Category Archives: Marine Conservation

7/25/2013: Day 30: Shameless Re-blogging

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I discovered this SWELL shark blog on Tumbler called Shark Hugger.

It’s fun, eclectic AND best of all they’ve assembled a ton of shark petitions for you to sign

I also ordered a new shirt from the wonderful Pelagic Shark Research Foundation of Santa Cruz.  I get tons of compliments on my long-sleeved dark blue PSF shirt with its distinctive shark logo. I’ve had the shirt for way over a decade and it STILL  looks great, but I wanted to order a new one for a friend.  I’ve found that wearing my Pelagic shirt or my shark necklace ALWAYS starts conversations.

Many, many people don’t even know sharks are endangered.  Wearing a shirt or jewelry (though not necklaces made from real shark teeth, of course), is a simple, natural way to enlighten people about the plight of sharks without the conversation feeling too heavy or didactic.

Plus, all proceeds from merchandise directly help PSF’s shark conservation and education programs.

Day 25: 7/20/2013: Cast a Vote for Sharks

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I have to admit, the nominees for Oceana’s Ocean Hero awards make my efforts feel more than a little bit hodge-podge and patchwork!  All of them–adults and children alike– are doing important work for the ocean, but here is a roundup of my new shark gurus:

Yale grad student Leah Meth helped win protections for sharks and rays at CITES with her creative and incredibly successful Shark Stanley Project.

Dr. Neil  Hammerschlag’s shark tagging program at the University of Miami gives at-risk high school students an opportunity to experience “full immersion” shark research.

8-year-old shark lover Sean Lesniak helped create a bill in the Massachusetts state legislature that would impose stiffer penalties on shark finning.

You can vote for candidates in both the junior and adult categories here.

The deadline is July 26.

Day 24: 7/19/2013: See BLACKFISH

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English: Tilikum during a ' performance at .

Tilikum during a ‘ performance at . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I loved chatting with Sharksavers about the upcoming JAWS benefit, but what really defined my day was seeing  “Blackfish” the documentary about orcas in captivity.  When I left the Arclight theatre I remembered something an activist once said about elephants in the circus. He’d been detailing the tedium experienced by these intelligent creatures that are chained for 20-some odd hours a day: “I still can’t figure out how they conceive of time.”

What of  Tilikum, the killer whale featured prominently in “Blackfish”, an emotionally damaged animal who has killed three people, but who still performs for the delighted crowds in SeaWorld Orlando?  While my days unfold with routine, but also stimulation, freedom, possibility, Tilikum with his defeated, collapsed dorsal fin performs humiliating tricks, swims in circles in a swimming pool, and listens to the  delighted shrieks of school children through the glass.  I imagine the only pleasurable moment in this whale’s life is when SeaWorld employees collect his sperm  to produce more calves that will also be wrenched from their mothers if the price is right.

Torn from his mother at age three, does Tilikum ever dream of the brief time he knew limitless seas? Beyond frustration and despair, could these murders he committed be a subconscious wish for the ultimate punishment/freedom– his own death?

I feel haunted. And I should. Susan Sontag once said “Let the images of atrocity haunt us.”  Sontag argued that we shouldn’t turn away from pictures of war or death–all the images that remind us of what men do to other men. Nor should we ignore the evidence of what human beings do to non-human creatures. See “Blackfish.”

Day 21: 7/16/2013: Ocean Trash and a Murder Mystery

by in Activism, Marine Conservation, Memory and tagged , , | 1 Comment

While disentangling the umpteenth Disney princess-style Band-Aid from a tangle of seaweed on Venice Beach today, I remembered a dark, weird story that my mother told me. My mother only seems to know dark, weird stories, but this was a favorite. One 1940s summer day, my mother and her adolescent pals were playing on the beach at the Salem Willows after Sunday school when they discovered a suitcase jammed in the rocks. The suitcase was neatly packed with women’s clothes. One of the girls, Marjory (I think her name was), snagged a slip from the case  and put it on under her skirt.

Later, the police showed up at Marjory’s house. The suitcase belonged to a murdered woman whose body had been found at the Willows. I always imagined Marjory’s horror as the cop recited the grim facts and she felt the dead woman’s silky slip against her legs.

Today I collected a 13-gallon trash bag of miscellaneous crap from the beach, plus a smaller bag of recyclables. The weirdest thing I found was a pair of “falsies.” I hope there is a more lighthearted story behind these abandoned breast enhancers than Marjory’s slip, which by the way, I don’t think she ever relinquished as evidence.

Day 14: 7/9/2013: Sharks in Your Lipstick

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gulpershark

Today I hopped around the internet trying to figure out what cosmetic companies still use shark-based squalene in their cosmetics. Squalene comes from the livers of deep water species like the strangely beautiful green-eyed gulper shark (above) and is used as an emollient in lipsticks and lotions.  Squalene also occurs naturally in olives. But since the shark-based version requires a shorter processing time and produces a higher yield than theplant-based version, many companies prefer shark liver ingredients to the less brutal alternative.

Back in 2008, L’Oreal and Unilever, and Estee Lauder vowed to ditch the shark liver oil and use plant-based substitutes. Forgive me for doubting the word of large corporations that also conduct animal testing, but I wonder if the squalene in Kiehl’s #1 Lip Balm is shark or not. (Kiehl’s was bought by L’Oreal in 2000).

These morally murky corporate takeovers are a good reason to stick to cosmetic and personal care products made by companies like Lush who recently partnered with SharkSavers even selling a limited edition Shark Fin Soap.

Chantecaille will donate  5% of sales of their Save the Sharks Palette of Eye & Cheek shades to the BLOOM Association which fights the  unregulated shark fin trade.

Today’s action: I signed a petition to ban gill nets, arranged a guest lecture featuring legendary shark expert Ralph Collier at Glendale College, and designed an assignment that asks students to track down shark ingredients in cosmetics, and even (???) energy drinks.

Day 11 7/6/2013: Diary of a Slacktivist

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Last night I saw “Jaws” at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood. This movie feels like part of my DNA. The print was old and beautiful with a color true to 1974. Other than a woman behind me who emitted a series of  ”Ahhs!” “Ooohs” and “Aww” for every potential shark sighting or lost child on the beach and who actually asked her friend the meaning of Quint’s famous quip, “Here’s to swimmin’ with bowlegged women,” I had a great time. Part of the benefit of Los Angeles is to be able to watch movies with people who stay to see the name of the key grip and explode in cultish appreciative applause at key moments, and I have zero tolerance for people who can’t keep their mouths shut. ANYWAY,  Since l’ll actually be going on a great white dive in South Africa next year, the shark’s destruction of the cage really scared the hell out of me, no matter how rubbery and awkward the whole thing looked. My friend Dan and I took public transportation to the theatre, which was nice since global warming hurts the ocean…! Seeing Peter Benchley’s cameo as the TV reporter made me excited for the 40th Anniversary JAWS benefit I’ll be hosting in February.

I  want to do as much creative stuff like that this year as possible. I don’t want all my work for sharks to be signing petitions. But sometimes so-called “slacktivism” is the best I can manage with the demands of my glamorous lifestyle.

Anyhow, here’s what I did today:

1. Signed a petition to ban the sale of shark fins in Canada

2. Sent a letter to the Secretary General of the U.N. asking for a worldwide ban on shark finning and the selling of shark products.

3. Volunteered at savingsharks.com offering my services as a writer, teacher, etc. to organize a benefit, coordinate volunteers or whatever else they might need.

Day 8 7/3/2013: Tell the NOAA Not to Overturn Shark Laws!

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Be a Hero for Sharks in five minutes or less:

To read bout the NOAA’s proposed changes to shark protection laws, click here.

Click here to tell the NOAA not to weaken U.S. state protections for sharks!

Here are my comments: Continue reading →

Day 6 7/1/2013: Don’t Overturn Sharkfinning Bans!

by in Activism, Animal Welfare, Environment, Marine Conservation, Shark Conservation | Leave a comment

This makes my blood boil!

Tell the Obama Administration to close loopholes in crucial shark finning legislation passed several U.S. states and territories.

PLEASE read, sign and share this petition:

http://www.sharkdefenders.com/2013/06/action-alert-obama-administration.html

Day 4 6/29/13: Remembering the Victims: Becoming a Pinniped Pal

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A former volunteer at the The Marine Mammal Center in San Pedro (not to be confused with the Marine Mammal Centers in Santa Barbara, Sausalito and Laguna Beach), wrote a brief and astonishing description of her time there. Apparently, a sea lion admitted to the facility was recovering from a severe shark bite.  Volunteers swaddled the animal in honey-soaked wraps to help his skin regenerate.

Continue reading →

Day 3 6/28/13: Reading “Jaws” 40 Years Later

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Much has been written about the negative legacy of “Jaws,” the mindless eating machine myth that fueled so much wanton killing of sharks. But many marine biologists and shark researchers have also cited “Jaws” as the reason they fell in love with sharks in the first place.

I wonder how many of them actually read Peter Benchley’s novel before they saw the movie?

I love the idea of harnessing the power of pop culture to save animals. Today, my friend Dan and I began planning a benefit for early next year to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the publication of “Jaws.”  What better way to raise money for an threatened species than through dramatic readings of the thrilling, cheesy glory that is Benchley’s novel?

I still have my copy.  It’s missing a back cover, and the front is held on by gleaming bits of tape, but I can still see that familiar and beloved conical shark head rising through the green, wrinkled sea. I read this book again and again—slumping in the back of my mother’s car, hiding in the sheltering branches of a maple tree, feeling sophisticated on the school bus.  I loved Benchley’s description of the “great fish”  and felt baffled by his detailed account of Ellen Brody’s pre-coital rituals ( did women really put baby powder their bras?).

Although I didn’t become a marine biologist, I’m grateful to Peter Benchley for initiating me into the two great mysteries of nature–the apex predator and the bored housewife.