PHOTO : MUSEUM KAAP SKIL
Vintage dress
This 350-year old dress – now on display in the Netherlands – was recovered on the debris site of a Dutch merchant vessel believed to have sunk in 1650 .
Archaeologists believe its opulent design and materials indicate it was probably owned by an English noblewoman , or the Dutch merchant society . Made of silk interwoven with silver , it is thought to have been lightly coloured prior to the effects of spending 350 years preserved in mud . It was recovered from the Wadden Sea , off the coast of Texel in the Netherlands . The dress survived because it was buried by sediment and preserved in an oxygen-free environment until the retreating sands revealed the chest that held it .
Alec Ewing , curator of Museum Kaap Skil in Texel , where the dress is now on display , said : “ Only a few people in north-western Europe would be rich enough to own a garment like this . In England , we ’ d look at the high nobility ; people who frequent court or are very close to the highest circles of society .”
Reasons to be cheerful
Energised by the Go Diving show , Shark Trust MD Paul Cox considers some recent advances in marine conservation
I
’ m writing this having just unpacked the van and settled back at the desk after a frenetic weekend at the 2023 Go Diving Show in Kenilworth . As you ’ ll know if you were there , the show has grown a bit since and there was definitely a buzz about the event this year .
I had many , many great conversations with divers of all ages and levels and was delighted to see that the interest and passion for sharks and , more generally , marine conservation is alive and well .
I ’ ve been going to dive shows with the Shark Trust for many years , and a lot has changed . Not just for us at the Shark Trust but also for shark and marine conservation more broadly . In recent years we ’ ve seen great progress on many fronts . The 30x30 movement is generating more and more commitments to marine protected areas ; climate change is finally being taken more seriously ; even fisheries management is showing signs of improvement .
On the morning of the second day of this year ’ s show , the breakfast news was celebrating the long-awaited agreement of a high seas treaty [ see this section ]. Another step in the right direction .
While change can seem frustratingly slow , even glacial at times , it is happening and it ’ s vital that we keep updating the message , acknowledging the progress that ’ s been made and being laser focused on the best way forward . When it comes to sharks , it ’ s important to move on from talking only about finning and berating the Chinese
for eating soup . We need to shine the light clearly on the big issue . Poorly managed and excessive fishing that feeds the growing meat market as well as providing fins .
There remains a mountain to climb before we ’ re done and dusted . High seas shark fisheries in particular are taking a terrible toll on some of our best loved sharks , the images of which help to sell all those diving holidays . Action is urgently needed to reign in the excesses of the international fishery . And that ’ s where we ’ re now focussing our efforts . So , it was great to get so much support for our new campaign from visitors , and businesses , around the event this year .
If you missed the opportunity , check out bigsharkpledge . org for more details .
www . sharktrust . org
Hammarstedt , of Sea Shephard Global ’ s newest vessel , Allankay . “ It even appeared as if they deliberately steered toward the spouting megapod , knowing that where there are whales , there must be krill .”
Krill are being extracted out of the Southern Ocean primarily to produce krill meal , a feed additive in the aquaculture industry , but also , to churn out krill oil to mass produce Omega-3 dietary supplements . As a feed additive , the krill meal turns the otherwise grey flesh of captive salmon pink or red , mimicking their wild cousins .
PHOTO : SIMON ROGERSON
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