Why We Need to Save One of the Mightiest Ocean Predators

Carcharodon carcharias, known as the Great White Shark; is one of the most magnificent beasts to roam the oceans. With a life span of 70+ years* (Donald 2014), and the ability to eventually grow 6.4 metres in length, or larger (Encyclopedia of Life n.d.), it's impressive not only for its size, but also it's speed and agility. Great Whites like most mega-fauna are functionally warm-blooded due to a phenomenon known as gigantothermy, their large bulk and smaller relative skin surface area makes it easier to conserve warmth (Wallace 2009), and like several other of the more active shark species, known as lamnids, they also maintain a warmer body temperature because of a very elegant heat transfer system in which blood which is warmed by the activity of large muscles (and what muscles they are, these sharks sure can leap), warms the ocean-chilled blood being pumped in from the gills before it reaches the muscles (Helfman et al. 1997, 83-86). This conserves warmth for the muscles, and allows these sharks to be more active, and to range through colder oceans (Ibid.).

Great White Sharks have adapted as transoceanic migrators, meaning that they cross oceans to feed and reproduce. Nicole, a female Great White tagged off South Africa, travelled between South Africa, Western Australia, and back again, within a nine month period, and scientists think it's possible that Great Whites might use celestial cues to navigate, just like human sailors (WCS 2005).

Great White Sharks rarely display aggression towards human (despite being entirely wild animals), and deep sea diver Ocean Ramsey regularly proves this by hitch-hiking her way through the ocean on the dorsal fin of these giants:

(Source)

My government, the government of Western Australia, has recently decided to begin culling this already vulnerable species.

This is a terrible decision, as being an apex predator, the removal of the Great White Shark will destabilise the ocean's ecosystems. It's also not a local issue, as being that these sharks are transoceanic migrators (a fact that is recognised by our federal Department of Wildlife), they are not local anywhere, but instead belong to the world's oceans.

Australian Navy diver Paul de Gelder (who lost limbs in a shark attack) has vociferously argued against every element of the proposed cull, ending his argument with:

“The ocean is not our back yard swimming pool and we shouldn't expect it to be one. It's a wondrous, beautiful, dangerous place that provides our planet with all life. It and it's inhabitants need protection from those that would do it harm.” (de Gelder 2014)

Eight other shark attack survivors are also protesting the cull.

Putting aside (for a moment) that shark attacks trail nearly every other cause of death of injury to afflict Western Australians**; this attempt to effectively remove sharks which people feel (irrationally) threatened by would necessitate culling Great White Sharks into extinction. Hooks will be used to catch sharks (and plenty of other sea creatures besides that), and all sharks over 3 meters in length will be slaughtered. Those are the sexually mature specimens necessary to the species survival – female Great Whites are not sexually mature until they reach a length of between 4.5 and 5 metres in length (Encyclopedia of Life n.d.).

Scientists have been quick to point out both how terrible this cull's effects would be in an open letter by a 102 scientists, and how many other measures could be taken (including tagging sharks to ping alerts when they near populated areas, a measure that's already being used to track 300 sharks).

Please, wherever you are in the world, raise awareness of this issue and protest it. If you're in Australia, head to one of the protest rallies on February 1^st (details here). If you're not able to make it to a rally, write to Premier Colin Barnett to express your discontent and email Western Australia's Environmental Protection Agency at info@epa.wa.gov.au to ask them to reject the shark cull.

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*disturbingly, the measure used to calculate the age of Great White Sharks was their exposure to nuclear bombs in the '50s and '60s.

**though here are some quick statistics:
Since 1791 when Australian national records began, there have been 217 fatal sharks attacks, and 675 shark attacks resulting in injury. That's (over 223 years) an average of less than one shark induced fatality a year, and 3 injuries caused by shark attacks per year (Australian Geographic 2014).

Considering how much time Australians spend in the ocean (possibly more than any other large nation, given that the vast majority of our population lives on the coast, and we enjoy exploring the wonderful collection of shipwrecks along the Western Australian coast***, as well as our pictureque reefs), that's a pretty low fatality rate.

The blood-lust fervour to kill these sharks is incredibly disproportionate, and already locals have begun indiscriminately killing sharks (of various species), ahead of the government endorsed cull (Source: WARNING, graphic images of mutilated shark and ray carcasses).

 (Source)
No equivalent outrage is being made about the fact that an average of 70 women are murdered by their male partners in Australia, every year (that's an average of more than one woman murdered every week) (Pickering 2014), which I can infer to mean that Premier Colin Barnett (who is responsible for the cull) finds men who murder women to be creatures worthy of greater sympathy.

***Western Australia is called 'The Shipwreck Coast'. I was quite furious to see an article labelling out coast as “dangerous” because of sharks. I can only assume the idiot who wrote it wasn't local, because we've had more than 1650 recorded shipwrecks (Western Australian Museum n.d.) (which vastly exceed the number of fatal shark attacks anywhere in Australia, in all of recorded history), so by any measure, the most dangerous thing in Western Australia's waters, is our own coast and waters. You can wave at the skeleton of the Omeo from Fremantle when the tide is low.


References
de Gelder, P. 2014. Kill Em All!!! http://pauldegelder.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/kill-em-all-firstly-for-anyone-that-has.html (accessed January 21, 2014).

Donald, R. 2014. Great White Sharks Life Span Proven To Be As Long As Humans. http://www.utahpeoplespost.com/2014/01/great-white-sharks-life-span-proven-to-be-as-long-as-humans/ (accessed January 22, 2014).

Encyclopedia of Life. n.d. Carcharodon carcharias Great White Shark. http://eol.org/pages/213726/details (accessed January 22, 2014).

Helfman, G.S., B.B. Collette, and D.E. Facey. 1997. The Diversity of Fishes. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, Massachusetts.

Pickering, C. 2014. Charlie Pickering wants to speak to you about your priorities. http://www.mamamia.com.au/domestic-violence-2/charlie-pickering-chat-priorities/ (accessed January 21, 2014).

Wallace, B. 2009. Gigantothermy: Size Matters. http://deepseanews.com/2009/04/gigantothermy-size-matters/ (accessed January 22, 2014).

Western Australian Museum. n.d. Shipwreck Databases Western Australian Museum. http://museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/wrecks (accessed January 21, 2014).

WCS. 2005. Great White Shark swims 12,400 miles, shocks scientists. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1006-wcs.html (accessed January 21, 2014).

Ceramics in 2013

Today I decided to gather up some of the bowls I've made this year, to chronicle my first year of mucking around with ceramics. I think I've made every possible mistake so far, but comparing the first pinch-pot bowls to some of my later experiments on the wheel; it's apparent that my skills have still progressed further than I thought they would, when I started my first night class in May, and there are now a surprising number of functional ceramic bowls in use around the house (containing cat food, or earrings, or bobby pins, or snacks).

The earlier, lumpier experiments are used for the cats, but the later, smoother vessels are now reasonable enough that I'm able to give some away to humans without too much embarrassment. Given everything that's happened this year, It'll be interesting to see what next year brings; I'm interested in doing even more tableware and illustrative experiments with sgraffito (as demonstrated in the black and white cat bowls) and mishima inlay (as demonstrated by the later white bowls with blue insides, and blue decoration inlaid on their outsides).

Ceramic Sketches #5

  

I think, given the subject, the seahorses would work best as a seafood platter. Maybe I should decorate all my dinner ware with serving suggestions?

Voting is still ongoing for my Western Ground Parrot design, please Like this Facebook post to vote for it, if you have the time.

Birds and Stoneware

I've started to play around with circular designs again, as I've started up wheelwork night classes again, this round taught by Warrick Palmateer who is awfully skilful at throwing a casserole dish. The Friends of the Western Ground Parrot (a group dedicated to protecting the critically endangered local) are running an art contest and I decided to... I shouldn't say 'kill two birds with one stone', given the subject, but given that the subject is birds, and I work with stoneware clay in my ceramics pieces... it's quite irresistible.

As the competition is being determined by voting popularity, I would appreciate it if anyone who has the time, and feels so inclined, could here for my entry, or here for another entry.

Virtual Habitats and the Value of Nature #3

Entrusting in Artefacts Rather than Shifting Baselines:
Habitat Diorama as Artefacts of Ecosystems Destroyed

Shifting Baseline Syndrome, a coin termed by Daniel Pauly (Pauly 1995) describes a:

“‘generational amnesia’, where each new generation is unaware of—or, perhaps, does not take seriously—the environmental knowledge of previous generations... loss of knowledge of even large and charismatic species can be startlingly rapid.” (Corlett 2013).

Pauly identified the syndrome as an explanation as to why the fishing industry underestimated the decline of fishing stocks — discovering that people used their lived experience as a point of comparison for declining fish populations, and therefore didn't realise the fish populations were significantly diminished already from historical levels. The baseline of what constitutes ecological diversity shifts with each generation, which prevents recognition of the long term diminishing of population size, and ecological diversity.

That we think of Tasmanian Tigers Thylacinus cynocephalus and Tasmanian Devils Sarcophilus harrisii as Tasmanian; is a symptom of Shifting Baseline Syndrome. They have not been species experienced by mainland Australians in living memory, but we know these species roamed mainland Australia within quite recent ecological history. The Tasmanian Tiger still prowled throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea 3,300 years ago (Fletcher 2008) a century after the reign Egypt's most legendary Pharaoh Ramesses II ruler (British Museum n.d.)^*, and the Tasmanian Devil became extinct on the mainland only an approximate 400 years ago (Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania n.d.).

In the current era, many artefacts remain from the reign of Ramesses II, allowing curious audiences to experience the ancient culture of Egypt; but the Tasmanian Tiger is long since extinct on the mainland, and more recently extinct in Tasmania. Little is left behind in records and specimens, but a long legacy remains of people who feel lessened by the absence of the Thylacine, often not knowing (because of shifting baselines) that the loss is greater, as this species was once endemic throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea. If this is an experience we have lost already, what experiences of our wildlife will future generations miss? 
 
Within the South West Region, it may be the iconic Carnaby's Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris. Fifty years ago they frequently flocked in the thousands, with a cacophony of keening calls. Now, because of loss of habitat and nesting locations caused by the clearing of woodland wilderness throughout the wheat-belt (Western Australian Museum n.d.); much of the remaining population is comprised of individuals beyond breeding age. While there still seem plenty about, the reality is that the population has been greatly reduced, and while these birds can live for 40-50 years, once they're gone, there will be few, if any, Carnaby's Black Cockatoos able to continue the population (Department of the Environment and Heritage 2004). 
 
Or perhaps it will be the incredible subterranean West Australian Underground Orchid Rhizanthella gardneri, another wheat-belt species, only discovered to science in 1928 (Heberle n.d.), critically endangered and hardly known of now with only 50 individuals remaining (The University of Western Australia n.d.), it seems likely to slip nearly unnoticed into extinction. Models to show nature as it is, and as it has been; are necessary to even comprehend how habitats have changed across human history.

Dioramas are a method to assist in establishing the concept of shifting baselines through their function of artefacts capable of immersing audiences in preserved representations of wilderness. Habitat dioramas preserve habitats which no longer exist, and species that are also disappearing (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles n.d.). 

A widespread understanding of the concept of shifting baselines is necessary to understand a broader picture of how factors such as human activity are effecting ecosystems, and establishing retrospective baselines against which to compare the experience of wilderness. It is critical that we consider how we can present our wildlife to future generations, so that they can appreciate the loss of ecological diversity, and understand how ecosystems will continue to be fundamentally altered. 

 ^*Historical perspective is important – after all, shifting baselines are about forgetting how the natural world has changed throughout the lives of humans. 

References

British Museum. n.d. Ramesses II, King of Egypt (1279-1213 BC). http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/r/ramesses_ii,_king_of_egypt_12.aspx (accessed September 10, 2013).

Corlett, R. T. 2013. “The shifted baseline: Prehistoric defaunation in the tropics and its consequences for biodiversity conservation”. Biological Conservation 163.13–21. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.11.012

Department of the Environment and Heritage. 2004. Australian Threatened Species: Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/black-cockatoo.html (accessed September 10, 2013).

Fletcher, A. L. 2008. “Bring ‘Em back alive: Taming the Tasmanian tiger cloning project”. Technology in Society 30(2). 194–201. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/j.techsoc.2007.12.010

 Heberle, R. n.d. Rhizanthella gardneri 'Underground Orchids'. http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/Rhizanthella_gardnerii7.htm (accessed September 10, 2013).

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. n.d. African Mammal Hall. http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/african-mammals (accessed September 10, 2013). 

Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania. n.d. Tasmanian Devil, Sarcophilus harrisii. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=387 (accessed September 10, 2013).

Pauly, D. 1995. “Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10 (10). 430. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/S0169-5347(00)89171-5

The University of Western Australia. n.d. University News: WA's incredible underground orchid. http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201102073251/research/was-incredible-underground-orchid (accessed September 10, 2013). 

Western Australian Museum. n.d. Carnaby's Cockatoo. http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/online-exhibitions/cockatoo-care/carnabys-cockatoo (accessed September 10, 2013).

Ceramic Sketches #4

I didn't quite manage to capture that expression I see looking back at me when it's 4AM and I've woken up to find her watching me while I sleep.

Ceramic Sketches #3

A bowl for Topper, even though his preferred of eating is to gut a cat food bag and climb inside it to feast from it like a felled wildebeest.

Ceramic Sketches #2

In which Scout's fearsome visage becomes apparent.

I was somewhat worried that her glower would break my camera when I was taking reference photographs; she's such a little monster. I'm curious to see if she'll attack her cat bowl out of spite when I give it to her.

Ceramic Sketches

I've recently started throwing bowls on a wheel, and I'm enjoying decorating them with sgraffito designs. Normally when I'm in ceramics class I just scribble whimsically, but given that my bowls have begun to look less like the lumpy nests of Welcome Swallows, I thought that I might actually apply a modicum of forethought to their decoration.

Studies in Complements #2

So it seems like the final assignment of Gender Through Comic Books will be to produce a comic on a theme related to gender. I'm working on an idea already, but it remains to be seen as to if this will pan out or not.

Prisms of Phantasm #2

Occasionally I engage in fits of denial; like the idea that I could make a mural of fantastic creatures without the inclusion of Pegasus. Clearly my ability to resist drawing mythical equines was also just a fantasy.

Studies in Complements #1

Between talking about split complementary colours with one of my classes yesterday, and digging out my old watercolour supplies for life drawing class next week, this happened.

Pretty Perth Plumage

 Some of Perth's brightly coloured birds.

Banksias and Black Cockatoos

A pattern featuring endangered Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos, and Banksia prionotes. I'm happy to live across from a reserve which sometimes features the former, and always the latter. I'm very fond of the native wildlife.

Hello Possums!

A little experimentation with possum illustrations and logos.

Some Orchids to Brighten Up Your Day

Various orchids - an Oncidium, Laelia and Vanilla planifolia, the orchid responsible for producing lovely vanilla!

Prisms of Phantasm

Development work on a mural for Curtin Student Guild's Queer Department using fantastical creatures as a metaphor for human diversity. Each creature is white, representing white light through which a rainbow of colours emerge prismatically. The mural is being painted in acrylic paints, and is expected to be completed mid 2013.