Media talking more about sharks

Shark finning seems to be on the mind of more and more people, including the media. With the recent addition of several shark species to the endangered list, various outlets have covered the problem. Most recently, the BBC posted this article.

Nice change from the usual sensational coverage...

Amazon Responds

Amazon.com has removed the Shark Fin products from their virtual shelves and have actually responded to our communication. See response below:

"Dear Mr. Leander,
My name is Peg Anderson of Amazon.com's Executive Customer
Relations. Jeff Bezos received your e-mail and has asked me to
reply on his behalf. Thank you for your message regarding the removal of shark fin soup
from the Amazon.com website.

I have passed your further comments on to the appropriate department
within our company for their consideration. Although I cannot
guarantee when or if such actions will take place, please rest
assured that your feedback is being heard.

We appreciate the time you spent to write to us to communicate your
feelings on this issue.We look forward to seeing you again at Amazon.com.

Regards,

Peg Anderson"

Some companies get it - others still do not...Alibaba.com - when will we hear from you? Maybe Amazon.com will become even more active on the issue.

What would Al Gore say...

Al Gore will be a speaker at the World Business Forum - Jack Ma (CEO of Alibab.com) will also speaking. I wonder if Al knows that Jack's company is NOT a Green one. I wonder if he know that Jack's companies allows for the trading of shark fins? A Inconvenient Truth indeed...

Tobacco Rd and Bikes

Tobacco Road held its annual Biker Fest today in benefit of the Autism Society today. Some very nice bikes, good music, cold beer, and a good cause - weather was great as well. Lots of "tough guys" in leather, bandannas, and boots - but everyone was having a good time, no Hell's Angels. Take a look at some of the bikes here.

China Post

Good to see that the news is making its way in the Chinese media as well. Based on the content and advertisements I do think the site is geared more towards the international community - nevertheless - it is news there as well.

China Post Online

Endangered Sharks

More sharks have been placed been placed on the endangered species list:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/33716.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2247722720070223

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2006/s1855265.htm

DC-3 in Puerto Rico

I was in Puerto Rico the past three days, unfortunately for work. It's tough when you look out the balcony, see, hear, and smell the ocean but cannot go in it. Nevertheless I had a very good time. Met and was able to work with people from our local PR office as well as from San Francisco - good "global" teamwork.

Pictures

On my way home I was able to get a glimpse of a whole nest of DC-3s at the San Juan airport. My grandfather flew these beauties, do they remind you of Caribbean Reef Sharks - I will leave the Curtiss C46 to the bull shark.

Gentle Souls

Just finished a video on sea lions filmed in the Galapagos...enjoy.

Oceanic Nightmares

A good friend of mine at work is an artist, his favorite subjects are zombies, and his style is that of a mix between cartoon and comic. I put him up to the challenge of taking on OceanicDreams - and what came out...is a nightmare. But I think it's great. Take a look at at his gallery here

Maybe there should have been more blood and old ZOMBIE meat in between the jaws ;).

NYC

In NYC at the moment for work. I am scheduled to be back in Miami tomorrow late night, however, there is a snowstorm coming that may ground me. We'll see if I get out, if not, I will scourer the city for Shark Fins and take pictures ;).

Dangerous Diving

A snorkeler was shot in the face after being confused for a nutria (like a beaver). Sharks are not the only ones that make mistakes, just another thing to watch out for as a snorkeler - trigger happy humans.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/10/snorkeler.shot.ap/index.html

Alibaba.com will not stop

Seems like Alibaba.com does not care much about sharks, the ocean, Earth, the next generation...BUT, I do believe they care about something...MONEY MONEY MONEY - after all, it makes the world go round. Remember Cabaret (1972)?

So I just thought it was important to mention them again, with the hopes that the SEARCH ENGINES will pick up this post when Alibab.com is searched for :).

Porter Erisman - are you monitoring blogs?

Mom and sharks

Mom and sharks never mixed. She would prefer to spend hours on the boat looking at the horizon while the Sea Wolf was playing with friends. Not even a toe would enter the water when sharks were around. So the day my dad sent pictures of him dancing and hugging sharks I was more amazed by who had taken the pictures - my mom.

"WHAT?!?!?! - She got in the water with sharks around, got close, AND took pictures?" - Pretty amazing and the pictures came out great - take a look here - far out. So we officially became an OceanicDreams family.

The next time I dove in the Bahamas - my mom was right next to me as were the sharks. When I asked her how or why - she did not really have an answer...she did not need one. Actions spoke for themselves.

Friends...

Just looking through some pictures - thought this would be a nice one to share. Location was actually the same area I had my encounter with the over-sized Galapagos shark, I believe this was on the following day.

The lady sea lion became pretty comfortable around the old sea wolf...

Bulls have balls...

I always hear people telling me that any shark they see is a bull shark, sometimes they may be right, but I have a feeling that most of the time they are wrong. In the Abacos I have only seen reefs, all the locals have seen bulls (in the same place I dive) - kids, grandparents, fishermen. I guess they hide when I dive. Same story in the Galapagos - I am not even sure they exist there.

Now the question is - do I ever want to see a Bull Shark: on one hand I do and on the other I don't. For the do: they are impressive, massive, dominant, and beautiful (see photo above). For the don't: they have balls and too much testosterone - more than me anyway. Here is an interesting article - I just wonder how big the boat and the shark was...

Credit to the picture above goes to Fiona Ayerst - have a look at her gallery, amazing photos - and yes those are real BULL SHARKS.

Hope...

Sometimes it is amazing how dedicated, determined, and SMART kids are - compared to adults. I was sent a link to a website today: www.theseasavers.org, three best friends Kyle, Meghan, and Sean created this website with the help of Meghan's mom. And their main focus: SHARK CONSERVATION! How cool is that...they even have a blog.

Hey Porter Erisman of Alibaba.com - GET A CLUE.

Kids - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK - I think you will inspire a lot of people - maybe even those adults that just don't get it. You guys should consider sending Mr. Erisman a message - tell him what you think about shark finning.

Cougar

My father recently forwarded me a photo of a Cougar taken by Brian. I was fascinated by the details, texture of the fur, but above all, the expression of the feline - what a beautiful animal. I think like sharks, they know they are kings of their domain.

Be sure to read Brian's blog

Excellent shot Brian...