Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Red Sea - here come the Scavengers!

Remarkable!

You want to read this - makes me want to puke!

So, as always, the usual vultures are closing in - by invitation, all expenses paid, no less! And on top of that, they've been awarded a grand total of three preemptive PhDs, no doubt in anticipation of their forthcoming spectacular eco-behavioral insights - now that's what I call credentials!
Wow!

As yet another unnamed friend writes
Expect fireworks: Ritter and Levine will try to turn this into a media circus for their own self-promotion as they did previously with the Jamie Daigle case when Ritter hijacked the autopsy (to which George Burgess had been invited by the coroner) and released his wild speculations to the media ahead of the official report.
This really stinks.

Indeed it does - and I say: dive industry beware!
This is a conversation you must get on top of and OWN, or the bureaucrats, self-appointed experts, whacks and charlatans will carry the day, with truly unfathomable consequences - for you!
The authorities are obviously completely overwhelmed, so get in contact with a reputable Shark NGO (Shark Trust!) and let them mediate contacts to reputable researchers and industry professionals.

You need to act right away, join ranks and have a voice
.
You need to counter the hysteria (this is pretty good, but where's the follow up?) and the conspiracy theories with reasoned and fact based (!) statements. It also very much looks like you and the other water based tourism operators need to reform and self regulate - or someone else will do that for you.

As to the causes for the attacks, nobody will ever know.
All the theories that have been advanced (the Mossad, no less!) will always remain untestable hypotheses, some of which are certainly plausible. Here's a possible list and here's a remarkable compilation by David - buddy did you just accuse me of being too reserved? Wow, that sure is a first!

All very interesting but let's maybe first stick with Occam's razor.
The simplest and painfully trivial explanation is that due to the massive increase of the tourism infrastructure in that area, there are now heaps of people splish-splashing around in water that incidentally gets very deep very fast, meaning that the chance for attacks by some species of Sharks has increased accordingly. As to why those OWTs (yes David, agree: plural!) have ventured closer to shore, I miss any reference to the usual "big" factors, as in climate, weather, water temperature and currents along with seasonal aggregations of prey, like what happens in South Africa, Florida and Oz.

But I'm digressing and as I said, my guess is as good as anybody's anyway.
The fact is that there are some very negative news out there that need tackling. Leave the initiative to others, especially those guys, and you will end up in an ocean of hurt.

And here endeth the Tuesday sermon!

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