Great video explaining how shark tags work. 

We are so excited to have been a part of this trip! 

You can follow Berry the tiger shark here: http://rjd.miami.edu/learning-tools/follow-sharks/track-berry.html

Eleanor Phillips, Program Director, North Caribbean Program at The Nature Conservancy, explains the importance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in The Bahamas. 

MPAs, such as this one in the South Berry Islands, are exactly the sort of real world conservation efforts that our players are supporting by playing MyConservationPark. 

More from our trip to the South Berry Islands MPA! 

In this video, Neil Hammerschlag, PhD, leading Shark Tagging Scientist with R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program at the University of Miami, talks about the severe threats facing tiger and great hammerhead sharks, their peculiar nature and the great challenges of shark research in the newly created MPA in the South Berry Islands, Bahamas.

Why should we care about shark finning? 

Great explanation from WildAid

Mr. Knights, of WildAid, said that if the decimation of shark populations continued, all the money in the world would not provide shark fins for diners. “This is unsustainable,” he said, “and the question is, do you end it now or do you wait until there are no sharks left?”

Interesting review of Demon Fish, a book that attempts to explain the importance of shark conservation.

More than 73 million sharks are killed each year by fishermen who hack off their fins to sell as a coveted ingredient for soup. As many as 90 percent of sharks in the world’s open oceans have disappeared.

In a segment for 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper dives with the Sharkman and Great White Sharks highlighting that although there is a lot we do not know about these amazing creatures, we do know that they are not the man-eating monsters they’ve previously been made out to be. A really interesting look at these beautiful animals up close!

The government in Palau is active in protecting its shark population. They realize the importance of protecting sharks to ensure a healthy eco-system.

Let’s hope more countries follow suit!

A new documentary on the global shark trade, The Fin Trail, coming later this year.

Since time began we have seen the shark as the silent deadly killer of the ocean deeply engrained in the human psyche as an object of fear. However fact is that in an average year, sharks account for less than ten human deaths, while in the same period we kill up to 100 million of them. What’s more, 99% of them are killed for their fins alone which are added to a soup to make an oriental delicacy.

The fact that sharks are facing extinction to satisfy the demand for soup is becoming well known. But how do the fins reach the markets? Who is making the money? How much money is being made? When and where is shark finning legal, and when is it illegal? And should we care?

The Fin Trail will follow this trade from beginning to end and will travel the world in search of the answers. We will track down the profiteers and gangsters behind the business that is pushing a group of animals towards extinction. We will calculate their profits — in effect the price of extinction — and will smoke out the corrupt officials turning a blind eye to what is happening. We will try to find out to what extent governments across the world are colluding in the extermination of one of the oldest inhabitants of our planet. We will meet the conservationists around the globe who are fighting a rearguard action against the slaughter.