Trip Dates:		June 22-27, 2004
Visit Sites:		Manta & Guayaquil, Ecuador
Sponsors:		Shark Research Institute and University of Guayaquil
Participants:		Alex Antoniou (Shark Research Institute), Carlos Villón, Matthew Potenski, Eric Cheng, Suzanne, Claire, Natalie

Project: Shark Research Institute survey of sharks fished off of Manta, Ecuador. We were not part of the fishing effort, and were only there to document the local shark fishing industry.

WARNING! This survey journal contains photographs of dead, bloody sharks. Do not continue if you don't want to see them.

Reader Comments

what's interseting is that google is returning "Shark Fishing", "Sport Fishing Charters", "Charter Fishing" etc. etc. on your ad bar.

-- posted by hmm @ Thursday, July 1 2004, 04:04 pm

Eric -

Loved the update - at least I didn't embarass myself TOO much with some of those pics...I will let you know when the official SRI trip report is done...

be good!

- MP

-- posted by Matthew Potenski @ Wednesday, July 7 2004, 08:31 am

Ahhh .... Jackie Chang ! ... it was funny .... :0)

You really captured the experience - it was good to meet you

Unlike Matt ... I say be as bad as you like !

C

-- posted by Claire @ Wednesday, July 7 2004, 09:58 am

Hi Eric,

Thanks for being our photo journalist. You've captured the moment. Being home in our sterile world, sometimes we don't realize what is happening in other places and how it is impacting our environment.

I'll be in touch, Alex. P.S. The unidentified hammerhead sharks are smooth hammerheads (Sphyrna zygaena).

-- posted by Alex Antoniou @ Friday, July 9 2004, 04:36 am

I typed a google search for shark fishing, and unfortunately came across this website. Upon seeing the "shark fishing" pictures, I was appalled at the total lack of regard and respect there is for the shark population. Its a down right outrage to see pictures of all these sharks slaughtered, and to see people pulling unborn sharks from their dead mother sickens me. I don't know who to contact to report this, but if I did know, I would report this immediately. This is wrong.

-- posted by Concerned Conservationist @ Tuesday, July 20 2004, 08:14 pm

Concerned Conservationalist: who are you going to report this to? What are you concerned about? Are you concerned about my report of the research survey in Manta, or are you concerned about the actual shark fishing?

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Tuesday, July 20 2004, 11:43 pm

Great pics! To Concerned, report to whom? The Equadorian government sees this as huge profit! Do you think they care? The shark finning industry is HUGE, and a big problem. Where have you been? Over 400 MILLION sharks annually are killed globally! Not just here, Japan, etc. A bowl of shark fin soup commands about $100 US. Look up Sea Shepherd.org and see what he is doing about this and many other problems, you might feel a little better, and maybe empowered. Thanks Eric, for posting these. Maybe more people will view and get angry. Enough finning already, right? So, where's the beef?

-- posted by also conservationist @ Sunday, October 31 2004, 03:19 pm

I'm agree that this massacre is not right. But I hope you had a good time in my country. We are nice people :)

-- posted by Mariuxi Flores @ Sunday, November 14 2004, 09:15 am

Eric, These images are a solid reality check on what the shark finning industry is and what it has become, not only to powerful longline commercial boats but for the local fisherman as well. Its very big business and it won't end till shark populations totally collapse...Is there any real hope for sharks? I am having trouble seeing it. Thank you for sharing your adventure with the world. They need to see this.

Eli Publisher Shark Diver Magazine

-- posted by Eli Mtz @ Thursday, November 18 2004, 09:26 am

becoz the trade in shark fins is such a thriving business, and one that will take forever to control, can sharks be bred in captivity to revive their numbers somewhat? can the waters be cleaned for the surviving ones to increase thier numbers by themselves? the fishermen will fish as long as sharks are in demand. maybe if shark fins were slowly banned in the western countries the poor fish might have a chance?

i feel rather helpless looking at the pictures, i'm a software engineer, is there anything i could do to help?

-- posted by Madhu @ Thursday, December 9 2004, 06:20 am

Having just returned from Galapagos I would like to circulate an email to friends in Hong Kong and China requesting boycott of sharkfin soup and other 'exotic' animal part products and would like to use a photo or two from your site (noting credit to e. cheng). Is that okay? Also saw a brochure in Galapagos regarding "Year of the Shark 2004" containing a picture I found most powerful, of three definned sharks dying at ocean's bottom after being thrown back. Do you know anything about this photo or how to locate it? I can't seem to find it on the web. thank you. lisa

-- posted by Lisa @ Sunday, February 6 2005, 08:27 am

The Galapagos Year of the Shark Campaign continues through 2005. The campaign has had considerable success raising awareness of shark fishing in the Galapagos Marine Reserve amongst the local community, especially the children.

However, the Galapagos National Park lacks the resources required to patrol the reserve effectively.

At the moment the focus is on fighting the very real threat that long lining will be allowed in the galapagos marine reserve, and, that the ecuadorian government will reverse its decision to ban the export of shark fins from ecuador.

Any help that you can offer is greatly appreciated.

Information about the photo that appears on the fundraiser is available via bigue"wildaid.org

-- posted by Galapagos Year of the Shark @ Tuesday, March 1 2005, 05:52 am

Please help us fight shark finning in the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

Donate via PayPal at www.galapagosyearoftheshark.org

Thank you.

-- posted by Galapagos Year of the Shark @ Tuesday, March 1 2005, 05:55 am

I'm going to Galapagos Island in June and I'm sorry, I don't want to suport a country that kills so much marine life like they do. I should of researched this better.

-- posted by carol lis @ Tuesday, March 8 2005, 01:17 pm

These photos have opened my eyes to a whole different way of looking at fishing I my self never realized how crul it could be.now i want to help.

-- posted by krissy @ Saturday, May 7 2005, 07:41 pm

I think u should put the fishers pic on here so we can see if their hott or not!

....LOVE NEKKI....

-- posted by nekki @ Monday, May 23 2005, 06:24 pm

Granted that more respect should be given to the sharks various species, there have been multiple attacks from bull sharks in the gulf coast recently (2005) raising a significant concern for tourists and surf fisherman. I myself often swim in the shallows with family. Is there enough bull shark population to sustain our fishing habits, and would it be advisable to fish more frequently for this type of shark to reduce the apparent abundance of them in the Gulf of Mexico for regulation purposes ? ....or do we allow them the respect of their territory and stay out of the water ?

I am not any kind of marine biologist...but would like to research this a bit more. I don't want to affect the species , but rather help to develop a protection device of some sort that beachgoers can keep with them for protection or to frighten the fish into deeper waters temporarily. OK, here's my idea... I know fish have sensitivity to certain frequencies of sound. (FOR THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE THAT MAY NOT HAVE HAD THE IDEA...PLEASE SHOW ME THE RESPECT OF CONTACTING ME TO DISCUSS ANY DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A DEVICE AS I WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED IN SOME WAY).

Here goes......

So how about a compact device that people can carry to the beach with them that can be submersed in the chosen swimming area with a weight and a bright colored small buoy to float on the surface and a line that can be staked in at the shore (40 to 50 yards) that will emit a frequency or series of frequencies that would give swimmers approximately a 100 to 200 yard "SAFETY NET" while swimming or boarding. Um....surfers...you know what's out there..... BE CAREFUL !!

Please contact me @ SparksT10@aol.com for your reply to my crazy idea.

-- posted by todd @ Sunday, July 24 2005, 07:54 am

Just to add to my idea. If not a compact carry to the beach with you device for beachgoers. How about a larger device that may need to be placed (permanently or temporarily or seasonal) by the Coast Guard or local authorities such as the Game Warden ?

PLEASE REPLY. SparksT10@aol.com

-- posted by todd @ Sunday, July 24 2005, 08:05 am

shark is my love

-- posted by mostafa @ Tuesday, August 2 2005, 02:26 am

Sad to see.... the rapping of the natural world.

-- posted by I Give A Shit @ Thursday, August 4 2005, 04:01 pm

this is so sick

-- posted by kaila nichole smith @ Thursday, August 18 2005, 11:23 am

OK!, OK ! Just thought it was a good idea that would enable humans and marine life to co-exist in the same ecosystem without upset to balance of nature. I am only seeking for an intelligible answer from someone in the field of Marine Biology as we as humans will never stop enjoying the great gifts of nature that God has given us. I think that most of us who enjoy the ocean and its life find that our breathing pattern and heart rythym change into unison with the ocean when we are on the shore or at sea. As if I were standing at the threshold of our existence and that God had everything to do with it.

I geuss the best advice is for everyone to stay out of the water at dawn and at dusk. I believe that we are all part of the ecosystem be it marine or land.

NO HARM INTENDED.

-- posted by t @ Sunday, August 21 2005, 08:54 am

shark fishing is terrible! i cant believe you people! they deserve to live just as much as we do! they are actually nice creatures they are only mean when u are teasing them or try to catch them to eat for your meal!!!! they are just defending themselves because they dont want to die! that does not make that bad creatures!

-- posted by sarah @ Tuesday, January 3 2006, 01:13 pm

sarah - it would help if you actually read the text in the report here.

you're preaching to the choir.

-- posted by echeng @ Tuesday, January 3 2006, 01:31 pm

Hi,

I'm currently helping Malaysia Nature Society doing a anti shark fins campaign for the Chinese new year season this year.

Need help in getting Photos of Sharks. Could any one send me photos of sharks (dead and alive)? I will be be using the photos in talks about Sharks. Credits will be given to all contributors.

Thanks

Regards

KL Kwang

-- posted by KL Kwang @ Thursday, January 5 2006, 06:48 pm

Hi Eric, I think it's a good idea to put those photos on the internet because people must see what is really going on. Sharks are being slaughtered in numbers far greater than can be reproduced because most people don't know how important sharks are for everyone of us. By keeping the biological balance in the ocean they guarantee us a constant supply of oxygen whichout which we cannot survive. "If the sharks die the oceans die" says Andy Cobb from SA and we will all die with it. The ocean is our life support system. The ocean also is no swimming pool. It is a wilderness of a very special kind but in it there are wild animals, which sometimes bite people and very rarely kill them. Sharks kill less than 10 people world-wide per year. That is less than each of the following: dogs, cats, bees and even falling coconuts. Who in his right mind would go jogging in Africa among lions, buffalo and elephants? But we want to play in the ocean and because of it we need to kill everything in it? The question we really have to ask is not "Why do sharks bite people?" But rather "Why don't sharks bite people"? Considering the billions of people who swim in the ocean every year less than 100 get bitten by sharks and less than 10 get killed. Why are we so nervous and hyped about sharks? It's the media who is brainwashing us when it comes to sharks. They prefer to write about dead people, blood and severed limbs rather than about people like myself who swim with sharks more or less regularly and have never been bitten. The one thing we can all do is, tell others about the importance and the killing of sharks, write to our governments and request an end to long-line fishing and convince those who go fishing to release any shark unharmed. Let us stop finning live sharks and throwing them back alive to die a horrible death. If we do all those things the world will be a better place. Jupp Kerckerinck www.sharkprotect.com

-- posted by Jupp Kerckerinck @ Sunday, January 8 2006, 06:07 am

You guys are disgusting and barbaric and your all lowlife animals.You no right to take away the lives of these living creatures!! Your lucky you don't live in America because you would probably be arrested of some sort!! How can you and your "COUNTRY" be proud. Murders!! Cold blooded murders!! I just wish one day you will fell the pain suffering these creatures go through. They are magnificent beautiful creatures. Get an education and maybe you'll the endangerment of some these species!! Jerks!!

-- posted by Maya @ Tuesday, February 14 2006, 06:45 pm

Maya, and others who are writing to "you people" - LEARN TO READ. These photos are from documentation of a research survey.

I suggest you "get an education" yourself; America pretty much does the same thing. Where do you think the fish on your dinner table comes from? I'm not saying I'm in favor of overfishing, but you need to have a greater perspective on what is going on (in more than one way).

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Wednesday, February 15 2006, 06:01 am

I don't see what is wrong here. It looks to me like some people are making a living with the natural resources that exist in their area. While the lot of you eat your tofu, drink spring water, overspend at Starbucks, download to your i-pod, worship the Hollywood goofs that make badly written movies with no content and watch them at the malls and mega theatres that destroy acres of natural grass and soil, watch high definition T.V., wonder which pair of shoes you will wear out of the 32 pair you have after just returning from the mall where you spent money on leather goods and burned gasoline in the car you rode in, text your friends on your cell phone while flipping through the photos also on your cell phone, buy your C.D.s of hideous music, go out to eat for the 8th time this week and oh by the way, spend hours surfing the internet and fritter your life away trying to get more and more and more THINGS, some people struggle daily just to make enough money to buy the meager groceries found in a third world country and return to their dirt floored, non-air conditioned, leaky roof, bug infested huts. Give me a freaking break you ignorant, spoled drones that see a few pictures of people that sweat and work physically hard, which most of you never will, and you think the cruel monsters killing a few sharks in a planet 2/3 covered by salt water should be stopped because oh my god, uugghh, you just can't stand to see a fish gutted and cleaned for commerce and food. Please, jsut forget about the sharks and go back to your favorite pastime, being spoiled and forget about your second favorite pastime which is whining about the tragedy dejour. What will it be next week, the dogs they kill in indonesia for food because they have virtually nothing else to eat? SHUT UP and produce something meaningful.

-- posted by Greg @ Friday, March 10 2006, 08:24 pm

Greg - you're right, sort of. Relatively, there is nothing wrong with what these fisherman are doing other than consuming more than what the local environment can support.

But you don't know what you're talking about when you talk about "cruel monsters killing a few sharks in a planet 2/3 covered by salt water." It's not "a few sharks." Finning is extremely wasteful, and we're so efficient at it that shark populations are being decimated. Taking out a top predator is not a good thing, and the earth relies on the ocean for its general health.

Dogs in Indonesia? The greater dog population isn't being threatened.

We have to choose our battles. Your rant about the people leaving comments here shows incredible hypocrisy.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Friday, March 10 2006, 10:16 pm

I love sharks

-- posted by Anne-Marie danielas @ Saturday, March 18 2006, 11:40 am

i think sharks are the most amazing creature on this earth,i like the way they attack! somtimes kill...

-- posted by charlotte hall @ Friday, March 31 2006, 05:35 am

You lot have gone crazy! sickos!

-- posted by Angry @ Wednesday, April 19 2006, 03:52 am

i have to write a 50 page essay on sharks for college. im in an animal welfare course, i was looking for pictures i could put in it to show how gruesome shark fishing can be. i was expecting to go onto a site that would show pictures with comments underneath saying how sick it is but instead i read comments on how good it is! well i am shocked and i will not be using that picture in report i do not think its nessesary to have that on a website. i was only looking and it came up with that! Sickos!

-- posted by angry @ Wednesday, April 19 2006, 03:56 am

Educational. I'm particularly surprised at the number of threshers in the catch...I was under the impression they were fairly deepwater and hard to bag.

Basically the same phenomenon as in the rainforests...it's hard for these people to resist over-exploiting the local ecosystem when one big fish might net them a month or more's pay.

Rhetorical question: who the hell DOESN'T know not to eat shark-fin soup by now?

-- posted by Randall Marshall @ Wednesday, April 19 2006, 09:30 pm

This is the worst site that i have seen. You are destroying an almost gone population. You should have more respect for the sharks. The ocean was their home first until people like you started to come along and destroy that.

-- posted by Another Concerned Activist @ Tuesday, May 2 2006, 07:02 am

What part of "research survey" do you idiots not understand? We were out documenting the fishing, not doing the fishing ourselves.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Tuesday, May 2 2006, 09:37 am

i came apon this website, and i'm absoluty disgusted with the images that i saw. living creatures that have done nothing to you have been SLAUGHTERED, it is appauling, you all should be ashamed of yourself for killing such an interesting creature. U R ALL SELF HEARTLESS AND GUTLESS, at least kill something that is worth dying like URSELVES!!!!!!! bye

-- posted by Rachel @ Wednesday, June 7 2006, 04:47 am

I give up.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Friday, July 14 2006, 04:47 am

Crazy savages at Manta Beach. Drunken chuzma, and cholos enjoying the mindless killing and you Eric assisting them !! Shame on you !!! At least sharks kill for food , but you retards??? For the blood??? pulling dead baby sharks from the dead mother. I do not see any reserach in it except if you compare it what Mengele did in Auschwitz

You should be shot or jailed for ever !!!1

-- posted by Liz Simmonds @ Wednesday, July 19 2006, 08:53 pm

Liz: were you there? No, you weren't. You have no idea what we were doing there.

Repeat after me: research survey. research survey.

I'm glad these photos are evoking emotion, even if some people don't seem to understand that we're all on the same side.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Wednesday, July 19 2006, 09:12 pm

Liz: were you there? No, you weren't. You have no idea what we were doing there.

Repeat after me: research survey. research survey.

I'm glad these photos are evoking emotion, even if some people don't seem to understand that we're all on the same side.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Wednesday, July 19 2006, 09:13 pm

Yes, I am from Guayaquil and Ihave seen savage people like those on the picture, with dancing mofos like you. You not gonna sell me this mindless brutality as research, survey. I'm telling , you are like Mengele. He repeated the same shit when tortured and killed jewish kids. Hope one day sharks will tear you in pieces when you'll be screaming for help . And for those retards in Ecuador, conservation, protection of nature hahahahaha, they have no clue about things like this. It's like selling Color TV's to the Papuas.

-- posted by Liz Simmonds @ Thursday, July 20 2006, 12:12 pm

Liz -- your comments are not appropriate, nor are they constructive.

We were not part of the fishing effort, and were only there to document it. Documentation does not imply support (and in this case, it is quite the contrary). NY Times has been there to do the same thing since we were there, and a documentary is also in the works.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Thursday, July 20 2006, 12:44 pm

Because virtually none of these comments are constructive, I'm closing down the comments here. If you want to tell me how evil I am for being a shark conservationist and sharing images of sharks being killed, feel free to contact me some other way.

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Thursday, July 20 2006, 12:48 pm