Sharkwater

[cdreamer]

I recently watched "Sharkwater" and it definately left a profound impression on me.
It was riveting and shocking to see what is going on in countries like Costa Rica.
I had no idea of the magnitude of corruption involved in this horrific and illegal industry.
At the rate that these creatures are being killed, I don't think shark populations have a
chance in h*** of ever recovering. Scary to think of an ocean without sharks, and even scarier
to think how that will impact the world ocean ecosystems. Rob Stewart, with help from Sea
Shephard did an excellent job with this documentary, but sadly, I don't think it will be enough.

 

[BarryNL]

Don't just get mad... send money to Sea Shepherd.

There's actually been an action recently on a Dutch language scuba chat site to raise money for Sea Shepherd and it's currently raised more than 1,000 euros. Scubaboard gets far more visitors - maybe we should have a similar fund raise here!

 

[JackSpearo]

I watched the movie in theaters and ended up buying it on DVD, it definitely gets the point across (and I bought it to show friends), but I thought it was just "ok"... I definitely thought it could have been made better... Just my opinion...

 

[hudson]

It does get the point across. Seen it just recently, and while I was expecting lots of powerful scenes of sharks underwater (there isn't really much of that) I was completely unprepared for the scenes showing vast stretches of shark fins left to dry on rooftops. (Seen it on Blueray but the DVD would have been just as good as half the material is standard definition as it is)

There are interesting donation options the Sea Shepherd donation page
You can sign up for regular donations or get "gift cards" for people which is a fine way to get your friends who may even be remotely interested involved.

As with global warming though, or actually even more so since the awareness of the issue is at a much lower level, this is one major uphill battle.

Also see http://www.sharkalliance.org/v.asp?level2id=20&rootid=20&depth=1 for other ways to contribute.

 

[calvin007]

I had came across some of these links that seem to promote awareness and legislative action for the conservation of sharks. SharkSavers.org is actually a 501c3 public charity registered in New York started by a group of divers (cool!).

Saving Sharks
Shark Savers - Home

 

[DwayneJ]

A friend of mine told me about the movie today and he even took me to Costco to purchase it - $9. Watched it this afternoon - Very impressive - Very sad.

 

[shoredivr]

Maybe Garrobo will watch it...he needs to.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/231651-delta-airlines-shark-fin-soup.html

Ah, I see his anti-shark remarks have been removed...good...still think he needs to see Sharkwater.

 

[diverslodge]

SharkWater is a fantastic movie and it should have been made a long time ago. I hope it will inspire a worldwide movement against the holocaust of the sharks.
Without sharks, the seas will die, and in the end so will we.

Sharks are being exploited not only by the fisheries. Also some people active the diving industry exploit them. For instance the washing machine like approach of cage diving with white sharks in South Africa (and chumming to attract them) and the shark feeding on for instance the Bahamas to have the sharks up close for the divers to take their once in a lifetime picture. End of February 2008 this once in a lifetime experience has cost the life of an Austrian lawyer, Marcus Gruh. It happened because the dive guide and dive operator did not know how to interpret shark behavior and know when a situation would start to be dangerous. Marcus Gruh however trusted them to know what they were doing.

If you really want to start to understand sharks and their behavior and how to dive safely with sharks, I recommend doing a course with SharkSchool. I took the course while working in Marsa Alam Egypt and after it I organised more of them, because I believe that people only hate and kill what they do not understand.

Erich Ritter, the man behind SharkSchool, is well known shark scientist and an excellent speaker. He teaches how to interpret shark behavior, what situations to avoid, how to act if a dangerous situation might occur. After his course I enjoy diving with the Oceanic White Tips and Hammerheads here in the Red Sea even more!

His courses are available on the Bahamas or can be organized on any location with sharks around by dive operators and dive travel agencies. Also he can train the diving staff of dive centres to teach divers about shark behavior. Something I also organized while I was working in Marsa Alam. Dive guests love it that their guides can give them a better understanding of these beautiful creatures.

If anyone wants more information about this, contact me. I can hook you up with Erich Ritter.

 

[Jim Ernst]

I didn't get to see it in the theater and was afraid I wasn't going to get too see it at all.

Then on Saturday I was shopping at Costco and looking at some DVD'S, And there it was.....

I watched it and it was great... Though very disturbing of how Stupid and uncaring Human-beings are!!

 

[Zeeman]

If you really want to start to understand sharks and their behavior and how to dive safely with sharks, I recommend doing a course with SharkSchool. I took the course while working in Marsa Alam Egypt and after it I organised more of them, because I believe that people only hate and kill what they do not understand.

Shame there is nothing like this in/near Aus. Look like a worthwhile experience.

Z...