Campaigns
The Deep undertakes regular initiatives to raise public awareness of Marine Conservation initiatives. These campaigns involve both focus months in the attraction concentrating on specific aspects of marine conservation of national and global significance.
Marine Reserves Now Campaign
Year of The Frog 2008
Shark Summer at The Deep
Marine Reserves Now Campaign
The Deep has coordinated the efforts of over 40 public aquariums throughout the UK in actively supporting the Marine Conservation Society’s campaign “Marine Reserves Now”. The campaign was set up in response to the announcement that the UK Government was preparing a draft Marine Bill. This paper represents the perfect time to bring into legislation a framework to effectively protect the changing coastal waters. At the current time there is a diverse range of protection measures in place which vary in their effectiveness in providing protection for the entire ecosystem. Only one thousandth of one percent of our sea area is fully protected, despite the wealth of wildlife that lives there. This contradicts the advice of many scientific publication which estimate that between 20 and 30% of our coastline needs to be designated as Highly Protected Marine Reserves in order to ensure its sustainability. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) together with the UK Public Aquariums and the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) is campaigning for a network of vital Marine Reserves – where our precious marine heritage and wildlife will be safe from harm, giving nature room to breathe and recover from decades of exploitation.
The Deep’s Assistant Chief Executive, Dr David Gibson explains,
“The Deep and many other public aquariums in the UK have helped the MCS collect 100,000 petition signatures from the UK public. On the day that the Government issues its draft Marine Bill, April 3rd 2008 , MCS staff members along with representatives from public aquariums and the British Sub-Aqua Club will be marching to the House of Commons to deliver the petition calling for government to commit to a network of Highly Protected Marine Reserves through the UK’s coastal waters. I’d like to thank all those people who visited The Deep and signed the petition sheets on our Marine Reserves Now display. The Deep fully supports the MCS and hope that their urgent call to toughen up the Bill with measures and powers, is acted upon by Government”.
Background (from MCS website)
The Facts:
- Scientists recommend that 20- 30% of our seas should be fully protected to ensure their survival.
- Over 60% of UK fisheries are unsustainable, and delicate long-lived species continue to be damaged by destructive fishing techniques.
- Case studies abroad have shown that Marine Reserves can benefit divers, anglers, fishermen and biodiversity alike. New Zealand has 28 Marine Reserves, and 33% of the Great Barrier Reef is highly protected – many reserves have resulted in increased fish and shellfish populations, whilst biodiversity is protected from destruction.
Year of The Frog 2008
The Year of the Frog campaign has been launched in 2008 by WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) to address the amphibian extinction crisis. It is expected that approximately 50% of species (3,000 species) are threatened with extinction. The main reason for the rapid decline of frogs is habitat loss, chytrid disease, climate change, pollution, pesticides and introduced species. The global amphibian crisis represents the greatest mass extinction since the dinosaurs. To find out more about the global campaign and to sign the online petition, please visit http://www.amphibianark.org/yearofthefrog.htm
In February 2008 Sir David Attenborough’s hit BBC series “Life in Cold Blood” highlighted the plight of amphibians. Coinciding with his frog episode, The Deep launched its Frog Art Week. As part of the event, two new species were added to the collection. The Deep’s Assistant Curator, Katy Rigby explained,
“We are very excited about the arrival of both these species from Chester Zoo. White’s Tree frogs originate from Australia, they are green and plump with extra large toes to grip trees. The Golden Poison Arrow frogs are also known as ‘terriblis’ because they are the most poisonous animal on the planet! Despite its toxicity ‘terriblis’ are endangered along with 50% of the world’s amphibians. Zoos and aquariums across the world are campaigning to draw attention to the worldwide decline in amphibians.”
To help raise urgently needed funds for the campaign, The Deep guide team gave frog presentations and a team of local artists worked with families to create fantastic frog collages. We also launched Amphibian Art, an exhibition by acclaimed wildlife illustrator Lizzie Harper. The show runs until May 11th 2008 and features frogs, toads and lesser known amphibians such as axolotyls. All the work is for sale and Lizzie is kindly donating proceeds from any sales to the Year of the Frog campaign.
Frogs species at the Deep
White’s Tree frog Litoria caerulea
Green and Black Poison Arrow frog Dendrobates auratus
Golden Poison Arrow frog Phyllobates terribilis
Blue Poison Arrow frog Dendrobates azureus
Shark Summer at The Deep
March 21 – August 31 2008
Whilst the shark is the ocean’s greatest predator, it is itself under serious threat of global extinction. The Deep has been running shark conservation campaigns working in conjunction with the Shark Trust, ever since opening 2002. The Deep’s activities have included successfully campaigning to encourage local Chinese restaurants not to sell shark fin soup or shark products from unsustainable sources and hosting a Chinese press visit resulting in significant coverage. Jaws author, Peter Benchley worked relentlessly with the Shark Trust to redress the balance - by dispelling myths surrounding sharks, right up until his death in 2006. A packed audience listened to his memorable shark conservation presentation in The Deep’s Endless Oceans Gallery in 2005.
This year, Shark Summer which runs from March 21 – August 31, draws attention to the plight of sharks and shows what we can do to help.
The Deep’s Assistant Chief Executive, Dr David Gibson explains,
“Here at The Deep we care for 50 sharks and rays. Sharks are some of most fascinating animals on earth, yet at the same time they are greatly misunderstood. “Shark Summer” is an excellent opportunity for our visitors to find out more about these creatures and why we need to conserve them. We will also be trying to dispel some of the myths surrounding shark attacks. Humans are more likely to be killed by a coconut falling on their head or by a bee! Most incidents are a case of mistaken identity and are relatively rare. In reality, the world’s shark population is more in danger from humans than the other way round. Shark stocks worldwide have already been depleted by as much as 90% in recent years. We have particular concerns about the use of shark products from unsustainable sources. For example, the rising demand for shark fin soup has resulted in some 100,000,000 sharks being killed each year.”
To help raise public awareness of the urgent need to conserve sharks, we are running a range of family activities including shark trails and presentations. We are showing a new 4D shark movie shot in the wild by Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of the legendary Jacques Cousteau and features Great Whites, Hammerheads and Whale sharks, along with many species that live at The Deep, please click here for full details. To find our more about shark conservation, please visit http://www.sharktrust.org
You can help by adding your signature to the Shark Trust anti-finning campaign when you visit The Deep.
Sharks at The Deep
Find out more about our sharks at http://www.fishbase.org . Search for the species we have at The Deep including Nurse, White Tip, Bonnethead, Brown Banded Bamboo, Zebra, Sandtiger, Honeycomb Stingray, Black stingray, Wobbegong, Bluespotted Ribbon Tail Ray, Greater Spotted Dogfish and Yellow Ray, Grey Reef, Bullhuss and Green Sawfish.
Previous Campaigns
Shark Friendly Campaign
During 2002 and 2003 The Deep ran a campaign in conjunction with The Shark Trust to develop a Shark Friendly “brand” for local restaurants. The aim was to reduce the demand locally for shark based products such as Shark Fin Soup. An intensive media campaign was used to target restaurants in the East Yorkshire area and persuade restaurant owners to remove all shark related products from their menus.
The Deep then awarded participating restaurants with a “Shark Friendly” certificate, which could be displayed within the restaurant to reassure customers that by eating at that restaurant they were not inadvertently damaging shark populations.
The campaign was a great success with over 30 local restaurants that had previously sold shark-based products withdrawing them from their menus.
Project: Coral Rescue – October 2004
A month long initiative took place to raise public awareness of the presence and threats to UK Corals. The activities revolved around public talks and presentations as well as activities such as face painting and badge making all themed around our 2 flagship conservation projects on the Pink Sea Fan and Lophelia pertusa.
Temporary displays from English Nature and SAMS were also in place for the month. During the month we raised in excess of £2000 from public donations which all went to help fund our joint project on the Pink Sea Fan.
Marine Conservation Month – October 2003
For this month long campaign The Deep teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society to raise public awareness of issues relating to marine conservation on a global scale. In particular we raised funds in support of the Marine Conservation Societies Semporna Islands Project.
The Semporna Islands in the Malaysia are an area of exceptional biodiversity with regards coral reefs and the project aims to provide alternative livelihoods for local people, which compliment and preserve the reefs. It also aimed to establish the area as a Marine Reserve.
During the month long campaign a total of £1600 was raised for the project. Since this campaign took place the area has been designated as a Marine reserve and initiative such as giant clam farming have been set up providing ecologically sound and financially adequate livelihoods for local people in the area.
Shark Month – October 2002
During the month of October 2002 The Deep hosted a month long activity in conjunction with The Shark Trust to highlight the plight of shark populations worldwide. The Shark Trust is UK based shark conservation organisation dedicated to protecting shark population’s worldwide.
The months activity focused mainly on the wide spread practise of Shark Fining. This is the process by which the fins of sharks are removed for the far eastern food markets. The fins are normally removed from sharks that are still alive with the rest of the animal being discarded. The fishery that targets sharks is indiscriminate and very destructive. Sharks are normally caught on oceanic long line sets in international water where very little control is in place. Many different species of shark are caught and all have their fins removed.
The biology of sharks, with late onset maturation and low population doubling times, makes them very vulnerable to any form of commercial fishing.
It is estimated that up to 100,000,000 sharks are killed worldwide each year for this market. As a result populations of ocean going sharks have plummeted in recent years with some estimates stating that 90% of large predatory shark population have disappeared in the last 10-15 years.
Along with a series of family talks on the subject, fund raising activities and guest speakers the months activity also included the hosting of “La Fin”, a touring art exhibition on the practise of shark fining.
During the month The Deep secured over 10,000 signatures from members of the public which formed part of a larger petition presented to the EU by the Shark Trust to lobby Europe to ban the practise in European waters.