A NEW DECADE TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO...
02/01/2010
First, The Tiger Shark Photography Workshop
I'm running a workshop at Tiger Beach in The Bahamas in April. Space is limited to ten shooters. The boat is half full already so please let me know if you're interested. Its going be a fun trip. Amazing shooting opportunities and lots of tips and presentations. We'll also have 7 evenings to kick back and talk sharks - my favorite subject. More info on the shark photography workshop page
Second, a little religion
I have spent the last decade sliding over or diving into the ocean. Quite often, I was diving with sharks but sometimes I was just snorkeling and looking down longingly at the world below. Occasionally, I had the privilege of piloting submarines.; driving over the seafloor, exploring the mysteries of the deep from the safety of my acrylic goldfish bowl. Every time I entered the water I came back nourished from the experience even when I was charged with difficult tasks. And, when I finally dragged my water logged body back to land, my mind remained deep in the ocean and there I expect it will stay forever.
Of all the creatures that I encounters none affected me as strongly as sharks. Sharks have been such a captivating and pivotal force in my recent life that I now only accept jobs in places where I can find sharks and I scrimp and save to go to remote shark diving spots between shooting for magazine articles or sub piloting gigs.
After I loaded Elasmodiver.com onto the web in 2002, I found even more reason to travel to unusual coastal destinations; the pursuit of rarely encountered species to add to the growing elasmodiver field guide.
Initially, shark pictures were simply trophies in my collection. I was a big game hunter with an underwater housing and a bucket list of shark species that I wanted to photograph. I really didn't know that much about the plight of endangered species. I was simply overwhelmed by the beauty and grace of the animals themselves.
I am still just as infatuated with elasmobranchs (large and small) but now I am also starkly aware of the sad decline of our ocean's top predators. Regardless of the controversy over specific decline rates, few would disagree that many sharks and rays are in trouble. According to the IUCN, At least a third of the world's shark species are considered threatened. Many more are data deficient implying that further research could reveal more bad news.
The enormity of the problem makes me feel pretty helpless. I want to do something tangible to help but I am just a photojournalist. I can tell people what I have learned but the people that read diving and nature magazines already love the ocean and the natural world. While its important to reinforce the message lest we forget, there has to be a way to spread the word to a wider audience.
I'm not sure what the answer is or if anything can really be done to reverse the trend but I'll do my bit. In 2010 I am planning to play the part of a missionary and my mission is to bring the word about over fishing, shark finning and habitat destruction to people that still don't understand what is happening below the surface of the sea. I hope that you will all do your part too.
Spreading the Word through the Elasmodiver Network
Elasmodiver gets around 150,000 hits a month. That still blows me away!
Not everyone that lands on the site wants to read about the plight of sharks but there are more and more shark conservation pages being added for those that care to look.
I'm also trying to sneak as much conservation information as possible onto every page without turning people off. To that end, I am in the process of updating every species in the Elasmodiver Shark and Ray Field Guide with IUCN info. That means that when little Johnny cuts and pastes a page about great white sharks into his grade 7 school project, he inadvertently learns more than just how big they grow. It all helps.
There are now Elasmodiver pages, channels and blogs on Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter and YouTube. So, whatever way you like to get your news there is no escape from Elasmodiver. Don't sign up for our Twitter feed unless you want to live and breathe sharks. I am turning that account over to our new social networking guru Bo Moran. He'll be tweeting and re-tweeting Elasmodiver news and general shark stuff multiple times a day.
The pen may be mightier than the sword but what is wrong with keeping a sword handy just in case?
Outside of the web, I am now trying to write every shark diving article with shark conservation in mind. That's not always easy to do when you're writing about how much fun it is diving with tiger sharks but I'm committed to squeezing the message into the text wherever I can. I'm also pitching my stories to way more magazines this year. I'm a slow writer and I'm starting to think that I may be mildly dyslexic so its really cutting into my shooting time but its a worthwhile platform even if it is preaching to the choir.
In the next couple of months, I have articles slated for Diver, Invertum, Oceans (a new mag - keep a look out for this one), Xray, Shark Diver (of course) and a few others that must remain nameless for now. I'll keep plugging away on that front so expect to see more of my writing on the news stands.
I also contributed an interview for a photographic magazine which annoyed the hell out of me. No matter how many times I pointed out that I don't spend every waking minute 'in the jaws of death' they were not interested in any other angle. It frustrates me to think that many editors outside of dive/nature mags are still stuck on the sensationalist man-eater model - its time to claw your way out of the 70's guys!.
At the end of the day I'm really not sure if what I write has any effect. I plan to keep it up but I look at Sea Shepherd and the front line approach that they have taken by harassing whaling ships and ruining catches and I wonder if that would be a more effective method in the battle to save sharks. I know that I'll be labeled as a radical if I go down that path but on a whim I registered SharkShepherd.com the other day. Every successful army has a political and a military wing. I'm not sold on the idea of direct intervention yet but I'm open to suggestion.
On a less controversial note, PIP is progressing. I have built a portfolio of images for the Predators in Peril Exhibition and I'm out pounding the pavement, looking for suitable venues. The exhibition consists of a number of my most dramatic shark images. Each image is accompanied by a smaller image that conveys the plight of that species and a message about the decline of sharks in general. Sometimes I use images of dead sharks and sometimes I use images with a more symbolic reference. I plan to use fishing hooks to hang the images in each gallery if the curators don't object. For a sneak peek at some of the images that are included please follow this link: Predators in Peril Exhibition
I have invested a fair chunk of my net worth in this project. The images are printed on archival silver rag and they look gorgeous. The intention is to educate everyone that comes through the galleries and to raise funds for the 2010 Central American Predators in Peril EXPEDITION which will take place later in the year.
Elasmo Ads
This year we're also throwing our doors open to advertisers in the scuba diving and photography industries to help raise funds for Predators in Peril. There are banner, button and full page advertising opportunities. Our rates are unbeatable considering our web presence so if you are a manufacturer, dive shop or operator and you want a button on all 480+ pages on Elasmodiver please let me know. First come, first served. Advertise on Elasmodiver
Happy new year! Thanks for tuning in and for supporting Elsmodiver.
For the sharks,
Andy Murch
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