CRAB MENTALITY

By Arnel Mirasol

In November 2012, Shawn Heinrichs, Kristian Schmidt, Richard Branson, and models Hannah Fraser and Roberta Mancino went to Oslob, Cebu to shoot these series of pictures that combine fashion and marine wildlife photography. This project was supported by Wildaid, an NGO focused on reducing demand for endangered species. Shawn Heinrichs is an Emmy award winning cinematographer, photographer, and marine conservationist. An independent filmmaker, he is the founder of Blue Sphere Media. Kristian Schmidt, on the other hand, is known for his expertise in creative fashion photography.

Heinrichs came up with this idea of doing a fashion shoot underwater when he learned of the nascent whale shark tourism activity in Oslob. Recognizing that people only protect what they cared about, Heinrichs hope that by bringing this activity to global attention more tourists will be induced to come over and spend tourist dollars in the community. That way, Oslob fishermen will see the whale sharks in a new light - no longer as pests that compete with them in catching shrimps, but as treasured friends that will help lift them from their marginal existence. Heinrichs wrote:

"Just two years ago in these very waters, divers discovered a live juvenile shark that had all its fins cut off. Though legally protected in the Philippines, poaching of whale sharks had continued because the shark fin traders enticed poor local fishermen to earn money from exploiting these vulnerable animals. Less than a decade prior, the local population of whale sharks had all been wiped out to satisfy demands for shark fins in China. Now finally, local communities have found a way to earn a living from whale shark tourism, and rather than targeting and killing them, they now are passionate about protecting them."

And what Heinrichs hoped for happened. A friend from Oslob remarked that their town averaged about a thousand tourists a day, a bonanza that may have triggered envy in some quarters. Nowadays a chorus of voices can be heard denouncing the whale shark tourism pattern in Oslob. They especially disapprove of the doling out of shrimps to whale sharks, a practice that, environmentalists say, could alter their feeding patterns. These environmentalists claimed that the whale sharks' dependence on these dole outs may erase for good from their brains their ancestral memory on how to forage for food. Well, that is but conjecture and theory, because, in my opinion, foraging for shrimps doesn't require well-honed hunting skills. All a whale shark has to do to catch shrimps is open its mouth and suction them in. No stealth and speed is required because shrimps can't dart as fast as barracudas, or any other fish for that matter.

So, stop being bitter please. Remember that the dollars generated by whale shark tourism benefit not only Oslob, but the whole country as well. After all, tourists only stay in Oslob for a day or two. After that they'll proceed to other Philippine destinations where they'll spend the money they still have, which I'm sure is still substantial. I also admonish the guy who posted on his facebook page this remark - "Miss Universe, please don't be a bitch to the environment." -  to not equate with bitching the beauty queens' swim with the whale sharks. Don't you see that you are being sexist and misogynist that way?

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To Feed or Not to Feed

By Arnel Mirasol

Binibining Pilipjnas-Universe Maxine Medina posing with a whale shark

The visit by some Miss Universe contestants in Oslob, Cebu, to swim with the whale sharks sparked what some saw as outrage, because a netizen posted this plea on facebook :  "Miss Universe, please don't be a bitch to the environment."   (A remark that betrays, in my opinion, the latent sexist and misogynist mindset of whoever wrote that because of his use of the word "bitch".) The visit brings to the fore once again the question of whether to condemn or condone the feeding of whale sharks.

Feeding is always a benevolent act if the one giving food doesn't intend to slaughter later on the animal being fed. I wrote that line in an earlier blog (titled "Yes to Whale Shark Feeding") to defend the fishermen of Oslob who feed the whale sharks that frequent their area. I decried in that blog the seeming double standard of the environmentalists who condemn the feeding of whales sharks in Oslob on one hand, and condone on the other the feeding of the wildlife in Calauit Island, which by the way were all abducted from Africa. Not only is their stand on the issue a stark example of double standard, it also smacks of hypocrisy, because there is right here in Manila an establishment that is downright cruel to marine wildlife. I'm speaking of the Manila Ocean Park, within whose tanks are trapped not only reef fishes, but also pelagic ones, like the sharks and manta rays, whose natural behavior is to roam the farther and deeper reaches of the ocean to hunt for food.

Remember that not too long ago, the Mayor of Dumanjug, Cebu, Nelson Garcia, was quoted as saying that whales, dolphins, and sharks are parasites that should be killed because they are responsible for the dwindling fish catch in the area. He claimed that these marine species consume as much as a ton of fish everyday which could have been for humans. A fisherman in Oslob also confessed that before the advent of whale shark tourism in their place, it was their practice to do precisely what the mayor of Dumanjug proposed because the whale sharks competed with them in catching shrimps. Now, putting the whole issue in that context, it would be reasonable to presume that the feeding of whale sharks is in fact beneficial to them, because it would allow them to multiply. The environmentalists' reasons for the banning of whale shark feeding are but conjectures and theories.  If they succeed, not only would they put at risk the livelihood of the fishermen of Oslob, but would also reduce our country's tourism income.

I respect the opinion of these environmentalist. They may be right on some points. All I ask of them is to be fair, and condemn with equal ferocity the zoos, circuses, and oceanariums  that hold animals captives for life: and while they're at it, to also berate the owners of animal farms where docile species are fed and fattened for slaughter later on.