A film presented by a young couple last evening at the lecture theater, NVIT , Merritt Campus ,admission a 4 dollar donation.
Marie Josee (MJ) Arsenault did a preamble to a film that had excellent photography and direction. Beautiful coral reefs and ocean flora and fauna gave a pleasant context to present a pressing issue to the Eco-Odyssey Foundation.
The view of the film maker, a Rob Stewart, was that sharks a great and no threat to people.
The film is far from propaganda as there are diverging views presented however you still get the sence of public relations and a bias. The bias is based in the concern for the de-fining of sharks and may be legitimate. The big plus is the awareness of the environment and the volume of the world population in people who demand protein and social capital from the ecosystem and the limits on hunter gather systems ability to provide.
The film has some gore as the removal of fins and landing of hooked sharks is presented.
Paul Watson and his international effort to interfere with non complies in international waters was a surprise in the film. His confrontational style is uncomfortable, maybe by design.
Paul Watson a Canadian was one of Time Magazines heroes of of the environment of the 20th century. He also championed Timber wolf’s in British Columbia.
The presenters have a web site: www.eco-odyssey.com
Editors Note:
Our view is that predators like sharks are part of the eco-system and keep us safe from disease by consuming the weak and sick in the ocean similar to all top predators. The film presents a view and statistics that humans are safe from them and there are only 5 deaths a year and most from bleeding. we think that that is not accurate and that another dynamic exists in open ocean especially when debris and rough water is prevalent. Sharks in large numbers eat anything, in that context. Historically in at least one instance the crew of the USS Indianapolis torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on its return from delivering the Atomic bomb to the Enola Gay experienced huge losses to sharks over a time in the water.
Here is an eyewitness account by a survivor from the Indianapolis,Woody James:
The day wore on and the sharks were around, hundreds of them. You’d hear guys scream, especially late in the afternoon. Seemed like the sharks were the worst late in the afternoon than they were during the day. Then they fed at night too. Everything would be quiet and then you’d hear somebody scream and you knew a shark had got him.
USS Indianapolis org website.
This may be an abnormal and may add to the hysteria over sharks. However a lot of the fatalities and shark attacks come from places that also rely on tourism and there may be a problem for reporting.It does seem that time in the water is a factor for feeding.The website Missing at Sea reports 64 people with unknown status missing from cruIse ships now and dating from 1995 to 2009.
There are 440 species of sharks and the Tiger Shark is said to eat anything.
Shark killings or harvesting estimates are 100 million a year. There are many myths and misconceptions about sharks. However they like other predators are keen to blood scent and can be attracted to chumming and made more aggressive.
In the macro sence they seem as less of a threat then lightning however people should educate themselves in how to avoid being in trouble around them and what the specific risks are. We can safely assume that the low amount of documented deaths is not the whole story.
The film Sharkwater was released in 2007; eco-odyssey has Merritt mailing address at this time. There are at least 4 Shark sanctuaries in the world at this time including The Bahamas.
Want to do something for sharks.
Eco-odyssey
PO Box 2019
Merritt,BC Canada
V1K-1B8
Today in history, March 29th,1882
The Knights of Columbus are established.
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Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
