Extinction is for ever! well almost,

I was going to put photos of the tasmanian Tiger and the Dodo, here but I could only find one and that was pretty bad! :o))

Sharks! the red corpcuscles in our life blood sea.

Shark Fins stored fins aboard a longlining vessel captured off the US coast!

Sharks are the real cleaners of the sea, they rid the oceans of the sick and dying, preventing the stagnation of the seas, in much the same manner as the red corpuscles in our Blood, for without them our planet will die. (A 1968)

It's a pretty gruesome practice. Net a shark, slice off its fins, then throw the bleeding, limbless fish back into the water. This is the source of the primary ingredient in shark-fin soup, a pricey staple of Chinese restaurants throughout Asia and parts of the West.
A tiny portion of the fins on board the King Diamond II when it was stopped at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard 2 years ago.U.S. Coast Guard
The problem is not that people eat cartilage-rich shark fins, but that most of the crews harvesting those fins discard the rest of the huge animal—wasting its protein in a remarkably inhumane fashion. In the West, where the allure of shark fins is low, nearly everyone from shark conservationists to U.S. government officials has condemned the practice. Indeed, 2 years ago the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the Commerce Department, formally banned shark finning throughout U.S. waters.
However, those rules applied only to fishing vessels flying under a U.S. flag while at sea. Foreign vessels continued to plunder sharks throughout the seas, including U.S. waters, with impunity.
At least in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, that situation may be about to end. On Nov. 23, 63 member nations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)—an intergovernmental fishery organization that concerns itself with large fish in the open seas—unanimously agreed to ban shark finning in those two bodies of water.
The decision had been prodded by measures from several influential bodies. In May, for example, the American Elasmobranch Society, made up of biologists who study sharks and related species, passed a resolution urging an international ban on shark finning by the United Nations General Assembly at its fall meeting. And on Nov. 17, the General Assembly complied by "urging" member nations to ban "directed shark fisheries conducted solely for the purpose of harvesting shark fins . . . and to encourage the full use of dead sharks." Who are we to make this descision?

I miss my old Vixen!

Good ole Sam T !

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (another one)

As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

The moving Moon went up the sky,
And no where did abide:
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside.

The fair breeze blew,
the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first,
that ever burst ,
Into that silent sea.

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone opon a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity,
opon My soul in agony

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

John Masefield (ah me!)

SEA FEVER

I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking. I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life. To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield

Soon be winter

Yes, its getting colder! Yes, it will soon be winter!, Yes, I miss the boat ! Yes, I will be on her in a day or too, so I will be less Pi**ed off. As you might have guessed, I have my Mr Grumpy head on today don`t ask me why? I said don`t ask me !!! alright! Ok I`ll tell you In my previous life I was quite athletic and with the cold weather comes the pain! I ache like B*ggery most of the winter, I am lethargic and as a result boored. I guess I have had life too easily.

I should probably think myself lucky that I have all I could want from life, and should enjoy that in its entirety. But Hey!! I`m human and I want more, what do I want ? I haven`t got a clue, I guess I am searching for the not so holy grail, when I find it I will know. Have I got it already Probably but I don`t recognise it as such. Boored boored boored!

Indiginous Specis (ten years hence)

I woke early today (05-00) and thought I would stretch myself a little with a post I have considered but not really thought about fully.

As the indiginous specis of the british Isles the early Populace, kelts , saxons etc are already a mixed bunch and so we start in confusion, with all factions believing that they are the true Indiginous specis.

Recently (in say the last 60 years) things have changed quite dramatically. People have migrated south (our government is predominently scottish) landed here from overseas and now we are an even more "watered" down society! Is this a bad thing I have to ask? as I am a believer that the mongrels of this world survive longer are healthier and providing close interbreeding is avoided we will survive!

The Indiginous peoples of USA ( the american indians) after all lost their country to the imigrants and look what that "great super power" has achieved (give or take a few wasteful wars) in the short time following the indians loss.

Is the UK to go the same way, The UK immigration laws, and its blatant abuse, bothers me, not so much for myself but for my children and their children. We are developing areas of high unemployed and low income where all manner of crime is increasing. We have forbidden all hand guns, ( due to one incident perpetrated by a mad man) yet the incidence of (hand ) gun crime is rising rapidly. Our values are depreciating, no longer do we see people standing up to allow a less capable person take their seat on the bus. More often are we hearing of another robbery, too little funding. over zealous Stealth taxation. poor hospitals. In fact the whole UK and its systems are depreciating rapidly. What is the way forward I ask myself. Change the government? bring a halt to continued immigration?.

Increasing numbers of Brits are emigrating fed up with the situation they find themselves in, so they too are guilty of becoming the next generation of immigrants to wherever they decide to settle, and so it goes on.

As a "Norman" ( not am Eric :o)) ) myself I guess I cannot say too much but I have to ask will the UK go the same way as the USA in that the indiginous specis will be minimalised (if its not the case already) or will there be some room for the remaining Brits to lead a good life in a secure established society?