Contextualize Your Outrage - Well Said, Well Written

As a shark blogger who often delves into conservation issues to offer up opinions, ideas, and yes even conservation strategies, I was blown away this week by Ricks post over at Deep Sea News who tackled the recent expose on illegal shark fishing in Galapagos.

His post echos many I have read over the years and some that I have penned talking about the triumvirate of conservation.

1. Money

2. Strategy

3. Enforcement

His post is a perfect summation of the challenges that face shark conservation and a road map for next generation of shark conservation groups and individuals seeking to help sharks globally.

Yes, the loss of this many sharks in the Galapagos is a blow, it is also a wake up call to the global shark fin trade and the need, moving forward, to start thinking and acting differently.

If your not one for reading long well thought shark conservation summaries here's the crux of Ricks post:

So while we appear to be getting better at establishing legislative protection for sharks, where the rubber hist the road is in the enforcement of that protection. And enforcement takes funding, training, monitoring, consequences, public awareness, and a judicial process prepared to prosecute. Expecting open water to somehow police itself is as realistic as expecting a bank to safeguard its holdings without surveillance, guards, and a prosecutorial system.

Complete post here.

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Conservation (hic) Drinking for the Sharks

We loves our outta da box shark conservation initiatives.

Especially ones that generate funds for sharks.

Welcome to White Tip Lager Caybrews latest tasty lager in a partnership between the brewery and the Cayman Island Department of Environment.

The Cayman Brewery is also using the White Tip Lager to save marine wildlife.

“The Department of Environment’s Mat Cottam came to us and asked if there was there any chance of us actually partnering with them to use beer as a vehicle to push conservation and awareness in the Cayman Islands,” Mr. Mansfield said.

“Beer’s more interesting than a brochure usually,” said Mr. Cottam, manager of the Terrestrial Ecology Unit at the department, “and they were completely for it, they thought it was a great idea.”

The White Tip label was designed to promote awareness about dwindling shark populations worldwide and the environmental significance of this misunderstood predator.

The beer can is covered in snippets of information, as well as a 2D barcode that smart phone users can scan to be directed to the Department of Environment’s web page of shark information.

In addition to being a drinkable source of information, beer sales will also contribute to the department’s shark conservation efforts monetarily: Five cents from each can sold will go towards shark research, awareness and conservation programmes.

Story here.

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