We are complicated ! Divers have an acute understanding of sharks , says Paul Cox , but what does it take to turn us into conservationists ?
River runs red
Watson held in Greenland
We are complicated ! Divers have an acute understanding of sharks , says Paul Cox , but what does it take to turn us into conservationists ?
River runs red
An investigation has been launched into the appearance of dead fish , blood and scales pouring into a river in Fort William , Scotland . Locals spotted the material coming from a waste pipe at the Lochyside flood defences into the River Lochy , and an investigation has been opened by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency .
Seafood provider Mowi Scotland , which operates a fish processing plant in the nearby Blar Mhor industrial estate , says it has carried out its own investigation and concluded the contaminants did not come from its facility .
An article caught my eye this week . A paper , published in Marine Policy , described research into the links between shark tourism – specifically diving – and conservation . Intrigued , I downloaded a copy of the paper to find out more . I have to confess , despite my scientific training , I find these documents incredibly hard work . But , undeterred , I dived in and waded through the long words ( and long sentences ).
The researchers gathered data from 294 divers at one of three locations in South Africa and Mozambique . They asked a series of questions , ran the stats , doubtless had a good think and came to their conclusions .
With a healthy dollop of paraphrasing , the conclusions were that divers , by and large , like sharks . They appreciate and understand sharks . The more you dive , and the more specialised you become , those feelings grow . Divers are also , they say , sympathetic to shark conservation concerns – because they like sharks . This is good news for me .
But then it gets really interesting . And slightly confusing . Because liking sharks and understanding sharks isn ’ t , it seems , enough on its own . There ’ s a middle-man . And that ’ s our view of how sharks are perceived in the world . Feeling that sharks are misrepresented in the media influences whether your positive perceptions of sharks leads you to want to protect them . It ’ s like some kind of protective instinct that kicks in when someone bad-mouths your friend . It ’ s sticking up for the underdog . So while those with no connection to sharks tend to run with the negative perceptions when they read Shark Shocker headlines , those with a connection to sharks actually respond by being more conservation minded . So those headlines are bad . But good .
So , what does all this mean ? It means that we ’ re complicated . It means that , as divers , we have a connection with sharks and marine life that others may not be lucky enough to enjoy . But it also seems to suggest that we need a bit of needle to wind us up enough to take action . Therefore , if all of this holds true , and if my job to is to recruit conservation support , I ’ ll finish with another thing that came to my attention this week : ITV have announced a new reality TV show called Shark : Celebrity Infested Waters . Where do I even start ?!
If you want to have a read yourself , search for ‘ Sharks , tourism and conservation : a test of causative and mediating effects on scuba divers attitude ’. www . sharktrust . org
Watson held in Greenland
A court in Greenland has ruled that the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will be detained pending a decision on his extradition to Japan , where he is wanted over a clash with whalers . The 73-year-old had been arrested in Nuuk , the capital of Greenland , a Danish autonomous territory . “ I still think he should be released ,” Watson ’ s lawyer , Julie Stage , told reporters . “ At some point , you ’ ll reach the problem of proportionality ,” she said , referring to how long the court can hold Watson in detention considering the crime of which he is accused .
PHOTO : SIMON ROGERSON
Tiger shark in the Bahamas
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