Sharkwater

Saw Sharkwater a few weeks ago in the theater. A bit of a depressing film, it's awful to see sharks treated this way (as well as any other animal.)

Not a lot was 'news' to me, i'd read about much of these atrocities, like fishing and finning. It was odd for me, as a vegan and animal rights activist, to hear 'complaints' that the 'rest of the shark' isn't used...to me, it's just plain wrong either way. It's no 'better' if the 'whole shark' is 'used'. It's the 'using' that i find objectionable - or specifically, the notion that sharks are ours to use.

The documentary was well presented, lots of amazing footage, and Rob Stewart's story (will i see you tonite, on the downtown train?) was pretty remarkable as well. Wasn't so crazy about the condoned violence by Sea Shepherd and others...you can't change the world using the same methods you supposedly oppose...

I'll give the film a 7.5/10 - it would have scored higher if there was any semblance of a vegan message, or even the basic suggestion of telling people not to eat sharks or other fishes. It was also very unfortunate that people leave the theater impotent. There are numerous actions that people can take to help sharks, but didn't mention any. They could go vegan of course - that'd be the #1 thing anyone can do to help sharks, and any other animal. They could get places that sell sharkfins in their community to stop. Same with other shark products (like cartilage in health food stores). The list goes on... Even their website is quite limiting, mainly collecting pledges, and making relatively weak suggestions to aid sharks. Ahh well. Better than nothing i guess.