Don't eat shark fin soup!

Tomorrow will be the beginning of my second week at Save Our Seas, and I am already loving the opportunities I have had at this organization. This past week was spent focusing on a few different projects, including educational information for the public in the main area of the center, preparing a shark lecture for school groups that will be visiting over the next two weeks (70-100 kids a day!), and helping to prepare a lesson on rock pool life for the school groups as well.

I was also finally able to meet Alison Kock, who does the White shark research here for SOS, and listen to one of her White shark lectures. It was really informative and made me even more excited to get out on the boat with Alison to help with tagging and behavioral research. I will start doing that in about two weeks, and I can't wait! Here are a couple recent pictures that Alison and her husband Morne took while watching White sharks feed on a decaying Brydes whale carcass.. such amazing shots.





I have learned so much in just one week; everyone at SOS has been extremely welcoming and happy to help with anything. I am able to look right out to the ocean from my office window, and have enjoyed seeing Southern Right whales slowly cruise by on several occasions. We also spent a day taking an environmental school group, ages 14-18, out to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and doing an educational 5K nature hike. The kids loved seeing the Sand Hoppers, learning about the role of kelp in sustaining the ocean ecosystem, and the gorgeous views of the sea from our hike. It was a beautiful day that ended with the group painting vuvuzelas made of dried kelp- a great way to round out the day’s lesson and let them take a keepsake home to remember what they learned. Here are a couple shots from the day:





I have also been borrowing documentary videos from SOS to watch at night, and thanks to these I have learned quite a bit about the huge problem of overfishing certain shark populations and shark finning that takes place off the coast of South Africa (and many other places in the world, unfortunately). The footage of this horrendous crime is absolutely heartbreaking, and I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in shark conservation to look further into this issue. Some shark species have lost over 90% of their populations due to long-line fishing (illegal in a few areas, but unfortunately still legal in most areas and practiced regularly) and the desire for shark fins (fetching hundreds of US dollars per fin) for things like shark fin soup, leather products, jewelry and skin care products.

Long lines are used mainly to fish for tuna, swordfish and shark, and their length ranges from one to over 100 miles. They are kept near the surface using floats, and there are baited hooks attached at intervals of about 100 feet. They are a huge threat to the survival of many species of shark, including Blue sharks, Mako sharks, Hammerhead sharks, and several other species found here off the coast South Africa. Since long lines are far from species-specific, they catch all sorts of animals- sea turtles, whales, dolphins, seals, all kinds of fish, and even fishing birds. Here are a couple images of some unfortunate long line bycatch.





The majority of sharks that are caught using long lines are caught only for their fins; the rest of the body is usually discarded back into the ocean and considered “bycatch” (shark meat is of relatively low economical value, so most fisherman are strictly interested in just the fins). Shark finning also takes place by fishing for individual sharks, bringing them onboard and cutting off their dorsal and pectoral fins while they are still alive, and then throwing the live shark back into the ocean. The sharks then sink and starve to death, are eaten by another animal, or drown since they cannot move to force water through their gills for oxygen. I know this is a disturbing photo, but after seeing the footage of finning, I think it's important for people to actually see how terrible it really is, rather than just hearing about it...



Shark fins are sought after most specifically to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy. Shark fin soup can fetch up to $100 per bowl, and is eaten mainly by affluent consumers and travelers to Asia who are unaware of the decimation that shark finning causes. The fin is tasteless, providing only a gelatinous bulk for the soup, which is then flavored with chicken or other stock. It is served in many restaurants and sometimes served at weddings as a sign of affluence.

These irresponsible fishing practices are leading to the decimation of many shark species. Since 1972, the populations of Blacktip, Tiger, and Bull sharks have decreased by over 90% each. Long lining and shark finning has become an enormous problem in many parts of the world, including South Africa, and the limited resources for regulation of this issue allows it to happen more often than not. Organizations like SOS are striving to make the public more aware of this worldwide problem, but there is still a long way to go before shark populations and many other species are in the clear.

So, on a lighter note, this past weekend was a fabulous end to the week. On Friday night we said goodbye to a fellow VAC intern heading home to Germany, and Saturday was spent lounging on the beach at St. James, which is near where I work in Kalk Bay. My roommate Gen and I took the train down and set up shop on the sand for a few hours- it was beautiful. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any sharks in the water (they are regularly seen offshore in that area- especially in the summer), but it was a great beach day nonetheless. We headed home to change and grab a cab to Newlands, where the Western Province rugby team was playing the visiting Durban Sharks in a regional championship match. It was my first rugby match since seeing some in Australia, and the atmosphere was amazing. The stadium was packed, and people were completely amped about supporting their Western Province team. The Afrikaans cheer that we were chanting the whole time was “WP Jou Lekker Ding!” which is pronounced nothing like how it looks, but means “Western Province, you’re a really good thing!” or something cheesy like that. Here is a picture of some of my fellow VAC interns and myself at the match:



It was pretty hilarious to see a bunch of American and Canadian girls yelling in Afrikaans… I think the Afrikaaners next to us got a kick out of it, too :) We followed up the rugby game with my first night out in Claremont, a neighborhood just south of my home in Observatory. So all in all a successful, super fun weekend! Wish me luck for the week ahead with tons of kids running around SOS- should be interesting! Hope all is well back home and that everyone is enjoying fall!