Uncategorized
Charlie chills at the top of Courthouse Falls.
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:
- When did Sea Shepherd begin it’s campaign against Japanese ‘scientific whaling’?
- What are the ICR quotas for that time frame?
- 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:
Science
The first day of talks is over here at Sharks International. In this morning’s keynote, we were treated to a summary of the last 20 years of great white shark research in Australia. Talks so far have mostly focused on tracking studies, and people have made some fascinating discoveries.
Uncategorized
Bluegrass and Charlie try to spot mountains through the Courthouse fog.
Uncategorized
Charlie peers into the Abyss at Devil’s Courthouse.
Uncategorized
Charlie astride the bat sculpture at the North Carolina Arboretum.
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.
Read More “Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!” »
Uncategorized
Charlie, Bluegrass, and that Fried Guy out for a stroll.
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:
- Sea Shepherd – Friend or foe of shark conservation
- Guestpost: In defense of Sea Shepherd by Craig Nazor
- Sea Shepherd FAIL
- What a good conservation organization looks like
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: