Dreamboat Annie
A 19th-century British wreck located in the Baltic last year could become a new attraction for recreational divers . The 70m cargo steamer Annie is to receive ‘ ancient relic ’ status in Sweden . Built in Sunderland in 1877 , the steamer was first owned by Fredrick Gordon & Co . She left Sweden ’ s north-eastern Baltic city of Skellefteå in 1891 with a cargo of timber , bound for Sutton Bridge . Last year , the Norwegian Maritime Administration discovered the wreck outside Holmsund at 35m . Local scuba diver Mikael Rönnkvist and wreck researcher Simon Kenttä dived the wreck and subsequently established its identity . The wreck has been described by marine archaeologists as relatively accessible for diving and “ basically untouched ”. Sweden ’ s Vrak shipwreck museum is undertaking a comprehensive survey of the shipwreck . Rönnkvist and Kenttä found the name ‘ Annie ’ both on the ship ’ s clock and the steering wheel , which was marked ‘ 1877 ’.
An end to finger wagging ? Shark Trust MD Paul Cox reports from Sharks International 2022 with some new ideas about how to approach conservation
As I write this , I ’ m right in the middle of Sharks International 2022 , a four-yearly conference on all things shark . This year , it ’ s hosted by … the Shark Trust . So , it ’ s been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks getting to this point . But , now we ’ re here , I ’ m immersed in 14 online hours a day of shark science . Enough to keep this column going until I retire ! Once this online week is over , we ’ re off to Valencia for the final three days of the event . An appropriate location , with the Mediterranean being a hotspot of shark diversity and threats .
The online conference is full of amazing new discoveries – a new species or two , insights into the movement and behaviour of different species , new tools and tricks to help unravel the world of sharks . And , of course , plenty of data that makes little sense to us mere mortals .
But , there was one session that really grabbed my interest yesterday afternoon . “ Human Dimensions in Shark Conservation ”. This relatively new field focusses on engaging different scientific disciplines to address the undoubted challenge faced by sharks . Rather than using research to describe the problems in ever-more detail , the focus is on finding solutions . And approaching this through the lens of human behaviour . So , if overfishing is the big issue facing sharks ( and we know it is ) then it makes sense to use the tools of social science to better understand what motivates fishers and how we can work with them to make positive changes . By opening up a conversation and understanding the challenges , the scientists can then develop and test remedies .
There were some great case studies from Indonesia , Brazil , Singapore and even UK of where novel approaches are yielding results . Paying fishermen to release threatened species . Education programmes on sustainable fishing , budgeting and business planning . And research into how much tourists – in many cases divers – might be willing to pay towards marine park management .
There are plenty of other great examples of this human-centric approach emerging across the conservation sector and there will be many more . It feels to me like these projects could be the tip of an iceberg . How much more can be done if , rather than wagging our finger at those people or those ‘ behaviours ’ that cause environmental problems , we get really into what makes people tick and try to look at the problem from both sides .
Anyway , that was yesterday . Today is another day and we ’ ve got another week to go . I suspect I might come back to this next month . www . sharktrust . org could be made if countries prohibit the discarding of fish . Greenland sharks are known to be the longest-living vertebrate in the world , reaching ages of between 270 and 500 years . “ It was a long time coming , but not a long time in the life of a Greenland shark ,” Sonja Fordham , president of Washington-based Shark Advocates International , who attended the recent NAFO meeting in Portugal .
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