Shark wrangling with bait and pulling it out of the water

3. Is the way the shark is being dragged out of the water maybe a little excessive; I think so, but do I think the wranglers ought to be shot for it? No. Maybe just cool it a little.

The point is precisely that not all wranglers do that and this particular one did. And it was obvious that some of the customers enjoyed it.

The question is are WP readers ok with such interaction? That was my original question before philosophy, diet preferences (and the metaphysical inferences of it too?!?) and child labor got into the act.

Obviously the interaction between humans and shark are there and it is pretty direct. Those who wish to link this to Doubilet's nudibranch repositioning, it is almost a fair statement. Both require human forced actions ( picking up said nudibranchs/wrangling bait and letting a shark bite on for the ride). The ethics of disclosure have been met by both, well the wrangler can't exactly hide the rope and fish head.

We are obviously going to have the spectrum of opinions on interaction. The anthropomorphic "how would you like to: be picked and shoved on light studio/have someone pull you up via a pulley while you're eating your tofu burger (homegrown ingredients of course!) sounds a bit holier than thou. On the other end, the arguments for such interaction usually assume the subject is robust and seem healthy when they leave. Anyone bring them back for a checkup 1 or 2 weeks after? Did the bruising(if any) from banging the platform or stress from hanging from a rope cause the shark to die prematurely? Then there's always the view of "what's the big deal if one nudibranch/shark dies? I got the shot."

I wanted to see how many uw photographers think on these issues. I guess it was a bit too much to ask for.

And since the kung fu antics still can't be left out of this thread, I'll just say next time go to a very lively reef with lots of biodiversity and watch the interaction with predators and prey and the personal spaces involved. The answer is just there.

Killing animals for fun is okay.

As long as you are having fun, its okay.

Killing animals because they taste good is fine.

As long as they taste good, its okay to kill animals.

Who cares if its "necessary" to kill the animal? As long as its fun, as long as it tastes good. That's what counts.

Fun and Yum, that's where I see the line being drawn. Is killing for Yum better than killing for fun? I don't see the difference. If it feels good, do it. Yay!

I don't NEED to eat shark fins. But, I sure do enjoy having them float in my soup! Who cares that the shark was killed in the process. I am having fun AND yum ordering the shark fin soup!

For a quadruple bonus, lets pull the shark out by a wrangler, snap a few pictures, then fin the animal and make a few bucks off of it. Fun, Yum, Pictures and Profit.

Nobody is going to tell ME from atop their high horse, that I'm doing something wrong. Quite frankly, I don't see what the big deal is about long lines, gill nets, and trawling for shrimp while destroying the reefs. After all, isn't it all about money and what makes me happy? Fun, Yum, Profit. It simply doesn't matter.

Moving a nudibranch? Please. I eat nudibranchs for a light snack. Or, I would if someone told me they were a delicacy. Who freaking cares that its been moved when you can spread it on a piece of melba toast and wash it down with some caviar?

Stepping down off my high horse, the world is MY oyster. Suddenly, I feel so free. AND I get to take the moral high ground against anybody who thinks otherwise, because, really, there is no logic behind the view that killing causes suffering, that it is unnecessary to kill for your supper, and that inflicting unnecessary suffering is wrong.

After all, "right" and "wrong" are just words without meaning. You can't be "logical" when talking about such things. That is not fun. Nor does it make my belly happy. So it MUST be illogical. The Flaw in the logic is that "killing causes suffering" or that "killing is wrong" or that "killing is unnecessary." The truth is, killing is fun, suffering is good and its hardly unnecessary because I want to do it.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programing.