Sargasso Sea: Bermuda video highlights importance of floating seaweed

A quick follow up to a recent post I wrote on efforts by Bermuda and the Pew Environment Group to establish a national marine park that would provide some measure of protection to the sargassum that surrounds Bermuda - the island is situated within the Sargasso Sea, a shoreless body of water bordered not by land but by rotating currents in the mid-Atlantic.

The idea of establishing a marine park is not falling on deaf ears within Bermuda itself. Bernews, one of Bermuda's online news outlets ran a brief article today describing the ongoing efforts and included a brief video produced by Look Bermuda. The video gives a good accounting as to why a national marine park would be good for the island, the sargassum, and the countless number of species that call this floating seaweed home.

Sargasso Teaser from LookBermuda on Vimeo.

Source: Bernews.

WildAid's Shark PSAs: getting the word out worldwide

You can go to YouTube, Flickr, and many other video posting sites, type in "shark" and see literally thousands of video clips (some of them are even mine). Most are from home videographers wanting to share their shark diving experiences.

WildAid realizes that not everyone watches those online sites, that traditional broadcast avenues still have some clout, so they have a series of shark conservation PSAs (public service announcements) that have run worldwide. However, you can also see them grouped together online at their website.

This one, in particular, got to me. It succinctly shows the irrationality of shark fin soup - bleached of all nutritional value and flavor, the fin is really just for "show" - to the tune of at least 40 million sharks per year.

It was also encouraging to see WildAid using Asian and foreign celebrities to promote shark conservation, since most of the shark products are destined for Asian markets worldwide. Take a look.