Invasive Procedures

I was asked about this show by a certain Mr. B, and as I remember what the show was about, I remember the post by Sharky on the more-than-admittedly-sick Chum Slick. If you did not catch this show, it is no other than "Expedition Great White" on National Geographic. Below are some of the images from The Chum Slick on the show.

Should a hook like this be used?	Let's get to our "Battle Stations". See that blood? That's normal.
This does happen to be an invasive procedure.	This is also an invasive procedure.

This research project is intended to understand sharks more by "[Catching] adult great whites, bring them on board their vessel, take DNA and blood samples and attach the most sophisticated tracking devices before setting them free." Pretty cool, right? Nope.

The subject of controversy is the way these sharks are brought on board of their vessel. The first thing they do is hook a shark using no other than a hook and bait. After the shark is tired out over a period of time, they bring it to the "shark elevator" which consists of a wood platform on the side of their boat. After the shark is raised out of the water it is sampled. The only thing left after that is to lower the elevator and let the shark go. Pretty safe, right? Nope.
There are many reasons why I do not like this type of research on great whites. For one, there is a huge risk associated with tiring out these animals. When these animals fight against being caught for a long period of time, they consume an extraordinary amount of energy. If you are aware, you will know that swimming and catching prey consumes energy. When the energy reserves of a shark are depleted to a certain level, they may not be able to replenish that energy if they do not have any energy to feed. It would be like sprinting ten miles out into the desert and find out that the nearest place to eat is a mile away from you. That would be the reason why catch-and-release is so dangerous for these animals. I also have a problem with the time that the shark is out of the water and how it is treated. It should take less than five minutes to perform this procedure, not tens of minutes or more. While Mr. Domeier refutes the possibility that these animals could be injured as a result of being held down on a hard wood surface, I think that these animals probably should not be taken out of the water. Physics is a little different underwater.

If you would like, you can check out the Q&A with Mr. Domeier.

On the National Geographic website for the show, there is the quote:

Captain Brett McBride, Dr. Michael Domeier and crew members, David Olson and John Reed attach a tracking antenna to the dorsal fin of a great white shark. This allows them to follow the patterns of how they live, die and mate.

I can pretty accurately depict how they live, die, and mate from this show. They live ordinary lives until they are caught and prodded by these amateurs, slowly die because of it, and mate with their claspers and cloacas.

Are their tails supposed to bend like that?

If you would like to, you can play the Expedition Great White Game. It consists of bad programming, bad graphics, and a very unrealistic depiction of what actually happens.

If this kind of treatment a critically endangered species should endure is professional, I am not impressed.

---> Calvin Requin <---







---> Calvin Requin <---