Are the Chinese Finally Giving Up Shark Fin Soup?

A new survey has encouraging results for those concerned about the fate of world shark populations: it looks like the consumption of shark fin soup is dropping. The dish is considered a luxury status-symbol and usually served at weddings and other formal occasions. But now, of 1,000 residents of Hong Kong, 78% responded that they found it "acceptable" or "very acceptable" to leave the delicacy off the menu at a wedding.

The survey was commissioned by BLOOM, a non-profit organization dedicated to marine conservation, and carried out by the University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre. And while it's a small sample of a local market, it is a good sign that international markets are also moving away from hunting the endangered species. The New York Times writes:

But the city is the main hub for the world's shark fin trade. About 9,000 tons of fins, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, are imported each year, according to government statistics. So what happens in Hong Kong matters globally.

The survey is in line with a trend that dates back to 2009. So, while the results fall far short of assuring us that the world's sharks are safe, it's definitely good news. Shark finning is a horrific process :

A shark is caught, pulled onboard a boat, its fins are cut off, and the still-living shark is tossed back overboard to drown or bleed to death. The wasteful, inhumane practice is done to satisfy a demand for shark fins, which can fetch as much as $300 per pound.


With any luck, the numbers of those looking to dine on shark's fins will continue to drop, and the species will have a real chance to recover from their decimated numbers.

Sir Richard Branson's Deep-Sea Submarine to Explore Ocean's Unknown Depths

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco

Our ocean, particularly deep ocean, is one of the least explored places on earth. We know just a fraction of what plants and animals live under the waves, and barely understand the complexity of ocean ecosystems. One part of this is because we haven't spent as much time designing and building the sophisticated tools required for diving into the deepest parts of the sea as we have building space ships. That needs to change, and Sir Richard Branson wants to be a leading figure in that change. He has unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, capable of diving into even the Mariana Trench. But this will be just one of five incredible trenches the submarine is set to explore.

VIrgin Oceanic is a five-journey proposal, which includes the Mariana Trench, the Puerto Rico Trench, the Diamantina Trench, the South Sandwich Trench and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic ocean.

The team will be Sir Richard Branson and Chris Welsh, an American explorer, and they'll be working in conjunction with Scripps Institution of Oceanography as well as other top marine science programs. And the submarine is designed by Graham Hawks. The craft will be able to dive 37,000 feet, or about 7 miles deep (about as terrifying a trip as orbiting the moon) and will be made of carbon fiber and titanium to resist the extraordinary pressure. Also, the craft will be able to dive at a rate of 350 feet per minute, which seems quite fast and a round-trip venture to the bottom of the Mariana Trench would take about five hours.

Of course, the features of the submarine that make it an exploration vessel are just as important, and it will have sensors and cameras for recording the voyages and taking measurements for scientists.

Virgin Oceanic states, "If we are successful in our mission with this innovative design of submarine, then we will have proven that a vehicle can be built to withstand the extreme pressures of the oceans and that it is possible to take humans at far reduced risks to the bottom of our Oceans... When we have evolved our capacity for exploration, we will unlock opportunities to discover vast areas of our planet that we currently have no knowledge of. This is our vision."

It's an inspiring vision to be sure. And if there is a team of cleaver and resourceful people who can help get explorers to the darkest places of the earth that no human has ever seen, I'm sure there will be innumerable grateful scientists and researchers excited to take part in the project.

First Evidence of Plastic in the South Pacific: Is This a Different Kind of Garbage Patch?

by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 04. 5.11

5 Gyres founders Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen pick up a fishing line floating in the middle of the South Pacific. Photo credit: Paula Alvarado

No matter how much one has read or talked about plastic pollution in the oceans, the effect of seeing first-hand little pieces of plastic mixed with marine life or a yellow fishing line ruining a perfect view of the water nine hundred miles from the nearest coast is disturbing.

The thought comes to mind as, a week after departing from Valdivia, Chile, with the 5 Gyres project to sail the South Pacific in search of plastic pollution, the first traces of this material are starting to appear.

The foam buoy and synthetic rope were degraded and full of barnacles and crabs mistaking it for a natural habitat. Photo credit: Paula Alvarado

First, in the form of fragments of plastics and fishing nets in the samples taken from the trawls. Today, in the form of a fishing line floating in the middle of nowhere.

Even though these findings suggest that the South Pacific has not escaped the impact of marine plastic pollution, the fact that we're still finding small amounts of this petrol based material and not seeing so much debris floating around is also indicating that this part of the ocean may be in fact different from others explored by 5 Gyres.

According to Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen, founders of the project, the trawls on this trip appear cleaner than the ones done in the previous expeditions to the North Pacific, North Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South Atlantic.

Although one may think that's a good thing, it doesn't really mean that the South Pacific is cleaner but that the currents in this part of the ocean create a tighter gyre and thus the garbage may be more concentrated. A study called Floating marine debris surface drift: Convergence and accumulation toward the South Pacific subtropical gyre [PDF] also suggests that this gyre is a closed loop, and that the garbage that enters it doesn't leave, which could be the cause of not seeing so much debris floating.

The definite answer on whether this is the case or if the garbage patch in the South Pacific is smaller than previous ones will come when we reach the center of the gyre in a couple of days.

One of the trawl samples, with an organism tangled in a fishing net fragment. Photo credit: Paula Alvarado

While the small fragments of plastic and fishing nets found in the trawl samples may not seem like a lot, it's important to remember we're talking about the findings in the tiny portion of the South Pacific that was trawled.

We're taking samples every 60 miles, trawling an hour at a time. The width of the trawl is 0.6 meters (about two feet) and each time it runs for about two nautical miles (12,000 feet), so we're roughly covering 22,000 sq. feet of the immense ocean each time. And still, evidence -even if small- of plastic is found in the samples.

As we continue our way to Easter Island, the crew is enjoying light blue sunny afternoons and nights so full of stars you can see their reflections in the water. To think this beauty is about to be interrupted by a garbage patch is depressing and even scary.

Stay tuned for more of our 5 Gyres adventure coming soon!