If you have some free time this afternoon, David Shiffman is giving a talk for the Sharktober Hangout regarding shark science. You should join. The event starts at 4:00 p.m. EST  https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/ctbausn9echgoh8h9rpo9n8tbm4

     I came across an article today posted on CNN's website that made my stomach turn. The article discusses dolphins being slaughtered in Peruvian waters and used as bait for shark hunting. They go into great detail about how the dolphins are brutally slaughtered, and how as many as ten thousand dolphins are killed every year. They state how the government is appalled by this information, and how they will take drastic measures to stop the slaughter if it is found to be a widespread issue.

    While I am glad that the government is nipping this issue in the bud, and doing what they can to protect these animals, I have a problem with the fact that they are only concerned with the plight of the dolphins, while ignoring the sharks suffering the same fate on a far greater scale.

     If you add up the number of dolphins being killed each year in Peru with the number of dolphins killed every year in Taiji, Japan,  you get about twenty-eight thousand. Don't get me wrong, this is a ridiculously high number of dolphins being killed for consumption and/or for shark bait annually. The thing that bothers me the most is that there are close to one hundred million sharks killed by humans every year--that's almost eleven thousand sharks an hour!--yet there is hardly any outcry for justice there. The only reason people want to stop the shark slaughter in Peru is because dolphins are dying, not because sharks and dolphins are dying. It's extremely unfair to want to save an animal because it is cute or cuddly and completely ignore another that isn't. It makes me wonder what would have happened if Peter Benchley had never written Jaws. Would people care then?

   

Here is a talk given by Greg Stone that I viewed recently. A great deal of amazing photos and stories that I think you'll enjoy on the topic of ocean conservation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/greg_stone_saving_the_ocean_one_island_at_a_time.html

I am mid-way through my Oceanography class this semester, and I have been watching a lot of TED talks involving the oceans. More recently, I've been watching the talks that piggy-back the My Wish talk given by Sylvia Earle in 2009. There is some truly incredible information given in one particular talk by Enric Sala called Glimpses of a Pristine Ocean. In the video below, Enric discusses the degradation of coral reefs due to over fishing and global warming, and ways in which to rebuild the reef ecosystems. Over the next few weeks I will post several videos that all follow the same theme; protecting our oceans. Enjoy, guys!

http://www.ted.com/talks/enric_sala.html

If you've never heard Sylvia Earle speak, it is a must. I'm a huge fan of her work, and she is a great inspiration to me. I'd like to share one of her TED Talks with you. In this video, Sylvia is discussing ways to save our oceans, and the importance of saving and protecting the species and plant life located there. Enjoy, guys :)