A few days ago my sister bought a Sharkwater DVD from Mustafa (it has everything!) and our whole family watched it after dinner. I went home feeling pained, sad, angry and grumpy.
It's a documentary about the beautiful sea creatures, the people who protect them, the conspiracies they expose, and the risk they put their lives under.
No rose-tinted glasses, just the harsh reality of what really takes place out there. I strongly recommend watching it, just so that we don't remain ignorantly happy in our sheltered world.
There are horrible scenes such as harpooning of cute pup seals, slashing of sharks, gorging of sea turtles... but sometimes we need to see such things in order to feel what we need to feel.
There are scenes from a hilarious interview with the boss of Rabbit Brand sharks fin. Hilarious because his arguments for persecuting sharks are filmsy excuses using e.g the movie Jaws as 'evidence'. I wonder if he has since been replaced as the face of his company.
Here's the trailer:
In the movie, the team uncovers a conspirary where the Taiwanese mafia controls a fin harvesting industry all the way in a poor Costa Rican village. The fishermen are paid only 80 cents (and so have to kill more to make a living) but the fins are sold to diners at US$200.
If you are planning your wedding dinner, PLEASE do not serve sharksfin soup. It can always be replaced by another equally 'high-class' dish; your hotel just needs to use its brains a bit. My husband and I got around this by having a lunch reception instead of a dinner banquet. You just need to make an effort. Can?
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