Ramsey: Shit Show in Hawaii!

Source.

Oh well.

I'm sure you've seen the news.

Three very large and very rotund female GWS were seen feasting on a dead Sperm Whale floating off Oahu.

This could have been such an inspiring moment.

• One could have marveled at the exceptional serendipity of witnessing such a rare and wonderful natural event, as per the beautiful and respectful description of who experienced the first mesmerizing encounter.


• One could have mentioned Michael and Nicole's seminal paper about the life cycle of the NE Pacific GWS population, and speculated whether those females may be actually pregnant (not a given!) and bulking up in the SOFA and beyond like described therein, or whether they may just be very chubby after gorging on whale meat.


• One could have marveled at the fact that not one but three such large females have made it to Hawaii and speculated about the possible reasons (Climate Change? El Niño? Just happenstance? An outbreak of Wanderlust?), and could have tried to identify them based on Nicole's Guadalupe ID Guide (= that Shark with Ramsey is not Deep Blue). 


• One could have reminisced about this small paper about very large GWS scavenging on whales, and wondered whether the placid disposition of those Sharks may have been an indicator for postprandial torpor.


• One could have mentioned all the scientific questions that still remain unanswered.


• One could have even wondered about the wisdom, or lack of, of dive operators throwing in all those unprotected snorkelers atop large scavenging Sharks, and this in open ocean - and about the uncritical willingness of those punters to be thusly thrown, see further below!


• Hell, one could have gone so far to engage in idle speculation about why those mamas did not chomp on the aforementioned punters! The torpor and/or energy preservation, coupled with a far easier, better smelling and way juicer meal nearby? An already nicely filled belly? No search image for humans as prey? Too much commotion? No attack on alert prey by what is essentially an ambush predator?  Pervaded by the Aloha Spirit?

Not gonna happen, alas.

Like she has obviously intended, the token disrespectful self-promoting bimbette and her selfish shit show have sucked all the oxygen out of the room.
But thankfully and likely not as intended, the reactions by the public are overwhelmingly negative - and have you seen how now she is squirming and obfuscating trying to justify her feat?
Girl, dozens upon dozens of people have far more experience with Sharks, have done far more for them, and yet never put themselves in the foreground!
 

But first, watch.

Source.

I mean, seriously, what a fucking fiasco!

No don't worry, I'm not gonna unleash.

I'd rather defer to others who are way more intelligent and have spoken up much more clearly and politely than I ever could, to wit Michael Domeier's post about the total hypocrisy of "Ocean" Ramsey. 

Indeed, see any resemblance whatsoever between Ramsey's sanctimonious description and her frantic barging in ahead of everybody else and harassing the Shark in the above video?

You may also want to read and above all, understand this post about the likely consequences of that selfish shit. But Oliphant will do every I can to make it happen again! 

Obviou$ly!

And the fucking, old and tired Raising Awareness, yada yada?

Michael and David are absolutely correct: this is nothing but a serial Shark molester harassing a Shark (watch - did anybody say 6 meters? Hmmmm....), and this solely to pose for image$!
But you sure gotta love the praise by the hypocritical King of Shark Porn for the hypocritical Queen of Shark Molesting - legendary shark conservationist my ass!
And poor Riley STILL just doesn't get it!

Anyway.

It's same old same old - really hardly worth a mention were it not for those poor naive fans and followers who are being conned by the slick media and all those insufferable platitudes, and continue to admire all those hypocritical media whores and their disrespectful feats.

So, people, THINK - especially you researchers and operators who continue to associate with, and even defend those folks despite of all the evidence!

In diesem Sinne - let's go Shark diving!
Respectfully!

Comments Policy: please post your comments here and not on FB. 

FYI this is not a chatroom, comments are being monitored and I reserve the right to publish, or to delete whatever I please - and no, this got nothing to do with freedom of speech and everything to do with Dunning-Kruger!

My blog my rules! :)

PS - Indeed (and here).. and this is just sad....

PPS - Martin here!

PPPS - well yes maybe - but then again, coming after a decade of  very public Shark harassment, it sounds hollow; the more as the punters that are so obviously clue- and reckless may be taking those risks precisely because of all the publicity, and glorification of her feats, and the public belittling of the associated dangers!

PPPPS - Patric here. Well said, Sir - eloquent and totally on point as always!
And I cite, The same stunt with bears, wolves, tigers and gorillas would land you in jail, if done with the exact same shark at Guadalupe Island you would be fined and jailed. 

PPPPPS - Well said Danny! :)

PPPPPPS - great post by Michelle here - torpor included! :)

PPPPPPPS - Indeed!

PPPPPPPPS - more hypocritical rubbish by the King of Shark Porn. Well, maybe there would not be such a need to change perspectives and creating massive global awareness had you not been so successful in creating the media that demonize Sharks in the first place, to wit e.g. this horrible piece of horse manure you produced!

PPPPPPPPPS - sweet, we got ourselves a tussle among Shark bimbettes! How quaint! I swim with them for pure enjoyment = not for camera? Right, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....

PPPPPPPPPPS - and we got ourselves yet another beauty! Yay! This would be one of Mauricio's illegal out-of cage freedivers  scientific collaborators (case in point!) disparaging another - by posting a pic of the illegal irresponsible and selfish behavior that certain individuals have been promoting as conservation science for years... Again, how quaint!

PPPPPPPPPPPS - more by Michael here and here!

PPPPPPPPPPPPS  - And for god's sake, whether you believe Lemuria is modern day Hawaii or not, leave the poor dolphins alone! Figure out how to talk to them from the shore or something. Hahahahahahahahaha!

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - the bloody Whale carcass has drifted back onshore - and hopefully stays there!

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - and we got ourselves one more visitor - which begs the question, what is going on: is this exceptional or is it the norm, and we are just finding out about it now? 

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - The question is, how can we interact with animals and leave their habitat better than we found it? This is why shark diving and shark tourism in marine protected sanctuaries (where fees collected by dive operators and government go towards habitat preservation) are an inspiring alternative. Hear hear!

Ronda Rousey - Mental Midgetry?

Shark conservation messaging, or whatever, by fucking Shark GENIUS PdG - source.

And I cite,

It is a good, well constructed show with professional and scientific insight 

Right.

That was good old Riley who STILL desperately wants to be somebody in Sharks, or whatever, and STILL just does not get it and STILL publicly pals with human garbage.

Anyway, along with many reputable presenters, experts and shooters, we did obviously turn it down as we will categorically not host any shoot for Shark Week as long as they continue to air those horrible exploitative programs, and showcase those pathetic self promoting media whores and their pathetic feats.

Back then I called it mental midgetry. 

But I was wrong. It is so much worse than that.

Watch.

See what I mean?

No blame goes to poor naive Rousey and husband  who have been obviously conned into believing that any of that is in any way an accomplishment. 

But seeing how all that fabricated gratuitous and misleading hype by those fucking self important morons is portraying sweet old Blunt, Gillette, Crook and Granma as lethal killer machines really gets my blood boiling. How dare they!
And no you fucking hypocrite: it is not epic, it is fucking pathetic!

And the bloody operator?

Need I really point out the idiocy of publicly allowing a total beginner to feed your Sharks on your dive - and of allowing another total amateur and untrained ignoramus to pose as a feeding expert? 

Is this maybe the reason why Aqua Trek have shortly thereafter fired Brandon their fucking GENIUS Shark whisperer, and this apparently with cause? Hardly - but here's to that, and good riddance; and here's to the guys down the road using this as an opportunity for some fucking reflection, and to them and others (...) stopping to enable all those revolting Shark porn media that are ultimately harming Fiji's reputation as a Shark ecotourism destination!

Anyway.

Like an old broken record, let me repeat - over and over and over again.

Here are my own questions to fellow Shark diving operators and conservationists.

• Are we gonna continue to pretend this (read!) is not happening?

• Are we gonna continue to watch that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue to enable it?

• Are we gonna continue to give our business to operators who do?

• Are we gonna continue to admire and to associate with those people?

Questions questions!

PS - Comments: please post them here & not on Facebook. Thanks!

Not a Shark Cage?

Right - click for detail!

Read this.

Those are Western Australia's Rules for Shark interactions by Aquatic Eco Tours. “Aquatic eco-tourism” is defined as tourism relating to fish in their natural environment and includes the viewing or feeding of fish but does include the taking of fish.

And these are the rules pertaining to fishing. 

And now watch, and read about this fucking fiasco. 

Yup that would be yet another production for Shark Week barging in and rubbishing yet another location. And surprise surprise: like he has e.g. already done in Fiji, the Bahamas, Guadalupe and New Zealand, the hypocritical  king of Shark porn is once again smack in the middle of it all.

Just great isn't it.

And let's be crystal clear about it: this is not fucking CinemaScience (I mean, seriously!!!) or environmental filmmaking let alone conservation = this is illegal, unethical and exploitative rubbish perpetrated by human garbage - and let there be no doubt that Discovery Channel is certainly an accomplice, too!

Anyway, not surprised - but it sure is a crying shame seeing Charlie's name associated with that shit!

And like an old broken record let me repeat

Here are my own questions to fellow Shark diving operators, researchers and conservationists.

• Are we going to continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we going to continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators going to continue enabling it?

• Are we going to continue giving our business to operators who do?

• Are we going to continue associating with those people?

Questions questions - you know who you are!

Philippe!

It's a wrap.

We've just hosted a small shoot.

It's for an educational travel series called Awesome Planet that focuses on earth science topics, is geared towards the 13-19 year old audience, and is hosted by Philippe Cousteau. The show is in production for the 5th season  and averages around 700,000 viewers a week nationwide (with an additional 20,000 / month on Amazon Prime).

And now that I've met him, I must say that I really like the dude.

Highly knowledgeable and undoubtedly passionate, world renown and yet refreshingly humble and funny, he is the real deal, and it has been a true delight and also an honor working with him.

This is exactly what we like to facilitate.

Like the episodes of Einstein, this is something respectful and educational that doesn't want to exploit the Sharks and focuses on what we actually do as opposed to some contrived story line featuring the usual assortment of self-enamored media whores.

Which brings me straight to that shit with Ronda Rousey.

No it was certainly not us - along with many other reputable people ranging from potential hosts to researchers to shooters we decided to turn it down as we ultimately want nothing to do with all that gratuitous hype and mental midgetry that are this show in particular and Shark Week in general. 

But of course there will always be some desperate operator enabling that horrible exploitative crap; and of course one can always count on the usual pathetic assortment of self-promoting hypocrites like the king of Shark porn and the Tweedledum and Tweedledee of pseudo-conservation who will always be all-too-happy to come clowning around in front of the camera and molest some poor unsuspecting Shark. 

Case in point - yes that would be conservation messaging, or whatever, and I can certainly leave it at that!

But I'm digressing as usual.

What I really wanted to say is, merci beaucoup, ça a été un vrai plaisir - and a big shout out to Jason of Silver Shark Media for having organized and managed the shoot impeccably!

À la prochaine!
 

Shark Porn in New Zealand!

Watch the video - nothing has changed! Source.

And I cite.

Discovery's angle seems to hinge on the fear people have of the unknown, and especially the unknown in the water where they swim. Shark Week has been so good at tweaking and magnifying this fear, that generations of viewers who grew up watching the show are afraid to go in the water...

The problem is not only that there is a fatal prejudice against sharks, but that it is not even recognized.
In the case of other animals, such as snakes, everyone knows that there is a deep bias against them, but in the case of sharks, the stark contrast between sharks as they are portrayed, and sharks as they really are is unseen.

The public actually believes that sharks behave the way they are shown on Shark Week.

Indeed, and bravo Ila!
 

Watch what these people do to New Zealand's GWS.

Think that those Sharks are behaving naturally around boats, or have they been amped up intentionally in order to create all that idiotic drama - and how does this disrespectful rubbish adequately illustrate those past 10 years of stellar research by NIWA and DOC?

Yes it's same old same old, pure Shark Porn.

Have you read this comments thread?

Pitchforks and Flaming Brands is obviously an insider, and she knows what she is talking about. Shark Week is not some amorphous entity, it is people - and together with Sorensen's small team who defines the overall direction (= ever more exploitative garbage), those folks she calls out are definitely some of the worst serial perpetrators.
 

And like an old broken record, let me repeat.

Here are my own questions to fellow Shark diving operators and conservationists.

• Are we gonna continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we gonna continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue enabling it?

• Are we gonna continue giving our business to operators that do?

• Are we gonna continue associating with those people?

Is anybody, ever, gonna learn the obvious lessons?

The good news?

From a conservation point of view -and here I differ with Ila- it thankfully matters not!

The Jackass!

I can't believe that shit is still on!

Anyway, here he is.

Behold the self-professed channeler, or whatever, of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey - with fitting introduction by Mr. Shark Porn himself!

Right.

So this is the message.

This disjointed new age clap trap by some retro hippie stoner adventurer, or whatever, is gonna make us finally understand and save the Sharks. This would be the visionary intellectual justification for illegal out-of-cage dives in Guadalupe, and for putting those credulous young people in harm's way.

Like I said, makes me wanna puke!

And ABC4 the great Shark pornographer?

Trust the man to never, ever disappoint!

Very much as anticipated, his recent incursion into NZ has fucked over the very people that have helped him go there in the first place. GWS diving in NZ is highly controversial, and his public boasting of illegal out-of-cage excursions, and the depiction of those GWS as particularly dangerous man eaters have further inflamed that conflict. 

Learning curve anybody?

And so it goes!

Flipping GWS - Mental Midgetry?

Old news... GWS in tonic. Source.

Remember?

So now it's official.

Eli has been trying to flip a GWS - obviously, illegally, and meticulously recorded by the king of Shark porn! For the Sharks, no doubt!

And I cite.

Tedium is a black mistress, watching those with a predisposition for both moral and mental midgetry perform tricks with underwater wildlife is the highest form of tedium. 

Indeed, and then some!

Which begs the question, what is one to do when one's pal continues to behave like an idiot - maybe tell him, and this lovingly, to stop behaving like an idiot?

So there!

So THIS is Shark Conservation!

And I cite.

I was swimming through a pool of my own blood...

He (= the Shark) was tearing the hamstring out of my leg, and tearing my hand off...

Watch this.

Oh yes this would be once again Gurney Productions.

They are Discovery's el cheapo go-to house for Shark porn, and once again regale us with the usual diarrhea of Shark attacks, teeth, blood and gore, all the way to a re-enactment of those tired old idiotic experiments, or whatever. Yes, now we finally have PROOF that Sharks are now so desperate that they will eat people - and watermelons, because they look like fucking sea turtles! Sez this clown! 

Special mention: the sped-up close-up of one of those poor harmless Bimini Hammers, and the Mako Shark slo-mo - and where have I seen that one before?

And huge props for introducing mammal meat to a popular Shark diving site - great idea!

And ABC4 is their el cheapo go-to shooter for that shit!

THIS is what he really means when he assures us, so eloquently, that he loves Sharks. PERIOD and that he makes an honest effort to avoid films that involve shark attacks and negative portrayals of sharks - see the citation at the top! And his assertion that he's ultimately only the hired cameraman, with no control over the editing? Bollocks! Having worked with Gurney many times and even produced that Fiji shit,  he went into it eyes wide open -  pecunia non olet all over again!

Like I said - so far so bad!

It's all so fucking pathetic.

Under the executive direction of Andersen who would give an arm and a leg, or for the matter, any body part for being featured on national media, the Shark Angels have become the repository of all those hypocritical Shark media whores, starting from the great pornographer all the way down to all those desperate self promoting wannabees. No wonder they endorse Shark Week - they all desperately want to be in it and will certainly never bite the hand that could once propel them to perceived fame and riches!

And the others?

I'm frankly totally baffled.

Not the shameless self promoters. Not the Sea Shepherd drones. Not the media whores. Not the Shark pageant kids. Not the chicks with the moldy duck wings.

Those who really want to make a difference, who invest hours upon hours of their free time trying to educate the public or running campaigns, those who want to get the job done and don't appreciate and are frankly embarrassed by those relentless pathetic shenanigans by the narcissistic leadership and its cronies.

WTF are you still doing there - you are being tainted by association!

You know who you are.!

ABC4 - absolutely awesome Footage!

ABC4 with Epic Diving in Cat Island

Wow.
Somebody has posted the link into the comments section here and I must say, I am simply blown away by ABC4's jaw-dropping cinematography!

Enjoy!

Nat Geo Shark Attack Experiment LIVE - appalling!

Changing perceptions? Another example of totally misguided good intentions - alas!

Here we go again.
Welcome to The Human Shark Bait Experiment.

From the description.
It is the stuff of nightmares and Hollywood horror.
Miles off shore, your boat capsizes at night in the world's most shark-infested waters. A life preserver keeps your head barely above the dark waters. You can practically hear the ominous music indicating that rows of razor teeth are torpedoing toward you. But how much is our fear of this larger-than-life predator founded in fact, and how much is misinformation? Which factors increase the chance of attack, and what could you do to stay off the menu?

And then comes the list of ludicrous ad hoc experiments.

• Swimming vs. floating. Does floating listlessly or actively swimming make humans a more attractive target?
• Color, contrast and shiny surfaces. Do certain colors, bright jewelry or diving equipment attract or provoke sharks to attack
• Bodily fluids. We know a shark can detect minuscule amounts of blood, so will human blood or other fluids like urine signal that a tasty meal is at hand?
• Bare skin. Does exposed human skin, like bare feet, bring them in for the kill?
• Time of day. Does cover of darkness or daylight increase the likelihood of a shark's attacking?
• Panic and fear. Do our involuntary reactions to stress, like an elevated heartbeat, ring the dinner bell for sharks

Great isn't it.

Did I hear changing perceptions?
Right.

How about unadulterated Shark Porn instead.
Once again, the life history of Sharks is being reduced to one dimension only: teeth, killing and attacks on humans. This has nothing to do with conservation, this is once again only about the adrenaline, the questionable fame of a Nat Geo production and yes, above all, the money!
Pecunia non olet once again!

The perpetrators? Here they are.
Very much unsurprisingly, we got one of the greatest names in the history of the world, Shark cinematographer extraordinaire, human shark bait but! humble closet conservationist ABC4.
So much for But I make an honest effort to avoid films that involve shark attacks and negative portrayals of sharks—most of the stuff I do is driven by sharks hunting what they naturally hunt, you know, seals, turtles huh!

And the other smirking experts, or whatever?
Yes that would once again be the usual Crème de la Crème of self professed South African Shark conservationists - and all veritable Shark Angels on top of it, no less!

No, I'm not gonna dwell.
If you haven't yet caught on to the total Bullshit that is the Shark Angels, nor grasped the total lack of substance of a certain brand of moronic media-driven South African Shark conservation where the actual track record of the self promoting Shark-grabbing bikini bimbettes is A Big Fat Zero, nothing I will ever say is going to change your mind anyway.
Patric is absolutely right when he writes that S.A is a world away from conservation norms and I have no illusions that whilst the local Sharks continue to be massacred, we will be graced with many more self congratulatory PSAs and appalling media produced by those people.

The questions however stand.

• Are we gonna continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we gonna continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue enabling it?

• Are we gonna continue giving our business to operators that do?

• Are we gonna continue associating with those people?

Shark Week - Emma abused?

Patric is asking questions.
He has posted the following video featuring a large Tiger Shark that features abrasions consistent with getting tangled in a cable or rope; a chumsicle that is being held up by a length of metal chain that can injure the animal and contains diving weights that can both break teeth and/or get ingested; a burly dude yanking on the rope, and some blonde bimbette.
Not nice - check it out.

• The location: Tiger Beach

• The vessel: Dolphin Dream, habitual enabler of bad things that are being done with Sharks

• The Shark: Jimmy's beloved Emma

• The occasion: Shark Week, notorious broadcasters of Shark Porn

• The show: How Sharks Hunt

• The producers: Gurney Productions, serial producers of Shark Porn and despicable fishing shows

• The shooter: Andy Brandy Casagrande IV aka ABC4, a veritable Shark Angel, no less, pseudo-conservationist and star attraction of Shark conservation events where he is being invited to strum his inane Shark Song. In real life, he is however completely undeterred and continues to earn his living by shooting Shark Porn and has acted as the producer of the infamous Deadly Waters.
  Check out the excerpt from the Fiji segment featuring Shark Porn presenter Les Stroud who is obviously trying to re-invent himself as the new darling of United Conservationists, and blonde bimbette and fake Shark expert Teresa Carrette, the very same bimbette I discern in the How Sharks Hunt trailer where she must be bloviating more of her unscientific rubbish.

• The yanking dude: Cody Lundin, self professed nature-loving reborn aboriginal Red Indian, or whatever, doing what stupid burly people do when directed to do so.

Did you check out the links?
And here are my own questions to fellow Shark diving operators and conservationists.

• Are we gonna continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we gonna continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue enabling it?

• Are we gonna continue giving our business to operators that do?

• Are we gonna continue associating with those people?

Yes I know I know...