The Fiji Times Article

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

Upping the ante!

So, our time here is running out...FAST! I wanna apologise again for the lack of updates but for the last week or so we have been sans internet which has been very frustrating but hey, I'm in the South Pacific, what did I expect?!

The other thing which hasn't been going according to plan either is the weather, the last week or so has seen pretty miserable skies, tonnes of rain and a fair bit of wind meaning surface conditions aren't great and the viz in the water has been variable to say the least. With visibility in mind, it's a bit of a double edged sword, on one hand, the murkier water makes the Bulls in particular more energetic, more unpredictable and they get closer, very close! However, with all that cool stuff going on, the murky water also makes the capture of these sequences very difficult, more action, less clarity. C'est la vie!

Speaking of getting close, that's what the final stages of production will be all about getting even closer to these animals. Being within touching distance of what may be the biggest Bull Sharks in the world is a pretty awe-inspiring experience, to move away from the confines of the walls and barriers which are expertly patrolled by the safety team ensuring all guests leave fully intact is no small matter.

 

Do I think I'm ready to take those next steps? Yes, of course, is it up to me? Hell no! You can't just go and play around with these sharks if you don't know what you're doing or have an understanding of how to handle both yourself and them. Will I be nervous? Yeah, probably a bit but that's not a bad thing, I have no intention of trying to be a hero and if I get the chance and don't feel comfortable, I will say so, there would be no shame in that because not many people at all get to venture out there, certainly not many like me!

 

This film is about relationships, convictions in one's beliefs and courage and all three relate back to the sharks here, my relationship and growing level of communication with these sharks, my relationship with Mike and everyone I meet here in Fiji, and just as important, my relationship with myself but remember this isn't all about me. The courage and belief these amazing people in Fiji have displayed in establishing, protecting and servicing a one off shark diving site which has now become, in my opinion, THE model for shark conservation for the rest of the world to follow is one hell of an achievement. What we can only hope is that there are more people like Mike and his team in other parts of the world with the courage to use this model and really get stuck into saving sharks. I hope so, but I fear not.

 

Going over "the edge" could be a metaphor for many things but in essence it is what it is, challenging one's self to test his own beliefs and ideals of himself and the sharks he loves so much and trusting that they play along. It's about respect, first and foremost respect for the animals, then respect for people putting you in this situation and then, that these guys with perhaps more experience with what lazy wordsmiths refer to as "The World's Most Dangerous Shark" than anyone else on the planet, trust that I am capable of doing it right and that hopefully they respect the reasons why I am doing it and end up respecting me. It's not for the "buzz," will it be a buzz? Of course it will, is that why I want to do it? No. It is all about the above and hopefully putting out a message that "Shark Week" ain't the bastion of all shark truths, quite the opposite in fact.

Anyway, what else? I went out with Hamish this morning to film Papa and Toombi laying the bait bins at around 6am. Now, different people find enjoyment in different things, watching telly, playing sport, playing music, taking all manner of illegal chemicals, whatever, I don't judge so don't judge me when I say getting up at 5am to dump bins full of fish heads in to the sea was a blast. Going down with the bin in that eerie pre-daylight, pre-humanised world and being circled by five friendly (and totally non-threatening) Grey Reef Sharks and joined briefly by a big Bull and a Whitetip Reef Shark was, well, it was mint! Also great to spend some time with Hamish and the unlucky B.A.D Boys who got rostered with the early morning, watching a beautiful sunrise and smelling of rotting tuna. Seriously, that is my idea of fun and I want to do it again, in fact, a proper early morning dive down there would be even better but I don't see that happening.

 

As for the film itself, I'm getting there but this last week ain't gonna be a holiday. There is still a shed load to do, will we pull it off? I sure hope so but time is running out so there is a lot of sweat and tears to go, no blood though as these sharks are thankfully, pretty well behaved...Usually! There are already a few I have become particularly fond of, the really heavy set, powerful and dominant Bulls, Maite, Grandma and Gill and a Grey Reef Shark called Tootsie, although Mike usually refers to Tootsie as "an arsehole" due to her very forthright, confident and aggressive nature but all that makes her a great performer. I prefer "Tootsie."

The big story is still no Tiger and I am starting to get a horrible sinking feeling we won't get one whilst we are here, the day one did turn up, "Adi," I was not diving, instead I was either throwing up or asleep due to a 24 hour bug or some dodgy Heineken, I wasn't told to give the canned beers a swerve here due to issues before so having one as a treat before bed turned into something rather grisly a few hours later but the less said about that the better!

Due to internet issues we have been unable to upload any more video diaries which is a real shame however, to compensate, if we cannot do so in the remaining week, I'll pop a load of stuff up online when I get back by way of an apology to you all.

Finally, Alex and Lisa, tell Sam and Charlie that Uncle David is bringing them back some shark teeth and they couldn't be fresher, a couple of them popped out of the mouths of some very big sharks right before my very eyes, pretty cool eh?

After having said the weather is finally improving, it's just started raining again...Bugger. Let's hope Dakuwaqa gives me a boost and throws some good fortune my way, I want this Tiger so badly...