Species You've Dived With and Locations

[ambertiger]

Ambertiger-I would disagree with your accusations against aquariums. Yes, the Georgia Aquarium had some trouble with the first whale sharks and I am unfamiliar with the Taiwan and Russian aquarium's history with sharks (maybe whale sharks aren't suitable inhabitants for aquariums??), but both of the aquariums I have worked at had excellent, almost flawless track records with their elasmobranchs. Boycotting aquariums seems to be the in vogue protest nowadays and it is too bad. By jumping on the bandwagon you are missing the bigger picture.

Whereas you get to go diving and experience the world first hand, many people don't. Aquariums may be the only exposure many have (read as "only reason some people care) to oceanic inhabitants. You want laws passed banning plastic bags because the usually make their way into the gyres? You need landlocked votes. You want anti shark-finning legislation? You need these landlocked votes. You are shunning a tool that can be an environmentalist's only outreach to places like the midwest, Arizona, and elsewhere. There are masses that come to and even live in Hawaii that can't even swim, but they still vote. That's why we need responsible aquarium husbandry.

Hi sorry but I have to disagree with you on this issue. Your reasons for supporting aquariums are outdated. Nowadays with modern cinemagraphic technology I believe there is absolutely no need to confine/imprison large marine animals for the profit of the owners of marine parks and the often times vacuous amusement of gawking tourists and kids. I for one would never take my children to an aquarium or a zoo to 'educate' them about marine life or animals. There are plenty of excellent movies about sharks, marine mammals and the oceans in general which suffice to educate children and the general landlocked public about the beauty of our oceans, reefs, conservation and the life of marine mammals and fish. I would suggest that all public aquariums are restricted to keeping small reef fish and that they have large movie theatres to screen the many excellent documentaries about the life of sharks or whales and reef creatures filmed in their natural environment. My friend who is a world renowned expert on setting up aquariums confided in me that the majority of aquariums world wide regularly change out their large marine animals as they usually die within months or within several years. The estimated life span of a shark held in captivity is less than 1 third of its normal life span in the ocean. This is also true about large animals such as Orcas or Killer Whales, Beluga whales. dolphins, turtles and so on. In fact I would totally ban the keeping of marine aquariums by the public in general as they massively contribute to the death of tropical reefs world wide. The research or insight into breeding that they offer is meagre compared to the damage that they do to living reefs. Did you know that 95% of all reef fish taken from reefs and sold to aquarium stores die within 3 months of being captured? This is an amazingly lucrative business for aquarium store owners but one giving very little reward to the local who swims down to capture the fish off the reef. The practise of supplying tropical fish and both living and dead corals to aquariums world wide is denuding tropical reefs all over the tropical pacific and the Asian Pacific region.

 

[smellzlikefish]

"Come on, kids, lets go watch the ocean on TV!" Sitting in the living room just doesn't have the same educational effect as a trip to the aquarium. There is a big difference from seeing something that is recorded and seeing something for yourself. I don't care when the argument was first posed, it still stands true.

While our positions on the matter are different, I would agree that the trend to keep the oceans biggest in aquariums (whale sharks, white sharks etc.) is in error. Since I see the need for aquariums, my line of "maximum sized animals" would likely be bigger than yours. Keep the captive whales and dolphins there (they don't do well when released anyway), just don't catch new ones. They will breed in captivity, so let them. Smaller sharks do very well in captivity and still offer that "mommy I saw a shark!" appeal. Your "world renowned aquarist" is correct for probably only the largest of aquarium inhabitants.

And as for the private aquarium trade, this is a related but separate issue. Denuded is a bit strong, especially with coral propagation techniques, and the statistic I read was more like 90%. The benefit to the collectors is enough to support families and allow them to live better than many of their peers. And you mustn't forget the fact that this is an industry, complete with many people benefiting from the collector to distributor to store clerk. Could it be done better? Yes, and it starts with the education of the collectors and improvement of husbandry techniques which will both come from private collectors, aquaculture, and public aquariums.

 

[GregT943]

Grey Nurse Shark - Julianne Rock, Byron Bay, Australia
Wobbegong Shark - All over Australia
Tiger Shark - Heron Island, Australia
Black tip reef shark - Heron Island, Australia
White Tip reef shark - Heron Island, Australia
Bull Shark - Chumpon Pinnacle, Koh Tao, Thailand
Bamboo Shark - Ko Bida, Thailand