Sea Shepherd's Defense of Seals

Sea Shepherd's Defense of Seals

written by Heather of thebluewindmill

Wanna Go for a Swim

original gouache painting

by thebluewindmill

Sea Shepherd was established in 1977 as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and is an “non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization”. Their mission is to end the destruction of “and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.”

Their mission is to use “direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas.”

The crew of Sea Shepherd has risked persecution, jail time, and has time and again put their own lives on the line for the preservation of sea mammals.

Part of Sea Shepherd’s fight for Marine Mammals is the fight for the harp seal and specifically the fight against the Canadian government to save the seals.

The Sea Shepherd website spotlights Canadian Seal Slaughter... These are the cold hard facts:

Seal hunting is barbaric and cruel and in 42% of cases seal pups die a slow, tortuous death.

The survival of the species is threatened.

The survival of cod is threatened.

Seals are killed in the name of vain, non-essential luxury items making this act completely immoral and unnecessary.

It is unethical--and horrifying!--to kill newborn seal pups as approximately 95% are pups less than 4 weeks old.

In 2005, Sea Shepherd put the Canadian government on the defensive elevating the plight of the harp seal to “international public and media attention”. Sea Shepherd’s flagship, Farley Mowat, sailed to the Eastern Canadian Ice Floes. Eleven of the crew members were arrested for filming “seal killers” without government permission. Despite the Canadian government’s attempts at prevention, Sea Shepherd broke their way through the ice floes and was able “to block and annoy the sealers”.

Acting as the world’s conscience, Sea Shepherd debunked the lies of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, such as statement that “seals are killed humanely”, which was proven otherwise by Sea Shepherd’s documentation.

The Canadian government states they do not “subsidize the ‘hunt’”. Sea Shepherd has witnessed firsthand the Canadian Coast Guard leading sealing ships through the ice floes toward the seal nurseries.

You can visit “The Parade of Fools” for more information: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-050401-2.html.

Another plan to help the seals is called the Seal of Approval Campaign.

It has two parts:

1. Sea Shepherd asks “individuals around the world to refrain from buying Canadian seafood from restaurants or grocery stores until the slaughter of harp seals is ended.“

2. Sea Shepherd recruits restaurants, hotels, and food distributors to agree to not sell or serve Canadian seafood until the slaughter of harp seals is ended.”

Sea Shepherd plans to keep pressuring the government and bringing this issue to worldwide attention until the killing stops.

For more information on Sea Shepherd's boycott proposals, click the following link: http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/boycott.html

Sea Shepherd wants you to know that you can make a difference. We all can !

Here's what they suggest:

 Boycott Canadian Seafood

 Write to Politicians

 Write to Companies

 Contact Media

 Involve Friends & Family

 Donate to Sea Shepherd

For more information click the following link: http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/what-you-can-do.html

Information was obtained from the Sea Shepherd website at http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/.

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SEA SHEPHERD IS

TEAM EFA'S NOVEMBER COTM

"Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations."

SHARKS: the truth behind their Fierce reputations

Sharks:

The Truth Behind Their Fierce Reputation

By Julia of JFillustrations

A Dogfish shark, coast of Ireland.

Sadly, this shark species is commonly used in school dissections.

Grab the top of your ear, and you’ll understand why sharks are different than many of the fish you find in the ocean. Sharks are cartilaginous fish, which means that, instead of bony skeletons like other fish, their internal skeletal bodies are made up of the same type of the soft and flexible cartilage as on our human ears. Sharks come in all shapes and sizes, the largest being the Whale Shark, a tranquil filter feeder and the largest fish in the sea. Other cartilaginous fish include rays, skates, and chimaeras.

One of my own pictures of the Red Sea, Egypt.

A marine habitat that is at risk if sharks go extinct.

Lots of bony fish here !

The descriptions “sharp teeth”, “merciless avengers” and “dangerous predators” would probably most often come to one’s mind when thinking of sharks. Through films like JAWS and most recently, Open Water, sharks have gained quite a negative reputation, but the fact remains that sharks have more to fear of humans than we, humans, have to fear from them. Chances are you are likely to never encounter one of the over 450 species of sharks in the ocean. World-wide only about 50 to 100 shark attacks occur every year. Only about 10% of these are fatal. When you compare those numbers to lives lost by bee stings or even car crashes every year, it is a testament of their true nature and amazing sensory capabilities. Most species of sharks will only attack as a result of provocation or by accident while hunting in murky coastal waters. White, Tiger, and Bull sharks are top 3 sharks usually associated with uncommon severe incidents. The bodies of sharks are equipped with specialized senses, ampullae of Lorenzini, which allow them to pick up electrical signals from other animals. They also have a lateral-line system that allows them to detect water movements and have sharp eye vision and excellent smell – much more developed than in humans.

Blue spotted stingray, off the east coast of FL.

Sharks are killed every year for the meat, fins, liver oil, and skin. They are also killed for their teeth and jaws, which end up in souvenir shops as necklaces and mementos for tourists to buy. Sharks have very slow reproductive capabilities, and because of this, these magnificent animals are being killed faster than they are able to reproduce. Shark finning, a major culprit in the decrease of shark species, is a large and extremely cruel industry, where the fins of a shark are sliced off and the bodies thrown back into the sea while still alive. The end product is a bowl of shark fin soup, which is a delicacy in some countries. It is estimated that 100 to 200 million sharks are killed every year due to finning, which today continues without any monitoring or management on waters world-wide. All sharks are also threatened by fisheries pressures (long-lines, by-catches – indiscriminate deaths while trying to fish other species), habitat destruction, pollution, and believe it or not, prosecution from sports anglers and targeting by recreational fisheries. These factors have led to the collapse of many shark (and ray) species. More specifically, 90% of all shark populations have become extinct, which means they are gone forever.

Nurse Shark, Florida waters.

These guys are pretty tranquil... but they will bite if harassed.

Scientists warn that within the next few decades, sharks may disappear for good. As top predators and part of the food chain, marine ecosystems depend on sharks to keep the delicate ecological balance that humans also depend on. If sharks disappear, not only will the oceans be in grave trouble but humans will suffer the consequences as well. The same can be said for all species that are in danger of disappearing or that have disappeared due to human-caused impacts.

A hammerhead, off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, FL

What can you do to help shark species ?

-Start by further educating yourself on sharks and other ocean issues. Documentaries, such as Sharkwater (www.sharkwater.com), are a great place to start.

-Share your knowledge with friends, family, and co-workers.

-Pledge to never purchase souvenirs that use shark body parts or other marine life, such as shells, sea horses, sea stars, etc. as these creatures most likely experienced the same fate as the sharks.

-You can also write to government officials and decision makers to let them now that you care about these issues and ask them what they are doing to protect sharks, other marine species, and the oceans as a whole.

-Join/Support groups that are fighting for the causes that you care for.

An angel shark, coast of Lanzarote, Spain.

One such group that is working to conserve the oceans and marine animals in need is the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). The SSCS has a campaign that is dedicated to help shark, which can be viewed here: http://www.seashepherd.org/sharks

Apart from information, SSCS features videos with first hand accounts of the effects of human activity on sharks. Actions that SSCS takes to help sharks include, but are not limited to, confiscation of illegally obtained shark fins, which have led to arrests, pulling in longlines, freeing entangled animals, partnering with Special K-9 units provided by the Ecuadorian environmental police to sniff out shark fins, forming a permanent defence in the Galapagos against poachers, and bountiful public materials and education, including the Shark Angels Alliance.

Throughout November, you can support the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society through Team EFA by supporting sellers, which donate a portion of their sales to SSCS. Just search for items tagged “team efa cotm”.

-Lastly, continue to lend your own voice to those without a human voice – if you don’t, who will ?

Sources

Ocean: The World’s Last Wilderness Revealed by DK

Endangered Animals by W. Dolder & U. Dolder-Pippke

IUCN Shark Specialist Group:

"Shark Specialist Group Finning Statement."

Sea Shepherd – www.seashepherd.org

Shark Trust – www.sharktrust.org

Save Our Sharks - http://www.saveoursharks.com

The Australian Marine Conservation Society -

http://www.amcs.org.au/

NOVEMBER COTM: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

November's

Charity of the Month

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

By Julia of JFillustrations

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), Team EFA’s Charity of the Month for November, was established in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson with a goal to prevent the destruction of marine habitats and slaughter of marine species in order to support true conservation of whole ecosystems. SSCS has had many successful campaigns that have helped numerous species and even have their own TV show, “Whale Wars” on Animal Planet. Their tactics involve direct-action within international law and focus on means to prevent illegal activities that threaten our oceans and fellow species.

SSCS has been avidly fighting to protect whales from illegal whalers that violate the IWC’s moratorium on all commercial whaling. SSCS states that they are “guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature” and are “the only organization whose mission is to enforce these international conservation regulations on the high seas”. They also campaign against the slaughter of dolphins in Japan and the Faeroe Islands and against the decimation of millions of sharks each year due to "longlines" by "sport" fishermen, or by a barbaric practice known as shark finning”.

Humpback Whales by Wolfram Bruck

The society also works with the National Marine Park service in the Galapagos to protect the fragile ecosystem from illegal fishing, shark finning, and educate the local youth against such actions. SSCS also actively campaigns against Canada’s seal slaughter and have saved thousands of seals throughout the years. Other campaigns include “Operation Gulf Rescue”, focused on the detrimental effects of the very recent oil spill, and “Operation Blue Rage”, which is focused on saving the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna, a critically endangered fish on the brinks of disappearing forever.

As you can see this month’s charity is quite active and inspirational in all they do to protect our planet’s marine life and habitats. Stay tuned for more features on Sea Shepherd Conservation Society throughout November. For more information on this organization, visit www.seashepherd.org

Remember to look out for those “team efa cotm” tagged items on Etsy as donations from these items will benefit SSCS throughout the month !