As part of the Wavescapes Surf Art Exhibition held in December 2009, a local surfer shaped a life-size surfboard entirely from ice. Conn Bertish created the ice board as a visual poem underlining the global warming crisis in a powerful way.
“As surfers we are literally on the frontline of global warming and the effect it is having on the ocean environment. I believe every surfer has a role to play in this most pressing issue,” says Bertish. “The board of ice is a simple metaphor for what is a happening right now to all the world’s glaciers and ice caps. As this board melts so do our glaciers and million year old ice caps. So we each need to take stock of how our actions are affecting the increase in Global Warming. The board is a simple graphic reminder of this.”
The ice-board was sculpted over two days by Bertish with Ice Art in an ice-preparation / sculpting fridge in Cape Town, before being transported in two pieces to Depasco Café where it was displayed to the public as part of the Wavescapes Surf Art Exhibition which raised $23,000 for ocean conservation.
Welcome to the new IMPACT online exhibition, a project exploring the internet as a venue for insightful photographic work. In an effort to remind viewers of the important role photographers play around the world, we invited an array of imagemakers to share galleries on their blogs (like this one) that comprise 12 images representing an experience when they had an impact on or were impacted. By clicking on the links below the IMPACT logo, you can move through the exhibition, viewing other galleries by different photographers. You can also click the IMPACT logo to be taken to a post on the liveBooks RESOLVE Blog where you can see an index of all participating photographers. We hope that by linking different photographic visions of our first topic, “Outside Looking In,” we can provide a multifaceted view of the topic as well as the IMPACT individuals can have on the world around us.
Scientists estimate that worldwide up to 73 million sharks are killed every year and as a result 50 species are listed as vulnerable or in danger of extinction. Vast fishing fleets comb our oceans catching sharks primarily for their fins, a sought after commodity used in shark fin soup. One of the greatest challenges in marine conservation today is to instill in people a sense of wonder in the ocean that will not only awaken a feeling of ownership but also foster responsibility towards its inhabitants, especially sharks.
Lots of things have happened in Fiji since my last blog entry in September last year and I apologise for not keeping you updated. I was busy finishing a manuscript reporting the results from interviewing the locals living along the rivers. In the meanwhile, the paper has been accepted for publication by Environmental Conservation and will soon be available. Needless to say that we were happy learning that locals see and sometimes catch sharks in all the major rivers in Fiji. On the other hand, we were a bit surprised that nobody could tell us what species of shark they catch further upriver in low salinity/fresh water (there were some reports of hammerhead sharks, tiger sharks and other species from the river mouths). The names they used to describe the sharks were “baby shark” or “small shark”. So we set out to learn more about sharks in Fijian rivers and went fishing in the Navua River which is the one closest to the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. From acoustic monitoring we know that some of the large bull sharks we see (and tagged) at the Shark Reef Marine Reserve regularly show up at the mouth of the Navua River and we suppose that some of the large female bull sharks we see on Shark Reef give birth at the end of the year in this particular river. It would therefore be no surprise to find juvenile bull sharks in the Navua River. (more…)
Well folks, what do toasters have to do with gardening? And what do toasters have to do with sharks? And where can you get a shark microphone? If you are wondering about any of these questions, I suggest you watch this short, shark-related piece. When I was visiting the Sanibel Sea School to film children at a shark camp for The Riddle Solvers shark episode, I conducted some behind-the-scenes interviews for fun, in the blazing hot Florida sun, and this is what happened. And I should mention that you’ll see some stunning HD footage of sharks, from the Save Our Seas Foundation’s amazing footage library.
The shark research team with the Hon. Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources.
One of the most unique and rewarding parts of running a research program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute is the role most of us play at our sister organisation, The Island School. Twice a year, 48 high school students from all over the US and The Bahamas take part in a three month semester program and one of their keystone experiences relates to the primary research undertaken at the Cape Eleuthera Institute. Every semester the Shark Research and Conservation Program takes 6-8 Island School students and guides them through the scientific process, from posing a question, gathering the data to answer that question, analysing the results and finally communicating their findings to collaborating scientists and Bahamian policy makers at the bi-annual Island School Research Symposium.
The Save Our Seas Foundation is committed to preserving our marine environment for future generations. With your help we can and will make a difference. Find out how you can support our work.
