South Africa - behold the Bait Ball!

This is the Bait Ball - more implements on Wolfgang's blog post.

Well well - literally!

The Aliwal Shoal operators have come up with a new Shark friendly baiting implement that will once and forever solve the issue of Tiger Shark entanglements and loss of teeth. This has been a communal undertaking where several operators have spent considerable time and funds on finding a solution, and they need to be thanked and commended for having done so.
Bravo!

This will never happen again.
With that in mind and because this is now the past, Wolfgang has given me permission to publish the pictures - this is what got him going!

Where are the teeth? Click for detail.

Does this look like a single event to you?

But!
This begs the question, why did all those people invest all those resources into a non issue?
Remember the backlash? Remember the statements that no Tigers were being hurt? Remember the underhanded whispers and e-mails that the entanglements were a one-off that had been caused by non other than Wolfgang himself who kept yanking on the chain? Because he was just a senile incompetent idiot who was taking too much medication? And that being his usual stupid and stubborn primadonna self, he was not listening to reason but turning against the very people who had gone to such great lengths to accommodate his idiotic requests?

Do you really believe that anything would have happened if he had not raised his voice in alarm?

I say, this still requires closure.
Those who saw what was happening and never said and did anything, learn the obvious lessons. Those who received those emails, remember who wrote them. Those who turned their backs on Wolfgang as a consequence, have a hard look into the mirror.
Notable exception: Allen Walker who channeled his initial anger into productive energy - well done!
Remember the title of my post?

To Wolfgang, what can I say alter Haudegen - you are just simply unmatched and everybody including the Sharks you love owes you big time. Again!
This is Leadership!

And those who wrote those emails?
You owe Wolfgang a retraction and an apology.
Yes it was probably knee-jerk and in the heat of the moment - but now, the heat has dissipated (has it?) and it's high time for the walk to Canossa! The more since it is Christmas! Yallah!
Or not!

Indeed, I'm not holding my breath on this - but I shall be watching.
And I will not be the only one!

Wolfgang and the Hypocrites

Is somebody trying to kill Mark Addison’s poor Tiger Sharks – again ?
No, this time, it’s the very same Mark Addison torturing his own animals - and lemme tell you, I’ve seen other, truly horrific pictures of Tigers completely entangled in those steel cables he deploys! And so has he!
WTF?

Huge Kudos to Wolfgang for breaking the story.
I can attest to the fact that the man has been torn between his personal loyalty and the desire to help the animals he loves, and that he has desperately tried to resolve the matter silently by contacting the concerned operators. Hopefully, his courageous post will have the desired effect and the shenanigans will stop. And if not…
Bravo Wolf for being ethically incorruptible and for always putting the well being of your beloved Sharks first!

Which begs the question, are we to believe that he was the only person to witness Addison’s despicable cruelty?
As a friend writes far too many underwater names let all manner of garbage happen with sharks, take the shot, and then shill their images online for a little name recognition and a pat on the head at DEMA without saying a thing. Patric’s re-post is of course spot on : just look at the shenanigans that are being perpetrated at Tiger beach, and to a lesser extent, at Guadalupe!
Indeed – anybody wanting to point fingers better perform a quick self check beforehand!

Case in point, the retinue of Tiger Shark petting bimbettes.
They were all CC’d on Wolfgang’s e-mail messages to Mark, every single one of them, and they all saw the revolting pictures! Did a single one voice her so publicly professed love for the animals or take the required moral stance and get personally involved in the matter? Take a wild guess – indeed, not a single squeak! That is, apart from a righteous public statement after Wolf published his post – not impressed!
Sadly, I’m not even surprised – having some backbone, speaking up and thus taking a modicum of personal risk that may well result in the loss of the coveted freebies is very different from proffering self promoting bullshit and blasting anonymous perpetrators in far away countries whilst always trying to look pretty in the process!
Names? No need to dwell, they know who they are and I’m sure that you can guess – but next time somebody tells you to take the pledge, or the like, you may want to ask some specific questions first!

As for Blue Wilderness, meh.
Great website and great self promotion – including the obligated larmoyant pro-Shark and anti-this and -that videos featuring the shark-grabbing bimbos!
Prima vista, certainly the place to go and the operator to choose!

Now, if only the man would walk the talk.
I had a first hunch when the above Tiger shark killing story broke two years ago, with a lot of righteousness, whining and the vocal support of the bimbettes. Net result of the brouhaha?

Next, I notice his name in this description of Into the Shark Bite. Despite of all the subsequent spinning by friends and apologists, this is Shark porn pure and simple, the lowest possible level of Shark media. Yup ABC4 is a cool personable guy but when he isn’t invited to strum his stupidity at shark parties, he’s a professional animal pornographer (producer of Deadly Waters no less!) and fuck one’s own conservation sound bites! Do you believe that Addison didn’t know what he was doing, and with whom?
As I once said: Pecunia non olet!

And now this.
This is certainly nothing intentional – but how can a Shark operator cause this and not stop this procedure immediately? This has happened several times!
I mean, seriously, how can anybody in our industry be so cold hearted!
How utterly disgusting!

Luckily, as always, clients have a choice.
Walter Bernardis of African Watersports cares and is trying to do something, see Wolfgang's post.
Give your business to him, not Addison.

PS: simply brilliant wrap up by Patric here!
And the Chinese whispers about Wolfgang being the cause of the problem?
Really, how utterly pathetic and underhanded, simply disgusting!

I'm done with this thing.
Fix the gizmo. If Walter’s solution doesn’t work, find one!
Stop enabling Shark porn!

And since we’re at it – Sharks are not underwater scooters!

PS2 Felix' take of Into the Shark Bite here.

Praising Wolfgang

Another one of Wolfgang's fantastic pictures - click to enjoy!

Great to see how much he is being revered!

I'm of course talking about DaWolf.
I'm obviously an avid reader of his iconic Oceanic Dreams and had to smile when he wrote this laudatio of some of the Ocean ladies he met on his recent trip to his beloved Tigers in South Africa.
Very Alter Charmeur - and yet, I know that it came straight from the heart, like everything the man writes.

The ladies have reciprocated.
Underwater Thrills leads me to this post by Lesley Rochat and a bit of navigating reveals yet another brilliant description, this time by fellow free diver and Shark conservationist Hanli Prinsloo. Very poetic and emphatic, as only women can write, they are a testament to Wolfgang's sensitivity and gentle love for his striped ladies.
Please read them and be moved - as I was.

And undoubtedly, so was he - Wolf, you deserve it a thousand times!

And here's to...

Felix and Lemon - By Wolfgang Leander

…Wolfgang , for always speaking up for the Sharks he loves!
Recently, he did so in this stellar article in the Nassau Guardian (Patric is right: I sure hope that the Bahamian Shark diving operators are fully behind this initiative!) and very courageously, in a post about some harmful Shark feeding procedures in SA - and I see that there’s progress!
Wolf’s only motive is the welfare of Sharks and I commend him for always being true to his feelings and totally incorruptible.
Gut gebrüllt Löwe!

…Lawrence , for embarking on his 150th expedition to Guadalupe!
Lawrence is the original pioneer of commercial GW diving along the Pacific coast of the Americas and as such, he has really seen it all - and considering the dangers this involves (and I’m not talking about the Sharks!), his is a mighty achievement indeed! Way to go!
Safe sailing hombre – and may Dakuwaqa always be with you!

DaWolf!

This is about as brilliant as it gets! Pic by Wolfgang Leander (click to enjoy).

We've met - finally!

And no, don't worry, I'm not about to venture writing a laudatio, well deserved as it may be, after just one short lunch.
The more as all you need to do, is to google "Wolfgang Leander" to discover who he is and what he does - along with the biggest endorsement of them all, a dishonorable mention by the anonymous scumbags over at CDNN!

Thing is, we've had our initial run-ins.

But what became immediately apparent was that the man, on top of being a true gentleman, was passionate, highly intelligent and willing to engage in constructive dialogue instead of resorting to the usual petty bickering which is so typical for our sharkophilic circles. Being short tempered and petty myself, I could not but admire and above all, respect his restraint and eventually, his positions - and I have no doubt that this is also the principal reason why he is so universally revered among Shark lovers, to the point where everything he does and says is inevitably being defined as iconic.
Not bad for a self-professed nutter!

For my part, I just sensed that we were kindred spirits and was eagerly awaiting the chance to meet face-to-face in order to die Paar kleineren Missverstaendnisse auszuraeumen, which is German for kiss and make up, or the like.
And I'm happy to report that we have made up and that ever since, we've been kissing like crazy!

But as I said, this is not a laudatio.
This is personal, and all I wanted to say that I'm deeply impressed by the person I'm starting to discover, and that I like him very much. Yes he may indeed be iconic - but above all, to me, he is a true Mensch - culture, passion, quirks and all.

The lone Wolf travels farther, faster.
In diesem Sinne mein Lieber - Machetjut!

Masterful!

I'm simply in awe of the above picture - click on it!
Brilliant - and so very Alte Schule!

So far, my favorite pic of a Great Hammerhead was this capture by legendary Yves Lefèvre. Yves and his Raie Manta Club are the pioneers of Shark diving in Rangiroa and his book Rangiroa, sous le signe du poisson is a must-have for every true Shark aficionado.

Go there in December/January and provided that you are at least a PADI Divemaster, they will allow you to go deep to observe gigantic (I'm talking 20+ feet - really!) and surprisingly shy Great Hammerheads stalking the schools of mating Eagle Rays at the entrance to Tiputa Pass. This is very challenging diving as you will have to learn to subsequently manage your decompression whilst negotiating up to 4 knots in the passage - but it's a truly awesome spectacle and I invite everybody to go and give it a try!

Well, Wolfgang is now my number one - and not only when it comes to GH!
Felix has just posted a loving laudatio of his father and I can only agree that nobody deserves it more! Should you be unfamiliar with Wolfgang's work, you can check out some of his terrific pics on his iconic (that word again!) Oceanic Dreams or on his iDiveSharks page.
Masterful stuff!

Talking of Great Hammerheads.
What strikes me most about them, apart from that unreal dorsal fin, is their unbelievable snakelike agility. If you dunno what I'm talking about, check out 2:03 of this memorable footage from baited monitoring stations on the GBR. Talk about being an underwater contortionist!
The title of the story is of course baloney: that Tiger was never stalking the Snake (nor the Bristle Worm!), it was merely attracted by the bait whilst the snake was there - but apart from that, it's a great collection of the weird and wonderful like the elusive Bowmouth Guitarfish (1:37), along with a great final scene illustrating the awesome power of the Tiger Shark's Turtle-cracking dentition.

Enjoy!

Aliwal Shoal - What has happened to the Tigers?

Aliwal Shoal Tiger and diver, by DaWolf - a thing of the past? Notice the Blacktips in the background.

I must say, when it comes to SA, I remain of two minds.
Having been a staunch anti-apartheid advocate, I was overjoyed when the despicable regime finally disappeared. Mandela transcends positive attributes but then came the pathetic Mbeki - and Zuma, let alone Malema are frankly a disgrace and cause for grave concern.
When it comes to conservation, there is of course the brilliant terrestrial track record that on top of preserving vital unique habitat is contributing millions in tourism income. On the marine and especially, sharky side of things, not really impressed. There's certainly a lot of research, some of which is rather impressive; but when it comes to getting those Sharks protected, I see ALOT of self congratulatory media by the various bikini models, artists, sharktivists and whatnot - but in terms of having achieved tangible results?

The Shark diving Industry?
SA's Shark diving has been developed and very much put on the map by visionary, and probably equally crazy icons like Andre Hartman, and the legacy is being continued by excellent people like Mike Rutzen or Chris Fallows for whom I have nothing but the greatest respect. Other people, not so much - but such is the Industry everywhere, tribal and petty! Plus, news like these are of grave concern as such banana republic shenanigans will come at the direct expense of safety and reputation, and I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, I'm digressing as usual.
Why I'm writing this post is that this has piqued my interest.
Apparently, way less Tiger Sharks show up on the Aliwal Shoal dives. Apparently, the reason for this are poaching for trophies - and the highly controversial Shark nets.
This stuff: antiquated, ineffective, unselective, an ecological crime that needs to be stopped.



But is that the most plausible explanation?
Firstly, has anybody checked the data? Has anybody taken the time to go and corroborate those reports by talking to the KZNSB, by looking at fisheries data and by following up on the poaching allegations?

Secondly, Wolfgang reports that
The dive reports I received lately are alarming: Very few tiger sharks sightings, and the tigers don't stay, making one or two brief passes only to leave the scene altogether.

Hmmmmmmmm...
Sharks including Tigers don't like to approach people and that's why the dedicated Shark diving operators attract them with bait. In Aliwal Shoal, this is now thankfully done with ZIBS, a Shark friendly implement that is however not dispensing any food. Thus the Sharks are being teased in and then waste time and energy that could be spent on productive hunting, which is however not the topic here.
The topic is that this could well lead to negative reinforcement whereby individual Sharks wise up to the fact that they're being cheated and learn to avoid that situation.
And then, there are the notorious swarms of Shark hugging bimbettes and intrepid freedivers abusing the Sharks as underwater scooters: do you really believe that those disrespectful stupidities are in any way conducive to those animals ever wanting to come back?

Which brings be straight over to the following.
In my experience, Tigers are rather placid (and incredibly determined!) and just want to do their thing in peace without being harassed.
Juerg has been here for a lightning fast go-see and informs me that his next paper is about to get published. In it, among other topics, he documents how other Shark species have reacted to the stupendous increase in our population of Bull Sharks that has culminated in our sighting of approx 100 individuals this June - and counting, next year there will be more!
I don't want to pre-empt his conclusions but one of the results will be that we're seeing less Tiger Sharks. From my personal observations, this is because they just cannot be bothered to come and join the fray in order to compete with the Bulls - this the more as the Bulls are clearly not intimidated and on the contrary, have even been observed to shoulder away the Tigers when getting to the bait!
Talk about a total lack of respect!

And then,there's the famous Shark Rodeo in Walker's Cay.
As far as I know, only a very few of the famous Bulls bothered to ever turn up at the chumsicle and when they did, they made one or two brief passes only to leave the scene altogether. Tigers, a big fat zero - and this despite being frequently sighted in the vicinity, despite of the yummy fish smell and despite of the massive commotion caused by the Caribbean Reefs and especially, the Blacktips!

Or maybe because of it!
Blacktips are your quintessential asshole Shark: lightening fast, frisky, in-your-face assertive and unpredictable - certainly nobody any self respecting Tiger Shark would ever want to be associated with, especially if they came in packs!

May it be that the exact same is happening in Aliwal Shoal?
May there have been an increase in Blacktips? May there be some correlation between that increase and the decrease in Tiger Shark sightings? May Tiger Shark diving in Aliwal Shoal have become the victim of its own popularity - among humans but above all, among Blacktip Sharks?
Some form of interspecific exclusion, competitive or not?

Yes I'm clearly speculating - but has anybody looked into it?
Thing is, I fully support Wolfgang's cry for better coordination and better Shark protection in SA - tho I fear that achieving any degree of co-ordination, let alone cooperation will be difficult (...) and that in view of the current banana republic shenanigans, few operators will have the guts to speak up against the inept Government policies. But, as always, all should happen based on factual data - and when it comes to those Tiger Sharks, I'm not that sure.
Thoughts?

And since we're at it:
Tiger Beach? Feisty Lemons vs placid Tigers?
Questions questions... :)

Feast your Eyes!

There are heaps of underwater photographers.
Most seem happy to just depict what is but some are artists who always add a special dimension, like the totally unique and forever unequaled Wolfgang. And some, like Sasha, take the time to engage in proper post production by creative cropping and great proficiency with Photoshop.

And then, there's lucky man Marty Wolff.
He has clearly been a professional terrestrial photographer for a very long time and brings to the table the whole gamut of pure and simple total mastery of his trade whereby he always knows exactly how to handle the situation by creatively playing with the parameters of framing, lighting and exposure via shutter speed and lens speed - as it should be but is apparently all too often forgotten!
On top of that, he's a master of post production and I just so happen to be a total fan of the exact same color saturation and temperature he chooses to apply , in some ways very Botelho!

Please go and check out his new website: this is Photography!
Everything is a feast for the eyes, including the Marine section where some of the pics just blow me away - I mean, seriously, just look at that stuff, amazing! That's how you do it!
Needless to say that it contains several captures from the Fiji Shark Dive!

Marty: my utmost respect and admiration!

Oceana?

They got every reason to smile - well done Alibaba!

And I cite.

The incident has shown why communication is so important.
I hope that Oceana sends its apologies to Mr. Jack Ma personally after deliberately connecting him with the manta ray profiteering. Jack Ma and people like him, who consistently make the moral choice, should be acknowledged and thanked, particularly in such a sensitive context as the Asian market and shark finning. Alibaba has become a beacon of hope to us who have had faith all along that if the Chinese people only learned the truth about shark finning, they would change the recipe for their special soup.

Bravo Ila, spot on - it's high time for some accountability here!
It really looks like Oceana has committed a major gaffe by launching a petition without ever bothering to first do their due diligence, let alone get in contact with the petitionee.

Wolfgang has then resolved the whole issue with one single e-mail message.
I must say that I concur with his assessment: at least prima vista, this very much looks like an exercise in self serving hot air that has now sorely backfired. Having checked, Oceana is not a partner in the iconic Manta Ray of Hope project and having missed that train, there may have been pressure to be seen as doing something - very much like in the case of Shark conservation which is the current big thing and where everybody and his dog, and the dog of his dog are jumping on the bandwagon. Having noticed the last minute vociferating by Oceana in Florida, this after others had done all the ground work, I would not be surprised at all - and to think that like Mark, I used to be a fan! :(
But I don't know the facts and will defer my final judgment until I see what happens next. For now, the petition is still online which may be an indication of the fact that somebody there is either deaf, stubborn or stupid, or all of the above.

Talking of which, it may be even simpler.
I had to laugh out loud when I saw the name Elisabeth Griffin.
Remember her, the blissfully unrepentant Ms sippy champagny of African Elephant and US geography fame? May this be nothing more than yet another one of her blunders?

But I'm clearly speculating.
As always we shall see won't we!

PS Oceana have decided to spin this & are screaming Victory!
And now, thanks to your efforts...?
Where have I seen that MO before... and like there, I am very much not impressed!

PS2 Ila's take right here!

Shark Feeding Rubbish from Down Under!

Here we go again - and yes, I am livid!
I was having a real nice, mellow day - and now this.
This is what you get when moronic reporters, or whatever, interview moronic Shark experts!

No, I'm not gonna bother to post a full exposé.
I've blogged ad nauseam about feeding Sharks and I would be totally wasting my time trying to formulate yet another novel response to the old tired moronic allegations.

So this time, let's do something different.
Please re-read this.
Then, re-read this.

Then, have a look at this shit.



See?
The token Sesselfurzer (no, not a PhD!) has released a few more farts.
And then we got ourselves a veritable diving underwater medecine expert, Dr Carl Edmunds (Navy School of Underwater Medicine and South Pacific Underwater Medical Society) - who has been personally diving in the SOPAC no less! Wow, talk about impeccable credentials - after all, a PhD is a PhD, and who gives a shit about the totally irrelevant detail of the discipline it was obtained in! Tell 'ya what: how about an even more impressive veritable diving PhD (!) in quantum physics (!) next time!
And how about Mr. Hoy himself asserting that keeping (and feeding!) Sharks in an aquarium is a hell of a lot better for the Sharks! Compared to? Obviously, free Sharks being offered the occasional snack!
Just Great!

I say, show me the F@$%ing Evidence!!!
Are there more Shark attacks on Flinder's Reef?
Have there been less Shark attacks after the Florida ban?
Right!

Notabene: the above obviously with the exception of Pensacola where the life guards will henceforth be able to avail themselves of the unparalleled (!) spectacular eco-behavioral insights of the world's ultimate Shark expert, ladykiller (for German groupies only - alas!) and I read (!), owner of Sharkwater, Erich Ritter!
Talk about a prudent and at the same time, highly effective and outright visionary investment of taxpayer money - especially now in the recession!
How cool is that!

But!
Did I hear
There were reports of increased activity around the beaches, including reports of Great Whites circling fishing boats waiting for food?
Indeed! How many fishing boats are dragging in struggling Fish that send around irresistible vibrations all across the ocean? How many fishermen standing on the shoreline which last time I looked, includes the beaches drag in struggling Fish that send around irresistible vibrations all across the ocean? How many spear fishermen operate close to shore and shoot Fish whose death throes send around irresistible vibrations all across the ocean? And, how many of those folks clean their catches, throw the scraps into the ocean and create irresistible chum trails in the process - and this always in the same place, like the entrances and inside of the harbors and marinas? Remember Walker's Cay? Hell, in Hawaii they even conduct Tiger Shark viewing dives in one of those places!
Compared to how many Shark diving operators?

So who, exactly, is conditioning Sharks?
Let's ban all fishing and spear fishing!
I wish!

Have a nice day!

PS: thank you Patric! Rottweiler huh... :)
PS2: Wolfgang on the Sesselfurzer in 2007!

Catch&Release fishing for Sharks?

Sorry for the prolonged silence.
Much to do, all of it real good, and not much Sharky happening out there.

Except for this timely post by David.
I'm not, and never will be a member, or whatever, of any of those Shark lists and once again, David's post amply illustrates why.
Really, what is there to discuss and get so incensed about?

Fishing for Sharks sucks, period.
As a Shark lover, I fervently wish that nobody would do that.
I also fervently wish that everybody could live in harmony and that there were no wars.
Did anybody say tough luck ?
Indeed!

And what about a global fishing ban for Sharks?
Read my lips: it ain't gonna happen - incidentally, as with all global fishing bans!
This is the real world where every day, millions of hooks are baited for Sharks in order to aliment the global Shark fin trade. As conservationists, we can continue to totally waste our energies trying to enact a total global ban - or we can pursue smarter strategies and advocate sustainability that will preserve those fishing jobs and revenues forever, or in the case of Shark fishing, fight for finning bans that eliminate a profoundly unethical harvesting technique and ensure that at least all the protein of those Sharks is being utilized.
And yes, as David correctly points out, Shark researchers can, and should take advantage of the existing commercial Shark fisheries to gather valuable data. Case in point, these fantastic insights into the life cycle of Porbeagles garnered by Steven Campana, for which he cooperated closely with the Canadian Shark fishermen - but I stand by this comment: like in the case of lethal sampling, actively advocating commercial fishing just for the sake of research, let alone publicly bemoan conservation successes is totally unacceptable!
Remember Mark Harding?

...the fact that a scientist supposedly promoting their conservation is damning that decision is somewhat concerning. Science provides valuable tools with which to carve out a conservation arguement, but, in some cases, science can go too far. Tag the last remaining specimen, harry it, disturb it, infiltrate its life so that it will not breed, so that it does become the last one on earth?
If there were ten dodos left alive, would we be better off studying them, watching them die, or putting a fence 30 miles around them and letting them get on with it, in the hope that they would breed?

And then, there's the game fishermen.
They number tens, if not hundreds of thousands and they are passionate, often financially well endowed and extremely well organized - trust me, not people we want to pick a fight with! I happen to be one of them but I just happen to believe that in terms of sportsmanship, fishing for Sharks sucks.

But others beg to differ as they want to catch large trophy fishes.
In the past, they would land the Shark, get the obligated trophy pictures and either cut out the jaws and throw away the carcass, or donate the contaminated meat to some food bank or the like, or have the Shark mounted. Now, they are being offered the alternative of catch & release and in a few particularly forward looking excellent tournaments, they are being invited to co-operate closely with reputable Shark researchers. That's exactly in line with what has previously happened with Billfishes where practically all game fishing is now catch, tag& release, and I cannot but strongly applaud and fully support these recent developments.

As to whether this harms the Sharks?
No, one does NOT need peer reviewed science to answer this: catch & release is certainly inferior to not fishing - or is anybody seriously disputing this? Many of our Bulls feature fishing hooks and a few now feature permanent disfigurements, like that Tiger in the above picture by Wolfgang, or even our iconic Scarface. Those disfigured Sharks will be at a disadvantage when catching prey - I know because those individuals are regularly incapable of properly grabbing the bait. Not nice by any stretch of the imagination and as a minimum, the fight those Sharks had to endure has unnecessarily expended energy, which is certainly reducing their fitness, at least temporarily - and as a maximum and depending on species, a few to many of the hooked Sharks will eventually die.

But again, this is about finding solutions in the real world, not about pursuing utopian visions.
I will never cease to repeat this: we must be ready to compromise. Catch & release is the pragmatic compromise between no fishing, and fishing to kill. As in every good compromise, both sides will not be perfectly happy - but like in all conservation initiatives, it is the only realistic way forward.

So, again, David thank you for your timely post.

Shark Con???

Is this even for real???

Tragically, I fear it is.
It features this asshole and it also features stupid sound bites by Mr. No-PhD, the inevitable token expert, and then the heroic feats of "somebody" who believes that it's cool, no: EPIC!, to feed Sharks whilst wearing a baseball cap put on in reverse. Gee, talk about an EPIC! lineup! Oh and did I mention that the footage is from Tiger Beach?
Galatians 6 : 7-9 indeed!

It's all so bad I that I'm really at a loss here.
Anyway, have a look at this shit.

Hat tip: Wolfgang (but I frankly dunno if I should thank you for this buddy).

PS good reaction by the smart people over at Underwater Thrills here.

Stopped!

Remember Mr. Donlon's abomination?

Here's what I got five minutes ago.

Dear Friends

It was just announced a few moments ago that the Ft. Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce and its City Commissioners all voted unanimously to immediately change the upcoming "Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge" to a total Catch and Release tournament with chase boats and live streaming video beamed back to television monitors at the tournament headquarters!

There will be no "shark kill" tournament!

This came just days before a large organized shark conservation and education protest was scheduled this weekend in front of the tournament headquarters. It has been confirmed that the sponsoring business owners were virtually unanimous in their support as well and actually had decided to make the tournament "catch and release" just hours prior to the commission vote.

Margret Meade once said, "Never doubt that a group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.......indeed it is the only thing that ever has!"
There are many heroes in this effort and hundreds of individuals behind the scenes who helped make this environmental victory possible. Those hundreds of you who took the time to write an e mail and voice your concern to the tournament organizers fueled the fire!

Penny Miller who networked and boldly wrote Governor Crist's office and the Ft Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce in Florida strongly voicing her anger at this throwback to an African Big Game Hunting mentality!
Mary O'Malley and Lupo who were relentless in their pursuit of information on the "toxic" shark meat that was ostensibly being given to the homeless in an effort to "spin" killing sharks into a "positive justification" by the tournament organizers. They uncovered the falsehood that the Salvation Army had not even been contacted at all this year by the tournament organizers as advertised on their web page and they did not even want the meat in the first place....toxic or not!
Lawrence Groth who is a tenacious truth seeker that never gave up and pursued sponsors, tournament organizers, wrote blogs and even went "undercover" to film the "secret" shark kill tournament in Sarasota last week and planned the protest event on the Ft Myers side.
Neil Hammerschlag whose academic candor roused the environmental spirit of young supporters and helped turn the Commissioners around and to ultimately get the vote in favor of the sharks passed in commission chambers!
The scientific intervention by Dr. Sonny Gruber of the Bimini Field Station/University of Miami fame and Dr. Bob Heuter, Director of Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota lent credibility and sound insight to this project's goal and gave the tournament organizers a viable alternative to still making a success of a Catch and Release tournament.
And of course....to all the bloggers around the world, Mike Neumann, Patric Douglas, Wolfgang Leander, Heidi Coluzzi and dozens of others on all continents, who raised their voices in protest and demanded environmental reason to prevail.....

Thank you one and all! The sharks won this one today....thanks to a unified effort by everyone. Now with this momentum let us not allow it to fade. Let us all continue to pick the battles and take every opportunity to make a difference for the shark globally. Our children are counting on it....and our planet can not survive without our collective conscience.

The former president of the Nature Conservancy, John Sawhill once said..."in the end, our society will be defined....not only for what we created....but for what we refused to destroy....!

Respectfully,

Gary and Brenda Adkison
Directors Shark Foundation,
USA 954 554 8918

(Sour grapes) story here.

Hooray!

Another "Uh-Oh" moment by Doug Perrine, equally a CDNN laureate

We've finally made it onto CDNN!

For those who are not in the know, that's the ultimate anti Shark Diving Industry- and especially, anti Shark feeding and -baiting website. Operated by some messianic and hateful anonymous morons, it makes a point on heaping scorn and abuse on everybody who doesn't share their views. Anonymously of course.

Alas, so far, our presence is limited to a still picture they've ripped off the Naughty File, a collection of Shark diving bloopers from over 1,000 such dives on Shark Reef..
Would that be a Copyright infringement? Of course it would, but who cares - provided that they keep it right there!

Now it's only a matter of time until they will see it fit to expose us not only as Shark baiters and feeders but Shark feeding apologists, greenwashers and proponents on top of that!
To which I would say, guilty as charged - and proudly so!

It's about time we finally joined the ranks of such equally despicable individuals as Gary Adkison, Doug Seifert and Wolfgang Leander , not to mention Stan himself - to name but a few!
Any rating above 3 would however be a huge disappointment!

Yes, I know, we're a dive shop and they are individuals.
But there's hope: we've already made it onto the related Scubalinx - and our rating is a pristine zero!

Anyway, in the meantime, here's the Naughty File - unrepentantly!

Sharks up close!

I just received my copy of Jimmy's book.

In a nutshell, it's the best book about Sharks, ever.
I understand that it may have been intended for children - but it's exactly the simplicity of its language and the clarity of its message that make it so compelling. No Shark hugging pseudoscience and exaggerated doomsday scenarios here, just a depiction of what Sharks really are: charismatic and awe inspiring, essential for maintaining the balance of their habitats and at the same time, fragile and highly endangered.

And then, there's this:
The true and gentle nature of Sharks is not typically captured or conveyed to the public. Their fundamental character is one of curiosity and innocence, similar to most animals', not what the media portrays.
Yes, this man truly understands!

And how about the photography: simply outstanding!
Maybe with the exception of some of Wolfgang's pix that are completely different and in a league of their own, the portrait on page 78 is without a doubt the best picture ever taken on Tiger Beach, period; the Stingray on page 42 and the Remora cleaning station on page 35 may well be the first ever published records of those behaviors; and I love that Dog and what it stands for!

Valerie who saw the book and was equally impressed commented that everybody should have it and give it to all of their friends - how about that for an endorsement to complement the others!
I fully concur: cheap and highly effective, it could well create more Shark lovers than all of our clamoring and petitioning combined!

My only regret: it's way too small!
Jimmy, where is the coffee table book???

Guadalupe?

Best picture, ever, from the Fiji Shark Dive - you just must click on it!

I truly am a sucker for punishment!

Yes, I’m posting one about Guadalupe - again!
And before you start screaming that I’m meddling, got no clue and should just shut the f up and mind my goddamn business and the like, lemme answer the question in this article: Shark diving in Guadalupe is the business of a) the Mexican government as the owner of the resource, b) the Shark diving operators drawing their sustenance from that site and, yes, c) every single Shark diving operator around the planet!
And that includes me!

To make the obvious example, Jimmy’s accident did reverberate across the entire industry and I can only commend him for having handled it as well as humanly possible, mainly by observing strict silence in public and talking only with the directly affected persons and authorities - and still, the backlash has been truly astounding.
Here in Fiji, apart from having had to face a barrage of questions, that accident prompted us to try and learn from the little that eventually transpired, re-visit our procedures and institute a regimen that is one of the strictest and most intransigent anywhere - especially for image hunters! Others alas seem to have learned nothing whatsoever - and I’m certainly gonna leave it at that.
For now!

Back to Guadalupe.
The X-Ray Mag article is basically a re-hash of this piece by Pete Thomas plus, on the side, a great interview with Wolfgang in his endearing incarnation as Shark-, and free diving nutter. He's being his usual wise man and I fully concur with his assessment: GW differ from other species in being ambush hunters (of mammals); and diving with them outside of cages is not for everyone.
Which begs the question, who, exactly, does qualify?

So for once, instead of clamoring about ethics, this or that technique, operators and egos, let’s try and look at this from a pure business perspective.

This is how it works.
New Shark diving sites start up by being discovered by a few individual adventurous divers or spearos, often acting upon the information of local fishermen. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the case of Lupe, that would have been the San Diego Diving Locker gang, i.e. Howard, Marty, Jeremiah & al.

Later on, somebody -in this case, Lawrence Groth- will then try to set up a more organized venture, initially for his friends but eventually, for a few selected clients.
At this stage, the site is still something of a secret that is handed around among insiders and attracts the crème de la crème of the image hunters that start publishing a first batch of totally unique and spectacular images in the media.

This media exposure quickly attracts the first customers proper, generally speaking, other professionals plus the more adventurous elite amateurs.
If the site has not been secured by the original commercial pioneer, and it rarely is, other operators recognize the commercial potential and start moving in. This never happens organically and peacefully and this is why all multi-user Shark dives are marred by vicious infighting among the operators.
Correct so far?

As the number of operators expands, so does the customer base.
This expansion is characterized by a marked shift in demographics. In essence, the top people who have published the first images move on to new discoveries, the elite amateurs become scarcer whilst the bulk of the client base consists of generally less experienced and also, less ambitious Joe divers.

In Fiji, now a mature market, our client base can be characterized as follows.

5% are bona fide professionals and by that I mean people who derive 100% of their income from diving and/or publishing images. That means that we do not accept the notion that there’s such a thing as a semi-professional UW photographer and the like, exactly as we do not accept semi-professional lawyers or semi-professional surgeons - and neither should you!
In general terms, 90% of these people are a delight to work with. They are extremely experienced, know the industry inside out and above all, have learned that it is very much in their own interest to respect and to listen to the local experts. The others are, well, very different and will leave Fiji very disappointed indeed.
When it comes to these clients, we follow industry standard and allow for quite a bit of leeway. Always within what we consider our absolute limits, we will strive to let them capture spectacular images, like the one above by Douglas, by organizing special dives and positioning them in selected radical spots.

25% are elite amateurs, for lack of a better word: the Wetpixel gang.
I used to be one of them, albeit pre-digital, and thus can very well relate to their ambitions: they are generally highly passionate all the way to being fanatic, wealthier, better traveled, quite experienced and mostly excellent divers, tote expensive hi-end equipment and are brilliant photographers and videographers, and want to emulate the work they see published by the professionals.
They are also quite cumbersome to service as they are quite reckless all the way to being outright adrenaline junkies, request special treatment for their gear and special positioning in relation to the animals, often complain about not having been able to capture the ideal shot and generally try to convey the sense of being specially valuable and important whilst at the same time asking for special discounts.

Once again, approx 60% of them are a delight to work with .
That being the magical word: if they give us the respect and are willing to undergo a process of gradual crescendo, we will be happy to go the extra mile and they will end up capturing some truly fabulous images.
Case in point: Sasha who has been with us many times, totally listens to our advice, is increasingly well acquainted with the routine, knows the animals and is thus being allowed to get ever closer to the action – and gets to capture simply stunning images in the process!

Alas, the other 40% are, well, what they are.
They are never satisfied, are unpleasantly vociferous, bully the other divers, always want to push the envelope, know it all better and are generally a nightmare to handle.
Check out the last points in this recent post and you’ll understand that we’re simply not interested in their business.

Leaves 70% of our clients that are just ordinary Joe divers.
These are people who come to Fiji to just experience the Shark dive and explore our reefs and who are generally delighted by what we got to offer. Apart from being the bulk of our business, they are the easiest to service as they generally follow instructions, have no overbearing asocial ego and are totally happy to just observe and enjoy something which to them is new, safe, unique and exhilarating – and on top of that, they are happy to pay full price!

Now if you do the math, here’s what you come up with.
4.5% + 15% + 70% = 89.5% of our clients are a delight and 10.5% are just assholes - there, I said it!
Is Guadalupe really radically different?

And if it is not – what’s the fuss all about?
Ever since Rodney Fox pioneered diving with Great Whites, cages have been the 100% safe way to go - be it at the surface, submerged, cinema or self propelled, they are equally good! Rodney the pioneer has been using them successfully for the past 30+ years. Lawrence the pioneer is doing so successfully in Guadalupe.
So, why are you trying to fix something that is not broken?

Whatever the self serving rhetoric: taking clients outside of the cage adds an additional dimension of risk, period.
What is the benefit of doing so, the more as everybody seems to agree that if there should ever be a fatal accident, the Mexicans will sweep in and close down the site – for everybody, perpetrators and bystanders alike?
Are you maybe letting the inmates run the asylum?

If my premises are in any way correct, 90-odd percent of your clients are perfectly happy with the current product, the more as the pros are being accorded special privileges anyway. And keeping in mind that the bulk of your clients are inevitably going to be ever more Joe divers: should your procedures not become gradually more conservative rather than less so?

Leaves a measly 10% of volume who in all likelihood do not even represent 10% of cash flow!
They are the ones who are clamoring for ever more radical encounters, and this in a place where the animals are being brought to within a mere inches from their lenses and visibility is stellar anyway. Is it really credible that upping the ante would lead to better images - or is this just, as I believe, nothing more than the insatiable quest for ever more bravado and adrenaline?
And: how many of those people would you feel comfy in taking outside of the cage anyway?

Guys, will all due respect – and I got plenty of it!
The question really boils down to this: are you really willing to risk everything in order to satisfy less than 10% of your client base?
Amos can just move on – can you?
Ever heard of risk/reward?

I believe the choice is simple.

You can continue doing what you are doing now.
You can shut up and let the most aggressive and reckless among you run the show whilst you’re busy pursuing your pathetic feuds – and incidentally, I was saddened to see that even the stalwart Patric appears disheartened and is considering to bow to those stupid ideas. Sorry to see!
Even assuming that nothing terrible will happen: where will that leave the industry in, say, 2 years when the adrenaline junkies will again ask for more more more and somebody will be tempted to up the ante again? And in 2 years after that?
Is that in any way sustainable?

Or, you can finally close ranks and put an end to the shenanigans by presenting a unified front vis-à-vis the perpetrators and the Mexican authorities – and yes, that requires that you bury the hatchet, even if only temporarily and for this one cause only, talk to each other and do something for the common good!
And no, it’s not only Club Cantamar and Amos – I’m in the same industry as you and know it is not!

Once again, it’s all about the math.
Guadalupe is world renown for being the premier site in the world for seeing Great Whites in stellar visibility. And yet, in the big scheme of things, total capacity is comparatively tiny, probably not even 2,000 clients per season.
How about trying to expand your client base instead of bowing to the demands of a clamoring minority of less than 200 customers. How about starting to look beyond the US and Europe and their broken economies and aggressively market in Asia where I promise you, there are a lot of eager, increasingly wealthy and on top of that, extremely pleasant clients.
Hell, incredibile dictu – you could even join ranks and do a common marketing push for Lupe as a destination! Think Caymans!
Yeah I know I know, and pigs…

Just my two cents.
Yes I’m an outsider - but as your industry peer and precisely because I am an outsider and not emotionally invested, it breaks my heart to see what a great unique site you have and how you’re letting it go to shit by just sitting there and doing nothing,

Wanna think about it?
And by all means: always feel free to write me the usual nasty messages!

More about Scarface!

Well, gee Wolfgang!

Thanks for telling Everybody – with friends like you, one sure doesn’t need enemies! :)

Anyway, yes, I really did nearly soil my pants!
Keep in mind that this was in 2003, meaning way before everybody and his dog would flock to Tiger Beach, plus it was our first ever face-to-face encounter. Previously, I had only encountered one big Tiger who chased my out of the water when I took a bucket of fish down on Osprey Reef in 1977, plus I had experienced a few short flybys that were equally totally unexpected, frightening and ultimately, disappointing.

After the encounter, I ran home and sent this to Ron and Val.

So, the tigers are the good guys, huh ... just push them away you said...

(Ron had just sent me a message stating, remember, Tigers are good guys and if he comes too close simply push him away. Bulls are much more dangerous than Tigers.)

Just came out of the water and here's what's happened: the 4.5m tiger turned up at the hand feed, snatched the bin and took it to 30m. There, she tried to get into it but was too big and got all pissed off as there were scores of bulls trying to steal its fish.
Remembering what you had said, I went down with Manasa and Rusi and was peacefully filming away, as she decided to have a go at us. Manasa had a fish and so did Rusi but when she came for me, all I had was the camcorder. She bit it twice and tried to wrestle it away (camera running), after which she then had a serious go for Manasa who had taken back the bin. She was really going for him and he was zipping around that bin trying not to get caught til she finally gave up.
Got it all on camera as well!

The following day, having somewhat calmed down, I wrote well, for panicking or getting aggressive there just wasn't enough time.. all i was trying is to hang on to my housing which was half-way in, monitor and all, with those teeth much too close to my hand holding the handle - and you know how they are, she would have just gobbled it down. It came out pretty rumpled but thanks to Gates, in perfect working condition (and still running).
Re-looking at the tape, I now think that having gotten the fish from Manasa and Rusi, she was assuming that I wanted to give her something as well.

Yes the camera kept running and you can all watch it right here: Papa's dance around the bin at 0:58 and the bite, at the very end at 6:51!



As to Doug’s picture, it is obviously stellar!
This is the very start of the bite and you can see her pushing on the monitor. Doug had what then was the best digital camera (you can see him at the end of the bin dance sequence), but it was slow to recycle and he missed the bite proper – still, to this day, the pic graces the Gates website and they can boast to build Tiger-proof housings!

In terms of size, I am 2m so she was about 4.5 meters long. And she has continued to grow!
Once it became clear that she would become a regular, we named her Scarface after the many scars disfiguring her mouth and exposing her teeth.

Initial encounters were rather problematic, which made for many entries in the Naughty File.
She would continuously try to steal the bin (4:15) and attempt to scare us away by gaping (0:28), which is Tigerese for piss off, this belongs to me, and when we wouldn’t acquiesce but fight back, she would get seriously angry and become outright dangerous, like on 6:31 where she is actively snapping and trying to cause harm.
No mellow and docile here - huggers: learn from it!

We did, abandoned our attempts to steer her with the prods which he hates with a vengeance all the way to wrestling them out of our hands and then spitting them out (3:43) and now keep the food in a large aluminum box that we have dubbed the Rubik’s cube for Tiger Sharks and that her best and incredibly persistent attempts will neither dislodge nor crack.

When it comes to our private and very much personal relationship, it certainly improved - which is easy!
After that first attempt, she never, ever tried to bite the housing again. But on every visit, she would make it a point to pop by and give it a good sniff, resulting in some truly memorable footage. As an example, in one scene (mellow and thus not in the file) she comes from the left and positions herself inches away from the lens; then the whole body behind the head pivots from left to right and finally, she departs back to where she came from, without ever having touched the housing! In other scenes, I would have to lightly push her away, as in 2:40 and 6:08 where it looks like it is her touching the camera.
Stellar stuff!

Since I started lugging around the Boat, matters have alas become a tad more impersonal.
Now, it’s me who has to sneak up on her or position myself close to the feeder, where she barely deigns to acknowledge my presence by giving me a quick glance. Obviously, the size and electronic signature are completely different as the Fathom Imaging lens is one huge piece of inert material – or, horribile dictu, I may just be losing my sex appeal in line with what is happening in my terrestrial existence!
But despite of the snubbing: the love and the excitement will never falter!

Check her out (click to enlarge): here she is straight from the footage 3 days ago, beautiful and quite, but not yet terminally pregnant – meaning that she will stick around for another while before going walkabout, possibly for a couple of months.
So, what are you waiting for…. !!!


As to Wolf wanting to meet her?
I don’t usually share my girls but for him, I’ll make an exception.
He knows that and has long had an open invitation to come dive on the house – with one caveat: he will have to strap on a tank and do it on SCUBA!

So, what’s it gonna be?
DaWolf, will you make a small, insignificant compromise in order to meet a truly wonderful lady? Piece of cake for a waterman like you! Or will you remain the usual stubborn old fart and continue whining about the missed opportunity?

Am I putting you on the spot?
Well, altes Haus: wie Du mir! :)

Touching the Sea

Pic: Paul Spielvogel

To Touch or not to Touch?

Wolfgang has just posted his personal take on that.

We've never met but I do like and respect the man.
He's obviously intelligent and very experienced and his love for Sharks knows no boundaries. I'm sure that he would never, ever do anything that would put Sharks in harm's way or somehow tarnish their reputation.

"From the Heart", I fully agree with every word he says - the more as every single one of our feeders will always feel compelled to give a little affectionate pat to any Shark coming in for a snack. This may look stupid in view of the fact that Sharks are not likely to take it the way it was meant - but as Wolf correctly remarks, it does clearly habituate them to our presence. In fact, most of our old-timers hardly ever deploy their nictitating membranes and when they do, we've learned to be especially cautious.
Check out the pic and you'll notice that Olga is obviously equally relaxed.

And yet, upon coming across some images of a dive trip to Tiger Beach, I felt compelled to raise my voice in alarm. What ensued was an interesting conversation thread and I'm particularly happy that we all managed to remain mutually respectful and polite, a rare feat in the ever passionate and opinionated world of Shark aficionados.

That conversation has apparently continued "behind the scenes", as witnessed by Wolf's desire to set the record straight. It certainly has continued at this end, both in terms of e-mails we have received but also, in terms of internal discussions about our own procedures.

Personally, it's a case of Zwei Herzen, ach, schlagen in meiner Brust.
You may have gathered that we at BAD Love Sharks, with a Passion! We name them, we research them, we protect them, we keep track of their individual lives and are overjoyed when our old friends turn up after their yearly walkabout, like right now - and yes, we also pet them!
You may have also noticed that although we interact with the biggest, and most dangerous coastal species, we don't define and market ourselves in spectacular adjectives like "ultimate" (as in "terminal"? Yes, I'm being facetious), "extreme" and the like. Our aim is not to sell some death-defying "adventure", but to showcase our Sharks to our Clients and to have them come away with a new, personal appreciation for their beauty, grace and mellow disposition - whilst contributing to their protection in the process.
From that point of view alone, we're as "Shark-hugging" as one can possibly get!

And yet, we couldn't be more controlled and have more stringent and inflexible procedures!
I've blogged extensively about it before and won't bore you with more of the same. Essentially, it's about commercial versus private Shark diving. Commercial Shark diving means stacking the cards in one's favor and never forgetting the awesome power of the animals we're dealing with. It also has to do with our responsibility towards our Clients and the fact that they, and not the Sharks, can be highly unpredictable!

In that regard, I'm grateful that Wolf has generously posted a caveat not to try and emulate what he does. Thank you!

Is what he does "disrespectful"?
That's really a difficult one.

We've been accused of "demeaning" our Sharks by conditioning them to participate in what some rightfully call a "Circus act". Our standard answer is to point to our Conservation efforts and also, to the fact that the alternative is not a "happy life" but to end up as Shark fin soup. We also feel that we need to do so for safety reasons, as the such conditioned animals are certainly easier to handle.
But I realize that what we do will always remain controversial.

Same-same for Wolf's effusions.
There is really no need for them - but knowing who he is and having read his post, he means only the best and causes no harm whatsoever, certainly not to the animals.
There are scores of Fish- and Shark-touchers, foremost Valerie who'll pet anything from Nudis, Morays and Dugongs all the way to Great Whites! People like them are instrumental in changing perceptions and are to be commended for doing so.
In brief, Wolf, go for it! As I said before, I sometimes bemoan the fact that having crossed the fence, I won't be able to join you!

Would I however strongly object if boatloads of divers started doing the same? Most certainly, experience or no experience!
In the end, the Ocean is no Zoo and direct interactions like petting and feeding are generally to be discouraged as they impact on the animals, most likely in a negative way. Moreover, when it comes to predatory Sharks, one must never forget that they are potentially lethal and that every direct interaction carries the risk of accidents - certainly bad for the person involved but devastating for the image of Sharks and our efforts to get them protected.

OK, enough of this.
Back to Shark Protection - judging from the projects I know about, 2009 is going to be an awesome year!