Only a couple of weeks ago, there were fears that AB 376, the bill that would make the sale and possession of shark fins illegal in California, was dead. But thousands of Californians and dozens of environmental organizations banded together to put enough pressure on reluctant politicians in Sacramento to get it through the Senate and onto Governor Jerry Brown's desk.

Today I'd like to tell the story of Jamin, a 10-foot female tiger shark, and how she became a supermodel on my expeditions on the Shearwater. Tiger sharks are incredibly curious, intelligent, and quick learners. It only took once incident, my removing a hook from Jamin's jaw hinge, to turn her from a cautious wild shark into a friend.

I wrote the following Ode to Madonna while I was waiting for the sharks of Polynesia to be protected by law, which took an extraordinarily long time. I am republishing it here to honor not only Madonna but all the sharks who are being yanked brutally onto ships, having their tails and fins sliced off, and being thrown roughly back into the ocean, to face the end of everything they have known, as consciousness fades and they sink, sink, and, writhing, sink into the abyss.

Ich würde Ihnen gerne einen alten Freund von mir vorstellen, Captain Ron. Ich habe ihn nach dem sehr lustigen gleichnamigen Film von 1992 benannt, denn beiden Captain Rons fehlt ein Auge. Dieser Captain Ron ist ein 2,5 Meter langer männlicher Zitronenhai und wann immer ich Tiere mit einer Verletzung sehe, tun sie mir leid, da sie für ihr Überleben so viel härter kämpfen müssen als andere.