Bob and Ray's "Save the Whales" Blog

EU plan to end fishing for spiny dogfish, porbeagle and angel sharks

2008-12-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

"The European Commission is planning to end all fishing for spiny dogfish, porbeagle and angel sharks while also expanding protection for rays."

Six more sharks join endangered list

2008-12-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

"More than half of the world's sharks are under threat of extinction, conservationists warned on Thursday."

Atlantic sharks face extinction due to overfishing and shark-finning

2008-12-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

"More than 25 per cent of sharks in the north-east Atlantic are at risk of extinction, a new study warns."

Cosmetics giants agree to stop using shark oil

2008-12-22T19:24:00.001-08:00

(old news - we've been busy and haven't updated our blog :-)

Top photographers support shark conservation

2008-12-22T19:21:00.001-08:00

"Award-winning photographers from around the world have donated some of their best images to support marine conservation group Bite-Back."

The Calvin Fund

2008-12-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Calvin's fundraising website. Calvin has recently undergone a surgery to remove one of his kidneys after a kidney stone was discovered. He has endured an extensive hospital stay with some life threatening complications. He is doing better, and we are praying for a full recovery. Calvin's owner, Krissie, is now looking at a vet bill in excess of $5000. Some of her friends decided to help out with a donation page. Any donation contribution will be truly appreciated, no matter what the amount. Please donate what you can, and pass this website on to other people you know.

Zoo faces charges for selling animals as food

2007-07-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/258bwx

"A mayor in eastern Germany has filed charges against workers at his local zoo for shooting animals and selling them as meat . . . Die Zeit newspaper quoted an anonymous zoo employee as saying the number of animals had been declining and: 'It is high time something is done about it.'"

Well, Maybe, But More Likely From Rap...

2007-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/24cje7

"Do fish suffer from exposure to Uriah Heep?"

Bill would permanently bar drilling in Alaskan refuge - CNN.com

2007-01-21T16:47:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/y6e4z9

Oh, please, please, please!!!

Feeding time to end for Moray eel 'Psycho' at the Sandbar and Stingray City

2007-01-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/3bzk6m

Uhm, they are WILD animals, folks...

Report: Cook Inlet belugas need our help - CNN.com

2007-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/3a53k7

"The study found there is a 26 percent chance the Cook Inlet belugas will be extinct in 100 years and a 68 percent chance they'll be gone in 300 years."

FTD - Colombian navy trains its sights on shark hunters

2007-01-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/336aus

"Andrés Patiño, a marine who is winding up his month-long stretch on Malpelo, insists that the hammerhead shark must be preserved in its habitat rather than served in a soup bowl. 'I saw hundreds of sharks out there and they don't eat you when you swim, even without your boots on,' says Private Patiño. 'They're strange animals but very beautiful, and there is no good reason to eat them.'"

Amazon.com pulls shark fin products from inventory :: Wetpixel.com

2007-01-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/2jepd7

"Victory! Today, Amazon has pulled all shark fin related products from their offering. No official statement has yet been made by the company; however it appears that they have chosen the ecologically responsible path....

If you would like to voice your support for Amazon's decision to remove shark fin products and press them to take a public stand on this issue, please feel free to you use the following text:

To Amazon Customer Service/Investor Relations

I would first like to voice my support for Amazon's decision to remove shark based products from your website. You have listened to the overwhelming feedback in opposition to shark products from your customers, and have taken appropriate action to address them. It is my hope and expectation that shark based products will not return to your website in the future. Furthermore, I expect that Amazon will take a public stand against trade in shark products.

It is important that you understand the basis for my concern regarding shark fin and related shark products. Shark finning trade has exploded in the last 15 years and is continuing to grow at a rate of over 5% per year. Most recent studies indicate that sharks are being harvested at a rate of 23 to 73 million sharks per year. As a consequence, worldwide shark populations have plummeted with many species declining more than 90%. Since sharks are very slow to mature and reproduce, the present rate of over-fishing is pushing many shark species to the brink of extinction.

The value of the sharks fin far exceeds the value of the rest of the shark. In restaurants, shark fin soup can fetch as much as USD150 per bowl. A shark's fin represents about 2-5% of the total body weight and takes up relatively little storage space. As such, it is far more profitable for fishermen to sever the fins and dump of the finless sharks into the water to drown. This has lead to a worldwide ecological disaster. Finning is a cruel, wasteful and destructive practice. Sadly it is the primary means by which shark fins are harvested.

Many nations have outlawed the practice of shark finning. In particular, shark finning is banned in the Eastern Pacific, North Atlantic and waters of Australia. Having decimated shark populations in other regions of the oceans, the commercial shark fishing fleets are illegally operating in protected waters and harvesting shark fins by the millions. In the open ocean, there is little that can be done to stop them.

By ceasing to sell shark based products, Amazon has taken an important step in the right direction. Amazon now has an opportunity, and responsibility, to join other world class organizations in taking a public stand against trade and consumption of shark products and other endangered species. As an example, Disney took public action in response to significant outcry against their initial plan to serve shark fin soup. In a press release they stated, "After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmental sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove shark's fin soup from our wedding banquet menu,"

I urge Amazon to issue a similar statement to the public stating why they will no longer carry shark fin and related products. This would further position Amazon as an environmentally responsible and conscientious organization. Furthermore, this would cause me to resume my purchases with Amazon and resume referring others to your website.

I look forward to Amazon taking this next step.
Sincerely,..."

Had we known that Amazon.com carried shark fin products we would have boycotted them. Thankfully, they have done the right thing.

FIN-TASTIC CELEBRATIONS AS SHARK TAKEN OFF MENU

2007-01-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/2rrvpx

"A family who boycotted their favourite Chinese restaurant because it served shark fin soup is celebrating after it was taken off the menu."

USATODAY.com - Yao Ming swears off shark's fin soup

2007-01-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/36m79y

We were so busy in August that we missed this very important news - Bravo, Yao Ming!

Also see: Bloggers Cheer Yao Ming Shark Attack and Taking a Stand for Mother Nature (warning: graphic shark finning video)

Conservationists rally to support sharks - Yahoo! News

2007-01-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/33j36e

"Experts point out that for all the hoopla over shark attacks, they're relatively few and fatalities are even fewer. Last year there were 86 known and suspected shark encounters, with seven confirmed deaths and the shark involvement in another two ocean fatalities uncertain, according to the Global Shark Attack File.

Meanwhile, about 100 million sharks and their close relatives are killed each year, either deliberately or as fishermen's bycatch, according to the Shark Alliance, a five-month-old international coalition of advocacy and ocean recreation groups.

That would make for a fatality ratio of about 1 human to every 10 million sharks, some conservation advocates point out."

Washington Post: A 'Dear Santa' From the Zoo

2006-12-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

A 'Dear Santa' From the Zoo
Slides, Seesaws and Other Human-Style Toys Make Animal Wish List

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 30, 2006; B01

Zookeepers want Frisbees for the pandas. They want feather dusters for birds. They want nature CDs for the zebras and a Double Decker Super Slide for the otters.

Like little kids everywhere, the animals at the National Zoo have wish lists this time of year. But their wants, which are posted on the zoo's Web site and can be donated through January, aren't just for fun. They are specifically designed to make life in captivity more stimulating, more wildlife-like, zoo officials say. They are meant to help animals feel more a part of their species and less a part of a display.

The process of stimulating an animal's senses to replicate life in the wild is called enrichment, and it's an increasingly emphasized part of zoo life, as researchers test different approaches to pique animals' instincts and as activists vie for happier living conditions for those in captivity.

So although Little Tikes toys might resemble nothing of the Southeast Asian streams where small-clawed otters slide down rocks and flop in the water, zookeepers think they will provide a similar level of amusement.

"They like to slide, hide under things, snuggle in corners," zookeeper Jenny Spotten said.

The otters are making do with their old toys for now -- they crawled all over one another yesterday as they took turns bouncing and rolling three toys filled with raw fish and mealworms -- because they haven't gotten the slide or other toys on their list, such as the Naturally Playful Teeter Totter.

Santa has come slowly to the nation's pets so far. About a dozen people have brought in wrapped packages, and nearly as many have given money for toys through the zoo's Web site.

A "gift tree" in the visitors center has ornaments bearing the various requests, including a hot-air popcorn popper so the zookeepers can make a low-fat treat for the gorillas. Other requests include a little sleeping bag for ferrets and other small mammals who like to burrow, sheets for orangutans to play tug of war with and laser pointers for monkeys so they can chase the little red dots.

The feather dusters are meant to feel like mothers for birds that never had them, and the nature CDs are supposed to calm zebras that get skittish when big crowds come.

Despite the desire for toys and other human-style gifts, zookeepers said some presents would be kept in holding areas, out of visitors' sight. "People like to see the natural stuff out here," Spotten said.

Still, amid all the artificial trees and carefully crafted savanna landscapes on exhibit, it's possible to see more flashes from the toy chest. Yesterday, for instance, the cheetahs chased a purple rubber ball, and the golden-headed lion tamarins picked insects from a brightly colored "crazy ball."

Zookeepers designed other toys themselves to look less playpen and more natural. A PVC pipe burned by a blowtorch has a wooden feel and can be filled with bugs. The little monkeys use their long fingers to pick insects from them as they would from trees in the tropical forests of Brazil.

Such toys "let them use their natural hunting abilities," explained Heidi Hellmuth, curator of enrichment and training at the zoo.

Hellmuth was hired six months ago as the first full-time staff person to coordinate enrichment and training for the animals, and she is surely the only professional in Washington with an office full of soft dog toys and a lion pacing outside her window.

A few months ago, she consulted with zookeepers, curators, nutritionists and veterinarians to create the wish list so visitors could contribute to their growing stash of gadgets. The Friends of the National Zoo organized the toy drive.

Hellmuth said that the wish list is versatile, and she hopes it can give people gift ideas for their own pets, because the same old toys can make those captive animals bored, too.

"We want people to see what we are doing at the zoo . . . and what you could be doing with your own pets at home," she said.

Fears of revenge attacks on stingrays over Irwin death - World - Times Online

2006-11-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

Fears of revenge attacks on stingrays over Irwin death - World - Times Online

Bob and Ray are stunned and saddened at the accidental death of Steve Irwin, but we are reasonably certain he would not want stingrays tortured in retaliation.

Study Sees 'Global Collapse' of Fish Species - New York Times

2006-11-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/yapnz3

November 3, 2006

Study Sees 'Global Collapse' of Fish Species

By CORNELIA DEAN

If fishing around the world continues at its present pace, more and more species will vanish, marine ecosystems will unravel and there will be "global collapse" of all species currently fished, possibly as soon as midcentury, fisheries experts and ecologists are predicting.

The scientists, who report their findings today in the journal Science, say it is not too late to turn the situation around. As long as marine ecosystems are still biologically diverse, they can recover quickly once overfishing and other threats are reduced, the researchers say.

But improvements must come quickly, said Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, who led the work. Otherwise, he said, "we are seeing the bottom of the barrel."

"When humans get into trouble they are quick to change their ways," he continued. "We still have rhinos and tigers and elephants because we saw a clear trend that was going down and we changed it. We have to do the same in the oceans."

The report is one of many in recent years to identify severe environmental degradation in the world's oceans and to predict catastrophic loss of fish species. But experts said it was unusual in its vision of widespread fishery collapse so close at hand.

The researchers drew their conclusion after analyzing dozens of studies, along with fishing data collected by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and other sources. They acknowledge that much of what they are reporting amounts to correlation, rather than proven cause and effect. And the F.A.O. data have come under criticism from researchers who doubt the reliability of some nations' reporting practices, Dr. Worm said.

Still, he said in an interview, "there is not a piece of evidence" that contradicts the dire conclusions.

Jane Lubchenco, a fisheries expert at Oregon State University who had no connection with the work, called the report "compelling."

"It's a meta analysis and there are challenges in interpreting those," she said in an interview, referring to the technique of collective analysis of disparate studies. "But when you get the same patterns over and over and over, that tells you something."

But Steve Murawski, chief scientist of the Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the researchers' prediction of a major global collapse "doesn't gibe with trends that we see, especially in the United States."

He said the Fisheries Service considered about 20 percent of the stocks it monitors to be overfished. "But 80 percent are not, and that trend has not changed substantially," he said, adding that if anything, the fish situation in American waters was improving. But he conceded that the same cannot necessarily be said for stocks elsewhere, particularly in the developing world.

Mr. Murawski said the Bush administration was seeking to encourage international fishery groups to consider adopting measures that have been effective in American waters.

Twelve scientists from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Panama contributed to the work reported in Science today.

"We extracted all data on fish and invertebrate catches from 1950 to 2003 within all 64 large marine ecosystems worldwide," they wrote. "Collectively, these areas produced 83 percent of global fisheries yields over the past 50 years."

In an interview, Dr. Worm said, "We looked at absolutely everything - all the fish, shellfish, invertebrates, everything that people consume that comes from the ocean, all of it, globally."

The researchers found that 29 percent of species had been fished so heavily or were so affected by pollution or habitat loss that they were down to 10 percent of previous levels, their definition of "collapse."

This loss of biodiversity seems to leave marine ecosystems as a whole more vulnerable to overfishing and less able to recover from its effects, Dr. Worm said. It results in an acceleration of environmental decay, and further loss of fish.

Dr. Worm said he analyzed the data for the first time on his laptop while he was overseeing a roomful of students taking an exam. What he saw, he said, was "just a smooth line going down." And when he extrapolated the data into the future "to see where it ends at 100 percent collapse, you arrive at 2048."

"The hair stood up on the back of my neck and I said, 'This cannot be true,'" he recalled. He said he ran the data through his computer again, then did the calculations by hand. The results were the same.

"I don't have a crystal ball and I don't know what the future will bring, but this is a clear trend," he said. "There is an end in sight, and it is within our lifetimes."

Dr. Worm said a number of steps could help turn things around.

Even something as simple as reducing the number of unwanted fish caught in nets set for other species would help, he said. Marine reserves would also help, he said, as would "doing away with horrendous overfishing where everyone agrees it's a bad thing; or if we banned destructive fishing in the most sensitive habitats."

Josh Reichert, who directs the environmental division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, called the report "a kind of warning bell" for people and economies that depend on fish.

But predicting a global fisheries collapse by 2048 "assumes we do nothing to fix this," he said, "and shame on us if that were to be the case."

Shark Conservation and Marine Conservation - Bite Back

2006-08-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.bite-back.com/

A British Shark and Marine conservation organization site - quite good!

Shark Fin Soup A Dangerous Delicacy? - CBS News

2006-08-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/lqcxo

A fitting accompaniment to the barbaric dish of shark fin soup: just desserts.

CNN.com - Aquarium plays whale shark matchmaker - Jun 4, 2006

2006-06-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/g8p7m

"The Georgia Aquarium's two male whale sharks got some female companionship on Saturday, when they were joined by two females transported to Atlanta from Taipei, Taiwan."

There be whale [shark]s here! ;-)

Save the Elephants

2006-04-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers of Bob and Ray's "Save the Whales" Blog:

We just used World Wildlife Fund's free Conservation Action Network to help save endangered elephants in Indonesia. We urge you to take action, too.

On March 21, ten endangered wild Sumatran elephants, chained to trees without food or water, were found by WWF on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia. They had been captured by the Riau Provincial Forestry Service after feeding on the crops of a nearby village. WWF has since provided food, water, and emergency medical care to the elephants, but their fate remains uncertain.

Only three weeks earlier, six other elephants had been found dead in an illegal oil palm plantation in Riau, apparently poisoned in retaliation for feeding in the plantation.

These are the latest casualties in an escalating conflict between elephants and humans in central Sumatra, the direct result of uncontrolled and often illegal destruction of the elephants' forest habitat usually for oil palm and pulp. Riau's elephant population has dramatically fallen to around 400 in 2003, a decline of 50 percent in just five years.

This current crisis of humans and elephants dying is unnecessary. Human-elephant conflict can be avoided if elephants are given enough room to live and if these confrontations were dealt with professionally. Sadly, this is not happening in Riau.

WWF is calling for the immediate end to all logging, encroachment, and conversion of elephant forests in Riau to protect the elephants' remaining habitat. The government should also immediately extend the size of the existing Tesso Nilo National Park from 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) to at least 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres).

You can make a huge difference by showing the Indonesian government that people around the world care about these elephants.

To sign an online petition to the president of Indonesia, go to the Conservation Action Network at http://tinyurl.com/r8gw9. Please ask your friends to take this action also. Thanks!

Here is what the petition email reads like:

Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
P.O. Box 9949, Jakarta 10000
Indonesia

Dear President Yudhoyono,

I am deeply concerned over the plight of the endangered wild Sumatran elephants in Riau, Indonesia.

I urge the Indonesian government to immediately stop all logging, encroachment, and conversion of forests in elephant habitats in Riau and protect them as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

The current crisis also strongly shows the needs to extend the existing Tesso Nilo National Park from 38,000 hectares to at least 100,000 hectares to provide a larger habitat for the elephants.

I welcome the development in 2004 of a human-elephant conflict mitigation protocol for Riau by the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and several nongovernmental organizations. I believe this protocol, if implemented, would avoid the kinds of cases that have occurred in recent weeks. I therefore urge the Riau authorities to stop the capture of elephants and instead speedily implement this protocol.

Other initiatives such as those conducted in the Tesso Nilo landscape, which have successfully reduced the rate of forest loss, elephants deaths, and losses suffered by local communities due to elephant-human conflicts, should be replicated across the province.

Recent incidents such as the cases of the ten captured and abandoned elephants or the six poisoned elephants should not be allowed to occur again. Putting an end to these conflicts is essential not just for Sumatra's elephants but also to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the communities living alongside them.

Sincerely,

Your name

Restaurant donates shark to New Orleans aquarium

2006-03-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/mdeg3

"After surviving Hurricane Katrina - including three days without power and a lower-than-normal oxygen supply - a 2 1/2-foot nurse shark said good-bye Monday to its home in a Hattiesburg restaurant.... Mike Anderson manager Bubba Brian said management donated the shark to the aquarium because it outgrew its 400-gallon tank in the restaurant bar and because of the need at the aquarium."

Hong Kong is a Cesspool of Illegal Shark Fin Trading

2006-03-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/r44bm

"Despite claims by the Hong Kong Shark Fin Merchants Association that the trade in shark fins is completely legal, the Hong Kong Standard newspaper has published an expose that illustrates just how dirty the market really is."

[Caution: disturbing shark fin photos]