I am a Film-Maker and Shark enthusiast who spends a lot of time talking about Shark Attacks, Shark Behaviour and Shark Feeding.
I am responsible for the films Of Shark and Man, A Ray of Light and A Ray of Light II.
I don't believe in appealing to the lowest common denominator.
www.ofsharkandman.com
I am absolutely delighted, over the moon in fact and extremely proud to announce that photographic and moving image giant, Canon, are now endorsing myself and "From the Office to the Ocean."
So what does this mean? Well, firstly, I will personally be using Canon cameras and lenses for the long term future for both film and photographic work, it also means that I will have the considerable weight of the Canon brand and their marketing behind me. This is a big deal, Canon can realistically claim to be the makers of the best camera equipment around, the professional photos and films you see everyday are most likely captured using at least Canon lenses and more often than not Canon cameras so it is a guarantee of quality that is important in the making of everything that carries the "From the Office..." name.
Why Canon? This wasn't a case of just emailing and phoning a load of camera companies and hoping one of them was interested, I wanted it to be Canon and after speaking to one of the guys there was incredibly impressed by his attitude, technical knowledge and enthusiasm for what I am doing and was sold right from the beginning.
The camera I will very soon be the proud owner of, is the one above, the Canon 7D. I was introduced to the range of DSLR's by a friend of mine, Liam Wright, who runs his own production company, Banter Media and who was interviewing me for a documentary he is making. When he turned up with the Canon 5D MK II, I was surprised, I thought we were doing an interview, not a photo shoot and it was here when I learned about the capability of these amazing cameras. Not only do they shoot stills in 18-21 megapixels, they also shoot broadcast quality 1920x1080 HD video!
George Lucas is using them, Shane Meadows shot much of "This is England '86" on the 7D and they are rapidly becoming the tool of choice for filmmakers in need of flexibility, they offer an astonishing level of depth of field and after using Hamish's Canon 550D to shoot the teaser trailer I was absolutely insistent I wanted one of my own to film all of my footage for "From the Office to the Ocean."
There are three main reasons I am so keen on these Canon DSLRs. First of all, the quality is absolutely exceptional, full HD broadcast quality and professional standard stills capability. They also offer a depth of field range which is difficult to achieve with standard hand held filming cameras.
Secondly and perhaps most important is that they are affordable to an ordinary consumer budget. They're not cheap, that goes without saying, you don't get this kind of quality for peanuts but for less than £2000 you can get a camera and a couple of lenses that can get you professional results. It is important to me that if I am aiming to inspire ordinary people to do things, that I do it in a way in which they can also achieve the same results, i.e. that people would be able to do exactly what I do if they wanted to, instead of me trying to inspire you to follow in my footsteps but using equipment that is out of the reach of most people.
Finally, for a diver like me, these cameras are the answer to all my prayers. Every dive I do, I want to film but I also want the capability to take stills, this means a bulky housing for video and then having to have a separate stills camera in the pocket of my BCD and juggling between the two, also meaning having to buy two cameras and two housings. These canon DSLRs completely remove those problems, one camera, one housing and professional results in both still and film. Amazing.
It is also important for me to point out that I am not being paid to say any of this! Canon are not providing funding, they are however providing equipment, support and marketing for me and I am very happy to be able to have the pleasure of being able to endorse cameras I genuinely believe to be the best around for a consumer market looking to achieve professional results. For some examples of what this camera can do when in the hands of amateurs, look here
In other good news, the rather appalling screen shot above actually shows the BBC website and a brief interview they did with me about the shark attacks in Egypt. It's a very condensed write up of a conversation we had on Tuesday and whereas it's a little back to front, have to say, fair play to them for being willing to give the shark's side of the story, they also turned it around in less than 24 hours. It's difficult for people with no understanding of something as complex as shark behaviour and the triggers for shark attack to be able to grasp the intricacies during a thirty minute phone call but well done them for being so open to trying to give a different slant on the reporting of the attacks. It also doesn't hurt that they have mentioned and linked "From the Office to the Ocean" and also the Shark Trust.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback on my last article about the Egyptian Shark attacks, it has already had over 3000 unique views in the space of four days which is pretty amazing and I love the comments and questions. If anyone has any requests for blogs for me to do, please send me your sharky suggestions and I'll do what I can.
Also, there is only 43 days left on my Indiegogo fundraising page, if you can help in any way, please do so, I will be more appreciative than you could ever imagine and there's also some pretty cool things up for grabs for you as well! I am getting closer and closer to making this film a reality but the closer I get, the harder my own situation becomes due to financial strains, I accepted this from the beginning and it's all part of the journey and I'm still happier than ever!
Finally, here's the teaser trailer again to show the results you can get with these canon cameras, as far as the range goes, the camera used for this was the "bottom" of that range, that is the 550D, 60D, 5DMKII and 7D and was the first time I had ever used one but the results speak for themselves I think.
Thanks for continuing to read this blog and support me and welcome to all my new friends and subscribers, it's great to have you! Huge, enormous and massive thanks to Alan and Dave at Canon, it was a pleasure to sit down with you at HQ and get the benefit of your expertise and generosity, you guys are awesome!
In the wake of the fatality in Egypt on Saturday, the fourth victim in total this week, I thought it sensible to address some points raised in the last blog and to also try and make sense of the events of the last week and do what the mainstream media won't, that is, to offer informed, balanced opinion on what may have been the cause of the attacks and offer less hyperbolic explanation than that offered in the press. This article won't offer a guaranteed conclusion, it can't, I'm not out there and haven't spoken to any of the victims or witnesses but what I hopefully can do, is give the opinion of someone with a bit of expertise in the area of shark attacks thanks to many, many years of independent study on the subject relating to attacks all around the world.
The first point I want to raise is that in the first article, I raised my suspicion as to whether sharks had been involved in the injuries sustained by the victims at all. This isn't as much of a wild conspiracy theory as it may at first seem, it has happened before and sharks make great scapegoats, however, it is now clear that four people have been seriously and in one instance, fatally, injured by sharks in the last week.
When trying to make sense of a shark attack, many things have to be taken into consideration, the victim, the victim's activity, the location, the conditions, conditions in the weeks prior to the attack, the location's historical record with shark attacks and any other activities in and around the location's ocean space before and during the attack. Sharks don't just decide on a whim to swim to a beach and eat the nearest bather!
The Location
Egypt is a great place to spend a holiday, year round sunshine, crystal clear water, it hardly ever rains and is within relatively short flying distance from pretty much anywhere in Europe. The diving is also world class, for pure diving alone, the Red Sea is still the best diving destination I have ever experienced.
I have actually stayed in a hotel on the same stretch of water as Saturday's fatality, in fact where I stayed was only around quarter of a mile away. The hotels in that area have their own private beaches where swimmers and snorkelers enter the water from pontoons that float above the reef. The depth of the water can drop off steeply to around the 20-25 metre mark and marine life is abundant and varied. When I was there it was my first trip to try and film sharks in the Red Sea, a week long diving excursion that was based more on hope than expectation and throughout the time there, saw only a brief glimpse of a five foot long Grey Reef Shark off Yolanda. Everybody I spoke to about the potential for reef sharks off the hotels private beaches said the same thing, you might see one if you're really lucky every two or three years. The odd thing is that they should be there, they're just not. It's also worth pointing out that when I was in Sharm during this trip, it was at this exact time of year.
Egypt, for all it's wealth in the marine life stakes, is still a very poor country and to be brutally honest, won't be winning any awards for environmental regulation practices any time soon. The biggest problems faced by countries like Egypt (and many of the world's other top diving destinations) is that they are predominantly economically worse off than places like Britain, most of Europe, America and Australia so when opportunities do arise for places like Egypt to economically benefit from tourism, attracted by things like world class diving experiences, environmental practices can be pushed aside to exploit as much money as possible, as quickly as possible.
Egypt's climate means you can have a sunshine holiday where a tan, hot weather, warm seas and colourful fish are guaranteed, this means that 365 days a year, Egypt is besieged by holiday makers and this takes it's toll on the environment in and around the resorts. What is also worth noting is that much of the land in Egypt is, as I understand it, privately owned, many resorts are built upon land purchased from the military and one stipulation the government makes is that if a private developer or development chain purchases the land, they have to guarantee that development will be ongoing, i.e. resorts and hotels will get bigger and bigger meaning more tourists years on year and as such, more of a negative effect on the local environment.
What has this got to do with shark attacks? Well, quite a bit really. Ask anyone who has visited Sharm El Sheikh on a diving holiday in the last five years about how crowded the dive sites are. Boats jostle for position, divers are dumped in the sea for 45 minutes then shuttled off to the next location, whilst the divers are at depth, non-divers snorkel by the reefs in open water, often feeding the small fish with bits of bread.
Every day of the year, some of the best dive sites in the world are besieged by divers and boats without respite and unfortunately these dive boats bring with them the waste and garbage which all too often ends up in the sea.
Egypt has some top class dive operators, Emperor, Red Sea Diving College, Elite and Pioneer to name a few but as with many other places, it also has operators who's practices leave a lot to be desired and unfortunately, one of those practices is the unregulated baiting of large pelagic sharks for the benefit and upon request, of Russian and Italian tourists..More on that later.
Lying a short boat ride away from Sharm's resorts, in fact, directly opposite most of them is the Tiran Straits, home to some of the best diving in the Red Sea, Ras Mohammed, Woodhouse, Jackson Reef, The Gardens etc, all of which have been known historically for their (once) abundant shark populations, sharks have always been in the area, what hasn't however, is large numbers of human visitors and the environmental destruction this unfortunately brings.
The Victims
As is usually the case with Arabian shark incidents, getting the definitive detailed account of what happened is nigh on impossible. What I will cover below is based on media reports and information passed to me by trusted sources with working knowledge of the area and who have been in contact with people in positions of trust in the locations of the attacks.
Attack 1 - Olga Martsenko (48) & Evgeny Trishkin (30/11/10)
At the time of the attack, Russians, Olga and Evgeny, believed to be a couple, were snorkeling in deeper water off the reef. Details are sketchy at best but divers nearby claim to have been circled by a 2.5 metre Oceanic Whitetip only moments before it struck the couple, seriously injuring Evegeny's legs and removing Olga's hand.
Both victims made it ashore and were transferred to hospital in Cairo where they are described as in a critical condition but will both survive.
Attack 2 - Victor Koliy (46) (1/12/10)
Ukranian Victor, was attacked a few miles to the north of the attack on the Russian couple the previous day. Again, the victim was snorkeling and suffered what was described as "multiple" injuries to his legs. Fortunately, Victor has since been discharged from hospital and is believed to have returned to the Ukraine. Reports suggest that Victor was again, snorkeling farther out in deeper water from the reef's edge.
Attack 3 - German Woman (3/12/10) - Fatal
Details surroundingthis attack are at present vague, some reports suggest her body washed on to the beach, others report that she was brought ashore by a lifeguard, however, what has come to light is that eye witnesses are claiming to have seen a shark which is considerably larger than the shark implicated in the first attack on the Russian couple.
The victim suffered large wounds to her mid to upper arm and her legs were badly mauled. Again, the victim was swimming in deeper water, this time off the private house reef of the Hyatt hotel, where she was a regular visitor.
Reports of a fourth attack and fifth victim have now been confirmed as false, the "victim" in question, a young Russian woman received lacerations to her hand, caused not by a shark, but by coral.
As is often the case in shark attacks, the extremities are the parts of the victim sustaining injuries, that is, the arms and legs, including hands and feet. What follows is my informed opinion, that doesn't make it fact, however, I am confident that I may well be accurate. We may never know exactly what happened but the purpose of this is to offer a more balanced account than that which you will find in the mainstream media. I haven't seen the bodies and I haven't had the benefit of speaking to eyewitnesses...
In the first attack, one interesting facet of the circumstances becomes clear, that the victims were snorkeling in close proximity to a group of divers. The couple were not the only people at the surface in the water and the divers saw the shark before it attacked. As I mentioned in the previous blog, when swimmers and snorkelers sustain injuries to their hands and arms, it is often in the event of the victim touching the shark, or attempting to fight off an attacking or aggressive shark. My guess is this, the shark, having circled the divers, was drawn to the couple at the surface, I would imagine the male of the couple was the first to be bitten, sustaining injuries to his legs whilst attempting to move away from the approaching shark or kicking out to defend himself. Upon seeing her companion struggling with the shark, has Olga attempted to help the victim, punching out at the shark or trying to push it away, thus encouraging the shark to bite her in self defence, removing her hand in the process?
It is most often the case in attacks on humans that a removal of a limb is the last act of an attacking shark so this would make sense. As is usually the case and having seen it myself, when snorkelers or swimmers are approached by an inquisitive shark, very few will respond in a calm manner, arms and legs are flailing and when "fight or flight" kicks in, "flight" is usually the course of action taken. If you are approached by an inquisitive or aggressive shark, to move away from the shark, attempting to escape, only encourages the shark to inspect you more closely and what is the part of the body nearest the business end of a shark in this scenario? The feet and lower legs, hence why believe the male was first to be bitten.
The same train of thought could be applied in the second attack, inquisitive shark approaches a snorkeler who attempts to escape or kick out at the shark and receives injuries to his lower legs. If a victim is attempting an escape, behaving like potential prey can illicit an appropriate reaction in a predatory animal, also, to defend one's self can be interpreted as an act of aggression on the victim's part and can again, illicit a response from the "attacking" animal.
In the instance of the fatal attack, what is it that caused the victim to unfortunately not survive? Was the attacker more aggressive or were the injuries more severe due to the size of the shark? Did the victim's own condition mean she was less able to withstand injuries a younger, fitter individual may have? We may never know but reports have suggested that people originally rushing to her aide, when realising what was happening left the water to find a vessel in which they could bring her ashore. It seems that the victim was further away from other bathers during this attack and assistance took longer to arrive, did that play a part in this incident ending with a fatality?
Should the final victim have been in the water in the first place? Did she even know about the attacks earlier that week? It isn't that ridiculous to suggest she may not have known, I know when I go on holiday, I don't watch television, I certainly don't bother reading newspapers in languages I can't understand and how likely is it that staff at the hotels were being particularly forthcoming about the events surrounding the previous attacks? In the event I find out more detailed information surrounding each or all of the attacks, I will of course post it and amend my theories if needed, accordingly.
The Culprits
The more astute reader will take note of the fact I have pluralised the above. The notion of a "rogue shark," so beloved by the press and armchair Matt Hooper is one I just don't buy I'm afraid. To justify that, let's look at the basic definition of what a "rogue shark" actually is. A rogue shark is "JAWS," a shark which actually swims around looking for people to bite or eat. Some animals do exhibit rogue tendencies, lions, tigers and crocodiles for example and the theory is based on evidence a rogue animal has a "taste for human flesh."
It is fairly widely known nowadays and certainly widely accepted, that sharks do not particularly care for the taste of human beings, in fact, only approximately 10-15 human beings have ever been totally consumed by a shark during an attack, that is, they were alive before coming into contact with a shark which then killed and ate them. It is certainly feasible that the number of unfortnates suffering this grisly fate could even be in single figures.
The examples used by fans of the rogue shark theory such as the Jersey Shore attacks in 1916 have since been proved far more likely, in fact almost beyond all doubt, to have been carried out by multiple sharks. Egypt has even had its own rogue shark conspiracy before, in the 1980's where three people were attacked on the same day in the Port Said area of Cairo. The incident was often used to support the rogue shark theory but neglected to mention the third victim (the first two were companions together) was injured many miles away and would have required the shark to sprint up the coast to find and attack him.
Human beings don't have the relevant nutritional value for sharks to get a taste for us, sharks aren't "killing machines" they are highly evolved predatory animals that do what they do, really, really well. They are not vindictive animals hell bent on the destruction of the human race but animals which sometimes make mistakes based on natural behaviour patterns.
The Oceanic Whitetip has taken a bit of a hammering in the press this week and as a large, bold and sometimes aggressive shark, commonly found in the area, it would make a likely suspect but let's not forget some of his mates who might also be worth a mention, the Tiger Shark, Silvertip Shark and the Great White.
The Oceanic Whitetip is big enough, aggressive enough and has the tools to have carried out these attacks, no question about that, however it is a pelagic species, not often found so close to beaches. That's not to say it's impossible, they have been encountered close inshore where reefs have steep drop offs, much like those in Sharm so it's not impossible they would be seen that near to a beach, very rare yes but not impossible.
The Tiger Shark has been surprisingly lacking in the press this week. She is big, heavy set and one of the few shark species capable of doing serious damage to a human being. The nearby Tiran Straits are home to a resident number of Tiger Sharks which are fairly regularly encountered by divers and unlike the Oceanic Whitetip, will regularly venture into shallow water.
Contrary to popular belief, Great White sharks do occur in warm water and even tropical locations, The Bahamas, Madagascar, Northern Australia, Tonga, The Seychelles, all of these places have recorded large numbers of verified Great White shark sightings and encounters, you can add the Red Sea to that as well. Great Whites do visit the Egyptian coast and at this time of year, with sea temperatures around the 23-25 degrees Celsius mark, they are more than capable of withstanding these temperate conditions and as we all know, are more than capable of inflicting serious injury with ease.
Isn't she beautiful! Yes she certainly is but the Silvertip is also a bulky, sometimes aggressive shark which has been involved in attacks on humans before. Silvertips are found in the waters around sharks and whilst also more commonly found in pelagic environments, do venture closer inshore with more regularity than the Oceanic Whitetip. The Silvertip is less twitchy than other requiem sharks, has an inquisitive nature and will attack if provoked, it also has the dental equipment to do some serious damage to the human body.
All these sharks have track records in wounding swimmers and divers, they all occur in the locality of the attacks and all could be considered possible suspects. Very few sharks have the tools to cut through bone, a pre-requisite if a human limb is removed in an attack. That also discounts the Mako caught by fishermen from the attack in which Olga lost her hand and lower arm.
The least likely culprit is the Great White, the other three however could all be reasonable suspects, could it be that a couple of species have been involved? Could it be that a couple of sharks of the same species have been involved? Very possibly. Could it be that one shark is responsible for all the attacks? I really don't think so.
In my opinion the most likely scenario is that the Oceanic Whitetip and Tiger Shark are the most likely suspects in one or all of the attacks. If this was happening in the Pacific Islands, Hawaii, Northern Australia, Florida or Durban for example, in similar conditions, the finger of blame would immediately be pointed at either the Tiger or the Bull Shark, with the absence of Bull Sharks from the area, is that to say it's reasonable to believe a Tiger Shark could be implicated in one of the attacks at least? In my mind yes, does it make it so? No but it is a possible scenario.
Environmental Factors
What do I mean by the above? Well, to put it simply, factors in the area which we either know for sure, or can reasonably be assumed to have happened given information from reliable sources.
I have not seen it with my own eyes but very trusted friends and colleagues have, it is widely accepted that some dive boats in the area are known for baiting the water to bring sharks closer to divers, in particular Oceanic Whitetip Sharks. Even more alarming is that on some of these boats it is claimed, operators encourage divers to pet the large sharks and bites have occurred because of this. These practices are often undertaken for predominantly Russian and Italian tourists who pay extra for the pleasure. Before you start using this as ammo to rail against the shark feeding industry, please bare in mind what I have said in a previous article on that specific subject, shark feeding dive operations and dive operations feeding sharks, are two very different things.
It is common practice for tourists to feed the fish close inshore. Not a massive problem you might think but if smaller fish are encouraged to hang around and propagate in bather heavy areas, don't be surprised if bigger fish fancy popping by to have a look as well.
Large pelagic fish in the Red Sea are in enormous decline, overfishing has taken a terrible toll on populations of pelagic species which in turn has affected the feeding practices of many predatory species. If you remove prey species in big enough numbers, it is going to affect the species which rely on them to feed as part of their natural diet. If we alter a species' natural predatory behaviours, it is likely they will adapt to that alteration. By that I mean if an animal naturally survives on rays for example, if the rays are all removed from an area, that predator either has to leave and find more rays or start finding other things to eat to survive which then has a knock on effect for that new prey item. Could this mean that larger sharks are moving closer inshore due to their being less prey in deeper waters? Maybe...
Perhaps most startling and telling, are reports that a merchant vessel transporting cattle and livestock to Jordan had jettisoned a number of the animals overboard in waters close to where the attacks took place as recently as the week before the attacks. Had the animals died on board and been disposed of overboard? This is not the first time this has happened. During the foot and mouth crisis in 2001, consignments of cattle were transported from South Africa through the Red Sea, this coincided with reports of dive groups encountering Great White Sharks off the coast of Sharm and also around the Brothers and Daedelus. I spoke with a dive guide in 2007 who had two encounters herself during 2001, she also happened to mention it was suggested that it may be best not to talk about it at the time due to fear of it affecting business. We will probably never know for definite whether the sharks followed the cattle transporters but it would be a valid explanation. As soon as the Great Whites appeared, they disappeared again after just over a month...
Also, when the French passenger plane crashed in the northern Red Sea in 2003, the number of sharks encountered by divers exploded and for around three months, large numbers of sharks were encountered with unusual frequency
A Valid Explanation?
I'm not saying this is what happened, it is merely what I think happened, if you want to either agree or disagree based on any additional information or feedback, I always welcome informed open discussion. So here goes...
It's no coincidence in my mind that a load of dead animals get dumped in the sea near to a popular tourist resort where the sea is full of swimmers, divers and snorkelers and a week or so later some people get bitten. If you take all the information on face value it could be argued that within a dwindling population of large pelagic sharks, a small number of individuals have been attracted closer to shore by the decaying sheep and cattle carcasses tossed into the water. The waste pumped into the water from the hotels, the fish feeding activity from tourists and the possibility of dive boats feeding sharks in the area would potentially be enough to encourage predatory behaviour in the visiting sharks. Upon encountering vulnerable swimmers at the surface, have the sharks exhibited aggressive, inquisitory behaviour whilst in a heightened state of predatory awareness due to the increased level of stimuli (rotting sheep, increased fish activity, large numbers of people in the water, waste from dive boats and hotels) in the water? It's very, very possible.
These attacks were not feeding attacks, in that the sharks weren't trying to eat people, they were most likely acts of aggression from sharks who's behaviour had been altered by human interference and unfortunately people have been seriously hurt and one killed. The problem is the mainstream media will most likely only cover the tip of the dorsal fin in this story, sharks make easy bad guys and stories of environmental alteration don't sell as well as sharks attacking helpless humans. A small number of sharks have been attracted closer to shore by human negligence, people have been bitten and unfortunately the sharks are going to pay the price. Will they catch the culprits? Probably not, will they catch and kill innocent sharks? They already have...
It is a sad story all around, the most startling part of which for me was the statistic that only 11 Oceanic Whitetip sharks of adult size (2 metres+) have been identified as resident animals, in that they have been documented twice or more, in the area, an area which could once lay claim to be perhaps the best place in the world to encounter Oceanic Whitetip Sharks in the world. This incredible shark was once claimed to be the most common large pelagic fish in the oceans (fish weighing 100lbs or more), it is now critically endangered in many parts of the world, but that won't be a story so widespread in the mainstream press.
As with all shark attacks, we have to look at the bigger picture, a good example being the spate of attacks at Port St Johns in South Africa between 2004 and 2009. The press featured comments from locals and fishermen claiming that the restrictions on shark fishing and the shark diving industry were to blame, what wasn't so widely mentioned was that the beach was used by a local tribe to take part in ritualistic animal sacrifices, in fact, these sacrifices were undertaken on the morning of two of the attacks, both of which were fatal.
All I ask is that you take on board the fact that sharks do not look for people to bite or eat, the rogue shark theory is almost certainly a myth and the biggest victim in shark/human encounters is without doubt the shark. It can be difficult to separate emotions from incidents like these but hopefully more information comes to light, you never know, I may even be right.
I want to thank Avi, Ed, Howard and Patric for passing me some info, in patric's case he should be applauded for taking the time to do what much of the media hasn't, contact a local dive expert and see what they think about everything, as an industry leader, Patric has clarified that the divers in Egypt, almost to a man, want to see tolerance and understanding for the sharks in Red Sea waters and for that we should all thank them.
Seeing as this is a fairly epic blog, I am going to treat you to a couple of videos, made aware to me by my friend, the rather brilliant Mike Neumann, the first may go some way to explain why Oceanic Whitetip Sharks occasionally bite snorkelers and divers, some of the behaviour is pretty scary on the part of the humans involved, the second video is something Mike was pretty reserved with in his comments but I'm afraid I can't exercise such good will, I hate it, I hate this video with a passion and have a strong dislike for the idiots involved in it, it makes me angry and shows a lot of people make diving with sharks all about them and a way to show off to their pals. The dive operator shouldn't have allowed it and the divers themselves are exactly the type of divers that I never, ever want to be on a dive boat with. What both videos do show however, is how tolerant sharks are for human stupidity, all three species in the videos, Oceanic Whitetips, Lemon Sharks and Tiger Sharks could very easily kill every one involved in the videos, the important thing is, they don't, they don't even give them a nip...Bare that in mind next time you read reports in the media about shark incidents...
Finally, feel free to pass this to people you know are talking about the attacks, it might help increase understanding from the shark's point of view, if you are part of the press and want to contact me, please do, if you want to comment and give your thoughts, again please do and finally, to the shark conservationists, I know that innocent sharks have paid the price as well this week but let's also remember, it isn't the fault of the victims, let's not try to play the life of one thing over the life of another, whereas I agree that a human life does not have more value than that of a shark's life, it does not mean the shark has more value than a human, let us try to exercise sympathy and reasoned debate, that is far more helpful than spreading propaganda that may at first seem helpful, when it is actually the total opposite. Sharks are not friendly, they are not like puppy dogs...Sharks are sharks and should be appreciated and cherished for what they are.
When I fisrt saw the trailer for "Surviving Shark Night" I was pretty excited because I really like Mike Rutzen
in fact, I think he's a pretty cool dude, very much my type of guy. His "Sharkman" documentary remains one of the best shark docs I've seen for a while, it was't massively groundbreaking and didn't really do anything that hadn't already been done before but what it did do was to introduce a guy who could be a huge influence in the movement to protect sharks.
Mike's big thing is freediving with Great White Sharks without the use of a cage, still my number one all time dream, and in doing so he aims to show that Great Whites aren't mindless killing machines and humans can interact with large specimens and remain fully intact and actually enjoy the experience. It's a thorny issue however and for good reason, is there any need for shark diving tourist operators to offer this option? Of course not but many are starting to see the dollar signs and a handful actually do offer the option for tourists to leave the cage which, to me, fails to offer more pros than it does cons, however, the whole subject requires an in depth look to do the arguments on both sides any justice and that's not the subject of this blog so we'll leave that there...for now.
Where was I? Ah yes, I like Mike Rutzen a lot for one particular reason, he seems a really nice bloke who really, really likes sharks. He is knowledgeable, articulate and has a quiet authority about him which means he doesnt have to resort to piousness, gawdy stunts or overblown statements of how he "puts his life on the line" diving with sharks, thus making the whole thing about him and reaffirming stereotypes, instead, he does what he does and he hopes that we enjoy watching him do it and that we might just learn something along the way.
As I said before, I was really looking forward to this so when I realised I was going to miss it, to say I was a bit gutted is an understatement, to then realise that I kept missing all the repeats through no fault of my own only made me want to see it more, so I was happy to discover that, thanks to the total paucity of quality programming on the SKY television cable service, "Surviving Shark Night" was repeated for the one hundred and ninth time at a date and time I was actually able to watch it. Buzzin'!
The concept pf the programme if you're not aware, is actually quite an interesting and dare I say original one (wasn't expecting that!) in that Mike would spend a night "alone" in three "shark infested" locations around the world culminating in the big one, spending the night in the frigid waters of Gansbaii, South Africa, home to a decent sized population of Great Whites. Great idea I thought and something which is both quite daring in it's execution and also in the message it could convey if done right.
What was unusual was that it seemed to me that there was a confusion between the film Rutzen wanted to make and the film the network wanted to make, otherwise known as "the process of making television programmes and/or films." There was this weird insistence of shoehorning Linkin Park songs into segments of the programme, almost as though someone really wanted their music in there, despite the fact it just didn't work at all, nor did the general "rockiness" of the score, as you should know by now I do love my Rock music and using it the right way with nature footage is cool but in this programme it seemed a bit awkward.
The script also played up a bit too much on the danger aspect but in the real world, if you say "shark" to network programmers, they're gonna think danger, blood and the draw of maybe, just maybe seeing someone die on television and that gets good ratings...Also, he wasn't really "alone" as there was a platform with a full production team floating within feet of Mike at all times however that's a minor, almost petty point to make because let's be honest, it was never going to be any other way.
So, the music wasn't great, the script over egged the "potential gore cake" and the description was a little misleading but let's concentrate now on the good stuff. First off, the conservation message was in there right from the off which made a nice change from the usual practice of slotting it in during the last five minutes. It was made quite clear that Mike was doing this to show that our fear of sharks is far greater than it should be and that sharks have more to fear from us, as was proved when a rather excited Blacktip Shark electrocuted itself by biting, then getting tangled up in, the lighting cables being used by the production team. Thankfully, after being freed by Rutzen, the shark was able to resume sharky duties, seemingly only a little worse for wear and dazed after it's own re-enactment of the end of "Jaws II."
It was also nice to see the production team relax enough to spend time in the water with sharks, their confidence buoyed by seeing first hand that simply getting into the ocean is not enough to make sharks eat you alive, the footage shot at night was also interesting as was observing Mike's posture and body language when "communicating" with the sharks around him. Again, the over-fishing and lack of pelagic species compared to thirty years ago, permeated the message within the film making it clear that whereas the network saw the morbid fascination angle as being of interest to its audience, the focus on conservation angle from the film's protagonist was respectfully allowed time in the limelight and although, a little clumsy at times in it's gentle contradiction with the network angle, still worked well enough to make a valid point.
I love watching Mike Rutzen interact with White Sharks, I get a real sense of genuine fondness from him for the sharks in Gansbaii and it was here where the film climaxed with him diving during the day and evening with several large Great Whites although the narrators insistence that they were between five and six metres in length was well off being accurate, when will people realise that a twelve foot Great White Shark is one hell of a fish, their size does not need to be exaggerated. In the end, Mike didn't spend the night in the open water with Great Whites but let's face it, who would? That is a step too far and not at all sensible so we'll let him off on that!
All in all it was a good programme, he always seems to make shark programming which is generally better than most of his peers, although I should point out that Chris Fallows' "Air Jaws 3" was actually really, really good as well. The biggest strength in the programmes involving Mike Rutzen is Mike himself and his obvious love for sharks and what he does for a living, I never get the sense he is forcing anything, he speaks with enough passion and eloquence that he does not need to resort to tricks and gimmicks to get his point across.
What I would have like though would have been something akin to a "Blair Shark Project," two divers spend twenty four hours alone in three oceans, The Indian, Pacific and Atlantic, with nothing other than a camera each and document what happens during their day at sea. The problem with that however, is that you can't rely on sharks actually turning up and the whole thing could be pretty boring, that said, what better way to get across a point that pelagic shark populations are being annihilated at a rate that they simply cannot recover? Mike, if you read this and fancy giving that a go, get in touch...
Aside from the above gushing about someone I admire greatly what else as been happening? Well, I'm still plugging away towards getting sponsorship for my awesome (because it will be) film. I have a couple of meetings to tie down which could possibly yield some exciting news and the people who have supported me all along continue to do so and for which I am eternally grateful and humble.
I have also been emailed today by a lady who got in touch with me last week by the name of Sarah Outen, who very matter of factly just happened to mention she is the youngest woman to have ever rowed solo across an ocean and is one of those people who makes you want to try to be a better person. She, like me, is a believer in following your dreams and she's a pretty cool lady who has contacted me in regard to some pretty cool things so watch this space...
The Indiegogo page is up and running and despite the obligatory technical difficulties (paypal, god forbid you ever have to contact their customer service department, they are woeful, although when you finally get through to the technical people they're alright) is going fairly well but it could be going better! I have 61 days left so visit the site (click the link below) and if you can donate, that's amazing, if not maybe share it around your friends, family, colleagues etc, maybe they can help too? You actually get stuff back! This blog averages around four thousand unique hits per month, if every person put $5 in, that's $20,000 in a month and would go a long way to seeing this film get made!
It's now 6:21am and I haven't been to bed yet, the plumber is due at 8am, I have a meeting at 9am and then a full day of work so let's hop I can stay awake! By the way if you are awesome on Photoshop, and I mean really, super awesome, or at least you really enjoy using it, drop me a line as you might be able to help me with something pretty important!
Be nice to each other, look out for Mike Rutzen's work and do something positive today, you'll be hearing from me again soon!
My friend Mike pointed out to me on email recently that he could sense some frustration in one of my previous blogs and to be honest, he was right. When you focus all your energy and efforts on one thing it can sometimes lead to frustration when things aren't necessarily going your way and despite your best efforts, it feels like sometimes even the slightest obstacles are insurmountable.
Things are a bit different now though however and I can say from experience that tenacity, belief and enthusiasm DO pay off in the end so by way of cancelling out any previous negative vibes this is the super happy sunshine positivity blog!
First off, reaction to the Teaser Trailer has been absolutely incredible! It has received well over a thousand views in only seven days and comments have been supportive, complimentary and effusive in praise for how it looks, its message and the music. Also, the feedback from people I have nothing but total respect for has been hugely positive and fortified my belief in what I am doing. Here are some examples from Patric Douglas, Mike Neumann, Felix Leander and Richard Theiss
It's also worth pointing out that this blog is now averaging 4,500 unique views every month, that's approximately 150 people every day which is pretty amazing really seeing as it has only been live online since this July and I would like to thank every single one of you who regularly come back to read it!
The Dive Show was a huge success. Thank you to Jussi for the poster (see the above image) and once again the Cameras Underwater guys were an absolute pleasure to be around. Dave, Duxy, Mario and Caroline have to easily rank up there within the top one per cent of the nicest people in the world and their expertise and knowledge on all things relating to capturing underwater images meant the stand was never anything other than rammed, great news for me as I got to speak to a lot of new people!
It was great to catch up with Jim, Lea and the guys from Fourth Element, the amazing Alex Tattersall, Nick and Helen, Laura Evans, Paul Rose (who is looking more and more like a contender for James Bond every year), Steve Weinman and also to finally meet the incredibly friendly Blue Planet team. Martin from the Fiji Tourist Board was an absolute pleasure to be around and had it not been for it actually being at the show, my conversation with Alan Harbourne from canon would have gone from what was originally a mere introduction to us being chucked out of a pub at closing time, what a nice fella!
I was also very fortunate to finally get to spend some time with the lovely Lesley Rochat. Her talk on shark conservation and the (often unsung) work she and her colleagues undertake in South Africa was a definite highlight of the weekend. She is a passionate, articulate and knowledgeable shark advocate and some of the initiatives she has been involved in, in particular the marketing of pro-shark events and media, was nothing short of inspired! Lesley gets far less exposure than other shark conservationists and although personal exposure is not on her remit, she deserves far more. She's not in it to make money or become famous, she's in it because of a love for sharks and the ocean. She is also a case in point of someone who once was terrified of sharks until she had a face to face encounter which changed her life forever, inspiring her to commit her life to helping save what she once feared so much.
It was also great to catch up with another leader in the world of shark conservation, the brilliant Richard Peirce of the Shark Trust, and to enjoy his talk about his new book and film, "Shark Attack Britain," a slightly irreverent look at shark encounters in the UK.
The meetings I had at the Dive Show were very fruitful and I am hoping to have some exciting updates in the weeks to come! Watch this space....
If you're not aware of Indiegogo, it is a site which hosts people's independent projects and provides a platform for investment from anybody who may want to help the independent arts with donations large and small. In essence it showcases talent and also the often overlooked philanthropic nature of people who want to do their bit to help others succeed. The whole thing basically exudes goodness and positivity and with that in mind, as you can imagine, From the Office to the Ocean is featured! You will see that I have already received $355 in voluntary donations and that is in less than twenty four hours! I would love to articulate how much people's generosity means to me but I don't think it's possible, it means so much to me that people I know and also complete strangers, want to see me succeed. The whole concept of "From the Office..." is progress and achievement through positivity and inspiration and this is a perfect case in point. Donations are made in return for anything from a film credit to an invite to a premiere screening in the UK so have a look and see what you think.
The project is really now starting to gain momentum and big, household name organisations and companies and industry professionals are really starting to take me seriously which is great, it shows that if you focus and work hard you CAN achieve what at first seems almost impossible, it is also testament to the fact that most people, the large majority in fact, are decent, friendly and kind and do want to see people deserving of success, succeed.
With all this positivity flying around I want to thank the following people for their support friendship and encouragement as I may well not have mentioned them previously, Kris Allen, Mark Burrows, Mark Thorpe, Duncan Carson, Nicky Crawford, Laura Evans, Red Issue and all my United mates (too many to name however Andy McIntyre gets a mention as I know he wants one!), Richard Peirce, Terry Goss, Amanda Robinson, Jan Bailey, Benedikte Lydsal Uslam, Susana Navajas, Jim Standing and Howard Sawyer.
On the subject of Howard, check out his website. Howard and I have recently become acquainted and as well as being an articulate, intelligent writer and an excellent photographer, he's also a fascinating bloke. Check out his articles on the site, there are a couple about sharks, in particular shark feeding and the numbers used by shark conservation groups. He doesn't shirk issues and speaks his mind and I admire that, it's also worth pointing out that he addresses issues which are important to shark conservation from the angle of someone who openly admits to not being an all out shark enthusiast. It's an interesting take on an interesting subject, check out his articles and make up your own mind. He's a good guy and an intelligent guy and even if you don't agree with some of his views, at least enjoy some of his awesome photos.
That's it from me for another blog, as the winter draws in and the industrial grime envelopes my surroundings, I can still see rays of sunshine everyday and that's because of the brilliant people I am fortunate enough to know, many of whom I can count as genuine friends so a heartfelt thanks from me to you and if United can emerge victorious again in tomorrow's derby, that will ensure an extra wide smile on my mush for the days ahead!
A huge thank you to Hamish for the additional camera work for shots involving me, Mark Burrows for his skill in recording, mixing and mastering my music, Lee for the use of his roof terrace and Nick Rowan for allowing me to film in his office!
Here's the latest video diary. It's mainly about the trailer which will be available to stream online in the next few days but also features a request for a bargain basement version of "Cribs" so if you were wondering what's currently in my fridge, wonder no more, it's all here!
The last couple of weeks have been all about the trailer, the endless editing, generating effects, in particular reflections in glass (not easy) the recording of the music and writing the narration. The shot above is was taken during filming and I must say, the difference between broadcast HD and standard camcorder quality is nothing short of outstanding! The actual camera I am using at present is the one I intend to use to film my sequences for the film itself and is frankly, an amazing piece of kit. I'm not going to tell you what it is just yet though as I am waiting to hear back from them to see if they want to be involved, if they do, I would happily scream from the rooftops how much I love this camera!
The cost of shooting the trailer currently stands at £2, that is, two £1 bus tickets to travel the distance between two stops, I have been chased by a Gypsy's horse, been followed by two shirtless ne'er do wells outside a prison and got in to bed with Hamish in the middle of the afternoon...It's been an interesting experience to say the least!
The trailer needs to be finished in a week's time at the latest and there is still the last bit of music to record, the narration and some final text, it's going to be close but fingers crossed it will be done, up and ready to view by next weekend...ish!
With the Dive Show in Birmingham approaching fast, I am panicking somewhat about having all my printed material ready, hopefully it's just a case of me worrying about things more than I should (not unusual) but I have still to design and have printed, leaflets, fliers and posters promoting "From the Office..." I also have some T-Shirts and hoodies in front of me that need printing so we can be recognisable on the day so all in all with the trailer and Dive Show material to take into account, you could say I have my hands full!
As if all that wasn't enough, I am about a week away from almost certainly making the decision to become homeless. I'm not over the moon about this to say the least, I love my independence, I love having my own place where I can sit in my underpants and watch "Deal or No Deal" and "Malcolm in the Middle" without having to worry about offending people so those days will most likely be a thing of the past for a while and although this is frightening, it is also something which I am more than aware I need to do. It's worth noting that when I said at the beginning of all this, I was risking everything, it wasn't an empty statement and I wasn't lying. I am giving up everything to make this happen so if you are out there and think you may be able to help in some way, don't be shy, get in touch because I need it and appreciate any support offered to me.
If you're at the Dive Show, please come and say hello, I will have my own section of the Cameras Underwater stand and will be the dashingly handsome, shaven headed man in "from the Office to the Ocean," apparel and hopefully if he's available, will be accompanied by a large, rotund and loud individual also decked out in some funky Office to Ocean clobber!
The paypal link on the website www.officetoocean.com is up and running and can be found in "The Project" section under "contribute," if you're feeling flush and want to help out a bit, it is always humbly appreciated!
I also want to say a wholehearted congratulations to my friend in Florida, Susana, for her recent good news (I am delighted for you) and to thank her for a wonderful and very kind article she wrote about yours truly which can be found here
I hope you are all well, there will be a video diary coming soon plus the possibility of another radio interview in the pipeline, please keep an eye out, make your friends aware of this blog, the website and the facebook page and keep up the comments and questions, it's nice to feel I have friends out there!
It's been a manic few weeks and when I say manic, I mean MANIC! There has been charity balls, dying computers, video diaries, radio interviews, filming the trailer and a whole host of other exciting things so here is a bit of a run down of the last few weeks.
Last Saturday saw me returning to London for the Bite Back charity fundraising ball where I was part of the Cameras Underwater table and once again got to enjoy the hospitality and warmth afforded to me by Dave Glanfield who is truly one of life's good guys and who was kind enough to pay for my stay in the Strand Palace Hotel.
We were joined by Dave's lovely fiance Silvia and another of the Cameras Underwater team Paul Duxfield or "Duxy" as he is more commonly known. Duxy is a great guy and a well of technical knowledge on the subject of photography and film-making. What always strikes me about these guys is they really, really know their stuff and that's because they've been there and done it in the field, it's a huge pleasure to have them on board with "From the Office..."
The evening itself was fantastic, the food superb and the amount raised over the course of the night was a magnificent £11,500. Full credit to all the team at Bite Back who put in such a huge effort to raise money, not just for shark conservation but also the Marie Curie cancer charity, it is always heartening to see people putting their time and energy aside to support worthy causes and it was a pleasure to be in attendance.
The other big development this month is that filming for the trailer is now almost complete with only a couple more shots to film and I have already started editing with very pleasing results. You may ask how I can film a trailer for a film about sharks, a film which has not even had a frame shot yet, in an urban English city, you can also add on to that the fact there is no music yet and a computer which died at the precise moment editing was due to start and you will appreciate this is not an easy task, however, I am confident I have cracked it regarding the concept and I have an idea of the music also, which I will write and record. The footage is all in broadcast quality HD (thanks to Hamish kindly letting me use his camera which I am dreading having to return!) and the edit is really starting to take shape so I have high hopes. I am hoping for the finished version to be available to stream online within the next three weeks.
In regards to progress with the project as a whole, things are moving in the right direction. This blog for example is averaging around one hundred unique views every day, the website is seeing very positive traffic and meetings are being arranged all the time, there are preliminary discussions with some very high profile name organisations which I am hoping to take to the next step and I am gradually building greater media awareness of what I am doing. It is also positive to see the facebook group attracting increased numbers every day and due to requests on both that group and via email, I have now added an option to donate towards the cost of making the film, via paypal, to the website simply click on "The Project" then the link to "Contribute."
It is somewhat overwhelming to hear that ordinary people, people just like me, want to contribute in some way to the cost of this first film. People really want to see it and the feedback both on the facebook page, this blog and via email is really giving me the strength to push on and make this happen despite the obvious difficulties one encounters when without a regular income of note. I have committed to, in the event the full cost is covered by corporate sponsorship or funding, donating the full amount raised by the kind people who have so far donated, to a shark charity and a charity that works to help disadvantaged youths in inner city areas.
It puts into perspective then, the general apathy from some people already within the conservation and shark based diving industry, including some with a high media profile and those who purport to make ethical shark based films with an emphasis on fact and conservation. We have the individual who was insistent the concept of an ordinary working class man risking everything to pursue a lifelong dream was already covered because Monty Halls lived in a cottage in Scotland for a few weeks (good programme but insert laughing smiley here...) and the delightful person who informed me that if they wanted to steal my idea they would and there would be nothing I could do about it (my lawyer friend begs to differ...).
There are also the people within the industry I want to work in, people for whom I have great respect for the work they do but are seemingly averse to a simple reply to an email. Make no mistake about it, people make a living out of working with sharks and even the conservation of sharks and the marine environment, there isn't a great deal of money in the industry though so is it a case of those already in the "inner circle" being afraid of having to share their bit of the pie with someone who isn't in their social scene? Puts a bit of a downer on things really doesn't it, particularly when the in-fighting, petty squabbles and cliquishness threatens to detract focus on what is actually important, i.e. the conservation and ethical treatment of sharks through informed film production and eco-tourism for example.
The gravy train certainly exists, as it does within every industry and as is usually the case, does very little, if any good. It's all very well bombarding us with petitions to sign and reminders of your latest documentary film etc but where you can do the most good is to inspire a feeling of community and one which supports the efforts of others to do some good in your chosen field, affording opportunities for enthusiastic individuals to make the most of their potential. When I was eight I wrote to Valerie Taylor and guess what she did, she replied straight away. This continued for a few years, she even sent me a pressing of one of her books and that explains why I am here today, doing this, it made me feel like it was possible to achieve my ambitions because the number one person in my chosen field told me I could.
I have received probably around one hundred emails in the last two months from people who feel a kinship with what I am doing, one from a girl in America even said reading my blog had made her rethink her decision to give up trying for a career in diving and that she would keep going until she achieved her dream! I appreciate that I won't receive the volume of emails they do but nevertheless, I have replied to every single one of the emails I have received, it might mean staying up until the early hours but it's common courtesy isn't it? With regards to the shark gravy train, I will make it very clear that if I am successful with all this and force my way on there, I'll be opening the doors for others like me to do the same..."There goes the neighbourhood!"
Okay some other bits and pieces...The Dive Show in Birmingham is fast approaching, October 30th/31st to be precise and I'll be there on the Cameras Underwater stand with my own little section, please come and say hello! There will be a video diary coming soon as well as the promised "Shark feeding controversy special" and the videos don't stop there! In 2009, for a bit of a laugh really, I made a feature length video diary type film of my (rather eventful) trip to film Oceanic Whitetip Sharks in Egypt and due to persistent requests will be uploading said film in sections, to the youtube page, keep an eye out for that.
At the moment my focus is on finishing this trailer (I shouldn't really be doing a blog but it feels like ages so what the hell!) so as soon as that is finished, you can be sure I will make you aware of it and would appreciate if you could spread it far and wide on my behalf!
Homelessness is also fast approaching so if you think you can help, maybe there is an email in your inbox from me, or you might be able to offer services of some respect, printing, promotion, design etc, please feel free to contact me! This isn't manufactured television reality, this is actual cold, smelly and difficult reality so any act of kindness or benevolence, no matter how small you think it is, is always humbly and gratefully appreciated.
I'd like to give a shout as well to Mark Thorpe and www.idivesharks.com it's a great site, kind of like facebook but for people who love sharks and shark diving and without endless status updates about what people have just had for tea! Also, Cameras Underwater don't let the website put you off (it will be totally revamped soon by all accounts) if you are in the market for underwater camera equipment or even if you just want advice, look no further than these guys. Do I get paid to advertise them? Unfortunately not but if I did I'd be in Fiji now, these guys are the dog's dangly bits.
Stay safe, be nice to each other and feel free to email me direct or comment on this blog, I love hearing from you!
Since I started all this I have received a lot of support from people all around the world, I have made new friends and received kindness and encouragement from people who relate to my story, either because of a shared love for sharks or the desire to get out and do something worthwhile with the gift of life we have been given.
I've said from the off, this is as much about people as it is about sharks and I thought it would be nice to give people the chance to suggest related topics for me to blog, I posted this suggestion on the facebook group (if you haven't already look it up, "From the Office to the Ocean") and quickly received a number of suggestions so here we are, number one in a series of requests.
A good friend of mine, Tom, has asked that I explain the details as to why shark conservation is such an important issue as, during a conversation with his girlfriend, he realised he knew very little about the ins and outs of what is a complicated subject.
So, why is shark conservation so important?
Every separate eco-system is populated with a chain of organisms that operate together, naturally, meaning the "whole" can maintain successful balance, thus ensuring a healthy environment in which all the organisms in the chain can prosper. Imagine each of these eco systems as a jigsaw piece, fix all the pieces together and you have a successful planet.
Of course, in order for each species to "operate" in the manner nature intended, it is imperative that an animal species population does not explode or alter it's behaviour to a degree where its increased number affects everything else in the chain. My friend, Jenna, is insistent that I am unable to explain anything to anybody without using an analogy of some sort...she's right as well so here goes!
Think of an eco-system as a car engine. The engine is built using various parts, fixed together in certain ways so that when petrol is added, the process starts whereby each part of the engine can then do it's job, working together, meaning your car starts to move. Your end goal is to drive your car, you need all it's parts to work together to make that happen.
What would happen if you removed some parts of the engine, put too much oil in or heaven forbid, put diesel in a petrol engine? Would your car work properly, if at all? Would it explode in a ball of flames?
It's a highly simplified analogy but one which illustrates the importance of even the smallest of components in any form of engineered or biological creation.
In every biological eco-system, there is a natural order, more commonly referred to as the food chain. Some unfortunate creature, usually the smallest, has to find itself propping up this chain, it's the vegetarian and it seems that everything else wants to eat it. Sounds a bit unfair really doesn't it but this is the clever bit, for every animal that wants to eat the tiny vegetarian, is an animal that wants to eat that animal and so on and so on until we reach the top guy, nothing messes with him, he's bigger, stronger, more aggressive and usually has really big teeth...Nothing eats him, he is what is referred to as the "Apex Predator."
The role of the Apex Predator in any eco-system is, it can be argued, the most important of all because he makes sure all the animals between him and the tiny vegetarian do not get out of control meaning an animal in the chain gets so overpopulated it devours everything in it's natural diet, removing the predators of the smaller animals meaning they grow in number, devouring everything below them and so on, until only a handful of the chain is left but they don't have anything left to eat because they've eaten it all...you can see where this ends up I presume. Ironically, the biggest, strongest, most aggressive animal in the chain, ensures the survival of everything below it, right down to the bottom of the chain, in fact, he is the vegetarian's greatest ally. Again this is a simple explanation of highly complex biodiversity but it works for this purpose.
Good examples of Apex Predators are the lion, tiger, polar bear, crocodile and of course, the oldest of them all, the most feared of all and the most iconic of them all, the Great White Shark.
Large predatory sharks are the undisputed masters of their domain. Adult Great White, Tiger, Bull and Oceanic Whitetip Sharks have an armoury of weapons which ensure they can do what they do without fear of becoming prey for another animal, unless it's another, bigger shark of course or on rare occasions, Orca.
Bare this in mind, sharks have been around longer than trees, more than 400 million years. When the oceans were created and life evolved within, they needed an apex predator, that apex predator became the large prehistoric sharks, the most famous of which was Carchardon Megalodon, the Great White's older, much bigger, brother. Since there has been widespread marine life on earth, even in its most primitive form, there has been sharks, the only animal to have survived five separate periods of extinction and they're still here...but only just.
Everybody has heard that sharks are attracted to blood, vibrations in the water and like to eat vulnerable juicy fish and mammals but why is this? One of the key roles undertaken by our finned friends is to eliminate the sick and dying in our oceans, sharks love nothing more than an easy, nutritious meal and in doing so, stop the oceans turning into a garbage dump of rotting, dead bodies which in turn causes bacteria which can lead to disease and let's face it, would you want the rain that soaks you to come from a giant cesspool of rotting animal carcasses? I didn't think so...
Another vital, yet less discussed role sharks have, is to keep the gene pool of marine animals strong. Believe it or not, sharks keep animals alive by eating them! That obviously doesn't make sense upon first view but I'll explain. By eating the weaker, sick, genetically inferior individuals of a species, the shark is picking out weak links in the genetic chain meaning the animals they eat, seals for example, who make it to sexual maturity are the smarter, quicker, more agile individuals who then pass their strong, smart genes onto their young, via a willing female. This strong chain of genes means the animals that are breeding are the ones that actually have a chance of creating more animals who stand a chance of avoiding the business end of a shark long enough to make yet more babies and so on. Clever isn't it! Schooling behaviour, camouflage, defence mechanisms, all these behaviours of every marine animal has been influenced by sharks.
As you can see, sharks play a vital role in the health of the oceans, what is it that depends most on the top of a food chain? The bottom of the food chain and in the case of the ocean, the bottom of the food chain is responsible for the oxygen you breathe and the atmosphere of our planet, you don't really want to be messing around with that.
The animals at the top of the food chain are, let's face it, cool. Sharks, lions, tigers, crocodiles, they kick ass right? What's not brilliant about being one of these bad boys?
Unfortunately, there is one big problem with apex predators, they live in a very competitive, rough world and if there were too many of them, they'd eat everything, the food chain would collapse and everything would die which is, in anybody's book, a proverbial fly in the planet's ointment. To combat this, nature ensures that apex predators give birth to few young and that's after waiting years to reach sexual maturity.
If we take the example of the Great White, he's born and although larger than a lot of fish at around two to four feet in length, there are still plenty of bigger fish, including older Great White Sharks who wouldn't think twice about eating him. Junior has to spend the first few years of his life avoiding bigger sharks, learning to hunt fish and other smaller sharks until he's old enough to start having a go at seals and sea lions. As prey goes, pinnipeds (the aforementioned seals and sea lions) are a different ball game all together, fast, agile and clever, Junior better get good at catching them because if he doesn't he's had it. Assuming our young friend manages to get the hang of this pinniped catching business, he's now coming up to the surly, moody teenager stage and about 2.5 - 3.5 metres in length, he spends the first stages of adolescence gorging on blubber rich mammals and learning, sometimes the hard way, that the bigger, older sharks eat first.
Junior is now in his mid to late teens and if he's anything like I was, he's got one thing on his mind and that's the ladies. It's not that easy though because as most ladies will tell you, they often prefer a more mature, stronger male with whom to do the business so he's got to fight his way to the front of the queue somehow and show he's up to the task. It's a good job he's a big strapping lad and he manages it but now he's got to hope his new girlfriend can survive the twelve months she's carrying his pups or it will all be for nothing and he has to do it all again in eighteen months to two years, presuming he's still around then.
So our young friend has had to combat other sharks wanting to eat him, faster prey than him that doesn't want to be eaten by him, bigger sharks warning him to stay away "or else..." and the most dangerous dating scene in the ocean, waiting sometimes up to twenty years just to get his end away and hopefully make some babies of his own! This doesn't even take into account genitally challenged "sport" fishermen, longlines, the floating death traps that are damaged commercial fishing nets, the Chinese, or anti-shark nets, in which the majority of sharks, approximately 90%, are caught inside the netting area meaning they have been swimming amongst bathers and have been caught when trying to return to the open ocean, but hey, I guess we need our shark fins from somewhere right? Yep, I went there...
So what have we learned? In short, that sharks are responsible for ensuring the oceans maintain a healthy balance meaning the oxygen you breathe is coming from a healthy source so in simple terms, not enough sharks means what you rely on to live is being messed with in a very, very dangerous way.
Sharks have a very dangerous enemy, one which doesn't harvest, it devastates, its only intention is seemingly to take every single last living animal on the planet and sell a tiny portion of it's overall mass for large sums of money. This enemy, for arguments sake we'll call it "China," really has it in for sharks. The reason? so they can use their fins to add texture and the cancer causing chemical, mercury, to a bowl of pork or chicken soup, yummy. It is a glib remark above, that which places the blame solely on China, indeed some of the very worst offenders in this mafia funded, blood soaked trade, include Spain, France, America and the UK, however, the fins are provided for what is an Asian delicacy, if shark fin soup did not exist, sharks would not be harvested solely for their fins to the tune of an estimated 40 - 100 million every year. The "culture" excuse doesn't wash with me either, if that were the case, lets bring back slavery, institutionalised murder, rape, torture, incest and all the other groovy cultures that have been eradicated from civilised society yes?
The commercial harvesting of sharks in the last thirty five or so years has led to over one third of all shark species being listed as endangered to critically endangered. Shark fin, shark cartilage and squaline (ladies, check your make up and see if you're smearing dead shark all over your mush) are all by-products of an unsustainable marine annihilation which, if left to continue as it is, will eradicate many shark species and could realistically be the thing that does us all in once and for all, for a bowl of soup, some make up or a cancer cure which doesn't even work because, surprise, surprise sharks do get cancer.
I saw a brilliant T-Shirt the other day which said something along the lines of "Only when we have eaten the last remaining fish on earth and there are no more, will we realise you can't eat money" and it's hit the nail on the head. Organised shark diving operations make more money for local communities than commercial fishing and rely on healthy shark populations. The ocean is healthier, shark numbers can increase and indigenous people make money and can live better lives, what's not to like about that!?
I'm going to put it in the simplest terms. We need a healthy ocean to survive, a healthy ocean needs plenty of sharks. There isn't anywhere near plenty of sharks anymore.
The final thing I will say is that the shark is an icon, sharks are mysterious, beautiful and enigmatic, nature at it's most fascinating and awesome best, do you want to live in a world where you explain to your children that we robbed them of the chance to see these most amazing of animals so some rich people can have some poisonous texture in their chicken soup?
