Save Our Sharks

I shouldn't have been shocked I suppose. Last night at a wedding banquet in a major resort hotel here in KK, I was offered Shark's fin soup. 4/10 of us refused to eat it (was it insignificant that the 4 of us were the only foreigners and avid - or married to avid - SCUBA divers at our table?) The Underwater Times notes that Singapore's Sentosa Resorts World has recently decided not to have Shark fin on its main menu (although for the richest gamblers they might be able to order it in private gaming rooms).

Sharks are beautiful creatures; necessary elements of the marine food chain; under severe threat as more and more people queue up to eat their fins, who knows why? The only shark I've ever seen in TARP was this Catshark - less than 2 feet long (Atelomycterus marmoratus, seen on 17th May 2006 off Gaya Island). In fact that was my first dive in TARP and my last sighting of such an amazing beast. His/her fins are not under threat; but I am not surprised to have seen no real reef sharks in TARP, just sad.