It is really impressive the quality of the photos, and how much an image can tell. There are many photos of sharks as well, since Brian is facinated by them, as well as alarmed by the rate of decline in many shark species.
 
This story was taken from TED. Strongly recommended website they have very interesting talks on how to make the world a better place.


To be more precise, the purpose to this non for profit organization (TED) is to promote "ideas worth spreading" and you can find there a large amount of presentations, made by passionate people. The talks generally last 18 minutes, which is a good time to explain complex concepts and ideas, but without making it too long for time consuming for the viewer.

Barry Loyd, who gave an interview to the EFE agency during his visit to Tenerife to participate in a master’s course in arts and museums management organized by the Tenerife’s Museums and Centres Department of the local council and the ‘De la Laguna’ University, said that to create in the northern region of Tenerife a pole for cultural tourism doesn’t mean to eliminate the one at the southern region, but to create a different one.  
 
The CEO of the Lord Cultural Resources Planning & Management, Barry Loyd, said that to develop a cultural tourism in the north part of Tenerife it is necessary to redesign the tourist strategy in museums and update it, having in mind that change may be the answer.      
 
Barry Loyd, who has worked as curator and art critic, educator and director of several art galleries and museums in Canada, also highlighted the relevance of planning because improvisation is only possible when there is a deep knowledge of the objectives a museum has.  
 
During the interview, Loyd said that the management of a museum depends on the type of art it exhibits – classical or contemporary – because the last one supposes an extra challenge which demands a proper exhibition to make it more accessible for the general public due to its complexity. Many times, contemporary artists are quite unknown or known only in certain circles, which demands a special space planning and to take into account the museum’s facilities to obtain a successful exhibition, he said. With regards to the management of classic art museums, Loyd said that it is easier for a museum to exhibit classic art pieces because the public is more familiarized with them and it is more receptive to the interpretation the museum presents of these pieces.  
 
The arts administrator also said that the goal of a museum is not profitability and, although some museums achieve that in the long run, they usually need to be financially assisted. The income a museum receives from the tickets it sales would never cover its expenses, and for that reason, according to Barry Loyd, it is necessary to count with financial assistance to cover at least 70% of the museum’s budget. He also added that the less a museum receives from public founds the better it will function because it will not depend on political decisions. 
 
The real profit of a museum is the social benefit it provides in three levels: the first one is education, transmitting basic cultural knowledge; the second one is heritage awareness that fosters social cohesion which is fundamental in the present times of cultural changes, and the third one is the capability to attract cultural tourism. This third one is relevant because the tourism industry is the most important one in these days, and museums are a key part for the development of this cultural tourism.  
 
To conclude, he said that culture fundamentals are the same in any country of the world, but the way to express that culture varies from place to place as well as the cultural values that are in constant change.

The hostelry business association ASHOTEL, that gathers the hotel business community from Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, together with the Ecology and Environment department of the ULPGC, released today a research on the impact of the fish culture cages on the tourist areas, putting into consideration the incompatibility of these cages with the tourist activity. 
 
During the press conference, Angel Luque said that the cages are structures devoted to animal production just like pig or chicken farms. “The impact of these cages is relevant, because the food used to feed the fish ends in the bottom of the sea and there is no control over the spills that cause a decrease of the biodiversity”, declared the professor of the ULPGC. 
 
For Luque, the existence of these cages in the southern area of Tenerife, “affect the behaviour of the bottlenose dolphins and other species that attracted by the food get close to the cages where they are easy preys for predators. The cages are also responsible for the spill in the ocean of nitrogen, phosphorus and antibiotics that “affect the marine environment”, he added.  
 
“Taking into consideration that the estimated production of fish for 2010 will be about 4,000 tons in the area of Tenerife, and apart from the fact that it is located in an area of local interest (Teno-Rasca), this region will receive a spill of 480,000kilos of nitrogen and 67,200kilos of phosphorus that are equal to the spills of a 130,000 population”, the said.  
 
“Aquaculture produces a great number of negative outcomes, as the quality of the water and sediments column, the competition between cultured species and wild species, and the reduction in the biodiversity, although the artificial breeding generates more biology”, said Luque. Besides, the professor pointed out that the use of antibiotics in aquiculture generates a high degree of antibiotics in the blood, muscles and livers of the cultured and wild fish. 
 
Juan Gorrín, major of Santiago del Teide, said that they are not against aquaculture “but we do not agree with the installation of these fish farms near the beaches”. He also said that the fish farms shall be located in areas designed by the Council of Tenerife and he added that he was against the initiative to multiple by four the production in Los Gigantes bay area.  
 
The president of Ashotel, José Fernando Cabrera, agreed with the major and said he was against the production increasing in Los Gigantes bay, and that he was surprised by the installation of additional facilities without an environmental study on the subject. He also reminded the journalists that Ashotel has been reporting this situation for two years, submitting formal complaints to the local government demanding the cease of the activities of these fish farms in the tourist coastline, when there are more suitable places where these activities can be developed. “To relocate the cages near the coastline or in the open sea, as we requested, supposes the investment of a low amount of money”, he pointed out.
  
After assuring that the aquaculture is an important productive activity for the island, Cabrera said that “we have to make an effort to relocate these fish farms far away from the coast where they do not affect the tourist image of the island, and where the environmental impact they cause do not damage the marine bottom”.

The initiative is intended to reduce gradually whales’ hunting in the Artic Ocean, which is now carried out by Japan, to a quarter of the total amount that is allowed nowadays. Under this agreement, the finback (Balaenoptera physalus) whale’s hunting would continue, in spite of being an endangered species. The presentation of this draft is the result of a two-year process with the aim of reaching a commitment between groups which are in favour of, and against finback whales’ hunting. 
  
In June, the proposal will be discussed during the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, although some conservationist groups have already criticized it. Whales’ hunting for commercial purposes was prohibited in the entire world in 1982. However, Iceland, Japan, and Norway continued this activity after a series of extensions, having captured together about 2,000 whales per year.  
 
“If we reach an agreement it will represent a step forward in terms of conservation and whale’s hunting management”, said Cristian Maquieira, director of the IWC. “For the first time after the moratorium for commercial hunting, we will have strict regulations for every whaling operation”, he added. 
 
Inhumane Activity 

The tourism counsellor of the island, José Manuel Bermúdez, says that “this action is intended to boost the presence of Tenerife as tourist destination in a market we already lead, because we receive the 99% of the Russian tourists that come to the archipelago”. This promotion plan costs to the Tenerife’s Council and the Russian travel agency 120,000 euros. 
 
“We have to promote even more our tourist attractions” said Bermúdez, who outlined that the Russian tourists value the weather, the beaches, and the leisure options of the island above all. 
 
The information collected at the main Moscow’s tourist exhibition indicates a growing in the number of Russian tourists that will choose Tenerife as holyday’s destination in the following months.  
 
One of the main actions what will be taken during the promotion campaign will be the display of the island’s image on about 50 billboards located in Moscow’s downtown.  
 
The Council of Tenerife is confident of the importance of this campaign and it is sure about its positive results, because in the Russian’s capital live 12 million people.  
 
Apart from the street advertising, there will be other advertising spots and articles about the tourist offer of the island in the main Russian internet portals, including three Russian web sites focused on travel professionals. Bermudez said that they have arranged an interview with the Hello Magazine as well.      
 
Bermúdez said that Natalie Tours is the Russian travel agency that sales most of the travels to Tenerife, and he informed that there will be training courses for the travel agents of this company to provide them information about Tenerife’s tourist offer. These courses will be held in cities such as Minsk, Samara, Kazan and Ekaterinburg. 
 
Tenerife leaded last year the Russian tourist destination within the Canarias’ islands receiving 67,000 tourists, 1.4% of the total.