My journey with the topic of shark tagging has been a long one.  You can see from my extensive list of interviews with shark researchers and shark advocates that my ideas on the topic were not born out of nowhere.  Much data from tagging is very interesting and I was actually excited about it at one time.  But as the years went by and I investigated the topic further I began to question the merits.  Were we really accomplishing conservation? 
The Entire Playlist.  The link below will play all my Youtube videos on the topic.
Episode 1.  Observation VS. Technology
The big sharks in Hawaii inspired me to finally start sharing my footage and concerns regarding tagging.  This is an introduction to the topic.  Some key points:
1. Did you know the White Shark Cafe was discovered almost 20 years ago?
2. Did you know our first records of shark migrations were based on visual observation?
3. Have we abandoned critical thinking an common sense in exchange for graphs?
4. As long as corporate greed and politicians control fishing policies will any amount of tagging data save sharks?
Investigating Tags in South Africa (Part 1) .    Premieres Feb 1, 2019
​In this video I travel to South Africa to see for myself the conflicting stories of what was happening to the great white sharks that had been tagged as part of a huge research campaign (and TV show). I travel to each of the three locations this took place at; this video is from one location. More videos from the other locations will follow.
The boat captain helps me understand what I am witnessing as several SPOT tagged sharks appear at the boat that day.  If I can see the sharks with my eyes, why isn't there any data indicating they are present in Mossel Bay?

#sharktagging #findamage #spottags #shark #whiteshark 
What is my background with tagging and how did I arrive to the speculative, if not negative position that I have on the practice?  
Before continuing with more videos about tagging and conservation I thought it would be a good idea to let people in on my background on the topic.
Shark dive operator and wildlife photographer, James Moskito, explains to Skyler Thomas one of the uglier stories in the highly celebrated topic of shark tagging. James witnessed Frodo being hauled onto the OCEARCH boat at the Farallon Islands in 2009 during the filming of Shark Men. He then witnessed the "bio-fouled" tag on the mutilated fin and one year after that photographed the tag completely ripped away. This tagging operation was proclaimed as important and necessary despite the fact that local scientists had been tracking the sharks at the Farallones for decades already. The OCEARCH campaign only tagged two white sharks during the Farallones disaster; in both cases, data ceased to be received from the tags a short time after application. Both Frodo and Junior were only seen one more season at the Farallones, strangely disappearing after having been regulars at the island. The local operators fear they finally succumbed to their injuries. Even worse, Dr. Domeier's research group, Marine CSI, wrote an application requesting to once again tag at the Farallones in which they claimed to be receiving migration data from Frodo's tag. The tag had ripped away from the shark prior to the dates of the claimed data!!!!! #spottags #farallones #whitesharks #sharktagging #frodo
#sharktagging #tagging #trackingsharks #taggingsharks #sharks #science #technology #migration #movements
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