Shark Finning: Why we shouldn't lie.

My view on a screenshot from a misguided shark conversation film featured below.

By Ryan Pearson

Shark conservation is serious business. People are putting their lives on the line in defense of sharks, just like the Sea Shepherd crew do every year for the whales in the southern ocean. In fact, Sea Shepherd are also a huge driving force behind the shark conservation movement. Gordon Ramsay recently put his own life on the line in an effort to raise awareness for the plight of sharks and target the shark-finning industry. The thing is, there are also a lot of misguided efforts, and some activists are resorting to outright lying in order to get their point across. While in the short term, the public may have the desired response, the long term result is only going to drive popular opinion further and further from where it needs to be as more and more falsehoods are exposed.

Productivity in an Estuarine Environment

Seagrass beds in Estuaries support enormous biodiversity including this Blacklip Conger Eel (Conger cinereus). Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson
Where does all of the productivity come from in an Estuary? You may ask yourself, 'why the hell do I care?'. You may also ask 'Is there any productivity? Estuaries are just dirty, stinky, and full of mosquito's, mangroves, and salt marsh'. Surely there couldn't be anything of importance going on there. You may even go as far as asking yourself 'What the hell is this productivity he speaks of and what in the belly of an amphipod is an estuarine environment?'. Well, prepare to be enlightened...