Category: Popular Culture

Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 51 Comments on Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

Sea Shepherd claims that their actions in the Southern Ocean opposing Japanese whaling fleets has effectively reduced the number of whales killed. What always rubbed me the wrong way about these claims is that they always compare their success against the Institute for Cetacean Research (the Japanese organization that oversees ‘scientific whaling’) Quotas. So at some point you have to ask the question, in absolute numbers, has Sea Shepherd really reduced the number of whales killed?

To answer that we need three pieces of information:

  1. When did Sea Shepherd begin it’s campaign against Japanese ‘scientific whaling’?
  2. What are the ICR quotas for that time frame?
  3. What are the absolute catches for that time frame?

Sea Shepherd provides a comprehensive timeline for their whaling campaigns that indicates serious opposition in the Southern Ocean began in December 2002. For the two other questions, we turn to Whale and Dolphin Conservation International, who have produced a truly exceptional interactive graph of the history of whaling since the inception of the International Whaling Convention by the numbers. The relevant figure is reproduced below:

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Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!

Posted on By David Shiffman 6 Comments on Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

“How do you study one of the world’s fiercest predators in the wild?” the cover of the “Expedition Great White” DVD screener that National Geographic sent me asked. I was delighted to discover that my sarcastic answer of “very carefully” is exactly what the back cover of the DVD case read! I knew I was going to like this show from that point on, and I was right.

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Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 19 Comments on Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars
Conservation, Popular Culture

We have been and continue to be critical of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Although their goals are admirable their methods are not only ineffective, but in some cases impair the achievement of those goals.  With the premier of Whale Wars season 3 tomorrow evening, we’d like to take a moment to highlight the issues we’ve raised concerning the SSCS. Over the last two years we’ve written a number of post summarizing our problems with Sea Shepherd:

Our friends at Deep Sea News and Underwater Thrills have been critical of SSCS, too:

The above links cover many of the issues we have with this organization. The New York Times recently published an excellent breakdown of the Japanese Whaling Industry. Below are our main criticisms of SSCS:

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Does fast-forwarding through commercials hurt advertisers?

Posted on By David Shiffman 12 Comments on Does fast-forwarding through commercials hurt advertisers?
Popular Culture, Science

ResearchBlogging.org

A few weeks ago, my co-bloggers were doubtful that it is possible to watch 36 hours of television in a week. The main factor that makes television viewing on this scale possible for me is the DVR, which allows

me to tape two shows simultaneously. It also allows me to easily fast-forward through commercials, and  because of the DVR,  the only commercials I see anymore are when I’m watching live sports. While the ability to easily record a show and watch it later (and fast forward through commercials as you watch it later) has improved the quality of life for my roommates and me, I’ve often wondered how it affects advertisers. After all, it’s their money that pays for my favorite shows.

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Last year’s Shark Week coverage

Posted on By David Shiffman 2 Comments on Last year’s Shark Week coverage
Popular Culture, Science

The online shark science community has been critical of the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” in the past because some of the documentaries promote fear of sharks at a time when we should be promoting respect and conservation. According to the Dorsal Fin blog, this year is looking like it will bring us more of the same, though one particular story won’t be covered because it happened so recently.  Since Shark Week is starting to be discussed again by the blogosphere, I am re-posting all of last year’s Shark Week coverage. This includes an interview with the Discovery Channel’s Senior Science Editor (originally here), a detailed evaluation of each of the Shark Week specials (originally here), and ten suggestions for how to improve future Shark Week programming (originally here). All of the original comments are preserved at the old site.

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Douglas Adams on Evolution, Endangered Species, Conservation, and writing Last Chance to See

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on Douglas Adams on Evolution, Endangered Species, Conservation, and writing Last Chance to See
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

The brilliantly funny Douglas Adams shares the adventures he had while writing Last Chance to See. Since he gave this talk, the Yangtze River Dolphin has been declared extinct and only 123 Kakapo remain.  Komodo dragons are now listed as vulnerable, and although their population appears quite large, it was recently discovered that Komodo dragons … Read More “Douglas Adams on Evolution, Endangered Species, Conservation, and writing Last Chance to See” »

What the hell happened to the environmental movement?

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

This post was originally published on Earth Day, 2009. The responses I received from it were tremendous, both positive and negative. Were I to write it again today, I would include a discussion of Carbon Offsets and Eco-Guilt.

There is a real challenge in the environmental movement. On one hand, the science is on our side, but on the other hand, there is a growing group within the movement committed to dogma and willing to sacrifice facts for pseudoscience. So, this Earth day, we once again bring you “What the hell happened to the environmental movement?”

473px-rachel-carsonForty-seven years ago, a brilliant, passionate scientist who understood the power of public outreach, noticed a decline in songbird populations, discovered a trend of decreasing egg shell thickness, and correlated this effect with the increase in the use of DDT as a pesticide. After thoroughly and rigorously verifying her results and conclusions, she did something revolutionary; she wrote a book. The publication of Silent Spring in 1962 marks the beginning of the modern environmental movement in America. Its simple, elegant prose made the complex interaction between humankind and the environment accessible to a public that had limited exposure to scientific writing. Like other works of literary science, Silent Spring, wove the scientific method into a narrative; observations, questions, conflicts, discoveries, joy and sorrow. To struggle and to understand, never the last without the first. The beauty of her words still echo with that same power today.

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