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Charlie stopped to smell the alfalfa
Conservation
Is it possible to mistakenly support a cause you disagree with? Well, theoretically no, but it’s really all in the name. There are a number of groups out there with clever titles, but are they misleading? I’ll leave the obvious ones like the Discovery Institute and American Enterprise Association for Public Policy Research to your Google prowess, but here’s a great example from my personal experience: the Coastal Conservation Association.
What might at first appear to be a group supporting conservation biology and ringing the bell for endangered species and receding wetlands is really a group designed to advocate for recreational fishing at all three levels of our government: local, state, and national. Their national website is fairly straightforward about this mission, but it is not so obvious when they’re testifying at a state fisheries meeting.
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Charlie tries tree climbing
Conservation
The 15th United Nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is meeting this week in Doha, Qatar to revise the current list of species protected under international trade agreements. On the proposed list for this year are Blue Fin Tuna, Nile Crocodile, Polar Bears, eight species of shark, and an entire family of red … Read More “Commercial Interests Trump Endangered Species” »
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Charlie invades the daffodil patch
Science
Since my initial post of the new phenomenon of Global Draining, there has been an outpouring of support and a trickle of criticism (mostly stemming from hydrologists in the pockets of Big Flood Insurance). Dr. M of Deep Sea News kicked it of with an advanced mathematical model of the effects of Global Draining. Micheal Bok from the blog, Arthropoda, chimed in with his personal observation of Global Draining. Jeff Ives has been tweeting his thoughts on the big drain over the last month @thejives.
But my detractors have raised valid criticisms. Primarily that my original study covered too short a time frame and was biased to only a small period of the tidal cycle. To remedy these concerns, I have conducted a new study, tracking the draining of the sea over an 8 days period, by measuring the maximum high tide of each day. The results are shocking.
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Charlie hangs out.
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Edward Dorson, the Director of Conservation Strategies for the Shark Research Institute, has published an excellent editorial about CITES in the Gulf Times, which describes itself as “Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper”. The editorial can be found here. Here are some highlights, though I recommend reading the whole article. “All trade in a species vanishes … Read More “A cry for reason at CITES” »
Conservation, Science
One week after the world premier at the Benthic Ecology conference’s Beneath the Waves Film Festival, I am pleased to announce that my new shark conservation mini-documentary, “four things everyone needs to know about sharks”, is now available on YouTube.
Check it out here:
If you are an educator, the movie is intended to be part of a lesson plan about shark conservation. I have created a middle school version, a high school version, and a college version. Contact me at WhySharksMatter AT gmail DOT com with the subject “Shark Lesson Plan” and I’ll send you what I have, or we can discuss making a custom lesson plan that suits the specific needs of your class.
If you are not an educator but care about sharks, the movie can be a stand-alone way to educate your friends, family, coworkers, classmates, etc.
Please let me know what you think about the video by commenting on this blog post.
Thanks to all of my photographer and musician partners in this project!
Check out their websites:
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WhySharksMatter, Austin, and Charlie on the Benthic Ecology banquet cruise.