I don't have much to post on tonight per se. I went to the sulphur springs in Bylands (sp?) yesterday and I shall post about that later I guess. I'm too lazy to type up a proper post about it nor upload pics.
I realized tonight, once more, that I have a slight allergy to dogs. My neighbour has a gorgeous rott/german shepherd mix. It's still a puppy, but it's a huge dog. Every time I see him now I gasp and momentarily get scared as my visits are so sporadic and far apart that I worry that rottweilers have short memory. (I'm afraid of big dogs) And then... he gives me the puppy eyes and jumps on me playfully. Too adorable!!
And then he licks me and my hand starts to itch... and I remember my mild dog allergy. *sigh*
***
So this post is entitled 'Midnight depression' and that's because of what I'm about to type about. A few weeks back I first heard about shark finning, but... I never followed up enough to find a video on it. So here was I... minding my own business, perusing tumblr and what do I stumble upon?
Do pardon the language. I try to keep it pg on my blog where I can... but yea. So I watched the vid and it's pretty depressing. In some parts of the world *cough* China shark fin is a delicacy. The only part of the shark they use, however, is the fin. Initially it was a delicacy reserved for just the upper class but consumption now includes the middle class. Funnily enough, finning is named as the primary contributing factor in the global decline of many shark species. (according to wikipedia that is)
and sharks now represent the greatest percentage of threatened marine species on the IUCN Red List of threatened species (according to
Oceana)
.
I know sharks aren't cute koala bears or sexy fierce tigers. They're over-sized fish marketed as fearful killers of the sea right? That's what the media and news tell us. Reality: Sharks kill an average of 10 people a year. And they don't go out looking for humans. I'm sure I've heard humans don't seem to taste very nice to them, we just get accidental bites for looking like something they normally eat at the wrong time and place. Ironically, we as humans kill about 100 million sharks a year... and it's going up because of this demand for the delicacy.
I got into a ridiculous argument tonight with a friend over this. He said, "But Shelli. It's just a fish. If we kill all the sharks then we have more fish in the sea!! It's those sharks that eating all the damn fish...!"
No... no... no... It's us humans with our take, take, take mentality. Mother nature always balances off. I can't think of any animal that kills wantonly. You can't just eliminate a top predator just like that either. Why would you? Think of all the repercussions.
When top predators like sharks disappear from their environments, ecosystems fall out of whack. Sharks help maintain the genetic health of the fish populations they feed on by eating the weak, sick and injured. They also keep their prey populations in balance. Off the North American West Coast, for example, as shark numbers have declined, the giant Humboldt squid has proliferated, moving from its traditional territory on the southern coast of the Americas as far north as Alaska. The squid, which can grow up to 6 ft. (1.8 m) long, have attacked divers in southern California, and commercial fishermen in Washington have reported them stealing salmon off their hooks. On the East Coast of the U.S., where large predatory sharks have also been overfished, cownose ray populations have exploded, taking a bite — literally — out of the bay scallop fishery. - Time Magazine
Furthermore,
Sharks populations can't withstand commercial fishing the way more fecund marine species can. Unlike other fish harvested from the wild, sharks grow slowly. They don't reach sexual maturity until later in life — the female great white, for example, at 12 to 14 years — and when they do, they have comparatively few offspring at a time, unlike, say, big tunas, which release millions of eggs when they spawn. (Not that overfishing has left big tunas in much better shape than sharks, but that's another story.) As a result, the sharks that are netted are either adolescents that have not had a chance to reproduce or are among the few adults capable of adding new pups to the mix — and never will. "The shark stock on the Great Barrier Reef was hit hard when fishing started in earnest here 30 years ago, and it hasn't recovered at all," says Fitzpatrick [a marine biologist]. - Time Magazine
Here's a CNN article about this issue as well...
Click here.
The video is below. Watch it and tell me if you don't feel just a tad bit upset. Not to say they took the shark back to be sold in the market self..
You Might Also Like
I miss my little woof woofs.
On my way to building 23, I saw the most adorable big white fluffy dog at the end of the block walking with its owner in my direction. This quickly help me get over my guilt over making my final art purchase... (which was an absolute necessity... it's a sketchbook filled with black paper, so I could finish up the pieces that require techniques on black paper... MUAHAHAHAHAAA... my repertoire is complete. Now I shall go forth and reproduce... digression complete.)
But it caused a new emotion to set in... I stood before the steps to enter the building in complete indecision as whether I should walk down the street and greet the owner and ask to touch the cuteness, or.... m.m.o.b. (mind my own business) and go inside... I looked into the doors of the building, I looked at the dog. Building. Dog. Building. Dog. Building. Dog... *sigh* I went inside.
The security, looked at my sympathetically and asked, "Whats the problem? I know something is wrong.. I saw how you were looking at me indecisively outside...? You forgot your ID didn't you?"
LOL. Actually, I wasn't looking at any one thing inside the building... but... I said, "Naw.. *dips hand in jeans cargo pocket and flashes it* I just miss my doggies..."
She says, "Well.. hmm.. why don't you get a new one...?"
*Eyes widen briefly*... Now even if my doggies had passed away.. that's a rather insensitive thing to say. That's like saying, "Oh your baby died... get a new one..."
I then said, "...nothing like that.. I miss my doggies... It's different having a dog in NY than in the Caribbean.." and walk off to the elevator.
***
On a side note... I feel really weird.
My head feels faint. I ate a hearty bowl of Manhattan Clam Chowder, with wheat bread, coffee and a banana. I also had two snicker mini bars for extra energy boosts. It doesn't feel like it's an energy problem though... Perhaps it's the studying for the library... I wrote 4 (back and front) index cards worth of notes for Political Science... 2-3 hours of writing and research and neck being cricked in one position... that might not sound like much, but considering how small my handwriting gets when frugality (aka save the rain forest/paper conservation) and laziness (desire to have all my notes on one page) kicks in, it's atleast a couple well typed pages long...maybe like 2-3 at most.
You know... I was in the study pods, which thus far, only seem like a handful in the library. I realized that it took me at least 15 minutes to find it... this is my rationale for why there is atleast one always free. It comes equipped with a comfy sofa-ish chair, which a mobile desktop attachment and the 3 wall (separator) has 4 electric ports to plug in laptops, ipods, etc... The first time I came here last week, I thought it was so nifty an idea....
So this week, I kicked my shoes off. Tucked my feet up. Swerved my comfy movable chair. Laid back and started to delve into my work............
....AND then across the partition in front of me I hear voices. -.- .... A female student talking to someone else about her Spanish teacher giving her a text on the syllabus and how stupid it is... REALLY. I agree.... BUT... *ahem* We are in a place of silence conducive for studying... If I could hear your voice a passageway, studypod, and perhaps another passageway away - trust me - that is too loud. I'm sure she was 8-10 ft away... -.- *exasperated sigh* THEN after she finishes her convo, I resume my work... Next thing I hear a techno radio approaching me. This guy is walking with HEADPHONES on blazing techno or spanish music, I really don't care what KIND of music it was... but it was loud. He goes into the pod
right next to me. *SIGH* He turns it down slightly... Then like a memo went out it's ok to play music audiby because someone started playing a game or something loud enough that I could hear... I put on my mp3 to tune them out....
Somehow it's ok to talk incessantly, play music and such and such and such in the library... Perhaps I'm just picking the wrong spots.
I really shouldn't have to suffer like this in a study environment... I don't recall SGU library ever having this problem. You could hear a pin drop in SGU... and the only sounds were the occasional sounds of footsteps, the rustling of pages turning and the occasional printing of paper.
On a good note... I'm going to be swimming. That shall be my fitness activity. I brought up my goggles (knew they would come in handy) and I have to get a shower cap... then I'm good to go. YAY.
Take that any illness coming my way. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA....
***
I have class at 2.55pm... *sigh*
Good news, thats 10 minutes away... Bad news, it took 6 hrs and 45 minutes for it to become 10 minutes away...
Afterwards I'm heading down to 59th street to go see the crazy guy hanging upside down. Pity I can't throw paper balls 6 stories high. Shucks.
Shelli out.
Holla back young'n TooT TooT
You Might Also Like
