Trip Report - Taiwan Green Island Hammerheads

[Thomas Koenig]

Great trip reports! Thanks guys.

 

[Makhno]

Welcome to scubaboard, Thomas -- it's about time you joined us here.

I just took a look at your Green Island Feb. 2011 gallery and it has some great photos from our trip.

 

[Thomas Koenig]

Glad you like them!

 

[Wantonmien]

Thomas,

Excellent shots and a great set to remember the trip by - thanks for sharing. I'll be picking your brains trying to improve my photos next time I see you, probably on Orchid island next month ?

Not that they are up to your standards, but I uploaded my GI photos here ScubaBoard Gallery - Green Island, Taiwan, Hammerheads & more Feb 2011 and in my collection you might like some of the shots from Philippines late last year.

Cheers, and welcome to Scubaboard

 

[Thomas Koenig]

Wantonmien,

Thanks for the encouraging words and the welcome.

Of course you can pick my brains about UW-photography, the Beach Bar on Orchid is a great place for that! Looking forward to it.

T.

 

[Thomas Koenig]

Oh, I almost forgot: I'll be down in Kenting on Mar. 19-20.

Will be doing my EFR course with Andy on Mar. 19 (Sat.), so won't have time for fun dives that day, but plan on doing two boat dives on Sun. morning and an afternoon dive, ideally at Shan Hai. Come on down if you have time!

T.

 

[xariatay]

I would like to take the opportunity here to ask everyone reading this to sign petitions against shark finning if they come your way, and to talk to your friends who may take medicinal products containing shark cartilage, or be offered shark fin soup at a restaurant or banquet to refrain from consuming sharks in any form. These wonderful creatures deserve not only our respect but our protection. Thank you.

If you have any petitions specifically targetting Taiwan, please share with me...


OH, btw, Great reports from ALL! Thanks!

 

[Wantonmien]

If you have any petitions specifically targetting Taiwan, please share with me...


OH, btw, Great reports from ALL! Thanks!

Hi xariatay,

As far as I can work out there is no petition in English or Chinese that I have seen aimed specifically at making the public in Taiwan more aware of the need to stop shark finning, nor organised efforts to stop restaurants selling the still widely available shark fin soup - infact sad to say recently in the Internationl airport I noticed 'vacuum packed' boxes of ready made shark fin soup for sale in the duty free - !!

I did approach Humane society international Humane Society International : Humane Society International asking same question, and drew blanks, as they used to have a deal with 台灣動物社會研究會 - but seemingly no more ? - But HSI page does at least show some useful info and items Help Stop Shark Finning : Humane Society International

台灣動物社會研究會 do seem to make a little noise and effort to increase awareness 台灣動物社會研究會 - but how successful they are I don't know.

I also approached Sea Shepherd via their 'volunteer' address- and asked them to provide their downloadable shark brochure Sharks - Sea Shepherd in "Traditional Chinese" (as used in Taiwan) or give it to me in an editable version so I could get it translated for them - but no response !

Cheers

 

[Makhno]

Hi xariatay,

台灣動物社會研究會 do seem to make a little noise and effort to increase awareness 台灣動物社會研究會 - but how successful they are I don't know.

Cheers

To my knowledge the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Fund isn't doing anything presently about sharks specifically, but it is an important environmental organization and public interest law firm in Taiwan which does a lot of good stuff.

They are trying to raise enough money to support a full-time ocean conservation staff member.

Check them out at Wild at Heart: Protecting Taiwan's Environment Look here and scroll down to number 4 for the Oceans Coordinator position they want to fund: Wild at Heart: For the Earth

Long ago, I practiced law with a public interest environmental protection law firm very similar to Wild at Heart LDF (my clients ranged from big national or international organizations like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council to little tiny neighborhood groups like Friends of the Anacostia River).

I firmly believe that a strategy combining: (1) public/community outreach and organizing, (2) government lobbying, and (3) aggressive litigation can be a lot more effective than just signing petitions, so I encourage anyone with the means to financially support Wild to please do so.

It would be great if the Wild at Heart LDF could afford to hire someone to work full-time on ocean conservation matters.

Other Taiwanese environmental groups include the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Introduction and the Taiwan Environmental Action Network TEAN

 

[xariatay]

Hi xariatay,

As far as I can work out there is no petition in English or Chinese that I have seen aimed specifically at making the public in Taiwan more aware of the need to stop shark finning, nor organised efforts to stop restaurants selling the still widely available shark fin soup - infact sad to say recently in the Internationl airport I noticed 'vacuum packed' boxes of ready made shark fin soup for sale in the duty free - !!

I did approach Humane society international Humane Society International : Humane Society International asking same question, and drew blanks, as they used to have a deal with 台灣動物社會研究會 - but seemingly no more ? - But HSI page does at least show some useful info and items Help Stop Shark Finning : Humane Society International

台灣動物社會研究會 do seem to make a little noise and effort to increase awareness 台灣動物社會研究會 - but how successful they are I don't know.

I also approached Sea Shepherd via their 'volunteer' address- and asked them to provide their downloadable shark brochure Sharks - Sea Shepherd in "Traditional Chinese" (as used in Taiwan) or give it to me in an editable version so I could get it translated for them - but no response !

Cheers

Ｉ　ｃｏｕｌｄｎ＇ｔ　ｆｉｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　Ｔａｉｗａｎｅｓｅ　Ｐａｇｅｓ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｌｉｋｅｄ　ｉｎ　Ｆａｃｅｂｏｏｋ．．．　Ｎｅｅｄ　ｔｏ　Ｓｅａｒｃｈ．．．　In S'pore we also do not have a dedicated organisation for shark conservation, ACRES & WWF Sg do help & there is support from members of our local ScubaSg forum... But we can all do our parts, 1 way or another...
Ａｎｙｗａｙ　Ｓｈａｒｋ　Ｓａｖｅｒｓ　ｈａｓ　ｂｒｏｃｈｕｒｅ　ｉｎ　Ｔｒａｄｉｔｉｏｎａｌ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｈｅｒｅ．．．　http://www.sharksavers.org/en/get-i...ksavers.org/cn/what-you-can-do/downloads.html