The Dorsal Fin

The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) has recently released a series of PSAs in collaboration with the Pew Environment Group with the goal of promoting the protection of sharks within all of The Bahamas’ Exclusive Economic Zone, which an encompasses approximately 630,000 square kilometers of ocean.

According to the PSA above, shark-related tourism brings in 78 million dollars (presumably BSD) to the Bahamian economy. The PSA also stresses the importance of sharks within the marine ecosystem.

A second similarly-themed PSA, also featuring Bahamian children, focuses on the shark trade and global statistics regarding shark populations.

Bing Videos posted the above video, which features a school of bait fish near the shore playing a game of dodge-shark. An interesting visual effect is created by the smaller fish keeping a safe distance from the sharks.

Just a quick reminder that Disney’s “Oceans” hits the home video market tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray! “Oceans” features some fantastic underwater footage of a wide variety of marine life, including various shark species. Additionally, Disneynature has announced that they will donate $0.50 to The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt a Coral Reef program for each copy of “Oceans” purchased through October 25, 2010.

Stay tuned for full review of the movie and bonus features in the next few weeks.

In conjunction with the upcoming North American release of Disney’s “Oceans” (on DVD and Blu-ray October 19), Disneynature hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle that I was fortunate enough to be a part of.

Dr. Earle, who worked as a consultant on “Oceans,” has logged over 7,000 hours of underwater time and has authored over 125 publications on marine science and technology. She was the first recipient of Time magazine’s “hero for the planet” in 1998, and won the TED prize in 2009.

I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Earle for her perspective on the declining number of shark populations in the world’s oceans.

There is no doubt that sharks, especially large species, are greatly depleted. The best numbers come from a 2003 study that reviewed 50 years of global data and concluded that about 90 per cent are gone. Those of us who have been diving in places such as the Galapagos, Cocos, Gulf of Mexico, Seychelles, Hawaii, the Bahamas, Bermuda and elsewhere since the 1960s where sharks were once very abundant can attest to the greatly diminished numbers. Sharks reproduce slowly and live a long time, making them especially vulnerable to overfishing.
-Dr. Sylvia Earle

Additionally, Dr. Earle was asked for her opinion on the greatest threat to the world’s oceans today.

Obvious threats include what we are putting into the sea (millions of tons of pollutants) and what we are taking out (millions of tons of ocean wildlife), as well as profound disturbance to natural shoreline systems — mangroves, marshes, sea grass meadows, kelp forests, coral reefs and even healthy, natural sandy beaches. But far and away the biggest problem is ignorance, something that OCEANS helps to solve. When people understand how important the ocean is to their lives, and how much damage we are causing, they can respond with action. If people don’t know, they can’t care . . .-Dr. Sylvia Earle

In addition to the issues above, Dr. Earle discussed other topics such as memories of her first dive, advice for children who want to explore ocean-based careers, and what species she has yet to personally encounter but would like to dive with (she mentioned giant squid and narwhals in her response).

Many thanks to Dr. Earle for sharing her insight!

WPTV 5 is reporting that Guy Harvey, marine artist and biologist, is heading up an expedition to the Bahamas with a mission of “recording the beauty of sharks.” In addition to Harvey, Jim Abernathy, and artist Wyland, will also be involved in the effort. The group hopes to use shark imagery to encourage people to promote shark conservation.

In other Guy Harvey related news, the University of Florida is reporting that the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation along with Hell’s Bay Boatworks Inc. are donating a research boat and trailer (valued at $50,000) to the university’s shark research program. The boat will be adorned with shark-themed artwork by Harvey.