Sharky has done it again!
Shark Week has kicked off in the USA and since it is not being shown in Fiji, I got to fully relay on the comments by the other Shark bloggers. Blood in the Water is apparently so boringly stupid that neither Sharky nor Felix seem seriously outraged, just somewhat bemused.
Tomorrow is the turn of Deadly Waters.
I've been promised a video copy and can't wait to see the Fiji segment!
Did I commit the ultimate sin of unjustly berating an innocent member of the Shark diving community who on top of that happens to be -anathema!- a competitor - and will I thus have to extend a public apology to them, to Discovery, to the Fiji Peter Hughes, to Gurney Productions and to the fearless Les himself? And of course to you, our loyal readers?
Or will their tearful justifications be exposed as brazen lies on a public forum?
Boy-oh-boy: talk about having exposed myself!
Tomorrow, you'll know! Me, in about two weeks!
As a reminder, here's Aqua Trek's description of the Fiji shoot.
They came and filmed our dive as we run it everyday.
They conducted no experiments. The filming was about Les with a scientist swimming amongst large sharks. We only show sharks in a normal state of feeding, no chumsicle feeds. All very calm. Les explained that he would not be lending his name to any ludicrous productions as he is friends with people like Jean Michel Cousteau and Rob Stewart. I honestly felt that there was just a desire to swim amongst large Bull sharks and our site is well known for this. The movie is not about Fiji or Aquatrek, our dive company, so the name “deadly beaches” does not make sense. They remained on a live aboard the whole time. They paid our daily dive rate. There were regular dive guests on our boat as well and the dive was conducted normally.
Talk manana then - I'm sure I'll be receiving some comments!
Shark Week has kicked off in the USA and since it is not being shown in Fiji, I got to fully relay on the comments by the other Shark bloggers. Blood in the Water is apparently so boringly stupid that neither Sharky nor Felix seem seriously outraged, just somewhat bemused.
Tomorrow is the turn of Deadly Waters.
I've been promised a video copy and can't wait to see the Fiji segment!
Did I commit the ultimate sin of unjustly berating an innocent member of the Shark diving community who on top of that happens to be -anathema!- a competitor - and will I thus have to extend a public apology to them, to Discovery, to the Fiji Peter Hughes, to Gurney Productions and to the fearless Les himself? And of course to you, our loyal readers?
Or will their tearful justifications be exposed as brazen lies on a public forum?
Boy-oh-boy: talk about having exposed myself!
Tomorrow, you'll know! Me, in about two weeks!
As a reminder, here's Aqua Trek's description of the Fiji shoot.
They came and filmed our dive as we run it everyday.
They conducted no experiments. The filming was about Les with a scientist swimming amongst large sharks. We only show sharks in a normal state of feeding, no chumsicle feeds. All very calm. Les explained that he would not be lending his name to any ludicrous productions as he is friends with people like Jean Michel Cousteau and Rob Stewart. I honestly felt that there was just a desire to swim amongst large Bull sharks and our site is well known for this. The movie is not about Fiji or Aquatrek, our dive company, so the name “deadly beaches” does not make sense. They remained on a live aboard the whole time. They paid our daily dive rate. There were regular dive guests on our boat as well and the dive was conducted normally.
Talk manana then - I'm sure I'll be receiving some comments!
3 comments:
Hey, can I get a copy also. It might come up on youtube but that may be a while.
Mike,
Taking a stand in an industry seemingly devoid of principals is a tough thing to do sometimes.
No one likes to be told what they are doing is wrong - even when they know the truth of the matter.
Especially when they know the truth of the matter.
Too often operators will sell out for a few dollars and a wink of fame. Short term thinking.
It takes a bigger operation to "say no". Industry leadership, especially in this industry is a lonely place sometimes. You gotta have a sense of calm detachment about where you see the whole thing going, hold you nose, and wade in.
Have you exposed yourself?
No, you have not. What you have done is set the bar, a line in the sand.Kudos to you and all those like you, we could use a few more.
Look around you and see how many operators who just two years ago thought that conservation tagging on site was "for pussies", and the number of operators who now have websites screaming conservation, and even blogs!
The land rush for shark conservation is amazing if not amusing to witness in some cases.
These folks would not be here if the winds of change brought about by the few that had the guts to make a stand for what is right had not made that stand.
Left to it's own devices our industry works on a lowest common denominator - out "stunt" the other guy, make money, repeat.
We need strong voices with rock solid principals to say "you're wrong, and you need to make a change for the entire industries sake".
I know of what I speak mate. The changes I have seen have been remarkable.
Never second guess something good.
Cheers,
Patric Douglas CEO
www.sharkdiver.com
www.sharkdivers.com
www.sharkdivers.blogspot.com
www.guadalupefund.org
www.islandofthegreatwhiteshark.com
415.235.9410
Thanks Patric, that's very kind of you! Much appreciated!
I was of course being a little facetious (:
But of course yer right, as so often: bit by bit, blog post by blog post, we are witnessing a change of perceptions.
Thankfully, the direction towards a more ecologically minded way of running things appears set - and those who don't embrace the change and evolve will be left behind and hopefully perish.
BTW you just wrote another one of your epic posts! Bravo!
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