Happy Marine Day! Umi no Hi 海の日.

Taking a quick look at my Fortune Arterial C73 calender by my side, I quickly realised that today, 21st July, is in fact a public holiday in Japan, called 海の日, or in English Marine Day. Extract from Wiki: National law establishes Marine Day as a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans and to hope for the economic prosperity of maritime Japan. Some might be wondering why the interest in such a low-key holiday, but to me, as a diver, I surely love the sea/ocean, and would like to express my love for it with a simple post.Okay, maybe it wasn't as simple as I thought, but I'll like to spread some ocean awareness around here, with my main concern being the sharks. Sadly, sharks are pretty much misunderstood by people all around the world as merciless man-eating monsters, but that is sooooo not the case, go and watch the movie Sharkwater to find out more. And with shark finning, the illegal act of killing sharks just for their fins, then tossing their still alive finless bodies back into the sea to let them die, at an all time high, these pre-historic animals are going to be extincted fast.That's not much I could do for the sharks now, but only to spread the word, and hopefully have others pledge not to eat shark fin, in hope of reducing that market till it's not economically to maintain. It'll be nice to have more support for the cause! Pledge here now! Damn, I'll going to start sounding like some environmentalist if I do continue now lol.I believe most of my readers would have known of the exploits of Japan's whaling and dolphin killing activities, and the action taken by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. However, I'll refrain myself from commenting on these for now, as to me right now, illegal shark finning is of higher-priortiy vs the "controlled" (I really hope so) killings by Japan. Oh yea there's also the "controlled" clubbing of seals in Canada, but that's another story. Let's hope it all changes for the better.Either way, hope that everyone would try their part at contributing to saving our planet and it's inhabitants, and that everyone have an enjoyable day too. Enjoy the pictures too! Ciao and I'm out. For a better future!!