Jessica Alba’s Sweet Spot for Sharks

Posted June 30, 2009 | Filed Under Community, News
Written by Blue | Comments: 2

ALL THE WORLD’S OCEANS (Shred White and Blue) — I’m not sure what I feel more defenseless against, a great white shark, or Jessica Alba’s smile.

Put them both together, in Oklahoma of all places, and I become even more confused. But it seems that the fan-cute-tastic Miss Alba has become a big supporter of the shark fin hunt protesting White Mike campaign. She was apparently doing some business in middle America, decided to moonlight by plastering copies of the enviro-fanged White Mike poster (talk about hands on!) over some other charity media, and got accused of vandalism.

She apologized. Paid a fine. And got tons more publicity about how despite our already epically grotesque human wastefulness, with the continuing stupidity of things like shark fin hunts, we only continue to accelerate our collective loss of mind.

I dig this lady more all the time.

In honor of Miss Alba, and this totally stupid practice, here are some sobering scoops from the fine folks at the White Mike campaign. Don’t look away now, weenie, because this is happening right now, in your lifetime: (and check out White Mike himself).

“The reason is that illegal shark fin hunting affects the people of Oklahoma. It affects us all.”

As the apex predator of the oceans, sharks have evolved over millions of years to manage the immensely complex and fragile ecosystems of the ocean kingdom.

The largest study ever done on marine ecosystems has proven that when sharks disappear a deadly domino effect is triggered in the food chain, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the coral reefs, the spawning ground for the fish we (and other species) depend upon. With the growing demand for shark fins, shark populations have been decimated. By some estimates, over 90% of the shark population has been lost in the last 30 years. This year an estimated 100 million sharks will be killed, a mortality rate which will almost certainly end in the extinction of the species.

Check out more at the Humane Society.

Read about shark fin hunting via the BBC.

Read a first hand account from the filmmaker of Sharkwater.