Interview Arrangement

Good News :)

Sarah from Greenpeace has returned from her business trip and is available to meet for a short interview. We've set up a short meeting on February 10th, at a small cafe on Commercial drive. I have prepared some questions and an info consent form (the document is accessible through web link on the right). Sarah has agreed to meet both of us, that would be great to make sure we cover as much questions and details as possible.

Unfortunately, we have not yet heard back from Sea Shepherds, who has replied and agreed to collaborate earlier on during my research inquiry. But I understand organizations with such scale might have difficulty to commit to extra inquiries due to large quantity of requests.

Lulu and I are looking forward to the meeting with Sarah :) I think it will definitely help to point out a clearer project direction for us!

"Shark fin soup alters an ecosystem" (CNN)

Published on CNN website, along with documentary Planet in Peril, this article discusses the severity of shark-finning and the influence which pop culture, media, and cultural traditions have with the perceptions and understanding of sharks.

The article is written by one of the research reporters and hosts on Planet in Peril, List Ling, with interview discussions with co-founder of Wildaid, Peter Knights. It describes their learning from trip to KaoShiung, Taiwan, where riduculous amount of illegal shark-fins are being imported.

To read the full article, please click HERE.



To be honest, I feel disgusted and sick reading about information during my research process. I find the information too hard to take in sometimes. Especially when such activities that I personally feel strongly against actually happen in where I grow up, developed and adapted by my own culture and people. It makes the project more challenging of course, however, it also reassures my intention and motivation towards promoting such awareness.


Note: Photographs included in this post are gathered from CNN website, photographed by Jeff Hutchens.

Response from Greenpeace Canada

A nice surprise for our search for collaborating experts, after yesterday's inquiry email, I received a quick response from Sarah King, Greenpeace Canada. I'm really glad to see some interest in the project, and pretty excited about interviewing a professional in this field.

Sarah is a Oceans campaigner from Greenpeace Canada. She's agreed to help out and provide some insights regarding wasteful and awful fishing practices. It would be extremely helpful to work with someone who's actively participating in international campaigns and initiatives. We can perhaps find out how our design project can actually contribute and help to raise awareness on shark-finning.

We will soon set up a date for a short and casual interview.

I am thankful for her response :) now it's up to me to plan out specific questions for the interviews in order to execute a thorough research process.

Looking for Experts

It's time to look for research experts that are actively participating in shark related campaign & initiatives. I stumbled upon a short PDF document put together by Shark Trust, UK. It gives a pretty concise and accurate presentation of what's happening around the world.

To view the document, please click HERE.


I contacted different international organizations that are currently involved in shark-related conservation projects & campaigns, including public media organizations, and non-profit community collective. I emailed each source inquiring for an opportunity to get a short interview with an expert that's involved in shark related projects, just to get an understanding regarding the topic. However, due to the scale of these international organizations, I am not sure I would be able to get a timely response. But still! Let's be hopeful! :)


Here's a list of the organizations & individuals I contacted:

1. Sea Shepherd, USA

2. Discovery Channel (Animal Planet), USA

3. Shark Trust, UK

4. Greenpeace, USA

5. Wildaid, USA

6. Lisa Ling (CNN Correspondont for Planet in Peril)

Really, who am I talking to?

During the 1-min project direction pitch on Thursday, several suggestions and concerns have been brought to my attention.

1. Couple classmates suggest that it would be extremely helpful to get some insight from people who are actively participating in the shark fin trade (eg. fishermen, social activists, campaign organizers, etc.)

2. The relevance and importance of educating the public, how important it is to have sharks in our eco-system. (Why we need to save them?)

3. Targeting the RIGHT group of population to get the most impact using the appropriate form of design language.

4. Interactive element does not only include visual impact, it needs to involve ACTIVE LEARNING, and PARTICIPATION of the audience.

5. How can we compete and alter a cultural tradition that has been around for generations? What concepts and ideas do we need to suggest?

6. Who would benefit from this? How can you convince people that they are the ones who can benefit from our project?

7. It's ambitious, in the way that it challenges a social behaviour. Our responsibility, is to suggest a possible alternative, using the most suitable approach to ensure our message gets acrossed.

PLANET IN PERIL Documentary

I strongly recommend everybody to watch the CNN documentary, PLANET IN PERIL. It is a series of research reports done on serious global issues that have been neglected and ignored by the public. Most of the topics discussed are either out of sight, or out of contact. People should definitely know about what's going on around us, on this planet.

Of course, this may sound like a cliche, but we have done way too much damage to our planet. This documentary will definitely make you re-think, re-connect, and re-evaluate our impact, both as individuals, and as a collective.

The segment on Shark-finning put me in deep shock, for a really long time. Being born in Taiwan, I could not believe my home country would participate or even take up such a major role in something this brutal, unethical, and cold. Sure, I understand economic pressure, cultural tradition, consumer demands and political survival, but this still makes me sad. We have no right, absolutely no right to do what we do. Some people argue that this is all part of the global foo chain. I really doubt that mass massacre simply for the benefit of ingestive pleasure can be considered as necessary.

I hope anyone that has come across this blog, can just spend a couple minutes of their time, to understand this cause, and my intent. You can google, use wiki to read about what is shark-finning.

To visit the CNN Planet in Peril segment on Shark Finning, please click HERE.