Why I Won't Donate Any Funds to Marine Conservation Organizations in the Future

Here's a typical interaction with a marine conservation organization. 

I have a great company that has sponsored my work for many years now. They agreed to donate $500 to a marine environmental organization that I suggest. I contact this organization, S* (not the real name), since I have heard from friends and colleagues that they are doing good work. Stopping the shark finning trade is one of the few marine conservation issues that can actually be accomplished within our lifetimes. I also ask: “My hope is that you already have a process in place to recognize and publicize contributions to your organization.”

The director is pleased to hear from me, and he states:

“Hello, Norb. Thank you very much for this. It's very much appreciated and will be put to good use. We do have a page on our website where we can put a mention and a description of you and P* (not the real name). “

He also states:

“As I mentioned to Norbert, we'll be adding an acknowledgement to our supporters page on our website for this gift. Also, please expect a more official 'thank you' in the mail, shortly.”

In the end, however, NONE of what S* promised ever happened. They took my sponsor's $500 donation, but said essentially "sorry, but no mention for you since your donation is such a pittance." No one ever received a “thank you” in the mail either. As far as I know, no mention of my sponsor's donation was ever made -- as was originally promised. 

Here's what the director of S* wrote -- after initially stating that they have a website page for mentions!:

“We haven't before acknowledged donations publicly on our website, but we do so for large corporate sponsorships, currently in the several thousands of dollars or more, and for foundation grants. Corporate sponsorships are not pure donations in that for a large sum of donation, they usually do expect something back in return in the form of recognition. The level of that benefit is negotiated. What you have seen on our sponsorship page is one way that we have agreed to acknowledge these large sponsorships. “

My sponsor graciously accepted all the above with no rancor. But this situation has bothered me enough that today, three years later, I have decided to post it with all names anonymous.

So, as I've found often happens with marine conservation organizations – they are happy to accept donations, but then they renege on their promises.

Here are the email communications.  S* is the marine conservation organization.  P* is my sponsor.  P* donated $500 to S* at my behest.  

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 10:50 AM, Norbert Wu Productions Office wrote:

Dear S*:

I am a friend of D...., who suggested that I contact you. He

says good things about you!

I am an underwater photographer. One of my sponsors is the company

P* (not the real name).

I am donating the use of my images and testimonials about P*'s products

for their PR efforts, and in exchange, P* has agreed to contribute the

amount of $500 to S* or other worthy nonprofit organization.

I suggested S* since I know you guys are doing good work, and

because I know some of the folks involved. Stopping the shark finning

trade is one of the few marine conservation issues that can actually be

accomplished within our lifetimes.

I'd like to ask if S* would be willing and able to issue a

press release and other PR material that publicizes this contribution

and the names of the contributors, who would be P*,

Inc. and myself. My hope is that you already have a process in place to

recognize and publicize contributions to your organization.

Thanks and I look forward to your reply.

--

Best,

Norb

------------------------------

Norbert Wu Productions

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

USA

From:S* director
Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:03 AM
Subject: Re: contribution to Shark Savers
To:
Cc: D..

Hello, Norb. Thank you very much for this. It's very much appreciated and will be put to good use. We do have a page on our website where we can put a mention and a description of you and PSI. It would be difficult to create a press release for this, but I think the public acknowledgement that we can create will be appropriate. 

Thank you again for causing this donation.

Executive Director, S*

From: Executive Director, S*
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: Lowepro profile of Norb Wu
To: ...

Thank you, very much, David and Norbert. This donation is greatly appreciated. As I mentioned to Norbert, we'll be adding an acknowledgement to our supporters page on our website for this gift. Also, please expect a more official 'thank you' in the mail, shortly.

With best regards,

Executive Director, S*

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 5:55 PM, P* wrote:

Hi, Executive Director, S*,

The link below will get you to the logo artwork

for use with the Norbert photo/text or however you wish to present it.

http://P*

Here is a short blurb for you if

appropriate .....

P* provides exceptionally high-purity cleaning

products

for cleaning digital camera sensors, lenses, filters and more. The

only products

for sensor cleaning recommended by camera manufacturers and trusted world-

wide by real pros, like Norbert Wu.

P*

On 5/31/12 3:41 PM, S* wrote:

Thanks. I hope you all understand that I'm going to need to find a way

to present this in a way that is fair to our major sponsors. That

existing page only has sponsors in the $5,000 to $100,000 range, with

almost all of them above $25,000, So, I don't want to get anybody's

expectations raised. I will, however, try to do justice to your support.

We really do appreciate it.

Thanks for understanding.

Executive Director, S*

On Friday, June 1, 2012 at 10:54 AM, Norbert Wu Productions Office wrote:

Dear Executive Director, S*:

Can you please explain what is going on here?

First you state:

Thank you, very much, P* and Norbert. This donation is greatly

appreciated. As I mentioned to Norbert, we'll be adding an

acknowledgement to our supporters page on our website for this gift.

Also, please expect a more official 'thank you' in the mail,

shortly.

Now, out of the blue, you are saying:

> Thanks. I hope you all understand that I'm going to need to find a way

> to present this in a way that is fair to our major sponsors. That

> existing page only has sponsors in the $5,000 to $100,000 range, with

> almost all of them above $25,000, So, I don't want to get anybody's

> expectations raised. I will, however, try to do justice to your support.

>

I'd appreciate clarification. Are you saying that you can no longer put

P*'s name on your website as a donor, contrary to your original

statement?

All I see is that P* has sent you a logo and a possible blurb for you

to use, and that you are now saying, "sorry, but no mention for you

since your donation is such a pittance."

If that's the case, then my feeling is that you should refund P*

donation immediately, and I'll work with them to find an organization

that might find the funds more useful.

I hope that I am misinterpreting the emails here. Perhaps you could

provide a link to your "supporters" page as I do not see it on your

website.

Sincerely,

Norb

------------------------------

Norbert Wu Productions

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

USA

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:S*
Date: Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Subject: Re: P* LOGOS and web changes
To: …

Hello, everyone. I know that Friday afternoons are not the best time for email discussions. As you have both corresponded with me separately, I thought I would send this email to both of you in order to make sure we are all having the same conversation.

Here is what I sent to Norbert in response to his email earlier today:

First of all, I want to repeat that we do sincerely appreciate this donation--we are equally appreciative of a donation at any level. We recognize that some donations of $25 represent a bigger sacrifice to someone than a $25,000 donation might be to another person.

This misunderstanding concerns how we acknowledge donations and which ones we publicly acknowledge.  Basic donations are considered a gift to us to support our programs. The only tangible benefit to a donor for most donations is the tax write off (in the US). We are required by law to send a letter of acknowledgement acting as a receipt for donations over $250, but we choose to send either letters or emails for all donations, even if they are just $1 because they do mean so much to us.

We haven't before acknowledged donations publicly on our website, but we do so for large corporate sponsorships, currently in the several thousands of dollars or more, and for foundation grants. Corporate sponsorships are not pure donations in that for a large sum of donation, they usually do expect something back in return in the form of recognition. The level of that benefit is negotiated. What you have seen on our sponsorship page is one way that we have agreed to acknowledge these large sponsorships. 

When I agreed to publicly acknowledge your and P* gift, I only readily agreed to do that because you asked for it and I sensed in your email that you had already said something about that to P*. I planned to find a new way to do that short of what we do for major sponsorships. In fact, what I thought of doing was to begin to provide a list of names for donors who wanted to be listed. 

It was only when I received a logo and an ad-like blurb for P*, something that I had not intended to provide, that I realized there was a misunderstanding that needed further explanation. In retrospect, I recognize that this misunderstanding arose because I didn't explain all of this when you sent your first email. I wish I had. While I hadn't promised a sponsorship-level recognition, I also didn't specify what we could actually do. Because of this, I will redesign the page so as to accommodate your request. I'll be delineating donors from high to lower in some fashion, and the degree of recognition will be more pronounced for the larger donors. We will include the P* logo within this new tier with a link back to their site. I can do the same for you.

Will this be satisfactory?

After receiving the above, Norbert has suggested that it may be better to return the P* donation. I do not feel that I have misrepresented anything to you, and am trying to accommodate you--and that  includes willingness to return the donation if that is what you wish, P*.  Alternatively, I can have the page modified with your acknowledgement sometime next week. The acknowledgement will be smaller than and will follow the major sponsors, but can include your logo, link, and the blurb and it can remain up through the end of the year. I'm sure it will do justice to you and the donation. Please just let me know if that will work for you or if you'd prefer the donation returned.

I am sure you are as surprised as I am that that there can be so much miscommunication over something seemingly so simple. But communication by email is not always a smooth ride.

I hope you both have a great weekend.

Michael

On 6/1/12 2:43 PM, P* wrote:

Dear S*,

I am not sure where the misunderstanding occurred, but no matter. I, for

some reason,

thought to send you the logo and blurb, most likely because that was

what I saw on your site, and I do not recall

(did not go back and check) seeing any donation size, category of

gifting, etc. to help clue me in as to what got posted

for a company "sponsor".

I have no issue therefore in S* simply keeping the money and using it

for their good works, IF that is okay with you,

Norbert. Our original purpose was to support Norbert in a way he desired

in return for his continued support of P*

and its products.

Regardless, let's keep it simple - I am happy leaving the donation as

is, and listing Norbert's quote and a photo on our site, as was, I

believe, the original agreement. I hate to think too much time and

anguish has been spent on this. I totally appreciate Norbert's

concern and his willingness to speak up on our behalf - THANK-YOU !

S*, no need to re-arrange your site over this.

I hope everyone is okay with this. If not, we can continue the

discussion next week. I am returning from the Turks & Caicos

(EXCELLENT shark diving, by the way) on Tuesday so will be

mostly/offline and or going crazy for a day or two afterwards.

Have a great weekend everyone, and thanx for all your efforts !

P*

Amazon Knows What Cameras You Have...How to Adjust Settings

I recently switched cameras from Nikon and Canon to a Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera.  I've been looking at lenses for this new system on Amazon.  

Amazon has a section in their web pages when I am looking at lenses, which says things like, "No, this lens won't fit your Nikon D800 body."  I tried for hours to remove the old camera bodies that Amazon had associated with me.  

I finally posted the below to Amazon's photography forum (which was itself incredibly hard to find):

HI -- I am a professional photographer. I've purchased several camera bodies from Amazon in the past, and they show up when I am looking at lenses. I've recently changed from Nikon and Canon cameras to Panasonic GH4, and I'd like to delete/remove those old cameras from my account. These old cameras show up when I am looking at lenses and there's a box that says "No, this lens won't fit your D800 body" and that sort of thing. I've finally learned how to add a camera body that I have not purchased through Amazon but still can't figure out how to delete a body. Thanks.  

I very quickly received a helpful reply from a forum member, and I post this for others needing such help.  He wrote: 

Log in

Your Recommendations

Improve your recommendations

scroll through all the cruft (sic) and mark "do not use for ..." on the desired items.

Being a Published Photographer in Today's World

I have a Google Alert set so I am alerted whenever my name appears on the web.  For me, it's more than a vanity thing.  It lets me see where my photographs are being published these days.  I wish that Google Alerts worked more consistently -- this is the first alert I've received in several months, and I've read that many other folks have had the same experience.  When it is working, however, it's pretty cool.

Here's the link to the website that published one of my photos today:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/06/05/best-places-to-go-diving-with-sharks/


This is all fine.  If you look closely, however, you will notice that the credit line for the photo reads like this:
Norbert Wu / Minden Pictures / Corbis

What does this mean?  It means that I took the photograph and I am correctly credited as the photographer.  However, this website found my image through Corbis' website.  Corbis is a stock photo agency that has its own collection of images that it licenses to clients.  In turn, Corbis obtained this image from one of my primary stock photo agencies, the very good and well-known Minden Pictures. 

What does this mean to professional photographers?  In the old days, photo researchers would call my office and ask me to submit images for a project, say a Microsoft Encarta CD encyclopedia project.  They'd choose some images (I submitted duplicate transparencies) and my office would bill the Microsoft Encarta folks.  We'd get 100% of the resulting fee (let's say $400).

Now, however, photo researchers go immediately to the big players in the stock photo industry.  My office rarely gets calls from clients like foxnews.com.  Instead, foxnews.com looks for shark images on the Corbis website, finds what they want, and they pay perhaps $100 per image (and that is probably far more than what they actually pay -- this is just an example).  So Corbis takes a 50% cut from the sale for use of the image.  The remaining $50, or 50%, is then split between my original agency, Minden Pictures, and me.  I end up with $25, or 25% of the original sale.

Professional wildlife photographers have seen their income drop over the years, from hundreds of $400 sales per year to a few $25 sales per year.  That could be the difference between an income of $100,000 per year to $6250 per year, assuming 250 licenses of images.  Be nice to your local wildlife photographer.   He or she is hurting. 

What to Look For If You Are Interested in a Great Hammerhead Trip to Bimini

I just returned from a grueling trip to Bimini, Bahamas.  Bimini is the closest of the Bahamas Islands to the US.  It is only 60 miles from Miami.  Ironically, it's the most goddamn difficult island of the Bahamas that I've had to get to.  I write about the best way to get to Bimini in another blog post.  I discuss here what divers and photographers should look for in a trip to see great hammerhead sharks in Bimini. 

A trip to Bimini could easily be a perfect trip.  Here’s a perfect trip for me: a land-based hotel, with great diving sites close by.  A hotel that is not overly expensive but is safe, clean, and comfortable, with good free wifi and working air-conditioning.  Decent food at the hotel and other restaurants nearby.  A short ride to the dive sites.  Reliable air travel to and from the destination, so you can make your plans and connecting flights without stress and worry and additional expense. Best of all, seeing large animals like great hammerhead sharks up close and fairly easily. 

1.  Make sure that the operator has been to Bimini many times, and that he/she recommends a good way to get there.  If the operator recommends Silver Airways, then I’d say that the operator does not have enough experience.  I myself will avoid Silver Airways at all costs, and I will try to fly to Bimini via Sky Bahamas. 

For some reason, everyone kept telling me that Silver Airways was the best way to get there, but they were AWFUL.  After the trip, I heard that SkyBahamas was a far better way to get to Bimini.  I wonder why no one told me this beforehand.  I asked several folks who should have known. 

2.  If you are staying at the Bimini Big Game Lodge, you’ll be better off if the operator gives you a package deal for room and meals.  If you book yourself at the Big Game Lodge, you won’t know what room you are getting, exactly (they are all OK but you don’t want a second floor room); the room rates will increase even though you have a confirmation; and they’ll try to add charges like a $35 resort fee when you check out.  

3.  Lastly, I'd like to go with an operator who is comfortable with having me and other photographers get their (gloved) hands and cameras right under the mouths of these great hammerheads.  I have a video clip on my blog as example.   The shark handlers should be able to bring the sharks right over your head and your camera. 

Our trip leader Mike Black had no problem bringing two divers at a time (one at each side) and creating shots where he'd hold the bait and bring the sharks right over our cameras (and my bare hands).  It was good that the divers in the water were limited to two divers per shark handler (one on each side), and no more than 2 shark handlers at a time.

Tips on How to Get to Bimini

-->

I returned recently  from a grueling trip to Bimini, Bahamas.  Bimini is the closest of the Bahamas Islands to the US.  It is only 60 miles from Miami.  Ironically, it's the most goddamn difficult island of the Bahamas that I've had to get to.  I've flown to Nassau in one day, filmed scenes for a commercial the next day, and flown all the way back home from Nassau on the third day, easily and without stress.  This trip was nowhere near as easy.  It was one of the most stressful trips I've had to take, because these days, if you miss your connection, you are sh** out of luck with the airlines and have to find a way home by relying on the largesse and professionalism of the airline that is supposed to fly you back. 

Here’s a summary in case you don’t want to read the excruciating details below:

How to get to Bimini: I suggest using Sky Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale to get to and from Bimini.  I suggest avoiding flying Silver Airways or taking the “Fast Ferry” to Bimini. 

My friends Deb and Vince, of Epic Diving, just wrote: 

"Bimini is worth not giving up on :)  Sky Bahamas definitely has a more reliable flight schedule.  I believe they have added flights from Florida to Bimini, but need to double check.  I know that they fly to Bimini from Nassau, as does Western Air."

Where to stay on Bimini: in most cases, your group will already be staying at the Bimini Big Game Lodge.  It’s the biggest hotel on North Bimini, which has more “other” restaurants and sights than South Bimini.  The Bimini Sands is on South Bimini and is the only hotel there.  If you are at the Bimini Big Game Lodge, try your utmost to get a ground floor room.  All the rooms are the same distance from the boat and diving area, save for the second floor rooms, which involve far more walking distance and stairs.  The Big Game Lodge has individual “cottages” which are within 20 feet of the other rooms.  Those cottages would be fine to stay in but cost a bit more.  

On South Bimini Island, where the airport is, there is one and only one hotel, which is the Bimini Sands hotel.  There is not much else on South Bimini.  Folks must take a very short ferry ride to North Bimini in order to eat anywhere other than the Bimini Sands.  

Deb of Epic Diving just told me that there is another hotel that divers can stay at on North Bimini Island.   Here's what Deb wrote: 

"We have been staying at either the Bimini Big Game Club or the Sea Crest Hotel, both on North Bimini.  The Big Game Club has more of a resort feel with marina, pool, bar, and restaurant on site.  The Sea Crest has more of a motel feel but offers and onsite marina and clean rooms with AC and mini-fridge.  There is no restaurant or bar which, honestly, the guests enjoyed because they were "forced" to explore a variety of restaurants on the island." 

Lastly, I'd should mention that when I got back home, I called Silver Airways and cancelled the flight back that I had with them later that week.  I told them the reasons why I did not wish to take that upcoming flight, and the agent immediately refunded my ticket cost.  I later wrote Silver Airways and asked that they refund my checked baggage fee, since the bags arrived late.  They never replied.  I disputed the charge with my credit card company, and after a few weeks, the credit card company refunded my account for this $25.  Small amount but a satisfying outcome. 

********

In February, I traveled to Bimini Island, Bahamas, to join a group to photograph great hammerhead sharks.  I’ve posted a video clip from that one-day shoot (which was supposed to last a week).  We got weathered out, but I found out a lot about the logistics of getting to and from Bimini which I will share here.  If you wish to go on one of these great hammerhead shark trips, I give tips on what you might want to look for in such a trip. 

Getting to Bimini:

Bimini is only 60 miles from Miami, and it is the closest of all the Bahamas Islands to the mainland USA.  It’s therefore ironic that I have had the most trouble getting to Bimini and getting off – and the most trouble finding good intel on how to best get there – than any other trip to the Bahamas that I have ever done.  I’ve been to the Bahamas perhaps 20 times in my career: by boat several times for Tiger Beach and dolphins; quick one-day shoots to Stuart Cove’s on Nassau, and most recently, Cat Cay for oceanic whitetip sharks.  I’ve never had as much trouble or worry about reaching my destination as this trip. 

Bimini was a real hassle to get to because the airline that was recommended to me is so unreliable.  Several folks told me that Silver Airways from Fort Lauderdale was the best way to reach Bimini.  They stressed that Silver does charge for checked baggage, but I researched this, and while they do charge $25 for the first checked bag and a bit higher for the second, it was not a big deal. 

What WAS a big deal is that, for the five days prior to my flight, Silver Airways did not make any flights from FLL to Bimini.  Friends of mine on the same trip, who had flown in from Hong Kong, were scheduled to fly out to Bimini the day before me.  Instead, their plane never arrived, and all the hotels in the area were supposedly booked and unavailable.  My two friends, who are world travelers and divers, had to sleep in the Fort Lauderdale airport overnight!  My plane was full of tired folks who were relieved to finally catch a flight to Bimini.  There may have been folks there who had spent more than just one night at the airport! 

Because the plane was so full, Silver Airways decided, without telling anyone, to remove 75% of the luggage on the plane.  Therefore, once we all arrived in Bimini, most folks’ luggage was missing.  We were assured that our luggage would arrive the next day, but to tell the truth, the customer service agents were so unfriendly and uncommunicative, I had little faith that my bag of diving and camera gear would indeed arrive the next day. 

Some folks had mentioned “The Fast Ferry To Bimini from Miami.”  I had heard that it was unreliable.  They have a nice website but it does not give great times or dates.  The website is a bit vague. 

As it turns out, we had one great day of diving with the hammerhead sharks.  Since I did not have my luggage, I had to dive with borrowed gear, and I only had a GoPro camera to use.  It was a great dive and a great day.  My luggage did in fact arrive, but it was no use because the weather after the first day turned too windy, and we had to cut our trip short due to bad diving conditions. 

I had a flight reserved on Silver Airways reserved for Friday, and it was Tuesday.  I therefore cancelled my Friday Silver Airways flight and took the Fast Ferry to Miami ($90 for the trip).  We boarded around 9am and had to check our bags and pay a goddamn checked bag fee, if you can believe it ($25 for the first bag).  We boarded through a cavernous entry space (the ship used to be a ferry) and then a real third world dungeon kind of elevator.  The elevator then magically but slowly opened onto the LIDA deck, where the surroundings became that of a standard cruise ship rather than the gulag industrial scene from below.  The cruise ship is fine.  There’s a breakfast served (I highly recommend eating since you may be stuck on the boat for many more hours than expected).  The trip back to Miami was supposed to take 2.5 hours. 

This is a real cruise ship, albeit a small one.  There are many places to sit and relax, but if you are in the know, you should head straight to the bow of the boat, same floor as the breakfast restaurant floor, and find some seats at the bow.  There are a limited number of seats there and elsewhere where one can put his/her bags and stretch out.  It is better to be in a group to protect your space and seats.  There are plenty of seats but most of them are chairs, comfy enough – but I looked longingly at the flat couches that earlier folks had snapped up.  Once I left my seat to go to the bathroom, and it got snapped up before I returned, even though I had left a bag on it. 

The only problem with snagging seats in the bow of the boat (which has two floors) is that the cruise ship entertains passengers here with lame singing and magic performances.  I would have much preferred some peace and quiet. 

So – it was now around noon, and we reached the Port of Miami.  I had changed my airline tickets and had wrestled with the issue of whether I should stay overnight in the MIA/FLL area, or if I should book the 6pm flight out of Miami airport that was available.  I made the right decision for once!  For the next four hours, no sh*t, the ferry captain attempted in vain to dock the ship.  All of us stood in line in the bow waiting for four hours to get off.  Finally, the ship called a tugboat, and an hour later (five hours after boarding, three hours after reaching our destination), we were able to get off the boat. 

Oh, and by the way, while waiting three hours for the ship to dock, I learned from other passengers that the Fast Ferry was not able to make its scheduled departures to Bimini for five or so days before it finally arrived, due to bad weather.  So the Fast Ferry is not really that fast, and it seems to be very unreliable also.  It’s too bad. 

We were in the Port of Miami, which is close to downtown Miami.  I had reserved a couple of rental cars with Alamo, who had rental counters in the Intercontinental Hotel about 1.5 miles away.  We took both cabs and Uber (thumbs up to Uber, thumbs way down to the unfriendly and cheating cab driver) to the hotel.  I had to go to the hotel twice: once to be told that they had cancelled our car reservation after waiting for two hours (thanks, cruise ship captain for taking so long) and the second time to retrieve my bags from the ship area and return to the hotel Alamo counter to get my rental car.  It would have taken one trip if Alamo had simply had our cars there, but I can’t blame them.

So, after all this, I posted a trip report to my blog.  Someone associated with the biological station there took issue with my taking issue with all the tags on the sharks.  But he suggested a better way to get to Bimini.  Here’s what Sean Williams wrote:

I'd like to make a few comments. Bimini is like most of the other Bahamian Out Islands. It can be frustrating coming and going at times but those of us used to traveling here have very few issues. It isn't like traveling to Nassau (as you've mentioned) or Freeport. They don't land 747s here and I think that is a great thing. The real Bahamas are places like Bimini, Cat Island, Andros, etc. Not exactly remote, but not exactly urban centers either. Bimini is easy to travel to, situated just 48 miles from Miami and 52 miles from Fort Lauderdale, you can come over by boat in a few hrs with good weather. Something you can't easily do in Nassau. Besides Florida, you can also catch flights daily from Nassau on Western Air or Sky Bahamas. I highly recommend this option. With a 9am flight and a 4pm flight on Western you can often travel from home to Bimini in the same day. Flamingo Air makes daily trips from Freeport making it another travel option. In reality Bimini is one of the easier islands to come and go from, by boat or plane. You just have to know where to look or have guides that actually know the islands.

Another couple on my trip cancelled their Silver Airways flight out, and booked a flight with SkyBahamas instead.  Here’s what they wrote:

“We didn’t trust Silver Airways (despite we already bought the round trip tickets to fly on Feb 22nd Sun tomorrow), so we flew on SkyBahamas, to leave Bimini, as informed you already.

It is a much better airline, the plane itself is large (well, at least the one that we flew on, had 34-seater, but only 4 guests (incl. us two) and 3 other Sky Bahamas’s different flight’s crew riding) and flew nearly on time (just 5-min late).

There was NO bag charge, unless your bags are overweighted (we had nearly 120kgs fm the 4 check-in bags)) and we only paid USD20.

When we came (together with you) on Silver Air, they charged us USD25/person for 1st bag and USD40/person for 2nd bag, so my wife and I I totally paid USD130 for our 4 bags on Silver Airlines.

Even such a short (20-25min) flight, Sky Bahamas even gave us a drink.

Sky Bahamas check-in counter lady at Bimini told us they usually fly in from Nassau to Bimini and then continue to Fort Lauderdale, then after that the plane would go to something Marsh (Bahamas).

When you go [return} to G.Hammer in Bimini, we highly recommend you to take Sky Bahamas.

So, in summary, I am going to take Sky Bahamas if I ever return to Bimini.  I will try to avoid flying Silver Airways or taking the “Fast Ferry” to Bimini. 

One thing that folks who live near Miami and Fort Lauderdale do not have to contend with is the problem of finding a hotel room in case you are stuck at the airport or your flight/trip is cancelled.  For instance, my friends Stephen and Takako from Hong Kong had to sleep in the f***ing airport when Silver Airways cancelled their flight the day before my flight.  That would be a nightmare. 

This was one of the most stressful trips I've had to take, because these days, if you miss your connection, you are sh** out of luck with the airlines and have to find a way home by relying on the largesse and professionalism of the airline that is supposed to fly you back. 

For some reason, in mid to late February when I traveled to FLL, there were almost NO hotels in the area that were available.  This is a problem if you wish to add days to your trip to allow for things like airline cancellations, or if you need a hotel room at the last minute. 

The hotels in the FLL and Miami area were all booked up and super-expensive -- I think because of the Miami Boat Show and because February is a high month for folks going out on cruise ships.  I am a fan of Hampton Inns and just need something like them – safe, clean, comfortable, free wifi, no frills, convenient, and under $150 almost everywhere – but all the Hampton Inns in the FLL area were over $300 per night.  I refuse to pay $300 per night for a stinking Hampton Inn.  I am also a fan of La Quinta hotels (they let my dogs stay at no extra charge) and found three of those in the FLL area that charged under $140 or so. 

In Bimini, I should add, the group stayed at the Bimini Big Game Lodge.  This hotel is fine.  The food in the main bar and restaurant is not bad at all.  It was confusing to figure out what rooms to reserve.  The Big Game Lodge has “king cottages” and rooms like Queen superior, double deluxe, like a hamburger menu.  Just know that you don’t need the cottages, really, if you are an average diver and photographer.  The cottages are basically in the exact same place as the main hotel rooms.  For convenience, definitely get a ground floor room, not a second floor room.  The ground floor rooms have back patio doors so getting your gear and cameras out of the room and to the diving area/boat area is far easier than having to navigate the extra 100 yards and stairs to a second floor room. 

I wish that there was an alternative to the Big Game Lodge for lodgings on Bimini.  When I arrived, I was the last person, since I had stayed back at the airport to make sure that our bags were reported missing.  (As a former trip leader, I do these things even when I am not leading a trip).  Once I got to the Lodge, everyone else had checked into their rooms, and I was told that there were no ground floor room and my second floor room would not be ready until 3pm.  This was noon.  I wandered around, checked my room, saw that it was still not ready at 3pm, and then went back and asked for a ground room again.  Voila!  Miraculously, now, they had plenty of ground floor rooms available.  I would have been most unhappy with a second floor room. 

I booked my room at the Big Game Lodge six months earlier.  When I checked out, I discovered that they are now imposing a $35 per night “resort fee” which is ridiculous.  Their room rates are increasing as well.  All this means is that you will be paying an exorbitant $200 or so per night for a very basic hotel room.  At least the internet worked pretty well. 

Maybe there is an alternative to Bimini to see great hammerhead sharks consistently, somewhere?  At this point, I'd rather not have to go back to Bimini for a number of reasons. It was a real hassle to get to because the airline is so unreliable.  Silver left most of group's luggage so I had only a GoPro for the one and only day of diving.  The Fast Ferry, from what I gathered, is not reliable also.  The hotels in the FLL and Miami area were all booked up and super-expensive -- I think because of the Miami Boat Show and because February is a high month for folks going out on cruise ships.  These days, if you can’t rely on your island airline to get you back in time for your flight home, you are in deep sh*t because you forfeit your space and dollars on  your flight home and rebooking will cost you all the more hassle, less choice on seats, and more dollars for the last-minute booking.  All bad. 

Lastly, I'd should mention that when I got back home, I called Silver Airways and cancelled the flight back that I had with them later that week.  I told them the reasons why I did not wish to take that upcoming flight, and the agent immediately refunded my ticket cost.  I later wrote Silver Airways and asked that they refund my checked baggage fee, since the bags arrived late.  They never replied.  I disputed the charge with my credit card company, and after a few weeks, the credit card company refunded my account for this $25.  Small amount but a satisfying outcome. 

A Good Deal on Buying American Airline Miles

To my fellow travelers:

Don't feel obliged to read the nerdy, long airline frequent flyer notes below.  But you might find it interesting if you fly a lot.

American Airlines is selling miles in what seems like a pretty good deal.  The best deal is 160,000 miles for $2950.  Another good deal is 110,000 for $2065.  Both come out below 2 cents per mile.

The website where you can buy these miles and bonus miles is (deadline April 30, 2015):

https://buymiles.aa.com/en/buygift?c=SOLO_EML_EN,US_BUY


Some background:

A couple of years ago, my travel agent recommended that I buy American miles that were on sale (80K miles for $1800).  I bought some but was always a bit confused why these would be a good deal.  I kept pestering my agent, and he said that buying those miles would be a good deal in some cases, not such a great deal in some cases.

I've only recently started using my United miles for award travel (eg buying a ticket outright using only miles).  I've always hoarded miles and already had a lot of them.  I'd usually try to use my miles to upgrade to biz class (buy a coach ticket and use the miles to upgrade).  That way I'd pay for a coach ticket and get the FF miles for flying along with the elite miles towards elite status.  In years past, this was a good deal.  I'd travel from SFO to New York for $300 in biz class, using perhaps 20K miles to upgrade the $300 coach ticket (both legs) to biz class.  Using miles to simply purchase an award ticket seemed wasteful.

In the past years, the rules have changed.  United now charges a cash fee along with miles if you manage to get an upgradeable coach ticket.  For example, I booked a flight to Shanghai in the fall, and the coach ticket cost something like $1200.  I would have had to use something like 50K miles each way to upgrade, and pay something like $600 each way.  When I totaled up all the costs, the resulting upgraded ticket cost almost the same as paying cash for a biz class seat (I estimated miles to cost about two cents per mile).  United has basically taken away any discount in upgrading using miles.  You pay the equivalent in miles and cash.

This year I found that it was difficult to find a decent coach fare back from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) in February.  I looked into buying a United ticket using miles, and their website was surprisingly easy to use and book award travel with.  I booked an award ticket in biz class that was not a bad deal (about the equivalent of $700), considering the one way coach ticket cost $650.  I got back to FLL early and was able to cancel the existing award ticket with no fee and replace it with a last-minute Saver award ticket that was equivalent to paying $250 or so.  I was pretty happy about the whole thing -- being able to cancel an existing flight with little to no cancellation or change fee and booking a last-minute new flight at a reasonable price -- and actually felt that being an elite member with United had paid off.

It's a big game, but I think that if you can buy miles at less than $0.02 per mile, it's a decent deal.  If you buy the maximum miles in the AA deal being offered now, the miles cost as low as I've seen since my travel agent alerted me of the possibilities in 2011.  The miles are about 1.84 cents per mile. 

"Science increasingly must make its most important cases to nonscientists"

I wrote earlier that I was tired of seeing so many tags on just about every animal in the sea.

Grant Johnson wrote:
"...Regarding the tags, just recently, the Great Hammerhead missed being protected under the Endangered Species Act in large part because data on the species is "severely lacking." Objectively speaking, what is more likely to result in better protections for this species, thorough data on their life history, habitat usage, and migrations, or beautiful photographs and videos of unmarked individuals? I think it is the former.

"No disrespect intended, I just find this divide between researchers and divers to be very bizarre when the ultimate goal of both groups is often so similar.  "

His complete comment is in the original blog post, below.
I, too, find the "divide between researchers and divers" to be bizarre.  But it's not all the public's fault.   Scientists know that they are terrible at publicizing science, but I've been involved in Pew meetings where the researchers sit around and complain endlessly about being misquoted by the popular press; and then complained that they did not have the time to talk to the media.  Many scientists who talk to the media are indeed misquoted, their explanations simplified -- but that's part of getting the message out.  Their peers often vilify scientists who try to get the word out to the popular media.

Mr. Johnson's attitude, that research studies are more important than images and video of animals, is undoubtedly shared by most scientists.  I tend to disagree with his attitude, but I have no doubt that the vast majority of researchers believe that their work and research is far more important than getting the word out to the popular media.

In fact, I vehemently disagree.  I'm a member of that popular media -- and the "general public" -- and believe that the films and photographs that wildlife photographers, filmmakers, and writers have produced have been vastly important to the movement to save the marine environment and marine species.  Ideally scientists and the media can work together, but given the disdain that scientists have for the media and general public, I don't see that scientists can complain when their work is misinterpreted.

As a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, one of the things that I wanted to photograph was shrimp farms.  It was just me, a single and lowly photographer.  I went to Thailand and other places in Asia and finally got some folks to show me around; most of the folks involved in the business did not want to help me since they did not want to be portrayed in a negative light.  It was depressing work, and I asked for help from folks in the Pew program.  The impression I got after attending a couple of meetings of these eminent scientists was that the talk was mostly about who was boning who -- just like high school.  The last straw was when I learned that there was a field trip to head out to some shrimp farms -- and the Pew person in charge of connecting scientists to the media had not thought to invite me -- even though I had asked her for help several times.  She was far more interested in whispering with another female scientist about her love life, which seemed to be blossoming during one of these meetings, with a famous male scientist who was a popular media darling at the time.  

When my fellowship ended, I wrote the program the letter below.

Sometime in 2004:
Dear Pew Fellows:

I am writing this to a few of you who seem to have an interest in working with the popular media to get marine conservation messages out. 

The overwhelming messages that I heard at the recent Pew Fellows meeting were:

1.  Things are getting worse, not better. 

2.  Scientists need to get their message out. 

3.  Scientists are terrible about getting their messsage out.  They need help. 

If the Pew Fellows program is serious about solving marine conservation problems and recognizes that the popular media is an important part of the solution, then it needs to enlist the help of the popular media in a fundamental and integral way.  It needs to marshal the expertise of the few Pew Fellows that have experience or interest in working with the popular media.  It needs to enlist the participation of freelance filmmakers,  photographers, writers, film producers, directors, and programming executives.  It has to extend its effort well beyond the selection of scientists who are understandably absorbed in their culture and their areas of expertise and cannot direct their attention and energy to effective communication in the media.

The Pew program and its Fellows need to develop a mutual working respect for those in the popular media.  Perhaps most importantly, it needs to recognize that getting stories in the popular media takes a professional, committed, time-consuming approach.  Getting the message out will not be effective if  delegated to "afternoons after I've finished my morning writing."  The Pew program needs to fund and support those Fellows who can tell or present media stories, and the Pew Program should make "getting the message out" a top priority.

Here's an example.  A recent article in Time magazine discusses how the hit CBS drama, CSI, has dramatized and popularized forensic science.  Forensic scientists are rolling their eyes about the dramatic license taken in the series, but this show has increased awareness of forensic science.  Forensic science schools report a dramatic increase in interest and enrollment.  This is part of what we need: a new series about the oceans, with compelling characters.  The series will certainly will hype and over-dramatize science. 

Any scientist watching such a series will roll their eyes and cringe in embarassment, as DNA is analyzed in minutes rather than weeks, and the characters encounter adventure after adventure and make definitive statements like "the bluefin tuna fishery is crashing!" rather than "if we look at the attached reports and graphs, there is a 90% probability that tuna stocks are in serious decline.  We recommend further study."

There needs to be a push to get marine science into all aspects of the popular media.  There should a computer simulation game called "SIM Coral Reef," just as there is a "SIM City."  There should be several television series on marine science, featuring buff women and men who would otherwise be on Baywatch, and having plots that are only a small cut above Baywatch (which was the world's most-watched series in its day).  We need to continue to preach to the converted, continue to hook up scientists with the media, but we need to take a far more proactive approach to getting our stories out in far more outlets.  We need to realize that we have compelling stories to tell and sell to the popular media.  The Pew program is ideally situated to help marine conservationists do this.  In my opinion, however, it has failed miserably and spectacularly so far in getting any kind of message out to the masses. 

I could say a lot more, but this is sufficient for an initial communication.  I am happy to discuss these issues and ideas with anyone.

As a final note:  At the end of my Pew project, I anticipate having a library of still images (probably 700 "prime" images) and 60 hours of high-definition television footage depicting good and bad marine scenes.  I am seeking funding or some way to administer this library of images.  If any of you know of entities that might be interested in working with me to obtain funding to administer this library, I'd like to hear about them.  I and Larry Minden at Minden Pictures (the world's best natural history picture agency, representing photographers like Frans Lanting, Jim Brandenburg, Flip Nicklin, Mark Moffett, and others) agree on the need to develop an infrastructure to post and administer high quality images on the web for use by nonprofits and other entities.  We have experience running photo licensing businesses and know the amount of work and the intricacies of running such a business.  We are the people to make this sort of thing happen.  We just need the funding in order to make a library of images available to nonprofits, among other things. 

Norb

Norbert Wu

----------------------------------------

Norbert Wu Productions

www.norbertwu.com

A web gallery of some of the images that resulted from my Pew fellowship can be seen at:
http://www.norbertwu.com/galleries/pew-web/index.html


Lastly, the June 2010 issue of WIRED magazine had a great commentary on this issue:
http://www.wired.com/2010/05/st_essay_sciencepr/

...
“Scientists hate the word spin. They get bent out of shape by the concept that they should frame their message,” says Jennifer Ouellette, director of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a National Academy of Sciences program that helps connect the entertainment industry with technical consultants. “They feel that the facts should speak for themselves. They’re not wrong; they’re just not realistic.” By and large, Dash says, “scientists have withdrawn from the sphere of public culture. They have contempt for the lighthearted fun of communication.”

It didn’t even occur to the AAAS panelists that someone might find that here’s-the-data-we’re-right attitude patronizing—and worthy of skepticism. “Until scientists realize they need us, we can’t help them,” Bush says. “They have to wake up and say: ‘I recognize it’s not working, and I’m willing to listen to you.’ It’s got to start there.” Science increasingly must make its most important cases to nonscientists—not just about climate but also evolution, health care, and vaccine safety. And in all of those fields, the science has proven to be incapable of speaking for itself. It’s time for those with true passion to get over the stigma, stand up, and start telling their stories.