Ocean Hippy

A few days ago there was an incident off the coast of western Austraila where a 24 year-old surfer was killed by a great white shark, resulting from a currently unexplained increase in numbers of the apex predator which reside in the surrounding waters during this time of year.

This very unfortunate and sad incident has led to a partly understandable but unruly and sad ‘neanderthalic’ response by local residents, a hunt and kill of this particular shark named Brutus.

Although I can, to a degree, see why this response may be deemed acceptable for future safety of beach-goers and water sports enthusiasts I can’t help jump to the defence of this truly wonderful creature. At the end of the day this species has been around a hell of a lot longer than us humans and quite frankly has more of a right to venture freely in the ocean than us. It is a crying shame that the vast majority of people believe that sharks are purposefully hunting humans and some how harbour a blood thirsty vendetta against us, when this couldn’t be anymore further from the truth, though I could hardly blame them if it were true!

The west coast of Australia has a notorious reputation for common shark attacks, amounting to an average of 1 incident a year. Therefore it should go without saying that any activity in which an attack is possible should be carried out at the own risk of the individual and such misplaced retaliation should not be warranted, especially when the animal in question is under a protected status.

It is clear that further research into the migratory patterns and life history strategies of this animal is required rather than the selfish and miss guided slaughter of each individual which happens to mistake a surfer for food.

Hi there! Seen as though this is my very first blog post EVER I thought I would get the ball rolling by talking a  little about my favourite marine animal of all time. There are many wonderful and extraordinary creatures, of all shapes, sizes and colours  which have my attention and fascinate me, but the one which I love the most is the sea turtle!

There are a number of reasons why these animals warrent the title of all time favourite animal. They are truely magestic, eligant animals pretty much unchanged from their origin many millions of years ago. To have had the extremely life changing opportunity to swim alongside one of these beautiful animals was enough to spark my obsession and create the person I am today, for without that moment I may not have delved into the wonderful world of marine biology.

Even though they are mine and many other people’s favourite animal and are somewhat poster children for the abundance of diversity found within our worlds oceans their life is not easy and shamefully they are under extreme decline. A range of purposeful and indirect impacts are to blame for the incredibly unfortunate and down right unacceptable lost of 100’s of thousand individuals yearly around the globe.

There are only 7 extant (living) species of sea turtle on the planet today and each one is effected by both direct and indirect exploitation. Activities which directly effect population numbers include poaching of individuals and unhatched eggs. This heinous, savage act is one of the main causes of widespread decline in hatchling numbers across many of the worlds most important nesting sites. Individuals are hunted for both their meat, eaten in some countries, or their shells, for decorative purposes, often sold to tourists.

There are many more indirect causes of widespread decline of sea turtles ranging from fishery bycatch to coastal development and pollution.

In recent years some progress has been made in reversing this worrying decline and things are looking slightly brighter for this innocent but continuously punished animal. Although, that being said, I don’t think enough is being done, the thought of this unique animal being wiped off the planet because of our unruly actions is truely heart breaking.

More directed action is required to ensure the survival and reguvination of this splendid creature… before its too late!