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Hordern

Are you a Friend for Sharks?

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Soooo, I've not been around in Wurm as much as I'd like over the last few months. Mostly because my landlords internet in South Africa is bizarre, it only seems to let me log in one account, and I don't mean one at a time, I mean specifically, there is only one of my accounts that I am able to log in most of the time. All other accounts get stuck at loading the terrain... I am in South Africa because I have been working for a White Shark cage diving company.


 


The season has ended for me, but I wont be able to return to playing lots of Wurm again in the immediate future as my partner and I have decided to go out on a limb to set up a charitable cause promoting marine conservation with an emphasis on sharks and to undertake a World Tour in 2015. We've called ourselves Friends for Sharks and started preparing ourselves a month ago. We have a lot still to do, but already have talks arranged all over Cornwall (UK) in Jan/Feb 2015 and Melbourne Aquarium (Australia) in September. You can see a tour itinerary on our website but if you live in Vancouver, Raratonga, anywhere in New Zealand or Melbourne, do drop by to one of our talks and say hi :) The short video embedded in the homepage will give you an idea of our plans (and yes, that's me and my gf).


 


We're also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.


 


If you feel it appropriate, please like, share etc. etc. and help spread the word!

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Good luck with that. Sharks are one of the most ancient animals that have survived to the present day. They do have some bad press from time to time but they are under threat all around the world from both intentional and unintentional killing.

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I think I said in another thread that I would like to cook shark meat some day.


 


Only ate shark meat twice and was delicious both times.


 


 


 


 


 


Also why no mention of the shark week? last one was awesome.


Edited by Alec

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Sharks are awesome. I would recommend an app called osearch global shark tracker. Let's you look at shark routes etc

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Sydney and Melbourne yay! :D 


 


I'll definitely try to stop by and say hi!


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The site suggested by Radni is fascinating and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in sharks, oceanography and science.

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I think I said in another thread that I would like to cook shark meat some day.

 

Only ate shark meat twice and was delicious both times.

 

 

Also why no mention of the shark week? last one was awesome.

I've not tried shark, and with how endangered many are, I don't intend to. Even any that currently aren't endangered, because with how many have been hauled out of the oceans, we need every shark we have to be swimming around out there... As far as Shark Week, no mention because it was long past when I made this thread, I have nothing to do with it, and it's more hype than anything interestingly factual, I was rather disappointed if I'm honest. I am however very much looking forward to a series coming out next year I think, though I don't believe it's public knowledge yet, so I shall hold on mentioning who's producing it etc.

 

Sharks are awesome. I would recommend an app called osearch global shark tracker. Let's you look at shark routes etc

I personally am not a fan of Osearch, mostly because of the way the sharks are treated, and how it affects them. I'm also not entirely convinced how useful the data they're getting is. Interesting maybe, but how useful?

 

I spent the last 8 months working at Seal Island, False Bay, South Africa which is very well known for being the 'home of flying sharks'. We had 3 sharks with satellite tags attached come by our boat during the season. However, not one of them showed up on the tracking maps. Basically, the tags weren't working, which seems such a waste of injury to the shark.

 

The tagging itself is horrendous, the sharks are baited on a hooked steel line, then boat and shark play tug-o-war until the shark is tired (can be up to 45+ mins). It's hauled out of the water and a power drill used to place 3 or 4 bolt holes in the dorsal fin. The tag is then attached using said bolts with steel plates. Not only does this create an area perfect for infection - between plates and fin and in the bolt holes - but many sharks tagged are not fully grown, so as they grow, their dorsal fin is heavily distorted. Some researchers will tell you the sharks feel no pain in their dorsal fin, so where's the real harm? Well when 2 sharks were tagged in this way one day in False Bay in 2012 in peak season (July), it was another 45 days before anyone saw a shark around Seal Island again. A 'standard' day in peak season should be 10 to 20 predation events (seeing the sharks chasing seals at the surface or even fully breaching from the sea) and between 3 and 6 or so coming to the boat for cage diving. With that kind of discrepancy, no one will be able to convince me sat tagging doesn't really affect the sharks, and especially when you consider that this pain was communicated to all the other white sharks in the area too, not just the two that went through the ordeal.

 

 

Just my opinions etc etc of course and it's just some more information for you to consider when making up your own minds on such matters :)

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I care about sharks, as well as every other living creature, and what you're doing is fantastic, I hope it doesn't burn out too soon.


 


Also, to anyone reading this - fishing is also cruel!


 


I've seen a lot in this world of people who say they care about animals, yet are willing to fish for sport, or, when fishing for food, letting the fish unnecessarily suffer.


 


I would fish, only if I needed to eat that fish - and as soon as I catch the fish, I will kill it swiftly. Throwing live fish onto beds of ice to freeze to death slowly, or putting them in a container to suffocate in some way, isn't good.


 


Fishing for sport is cruel and what you are doing is (in most cases) ripping the gills of the fish open, damaging it's face or head, or otherwise injuring it in an unnecessary way - sure, you can return the fish to the water, but after being injured (which you may not even notice) it may eventually die as a result of not being as healthy as it should be, and the death can be slow and painful. Also, even if it survives, it's life can be hampered by the simple fact it was injured because of 'sport'.


 


So be kind to the fishes!


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I care about sharks, as well as every other living creature, and what you're doing is fantastic, I hope it doesn't burn out too soon.

 

Also, to anyone reading this - fishing is also cruel!

 

I've seen a lot in this world of people who say they care about animals, yet are willing to fish for sport, or, when fishing for food, letting the fish unnecessarily suffer.

 

I would fish, only if I needed to eat that fish - and as soon as I catch the fish, I will kill it swiftly. Throwing live fish onto beds of ice to freeze to death slowly, or putting them in a container to suffocate in some way, isn't good.

 

Fishing for sport is cruel and what you are doing is (in most cases) ripping the gills of the fish open, damaging it's face or head, or otherwise injuring it in an unnecessary way - sure, you can return the fish to the water, but after being injured (which you may not even notice) it may eventually die as a result of not being as healthy as it should be, and the death can be slow and painful. Also, even if it survives, it's life can be hampered by the simple fact it was injured because of 'sport'.

 

So be kind to the fishes!

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I have always found sharks to be helpful with thinning out the crowds. Even as I have seen then swimming around, I never felt threatened by them. Their impact upon the human population has little effect anyway. Seems like certain people attract their bites under certain conditions.


 


Even then, many more of them survive than sharks do, when hunted. I am doubting that sharks hunt people anyway. Just take a bite and after the repulsive taste swim away. So yes, my disposition is friendly towards sharks but I am not about to reach out and shake their fin. Does that make me fin icky?


 


=Ayes=


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Great attitude to have, though this made me wince and smile at the same time!


 



Does that make me fin icky?

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As far as Shark Week, no mention because it was long past when I made this thread, I have nothing to do with it, and it's more hype than anything interestingly factual, I was rather disappointed if I'm honest. I am however very much looking forward to a series coming out next year I think, though I don't believe it's public knowledge yet, so I shall hold on mentioning who's producing it etc.

Seeing as it's now been announced, I reckon it's OK to now say the shark documentary I'm really excited about is being produced by the BBC:

 

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-11-04/bbc1-series-to-rehabilitate-the-shark-40-years-after-jaws

 

This will definitely be one for the DVD collection :D

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Our first piece of proper media coverage - a Radio interview for BBC Cornwall. Clearly I need to work a bit on my 'umms', but otherwise we were pleased. Note that you need a British IP to use iPlayer:


 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02cr3f6


 


We start at 2:29:00.


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I tried to be friends with sharks, but it was a long distance relationship and didn't work out in the end. :D


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I tried to be friends with sharks, but it was a long distance relationship and didn't work out in the end. :D

I hope you broke it off nicely... I wil take their side otherwise :P

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Video of the fundraising swim on New Years Day, raised over £1500 for the cause :)


 


>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZoHeHkO4Ds


 


Start the international part of our Tour in a month - getting quite excited about all that :D


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It's taken me a while - I've not looked at that pic in details before, but I think the fur on the fin has been pasted from the mid hip, just below the section that has been used about 5 or 6 times to create the fur cover for the head and neck :)


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Well as an update, it's been going really well. Especially in the schools where the kids seem to have really enjoyed the events.


 


It's not without it's troubles as can be seen in my blog from Vancouver, but the Cook Islands went a little smoother. Thanks to the tropical cyclone that I was blissfully unaware of, our two weeks there were a little cloudy. However it didn't prevent my planned proposal to my gf :D


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