One of my hometown’s finest environmental activists is about to embark on a 1,090 mile bike ride from Missoula, Montana to Pueblo, Colorado, a trek which entails crossing the Continental Divide three times. But for Mark DiMaggio — a high school earth science teacher, strawbale-house builder, and daily cyclist with a conscience — it’s not just about glory, but guts, too. Dubbing his adventure “Spinning to End Finning,” his ride has a greater mission: To raise money and awareness about finning, the brutal practice of catching sharks, cutting off their fin, and then throwing the mutilated animal back into the ocean to die a bloody death.
From his blog, where you can learn more about finning, keep up with his journey, and most importantly, DONATE!:
“Shark finning is a practice where sharks are caught, their fins are cut off, then the living shark is tossed back into the ocean where it is usually eaten alive or drowns due to lack of movement. The growing demand for shark fin soup (thought to having healing capabilities) has caused shark finning to occur in epic proportions globally.
Sharks are by far the most dominant predator in the ocean, and have existed there for several hundred million years. Now, they are at risk of a total global extinction, with an estimated 100 million sharks killed annually for their fins. If they disappear, the ecology of the oceans will be enormously disrupted and could collapse entirely. This would be a catastrophe of immense magnitude for people.”
* * *
not sure where this photo came from....A ride against the unfair tyranny of clothing? And I bet they like animals, too.
