sex marriage”, “I bet we can find one million people against abortion,” and “I bet we can find one million people who want Japan to stop killing whales”. There are over 1,100 such groups (though some are not political in nature, such as “I bet we can find one million people who hate the Jonas Brothers”. Let’s discuss whether or not these groups help their respective causes.

Lemon Sharks Protected in Florida!

February 19, 2010 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

Several months ago, I asked for your help to get 10,000 signatures on a petition to protect lemon sharks in Florida coastal waters. Thanks to your signatures and the hard work of dedicated activists in Florida, we have succeeded! The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has agreed to protect lemon sharks!

Blogger Day at the Georgia Aquarium

February 18, 2010February 18, 2010 David Shiffman 2 Comments

Science

I will be attending “blogger day” this Saturday at the Georgia Aquarium this Saturday. I’ve heard some good things about the aquarium and their “Planet Shark: Predator or Prey” exhibit, and I’m excited to finally check it out. The last time I was in Atlanta was literally one week before they opened. I’ll have a … Read More “Blogger Day at the Georgia Aquarium” »

Ethical debate: saving owls by killing owls?

February 18, 2010March 16, 2010 David Shiffman 71 Comments

Conservation

This month’s Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment has a brief article about a new proposed conservation strategy that seems perfect for a Southern Fried Science ethical debate. Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are one of the most famous endangered species in the United States. While solutions to the destruction of their habitat by logging have been debated for years, a new threat has been recently identified- encroachment on their limited habitat by another species of owl (the barred owl, Strix varia). Some conservationists now believe that we need to kill barred owls to protect spotted owls.

Piracy isn’t so good for fish after all

February 11, 2010February 11, 2010 David Shiffman 2 Comments

Science

The piracy situation in Somalia is a terrible human tragedy. That’s why when conservationist Joni Lawrence said that it was great because it helped fish stocks to recover, people like myself and Blogfish author Mark Powell got angry. As it turns out, Joni Lawrence wasn’t just being horribly insensitive- she was wrong.

Audi’s Green Police Ad

February 8, 2010April 21, 2010 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Popular Culture

Even though my Steelers weren’t in it this year, I watched the Super Bowl last night. I suppose that we have to let other teams win occasionally. I was disappointed by the ads this year overall (though the milkaholic E-trade baby and the Dorito’s ninja were awesome), but one in particular caught my attention. Is … Read More “Audi’s Green Police Ad” »

OMG! GR8 Whites approaching!

January 19, 2010April 21, 2010 David Shiffman

Popular Culture

Swim At Your Own Risk recently ran a story about a new way that Australia is protecting their swimmers from shark attacks. Large sharks are fitted with satellite tags, and when these sharks get close to a beach, it sends a text message to lifeguards patrolling that beach. While I’m thrilled to see a solution that doesn’t involve killing sharks with gill nets, here are five reasons why this is a terrible idea.

If you want something done right, do it yourself

January 13, 2010February 6, 2010 David Shiffman 15 Comments

Uncategorized

Part 3 of 3 in the series “Get to know your fry-entists”

Many scientists believe that advocacy is not our proper role. They claim that scientists should instead focus on gathering data and solving scientific problems, and should leave advocacy to others. According to some, publicly advocating a position runs the risk of discrediting a scientist, discrediting a discovery and possibly even discrediting science itself. While I respect the opinions and concerns of my peers, I strongly disagree with them. At least with respect to my discipline of shark conservation biology, our worthy goals are doomed to failure without scientist-advocates.

Sea Shepherd: Friend or foe of shark conservation?

January 1, 2010March 23, 2010 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

cropped As promised, this week’s ethical debate deals with one of the most hotly debated issues in the marine conservation community- the tactics of “Sea Shepherd”.

Though “Sea Shepherd” is most famous (or infamous) for their work with the Japanese whaling fleet, which is featured in “Whale Wars”, they are also heavily involved with the shark finning industry.

Before we get started, I want to say something about the tone of this debate. I know from our own comments sections, even ones that don’t deal directly with Sea Shepherd, that there are strong opinions on both sides of this issue. See last week’s Deep Sea News, particularly the comments section, for an example of this. Here at Southern Fried Science, we recently came up with a new comments policy, which we will be enforcing strictly with this post. DO NOT personally attack anyone, DO NOT try to change the subject to something totally irrelevant, and DO NOT post under multiple names to create the false appearance of a majority (“sock puppetry”). Since the Deep Sea News post covered whale stuff pretty solidly, we will only be talking about shark finning here. WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHALING IN THIS POST.

Ok, now on to the debate.