ViceZilla’s Views

Wolfgang Leander, Underwater photographer of sharks is asking for our help with the recent catastrophic decision by the President Correa, President of Ecuador, to legalize the selling of shark fins.

He is asking us to sign the following addendum to persuade President Correa to re-instate Decree 2130 which bans illegal shark fishing and shark finning in the territorial waters of Ecuador.

Wolfgang has long been a fellow advocate for the protection of sharks against senseless finning in the world’s waters. He knows sharks intimately; if I didn’t know him any better I could swear he could be a shark. Wolfgang is an underwater photographer of sharks, a damn good one too. What makes his art form all the more spectacular is he is a freediver. Yes, he literally swims with the sharks, without SCUBA gear and captures some fantastic images of these magnificent creatures of the ocean.

Check out his website, oceanicdreams.com, you”ll be glad you did!
Join Wolfgang in his quest to have the sharks re-protected in the waters of Ecuador here.

Tags: Stop the Finning! by vicezilla
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“Finning”, a subject that some of you may have already figured out is a crime that I feel very strongly about. For those of you that don’t already know, the “finning” industry targets sharks for their fins, a coveted soup ingredient that fetches high prices in China and other Asian countries.

The fins are cut off the shark, often while it is still alive, then discarded back into the sea. If it is still alive when discarded, it is doomed to die of starvation. This is a barbaric practice, and must be stopped.

My views and feelings towards “finning” are personal. I have been a diver all my life, and am a licensed SCUBA instructor. Throughout my diving experiences and career, I have had many encounters with various sharks in the oceans of this world. I have led “Shark Encounter” dives for divers, mostly tourists, that have wanted to get an up close and personal experience with these truly magnificent creatures of the ocean, while living in Central America.

I have also seen firsthand the carnage left behind by a “finning” expedition. Let me just say, it wasn’t pretty.

A Canadian filmmaker, Rob Stewart, has produced a documentary aimed at trying to raise awareness that sharks are being wiped out. His film is called “Sharkwater”. Reuters just did a story about his film. You can read it Here

I ask all of you, that if you only see one documentary this year, please consider “Sharkwater”.

Watch movie trailer

Links to some Shark Conservation sites
Sharks.org
Sharktrust
Shark Alliance
Bite-Back

Finned Shark. Is this Humane?

Deck of a Finning Boat

Tags: Stop the Finning! by vicezilla
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Dear List members and Friends. As you all know, less than 48 hours ago, Ila sent out the Letter to Discovery Channel. Here is an update of the events that followed. Within 12 hours, I had the first response. I received an email from Katherine Nelson at Discovery. She thanked us for the letter and told me that Discovery would be very happy to discuss the issue and she asked me for my personal phone number.

I immediately wrote her back and thanked her for the fast response. A few hours later I received another email, this time from Jeff Hasler, Senior Vice President of Development and Production. He thanked me for my response to Katharine’s letter and told me that he would like to call me later.

This afternoon at about 3.30pm my time, Jeff Hasler phoned me and we talked for around 45 minutes. He was very keen to discuss the issues we had raised in the letter and also agreed on quite a few of the points. We talked about the problems that sharks face as far as finning, habitat destruction…etc….. and we also talked about the media image in general. I told Jeff that we all understand that Discovery needs the ratings and for this you need the drama and the action, and that we do not have any problems with Discovery showing a few interviews with shark attack survivors, as long as these are balanced out with scientific research and conservation issues. Action does not always have to be in the form of human victims.

We all know that sharks are predators and their hunting techniques on their own are also awesome to watch. We also discussed shark finning and shark research issues in detail. Jeff is a guy with a hell of a personality and we both share the same views and we are both very confident that together we can come up with some great projects for future Shark Weeks.

Jeff promised me that Discovery Channel is there to listen to our views and he wants to take this to the next level. We will be having further discussions to find out what topics we can explore together and than we will also set up a meeting between a small select group from Shark-L and Discovery Channel. During our talk Jeff told me that I have already given him two great ideas to work on…. and…… ooops better not let the proverbial cat out of the bag yet. Jeff and Discovery Channel made my day and I can promise that together, we are going to make a better future for the Sharks.

Thank you to everyone that was involved in this. please feel free to spread and publish this email.

Tags: Stop the Finning! by vicezilla
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That, according to Patric Douglas, CEO of Sharkdiver.com is the investment Yahoo made in online shark fin broker Alibaba.com, when it bought a 40% stake in Jack Ma’s company in 2005.

Watch the video in which Patric addresses the Yahoo and Alibaba.com relationship and how it’s decimating the world’s shark populations.

I couldn’t agree more with Patric’s assessment. Blood Diamonds indeed!

Maybe its time we remind Yahoo of it’s self proclaimed “value to community”:
“We share an infectious sense of mission to make an impact on society and empower consumers in ways never before possible. We are committed to serving both the Internet community and our own communities.

Feel free to contact them and let them know the impact they are making on society by their relationship with Alibaba.com of the marketing of shark fins over the borderless internet is a negative one.

Did you sign the Stop Distribution of Shark Fins to Alibaba.com yet? If not, click here.

Tags: Stop the Finning! by vicezilla
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Ever since the story broke about search engine giant Yahoo.com having a 1 billion dollar stake in the success of online broker Alibaba.com, there has been a lot of publicity about Jack Ma and his company, mostly negative. And that just goes to show that even though Alibaba.com may well be a Goliath, there are a world of “Davids” out there willing to take them on.

The news surrounding Alibaba.com and their role in selling shark fins over the internet is getting a lot of media attention. Yes, the word is getting out to the masses, and from what I am hearing the response is a growing allegiance of concerned people all over the world to have Alibaba.com wake up and open their eyes to the roll they are playing in the decimation of shark populations the world over.

Two articles written by Bruce Einhorn for Business Week are the latest articles in the firestorm against Alibaba.com questioning their business ethics with respect to shark finning. Both articles can be read here and here.

What makes Bruce’s articles all the more important is that he writes for BusinessWeek.com, a publication with a large readership that focuses on the daily happenings of businesses around the world. The majority of the readers who read Business Week are business people and investors looking for information on prospective investment deals. And as luck would have it, Alibaba.com is soon to go public and is getting ready for an IPO. Would you invest your hard earned money in a company that partakes in an immoral and brutal environmental practice?

So far Alibaba.com has refused to stop brokering the shark fin trade, unlike a few other world businesses like Walt Disney and Amazon.com who have refused to sell shark fin soup in their operations in China.

How many more articles will there need to be written about Alibaba.com pointing out their irresponsible and immoral trade practices before they get it?

Want your voice to be heard? You can start by signing this petition to have Alibaba.com Stop Distribution of Shark Fins. Sign the petition here.

Tags: Stop the Finning! by vicezilla
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