South Pacific leading the way in Shark Conservation (again!)

With news of AB376 passing in California, it's shaping up to be a positive year for shark conservation but while this news is of course, excellent, we must ensure the efforts from other, much smaller nations do not go unnoticed. Following hot on the heels of AB376, the tiny South Pacific nation of Tokelau has also announced a shark sanctuary covering the entirity of its economic territory.

Alongside Tokelau, the Marshall Islands (pictured above) are also on the brink of passing their own legislation to protect sharks which is really, quite amazing. These tiny South Pacific islands, which most would struggle to locate on a map, have been for some time now, working towards ways to protect their sharks. The Marshall Islands, if the law does indeed pass, along with Tokelau, will be joined by the likes of  Guam, Honduras, Chile, The Bahamas and of course my beloved Fiji, in taking positive and inclusive steps towards what will be a better world and they and their governments should be roundly applauded for their efforts.

A friend of mine suggested I should write to the Senator in The Marshall Islands to see if I could lend my (albeit tiny) voice to the cause from the perspective of someone on the other side of the planet who would one day, love to visit this beautiful piece of paradise to film and document their sharks so I did and thought I would share the letter with you, so, here it is.

Dear Senator Kabua,

My name is David Diley and I am a director and producer from the United Kingdom.  That the Marshall Islands is considering implementing laws for the protection of sharks is already an amazing thing. A great many larger and more powerful nations are doing too little to protect the world's sharks and the fact that the Island nations of the Pacific are, in many respects, leading the world on this vital matter is of great credit to their people.

Sharks are incredible animals on many levels and as a film-maker who focusses on the relationships between sharks and humans in different parts of the world, it fills me with hope that, as these stories progress and the world changes, often for the worse, the stories of these relationships are actually becoming more and more positive as nations around the world begin to appreciate the importance of their sharks.

Not only are sharks vital to healthy marine ecosystems, a balanced food chain and general marine health, they are also, as has been proved around the world, an enormously valuable asset to tourism. Divers all around the world will travel far and wide to locations where sharks are plentiful to have what may be a once in a lifetime experience with sharks both large and small.

I recently travelled to Fiji to shoot a film about the benefits of shark conservation and shark eco-tourism in a location where sharks were once plentiful before their numbers were decimated, destroying all life on the reef (Shark Reef) and how, when they were encouraged to return through the establishment of a specialised shark dive, the reef blossomed back to life. This shark eco-tourism brings in approximately three million Fijian dollars every year, creates job opportunities and training schemes and benefits a great many of the non-diving businesses with ancillary financial input from the tourists visiting the island to enjoy the shark dive. This sustainable and profitable industry is reliant upon healthy shark numbers and illustrates just one of the numerous benefits of having a protected shark population.

Every single healthy marine environment on the planet is balanced by it's localised shark population, without these sharks to ensure that balance and health, the quality of these environments would degrade rapidly, affecting everything within these habitats. In areas where tourism and sustainable indigenous fishing are vital parts of the economy, this degradation of marine environments would be catastrophic and have a direct influence upon the people who call these locations home.

The problem with industrialised fishing in shark rich marine environments is that once those sharks are gone, they are gone. The monetary value of a dead shark varies around the world with a median value of around only US$150 – 200. The estimated value of a single, live shark in Fiji, using the example above, is US$600,000. A dead shark can only be “used” once where a live shark can be “used” many thousands of times within it's lifespan and will also, if their habitat is protected, make more sharks to benefit the local economy.

Legislation to protect the sharks of The Marshall Islands would be of great benefit not just to The Marshall Islands but to the planet as a whole and would be welcomed by a great many people around the world and I look forward to the day when I can visit your islands and enjoy diving with your sharks myself!

I would like to thank you for considering legislation to protect your sharks and wish you and the people of The Marshall Islands great success for the future.

Sincerely yours,

David Diley
Producer & Director
From the Office to the Ocean

Simply writing an email is of course a mere drop in the ocean of the efforts that have gone into getting the protection of sharks in these areas to progress to the point where it is either being put into practice or faces a real prospect of happening. There is a small band of people out there working tirelessley to make these things happen, in particular people like Stefanie Brendl and the brilliant PEW. It doesn't take much to write an email or sign a petition, what these guys do is an often labourius and thankless task and I, for one, would like to offer my continued support and eternal gratitude for their ceaseless efforts in making our world a better place!

I also want to give my eternal thanks to the people of the countries listed above for going to great lengths to protect one of the things which means more to me than anything else in the world. You may be a world away but your efforts and foresight are making positive changes for everyone. Thank you.

My profiles:

Try less nagging, try more gratitude!

 

Everybody loves a good ol' witch hunt now and then and it seems since the advent of widely available social media, these witch hunts are becoming a daily occurrence, nowhere else more so, than in the world of conservation and in particular shark conservation.

I use Facebook a fair bit, it's a great resource to let people know all about "From the Office to the Ocean" but is also a good way of keeping in touch with friends, old and new, around the globe but every day, without fail, on my news feed is the latest petition to do with sharks and the latest outburst of indignant outrage at someone or other for doing something or other, often accompanied by a letter template from the same people, often full of misinformation and about a million pages long (maybe a slight exaggeration) that we are told we must mailshot out to the provided email addresses to show our disgust.

The latest one got me thinking though because I was disgusted by this video...

 Check out the article as well, it was that and the resulting Facebook shit storm which got me thinking, one part of the article in particular... "We have the shark and we've identified who caught the shark," said Capt. Dan Sforza of the state Department of Fish and Game. "We are investigating and nobody is going to get away with anything."

 

The predictable status updates which linked the video alongside calls for everyone to email their disgust to various email addresses almost seemed to be an habitual kneejerk reaction to these types of articles and videos because had they read the article they would have read, and I repeat;

"We have the shark and we've identified who caught the shark," said Capt. Dan Sforza of the state Department of Fish and Game. "We are investigating and nobody is going to get away with anything."

What all this led me to wonder was, how many of these people email people like Capt. Dan Sforza and the Department of Fish and Game to offer thanks for their quick action and commitment to doing something about it? The Social Media Shark Conservation Alliance, or S.M.S.C.A as I have just decided to refer to them as, no doubt mean well and obviously want to see sharks protected but aside from being often woefully misinformed, through no fault of their own whatsoever, also seem to be in a permanent state of fist clenching, teeth grinding outrage. Don't get me wrong, the mindless killing of sharks infuriates me, disgusts me and depresses me and I have been in shark conservation long, long, long before it became fashionable and "Sharkwater" came out, but it can't be healthy and I don't think it helps because like it or not, you end up sounding like some nagging housewife with the people you are addressing, doing what henpecked husbands do in that situation, they stop listening and go down the pub instead.

Think back to when you were a teenager, you might even still be one (lucky you), how did you respond when being nagged and mithered by your mum? Most teenagers would roll their eyes and turn their music up, completely ignoring what's just been said, I know I did, I still do because my mum doesn't half mither me still and I'm 32 (hi mum!) Our mothers do/did this not to make our lives unpleasant or difficult but because they think it will help get things done, things which should have been done previously and which, in their state of un-done-ness (yep, that's a new word) have frustrated mother dearest to the point of resorting to the dreaded nagging technique. Does it ever work? No it almost always doesn't and if you think busy men and women on the other side of the world want to work their way through a pseudo-scientific, factually "creative" email mithering them, from an indignant housewife, student, or any other such individual from the other side of the world or down the road, you're seriously mistaken.

So, how about this...How about writing a brief email of thanks to the people who do all the thankless jobs in shark conservation, to the governments and politicians who have made positive changes or who are trying their best to make them, to the research scientists living off baked beans and meagre government grants to do the prolonged, laborious and often boring scientific studies that kick start any serious conservation effort? These guys don't get the clothing endorsements, they don't get the watches, the TV appearances or money to make films and travel the world doing the cool stuff, they sit in small offices surrounded by files and they meticulously put documentation and proposals together, they knock on the doors, they get their hands dirty and often get beaten down by anybody and everybody but keep going because they believe in what they are doing. Forget the shark conservation celebrities, they get more than enough, it's these often ignored, rarely thanked and highly passionate people and organisations who get things done, often at he expense of recognition for their work when a famous face decides to get involved during the process of dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

People like the hardworking team and politicians behind the Palau Shark Sanctuary

People like the PEW Environment Group who among a ton of other things, are almost single handedly responsible for the creation of the two million square mile Micronesian shark sanctuary and the banning of the sale, trade and possession of shark fin in Saipan (watch the video, they may not get a mention except at the very end but it was them who made it happen.)

People like Shark Free Marinas

How about a letter of support to the Fijian government to thank them for considering the bill which could potentially make Fiji the first Melanesian location to provide a sanctuary for sharks? Don't stop there either, send an email of thanks to Fiji Shark Conservation and Awareness Project

People like The Shark Trust

People like The Coral Reef Alliance

People like Bite Back

Anyway, surely you get my drift by now? Spend a bit of time researching those who are doing great things and let them know you appreciate it, it might actually make you feel good and positivity breeds positivity. Outrage and anger are valuable emotions but not all the time, after all, they do say people are more attractive when they smile :)

If you agree, share this blog in places where you think it may just do some good, you might just help brighten someone's day!

Goodbye Fiji, hello slightly intimidating workload!

 

Roughly 22,000 miles, 40 shark dives, more than 1,500 sharks, 5 different species, hours and hours of footage and an amazing experience and unfortunately it has now all come to an end and I am back in the UK, well, what's left of it anyway after the madness of the last week!

The month in Fiji was a truly amazing experience, a daunting, pressurised, intense and at times stressful one, but still amazing in every way! To be able to do the world's greatest shark dive almost every single day was an enormous privilege and to be able to learn from Mike and his amazing crew was a genuine privilege and because of that, I am now in a strong position moving forward with my career and for that I will be forever grateful.

So, what was I doing over there?!

First and foremost I was out there to achieve one main goal, to get as close to the Bull Sharks as possible and to establish a greater understanding of them and the unspoken communication with large, dangerous predatory sharks and do that I most definitely did. I'm not going to say how close just yet, I don't want to spoil the film after all, but according to Mike I was given the privilege of being the only person ever from a non-industry pro background, to do what I did and that is an enormous honour, to be given the trust that I could handle what was entrusted in me is one of the proudest achievements of my life thus far.

 

First things first, to the endless credit of Beqa Adventure Divers and their understanding of these animals, we must discourage the dolphinisation of these sharks because yes, they are very big and potentially very dangerous, when you come within inches of a half ton, three metre plus Bull Shark, your understanding of just how insignificant we are compared to them increases beyond measure and it is only when you can understand and accept this that you can start trying to understand them more.

I was also given a front row seat in learning all about the Shark Reef Marine Reserve project and it's effect on local Fijians and the economy. What they have in Fiji is the ultimate model of eco-tourism led shark conservation which should serve as a template for the rest of the world to follow. This ultimately depends entirely on the people running it and in Mike and the B.A.D crew they have the best of the bunch in Fiji.

I also got to meet some incredible people, the insanely talented and world renowned photographer, Michael Patrick O'Neill, the absolutely lovely Brenda Adkison who along with her husband Gary was a pioneer of the shark diving industry, Angelo O'Connor Villagomez from the excellent PEW Environment Group and Helen Sykes from Coral Reef Alliance who gave an excellent and articulate interview about her personal feelings on the shark feeding industry and although we may differ on some things, she was an impressive interviewee who will be a huge asset to the conservation of sharks not just in Fiji but worldwide. I was also fortunate enough to meet the Fijian fisheries minister who is responsible for pushing the bill for complete protection of sharks in Fiji through to legislation within the government (fingers crossed!) and an awesome group of college students from America representing Broadreach, an "experiential learning" organisation from the US.

 

 

The greatest privilege of all though was to spend time learning from people right at the top of their game. What the B.A.D Boyz don't know about shark diving and interacting with Bull Sharks really probably isn't worth knowing and their commitment to shark conservation and continuous learning is both refreshing and inspiring, about as far removed from sensationalist facebook ramblings and misinformed scaremongering as you can get, this is conservation how it should be, on the ground, continually moving and constantly looking for the next hurdle to overcome. I can safely say that everything I have learned this month, I have learned from the best.

This film will also feature footage you will have never seen anywhere else in the world...ever...anywhere, something truly remarkable which as far as I am aware is only happening on Shark Reef and which is not only fascinating but really, really cool! We also started using a Go Pro to get some interesting perspectives of the shark dives which provided some great moments and in keeping with the DIY, low budget approach I have become known for, utilised a seven foot piece of drainpipe, some rope, cable ties and a pencil to do something which ultimately proved beyond doubt that the Nauticam housing for the Canon 7D is Bull Shark proof, even when it's inside the mouth of a particularly large and slightly annoyed female!

Stars of the show, alongside the sharks, are the Fijians themselves who can definitely claim to be amongst the world's greatest, kindest, friendliest and all around amazing people so to the people of Galoa and Uprising Beach Resort, Alfie and James in particular, I extend my never ending thanks and gratitude for all you did in the month we were there, it was a total pleasure and honour to spend time with you all.

 

The whole point of this film was to show that if you want something enough, regardless of the sheer number of obstacles in your way, we, ordinary people, can get there in the end through sacrifice and although a great many people never thought I would pull it off, I did, so you can too. I also wanted to do something nobody else has, which still astounds me, tell the complete story of the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. I have wanted to do this for over twelve years and always thought someone else would get there first, that they either didn't try or worse still, didn't bother, is something I am eternally grateful for because I now have it in the can. 

The edit will most likely take around three months, I am also doing most of the music as well so I certainly have my work cut out. I am still looking at the options I have for resources for editing which of course, depend entirely on finance so the duration of the editing process will be reflective of the tools I have at my disposal.

 

Finally I would like to apologise again for the lack of video diaries and updates whilst I was in Fiji. Unfortunately the almost total lack of internet for a fortnight put paid to that so I will endeavour to upload some behind the scenes stuff we shot over the coming weeks as a way to hopefully make up for that.

For up to date news and updates, please sign up to the mailing list, you can find the incredibly simple form to sign up at the bottom of www.officetoocean.com and you will also benefit from special offers on the cost of "Behind Blue Glass" when I release that...More news on that coming soon!

Oh yeah, I was also interviewed by the Fiji Times and not only that, got recognised in the supermarket because of it! Ha! The article is here

As always, comments and questions are welcome as I love hearing from you all.

David