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Sailors for the Sea, a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers the boating community to protect and restore our oceans and coastal waters, has posted an Ocean Watch Essay written by Jim Abernethy on the conservation of sharks. Have a look at the essay and learn more about this wonderful organization and the ways you can help.

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June 15th, 2010 – This evening we had the privilege of having a small but strong conservation group from California join us aboard the Shear Water for an inspiration trip. Dorsal Friends is a volunteer run, non-profit organization based in Los Angeles that was formed with the primary goal of outlawing the sale of shark fins starting with municipalities in California. This is a small group of grassroots minded people spreading both public and political awareness of the current threats sharks are facing world wide, primarily due to shark finning.

The founder, Erika Marchino first became emotionally involved after seeing the shark finning business in full swing in Cocos. After looking at several shark conservation groups she concluded that the best way to help the cause was in her own backyard. The organization grew with more passionate individuals and is now a strong voice that the government is listening to. This exemplifies the fact that even one person can make a difference if they are passionately driven. Erika chose our operation to get close to the creatures she loves to help get inspired about saving these magnificent creatures. I will be collecting imagery to hopefully improve their presentations as well as their website and literature. Shark Task Force also will be highlighting their efforts in one of their upcoming pod casts as well as iTunes as a free pod cast. You can find out more about Dorsal Friends as well as joining them and/or supporting them by going to their website at www.dorsalfriends.org

June 16th, 2010 – Leaving at night we had a glassy calm crossing to West End, Bahamas where we cleared customs and headed north to one of our favorites, Carcharias Cut. As we moored the boat we could see the water was crystal clear with a strong north current. On the first dive I encountered 7 spotted eagle rays, a hawksbill turtle as well as a dozen caribbean reef sharks! This site is covered with a colorful array of sponges and corals that produce stunning images. While diving there I realized that many of the sharks here are carrying hooks in their mouths, some of which are actually large shark hooks. I was fortunate enough to remove a circle hook from the cheek of a reef shark as it swam by. I felt so sorry for all the damage we inflict on these poor species. The second team of divers had the honor of having a great hammerhead swim right up to them.

This entire area contains a huge diversity and abundance of marine life. Fed by the eastern reaches of the Gulf Stream current I believe this is probably the best the Bahamas has to offer as far as healthy ecosystems are concerned. I am hopeful that the recent film entitled “End of the Line” which highlights the Bahamas as taking early steps to protect their countries offshore assets will help stimulate the future marine reserves and that this area will soon be protected for all mankind.

After everyone did two dives we moved on to the Sugar Wreck to do a relaxing 15 ft dive. This world-class site has been in countless films including Howard Hall’s Imax film “Deep Sea 3D”. Everyone was too tired to do the night dive so we crashed early after a delicious dinner!

June 17th, 2010 – This morning we awoke to a real treat at Tiger Beach. Emma, as well as another large tiger, entertained us all day. However it was very sad to see that in the last week she has swallowed a hook that is lodged in her tongue. The swivels and line go in and out of her mouth. This one will be next to impossible to remove. I hope the hook will rust away. We were not able to cut the swivel and extra line off today. The guests stayed in the water all day and I’m sure took more images than they ever had before, as Emma is the perfect shark for photographers. Days like this are hard to describe to those of you who haven’t had the privilege and honor of being with Emma!

During the day, the new tiger shark took the 35th camera away from one of our guests, Russ. He spent most of the rest of the day polishing the teeth marks out of the dome, once he retrieved the camera. Since this new shark had not ben named the guests all wanted to name it after Russ’s wife, Pauline, who he speaks so highly about.

On another note, Tiger Beach seems to be affected once again by a death of a shark. 95% of all the sharks have left the area. We have seen this before, years ago and it is very obvious because all of the sharks disappear. It usually takes 5 to 8 weeks for them to come back. We find them in other places such as the reefs miles from here. I suspected it last week, but actually had confirmation that the same shark fishing boat was in West End, Bahamas three weeks ago. Last week we had our best luck finding the larger sharks on the reefs. We will see what the week reveals!

June 18th, 2010 – Today we moved to a beautiful reef called Ginormous. This gorgeous site is a spectacular backdrop to the sharks that live there. Today we had Caribbean reef sharks, lemon sharks and one great hammerhead. We were also fortunate enough to watch a large loggerhead turtle try to eat a conch shell. You will have to watch the high definition production to see the gorgeous site.

June 19th, 2010 – We started diving at a section of Tiger Beach called Crystal Tiger and then proceeded north to a beautiful reef called Cover Shot. At this site I was fortunate enough to remove another hook from a Caribbean reef shark. That makes two this week. Late in the day we swam with wild dolphins first as the sun was setting and then for a couple of hours after dark. Everyone collapsed right after the night dolphin encounter.

June 20th, 2010 – Although we had dolphins with us when we awoke, we were not able to get moving fast enough to join them. We did however swim with 7 bottlenose dolphins that we encountered on our way to a dive site called Hammertime. At Hammertime we unfortunately had very little current, so the shark numbers were way down. A great hammerhead did swim in as well as a nurse shark just before we left and headed back to Tiger Beach for the last dive of the day. At Tiger Beach we once again only found a few lemon sharks.

June 21st, 2010 – Today we started off by divng El Dorado at the north end of the reef, but quickly decided to move to the very south end of Cover Shot because of the lack of current. Here we saw only one tiger with a dozen reef sharks. After a full day we started our journey back to the states. Once again the guests on board really made the week so enjoyable for the crew!