Renegade activist Captain Paul Watson who has devoted his life to the plight of the shark
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Stampede Park
Thursday, October 2 - Thursday, October 2
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Shark finning is a barbaric practice whereby a shark is taken from the sea, and its fins are severed before the shark, generally still alive, is tossed overboard. Unable to swim, it slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, taking up to a day to finally die. Shark fins are a valuable commodity worth $200 U.S. or more per pound depending on the size and species.The body of the shark is not worth enough to keep onboard.
Shark fins are used mainly for shark fin soup, a popular Chinese delicacy, served as a sign of respect and status in Chinese restaurants around the world. Some Calgary restaurants, including T. Pot China Bistro located in Harvest Hills, serve it. The shark fins apparently add little to the soup other than texture. Shark fins and other shark parts may also be used for medicinal purposes due to the misconception that sharks are immune to such diseases as cancer.
Renegade activist Captain Paul Watson who has devoted his life to the plight of the shark, will be in town Thursday, October 2 for a fundraiser for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Watson founded the organization in 1977 to research, investigate and enforce laws, treaties, resolutions and regulations established to protect marine wildlife worldwide.
Watson is featured in Sharkwater, a film by biologist and filmmaker Rob Stewart. Though it does feature breathtaking photography of sea creatures, the film goes beyond a traditional esthetic-focused observation of nature to a compelling, myth-busting narrative.
Stewart breaks down the idea that sharks are vicious sea monsters and shows them instead as “perfect predators that hold the underwater world in balance — the lions and tigers of the seas.” In fact, sharks kill just five people each year compared to elephants and tigers (100), road accidents, (1.2 million) and starvation, (8 million). In just one year, crocodiles around the world wipe out as many people as sharks have killed in 100 years, but crocodiles are a protected animal, whereas sharks are not.
Where Stewart swims with sharks as if they were dolphins, Watson takes a more radical and militant approach. He’s been sailing his conservation enforcement vessel, Ocean Warrior, for 30 years. The ship is repainted and renamed after each voyage to avoid being recognized by poachers. The Ocean Warrior has been in battle against poachers dozens of times and proudly displays its kill flags of ships it has either rammed or sunk. Watson sunk a whole Norwegian whaling fleet, triggering public pressure that resulted in a 1986 international moratorium on whaling. There are no such regulations protecting sharks. Watson’s been attacked with tear gas, shot at and arrested. In 2000, he was chosen by Time magazine as one of the environmental heroes of the 20th century.
Stewart has his war wounds as well. During the filming of Sharkwater, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, Dengue fever, West Nile Virus and flesh-eating disease. He was committed to finishing the four-year project.
It’s a worthwhile cause, given the oceans are the planet’s life-support system, and sharks are a key link in the oceanic food chain. Phytoplankton are tiny aquatic plants that consume more carbon dioxide than anything else on Earth, while producing 70 per cent of the oxygen we breathe. Without sharks to feed on them, plankton-eating fish could grow out of control, depleting the plankton we depend on for survival.
Stewart draws the parallel between the survival of sharks and our own survival. They are one of the most robust animals on the planet, having remained unchanged for 400 million years and surviving five major global extinctions. Stewart says this is “why I love sharks — because they’re perfect and they’re amazing.” Now, however, over 90 per cent of the globe’s shark population has been decimated.
Meet Watson and Sea Shepherd executive director Kim McCoy at the Roundup Centre’s Boyce Theatre for the Sea Shepherd Fundraiser on October 2. Tickets available at Ticketweb Canada.
