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Hunting For Paradise
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24.01.2022 A couple days ago I was lucky enough to have the most humbling experience with this new born dolphin and its mother. For this wild dolphin to trust us enough w...ith her baby was a truly special encounter! Koombana Bay, Western Australia Sony a7Riii + Tamron 17-28 f/2.8 + Ikelite Housing Dolphin Discovery Centre Hunting For Paradise www.instagram.com/huntingforparadise/
14.01.2022 Prints available www.huntingforparadise.com/store
08.01.2022 ** Shark cull debate** TLDR at bottom Western Australia is lucky enough to be home to one of the most healthy shark populations in the world. In the last 50 ye...ars the global shark population has dropped over 70%, leaving over 3 out of 4 species of sharks in our oceans facing the threat of extinction... This decline is largely due to an 18 fold increase in pressures from commercial fishing bycatch and the unsustainable practice of shark finning. Let those these facts sink in for a bit as they'll come in handy later. (Feel free to DM me and i'll link you to peer reviewed science journals backing these facts up) There have been anecdotal reports that the shark populations in North-West WA are out of control and in plague proportions, neither of which claims have been backed by any form of science. North-West WA does have a larger than average shark presence, but this is only when comparing to the rest of the world, which after suffering a 70% decrease clearly isn't a very accurate baseline! Over the past couple years fishermen and women visiting the North-West of WA for a holiday have grown increasingly frustrated with the hassle that these sharks cause them... "Bite-offs" Bite offs occur as a fish is being wound up to the boat and a shark will bite the fish off the line before the fisho can land the fish on the boat. Obviously this is causing a problem for not only the local fish population but also can be frustrating for the fisho too. With our current quota based fishing system if someone is to catch a fish that they want to take home and it gets bitten off, the next step is to keep fishing and hope that the next fish doesn't get bitten off right ? This clearly leads to a larger impact on fish stocks than the quota is designed to allow. From the tall tales I've heard on online forums and from fishos face to face the ratio of 10:1 likes to get thrown around, but like all good salty tales from the seven seas this is no doubt a gross overestimation. For arguments sake lets settle on a slightly less exaggerated but still none the less harmful ratio of 3:1 for this point. For every 3 prized fish that "Bill the bogan" catches, he only manages to wind 1 up onto the boat, therefore the impact of his days fishing (other than the countless discarded bait bags and tinnies left to float in the ocean) is three times higher than fisheries records... It's safe to say that whether you like sharks or not that this is not a good thing to happen. The only thing to benefit from this arrangement is the shark, which gets a free and easy meal. Sharks are smart animals, they aren't the mindless killing machines that we are told about in the movies or in Murdochs media empire. They have not only survived but thrived over millions of years as the apex predators in our oceans due to this intelligence. It is these brains that are allowing the sharks to associate the sound of boat motors, anchor chains and often even fishing reels with a dinner bell. When you add a heap of burley and chopped up bait into the mix then every shark in the area will soon figure out that there are going to be some easy food options available if they stick around. Local tourism to these areas, especially in the form of fishing trips not only brings a lot of people to otherwise quiet, regional WA coastal towns but also normally brings with them a fair amount of money. (I haven't seen a comparison of Recreational fishing $$ vs Marine tourism $$ but I'd safely bet the fishing $ outweighs the tourism $). When you are on a limited break from work in the big smoke to the south and have only a short amount of time to catch the fabled fillet limit, you tend to fish the spots you know. If you are lucky enough to live in the region and have every weekend to explore then normally you get the chance to diversify your fishing spots to a greater range of the reef. It is for this precise reason that we are seeing so many bite offs occur, fishermen are coming up from the south, hoping to reach their bag limits in as little time as possible and therefore are visiting the same spots time and time again. Its also worth noting that with only 2 boat ramps available along an almost 300km section of reef that the occurrence of these bite off spots are clearly more frequent nearer to these boat ramps (and therefore in turn more likely to be experienced by the majority of boat users). Recently rumours have surfaced within the ocean community that our fisheries minister Peter Tinley AM (who is also the minister for Housing, Veterans Issues and Asian Engagement) (WTF) has caved to the pressures from fishing lobbies calling for a reopening of the commercial shark fisheries in the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley regions of WA. This is effectively another government sanctioned shark cull. The direct aim of opening up this fisheries stock would be to reduce the shark population to a more "manageable" level and therefore placate the couple hundred angry fishermen who can no longer rape and pillage the oceans to the levels that they could back in the day. Clearly reducing shark numbers does absolutely nothing to help our ecosystem and the money spent on this would be far better used to fund studies into if there is in fact an over abundance of sharks in the North-West ecosystems and why... Surely after everything we have done and continue to do to this planet this type of knee jerk, votes based policy isn't smart. Surely by ignoring the science or even worse by not even giving science the chance to find out the facts first we would be taking a huge step backwards as a state ? We have been blessed with an amazing abundance of wildlife in this state, both on land and in the water. People travel from all over the world in the hopes of glimpsing a shark in the water because where they live, shark populations have been almost completely wiped out. We've so grossly mismanaged the Great Barrier Reef, please lets not do the same with the Ningaloo. Lets learn from our mistakes, listen to science and act as the custodians of this planet and not owners... TLDR: Fishermen in WA are losing fish to sharks whilst "sport" fishing, they have demanded a cull in shark numbers as they claim they are out of control. Fisheries minister has caved to pressure of a select few and said he is "broadly supportive" of this claim. Instead of listening to sound science and finding out if these claims are correct there will instead be a state sanctioned cull (by means of opening the commercial shark fisheries) to sell fins to china and reduce shark numbers TLSDR: Fishermen are starting to see the effects of a depleted ocean and instead of relying on science to come up with a solution they are blaming a way cooler and more evolved version of the fisherman, the humble shark... Want to do something about it ? Let them know how you feel: Mark McGowan Peter Tinley AM Recfishwest Fisheries WA Follow for more info: Protect What You Love Hunting For Paradise Envoy: Shark Cull Apex Harmony Campaign - Sea Shepherd Global Shark Conservation Australia Protect Ningaloo Australian Marine Conservation Society Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/minister-peter-tinley-don-t-approv Instagram updates: www.instagram.com/huntingforparadise/ www.instagram.com/protectwhatyoulove.com.au/
07.01.2022 With 2020 coming to a close I thought I'd compile my favourite images taken in what has been perhaps the weirdest year of our lives... I've tried to focus a bi...t more on above water images this year especially my wildlife portfolio as I build the skills needed to tell stories with my photographs both above and below the water. As always your support, compliments, shares and likes go a long way to making this all happen... ** All images available to print, DM for details** Hunting For Paradise www.instagram.com/huntingforparadise/ www.huntingforparadise.com
01.01.2022 Spring has sprung, with babies all around us its been amazing watching nature in action. We spent a morning watching mumma Willy Wagtail catching all sorts of i...nsects for her chicks ! Sony a7Riii + Sony 200-600mm Hunting For Paradise www.instagram.com/huntingforparadise/
