We've just said goodbye to Mary and Lupo.
We're honored, really.
Mary is of course none other than the same Mary O'Malley who pretty much single-handedly developed the Manta Ray of Hope project (of course, h/t to Shawn and to Paul Hilton!) and doggedly stayed the course all the way to the epic decision of CITES to list them on Appendix 2 - and this also very much in the face of all that petty bickering by those Mobula fans, or whatever! And btw, now that she has shown everybody how to do it: have those EXPERTS learned the lessons, and will they come up with anything substantive for 2016?
We shall be watching!
Anyway.
Mary is my current Shark Conservationist of the Year and one of the very few people in Shark conservation I respect unreservedly and whose advice I will often seek and mostly heed.
This has really been rather epic.
Mary and Lupo are both accomplished and highly experienced Shark divers and also photographers, the Bull Shark action was off the charts, and we managed to stage some memorable (...!) encounters - not to mention the conversations on and off the boat!
And the bikini?
Yes she wears one!
Because she can, in spades - but under the wetsuit!
In fact, whilst being equally pretty, she is everything those bikini bimbettes are not: smart, determined, result-oriented, diplomatic - but above all, frustratingly humble all the way to outright self-effacing.
In fact, where everything the bimbos do is geared towards shameless self promotion (yes Julie Andersen, I'm looking at you!), Mary would rather totally fade into the background, and her many accomplishments would go completely unnoticed were it not for the accolades by her friends and admirers - as it should be!
But I'm digressing as always.
This has been a really memorable, productive and highly rewarding week, and good things will come from it. There are great developments within Shark Savers where Mary sits on the board, and our already proven cooperation is about to be expanded to new projects.
Keep watching this space!
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