Okay, some of you know that we have been working on a project to help study and debunk the myths and misinformation regarding shark behavior, especially in the surf.
Several of the members of Requiem and myself have started a 501(c)(3) non-profit to raise awareness of actual shark behavior and how it affects humans that swim in the ocean.
The media would have you believe that fishermen are chumming in sharks by the thousands and that is leading to an increasing number of attacks.
This is simply untrue and only serves to increase ratings from the media outlets that promote these untruths. As all of you know, if it’s on the internet or on TV it must be true right?
Coastal Shark Tagging Initiative - or CSTI will be working with the SCDNR this year and upcoming years to tag and study the sharks that most frequently inhabit the surf zone and interact with people.
Our current project will utilize acoustic receivers that will be planted at the mouths of the major inlets along the South Carolina coast as well as beaches that are heavily fished, and beaches that are rarely fished.
Specific species of sharks will be tagged with acoustic transmitters and with the data collected we will hopefully, be able to establish enough to data to present solid evidence in the debate of fisherman leading to shark bites.
You may be aware that certain counties in Florida are trying to pass bans on shark fishing stating that the fishermen are making it unsafe for the public to swim.
We are strongly against such bans, as they have absolutely no data or evidence to back them up and the legality of the counties enforcing them are questionable, to say the least.
As with everything, our research equipment is not free. The acoustic transmitters and tags, all cost money, and we will be fundraising in order to purchase the equipment needed.
it wont do a (**() thing… its not about studies/surveys and data… its about money…
its the stigma of sharks that the general population don’t like… why it looks cool in the pics the general public dosnt want to see it
at the end of the day your messing with the goverments money…they don’t feer sharks they frankly don’t give 2 ****s about it… they care about people on the beach, spending money, traveling to the beach… the last thing they want is people seeing apex preditors being released in the area ajasent to where they are relaxing or having the children swim ect ect. this should have spoke volumes when you were trying to change the minds of legislation on the folly beach ban… with got 0 support and was a unanimous decision…
the best thing you could do is let it go… stop shinny a light the situation… it will not end in your favor and in fact your nothing doing anything positive… so lets say they get wind of your studies what are you going to do hold a press conference with them to educate them??? only thing that will come from it will be bigger bans of more beaches
as for fl… again its just bad press…people are digging up dead sharks and having them wash up, heck picutres of circulating of guys chopping up big hammers… than you have families paying money to relax and enjoy the beach why a few 100 people are shark fishing… lets say for those 2 weeks no one but fishermen come to those beaches… that’s a ton of lost revenue and again that’s all they care about… the govemrnt will make more money protecting the businesses and banning shark fishng and making money of enforcing those laws than they will having a tourney… all your going to do is fund them to keep you from fishing.
its not like your going to line the pockets of legislation/law makers to protect you or keep your interest in mind. and that’s honestly what it takes big money to bribe them not a study…
all this is info you have been told since you started sharking… and look the stuff you sa
You should really let your grudge with me go. They have made huge strides in FL and have overturned “bans” in many counties that have had bans for decades like Daytona beach area. FWC has also commented they will be dealing with any county with a ban because they are not legally enforceable. South Carolinas laws are similar if not identical.
Our project aims to bring actual data on whether we have an impact or not. While we think it doesn’t , if the data shows otherwise we would gladly be willing to never fish for sharks from the beach again. The ban on folly really doesn’t matter. It just keeps anyone anyone dumb enough or disrespectful enough to fish in the most crowded area of folly away.
OCEARCH changed the stigma in cape cod. Tourism has grown because people want to see the sharks just like they want to see Dolphins.
The ban on folly really doesn’t matter. It just keeps anyone anyone dumb enough or disrespectful enough to fish in the most crowded area of folly away.
hey dumb **** that was your stomping grounds and what you called home base for the first year or so of your “sharking” life… so you were dumb enough and disrespectful enough to fish the most crowed beach only you did it under the terms that you lived on the island… you didn’t own the land you rented
ill remind you you and your “team” were the ones wearing team shirts on folly and proud to do so…
Sharks right it is the public perception of shark fishing that matters and it never will be good, they have a stigma like snakes do that is nearly unbreakable. I know people who are scared of sharks in the water and they lived and swam here there entire life’s and know no fatal shark attacks have ever happened and still have the fear of an attack, but no fear of drowning which happens far to often. I will help support your cause and will even look in to participating but you may end up making things worse by drawing more attention to the situation and letting people know there are a lot more sharks around then they thought and they might try to broaden the ban when they see that a shark tagged in stono inlet swims around folly and Sullivans and other places. The general line of thinking will be you lured in a predator, sent it into feeding mode and cut it loose to feed more. My personal experience is you catch more sharks at less populated beaches and close to inlets both are areas that are less safe then swimming in a beach front. The money is definitely a factor think of all of folly’s drinking festivals out of season when times are slow to bring in money, and no more drinking on the beach definitely helped all the bars and restaurants, though it did clean up the crowds somewhat. My opinion is any bait in the water is bait in the water and bait occurs naturally and it is ignorant to think that a shark is only there because of shark fishing and the people who are promoting these closure know this, but they also know the general public has a limited thought process and is short sited to things like this. I could see if there angle was to help diminishing populations to cut down on moralities this being reasonable. Bribery, positional leverage, and personal relations pretty much are what causes change in the government/politics, what Stan is doing will create leverage and relations that may help this situation.
There are few reasons that inspired this and hope for change.
OCEARCH - They have already changed people’s minds and made sharks more interesting to the general population. At one point we had considered doing a tournament and had OCEARCH willing to tag a few of our sharks, we ended up not hosting it but in one conversation with Chris Fischer (president of OCEARCH), he said two things. “The hunter saved the forest, and I believe the angler will save the ocean.” and “It is truly amazing when anglers and scientists share a few beers and ideas what will happen.” Which is why we partnered up with SCDNR biologists like Bryan Frazier who has been quoted in nearly every shark article in the media local to us. The acoustic project was his idea, and we think it is a perfect way to initiate a change in thinking. It’s been done before, it just needs the support to do it again.
We are already collecting a good amount of data and have a few recaptures to show the sharks we caught hang out in the area. All the sharks were caught within a few miles of the last time they were tagged. Collecting more in-depth data will give us even more- and probably things we don’t expect. Ocearch never expected white sharks to travel from cape cod to the panhandle.
We are also starting talks with some of the guys from make lab and their new endeavor to further develop tagging technology to make it cheaper and more powerful. If we can cram a whole computer in a phone for $700.00 retail, we can probably improve the expensive tags already out there.
Another big reason: Even the “experts” don’t really know all that much. When we started catching blacktips and lemons we asked them where we could catch tigers from land? The answer we got was 10 miles out in blue water. They don’t like dirty water. The I caught and released a 12ft Tiger less than a month later from land. Since then we have caught several. Duskys were said to be all but wiped out. This year hundreds were caught in the panhandle and in NC.
and please stop asking everyone to fund every idea you have… its getting old… most of your post are asking for money or contribution or to fund this idea or that… your a big man who is a pharmacy tec… fund yourself and your dream…
the fact you say you should be respectful of others on the beach is comical… with the stories i have herd about you Edisto, fl,sc,
please don’t think you are on the front line of anything or chris fischer… do you listen to yourself how self obsorbed are you…???
i mean you know the answers to the above post… you did call folly home base, you did wear your “team shirt” you were part of the problem not a solution… the day you get in thru your mind the better the community will be…
I couldn’t tell you the times as a youth I’ve jumped in the water in St. Helena’s sound to cool off from an offshore trip and swam around Otter Island on a weekend retreat. After Mary Lee I don’t do it anymore. Maybe just getting older, I don’t even like going to the beach anymore thinking about sharks. (that and the crowds) I do my swimming in the pool, lakes or rivers now. I know the chances of a shark attack is slim and then probably only an ankle bitter making a mistake, but I still can’t get the image of one chomping one of my grand-kids out of my mind. I know paranoia.
The thought that fishermen cause shark’s to bite or even increase the chance is pretty far off imo. The biggest danger I see in surf fishing in a crowded area would be a hook in someones butt. Surf fishermen are not attracting any sharks that are not already there.
“If Bruce Jenner can keep his wiener and be called a woman, I can keep my firearms and be considered disarmed.”
