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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