Not just Shark
Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and
chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based
field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter
different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into
a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark
diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark
pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and
conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a
constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark
links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and
stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to
check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on
an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
If you're looking
for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links
represent a new area of elasmodiver.com that contains pictures of
other marine organisms and of marine habitats. This expansion of
Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages
on all types of marine mammals, bony fishes and marine invertebrates
as well as coastal habitats, reefscapes and other imagess relating
to the ocean. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.
Sea Shepherd is best known for its
frontline work protecting marine mammals but its broader mandate is to
protect all ocean creatures. Styled on the more widely publicized
organization Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd continued to grow teeth where
Greenpeace lost them through inactivity. Sea Shepherd's founder Captain Paul
Watson has a reputation for pursuing illegal whalers and longliners,
harassing seal cullers, organizing rallies, and generally irritating
governments that would rather turn a blind eye, and infuriating fishing
consortiums who would rather go about their illegal and often cruel
practices unnoticed.
Sea Shepherd's flag ship The Farley Mowat has
harassed shark fishing boats in Costa Rican waters and sent sailors
sprawling over their decks after being hit by The Marley Mowat's water
cannons.
Captain Watson also manages to fit a
lecture circuit into his busy schedule, during which he educates anyone
willing to listen on the plight of whales, dolphins, seals, and sharks.
Sea Shepherd's second vessel is on
permanent patrol in the Galapagos area where Park Rangers are virtually helpless against the Ecuadorian fishing boats that brazenly
ignore the protection afforded to the park by its world heritage site status. Even with Sea Shepherd's vigilant
patrols the rangers are so out numbered that fishermen have an almost unimpeded run of the islands and the
Galapagos Sharks that once schooled in vast numbers around Darwin Island have all but
vanished.
This kind of hard line activism is
not for everyone. The Sea Shepherd crew have been deported, locked up,
threatened, and roughed up on many occasions. Violent confrontations at sea
may not fit with your particular code of behavior or ethics but what makes
you more uncomfortable: sponsoring Sea Shepherd's activities that achieve
direct results in the protection of endangered creatures, or
lobbying deaf government officials while the wholesale slaughter of our
oceans sharks and whales continues unchallenged?
If Sea Shepherd seems like a
worthwhile organization with which to take a stand, you can help them in a
variety of ways. Joining Sea Shepherd with a modest contribution, helps with
the provisioning, fueling, and maintenance of their ships. As a member you
may also have the chance to sign on as a volunteer for a tour of duty on one
of their campaigns. On their website they list what skills they are looking
for in new crew members but they also take unskilled deckhands that are
willing to work hard.
Visit Sea Shepherd at the link below
for more information.
