Blog about "The World's best Shark Dive" by Beqa Adventure Divers.
Featuring up to eight regular species of Sharks and over 400 different species of fish, Shark diving doesn't get any better!
Showing posts with label Gurney Productions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gurney Productions. Show all posts
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 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?
But above all, for having mobilized many signatures from Russia, by posting the Discovery petition on his blog. asnas then re-posted it, together with this link (embedding disabled) to one of Les Stroud-Gurney's most infamous "experiments".
Yes, it's the turkeys and hams! And listen to the idiotic comments by the great survivor man whilst he's heroically wrangling the Sharks from the safety of the boat!
Just in case you may have forgotten why this is important!
It concerns how we should react to this post by Fijigirl on Wetpixel concerning the recent Discovery shoot in Fiji. I was really gonna follow the advice of a friend to just let it go and wait until Deadly Waters would air, after which the truth would be known anyway. But our staff are very angry indeed and have asked me not to let this go unanswered.
So there:
The way I read that document, it basically claims that Brandon did this and that, loves Sharks, was unaware of the contents of the show, did nothing untoward and finally got "tricked" by us who just wanted to rubbish him.
Cleverly worded, it however contains a lot of factual "errors". Some are well within the scope of the usual Aqua-Trek "mythology" but surprisingly, some is pretty brazen - actually, very unlike the Fijigirl who is Aqua-Treks consummate spinmaster! Which begs the question, is she been lied to - too?
Anyway, the facts are this – and I’ll keep is as short as I can.
“Aqua-Trek” is a conglomerate of dive shops in Fiji with varying histories and shareholders.
Brandon worked for Aqua-Trek Beqa (ATB), did set up a Shark feed on Shark Reef in 1999 and resigned from ATB in 2002 to go and work for Aqua-Trek Management (ATM) in Garden Island Resort on the island of Taveuni. As is customary, a reef fee was paid to a village but the site was not protected and fishing continued there until 2004.
Shark Reef was formally protected on 8.4.2004. A lot of people spent considerable time, money and effort to achieve this – but it had nothing whatsoever to do with either Brandon or Aqua-Trek who never assisted in that effort.
Beqa Adventure Divers (the “other Shark dive company”) was created by James Beazeley and ATBs senior staff in order to manage the reserve as ATB had breached some of its obligations and the villages wanted them out. The protocols for the Shark dive within Shark Reef Marine Reserve were developed by BAD in collaboration with scientists and Industry professionals and are very different from what Brandon was doing back then in ’99.
The “Ultimate Shark Encounter” on Lake Reef was established by the then manager of ATB, Petero Niurou, who negotiated with the village who controlled that reef, and who set up the dive with the other staff of ATB. Brandon was not there. Brandon only returned to Pacific Harbour in 2006 when ATM acquired ATB.
Thus, ATB and Brandon can rightfully claim to be the pioneers of Shark diving in Pacific Harbour and ATB also developed a Shark dive and set up a marine reserve on Lake Reef.
That's all pretty awesome and very honorable - and way more than what most other operators in the Shark Diving Industry have done. No need to re-write history and to claim credit for other people’s hard work!
But back to the matter at hand, Deadly Waters. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I was away and upon coming back to Fiji, I've been busy doing the post mortem on this unfortunate matter. As Drew suggests, we’ll all see it when the episode airs – or better, hopefully not! The show is currently being edited so let’s not pre-empt anything, shall we.
But Fiji is very small indeed and people always talk. When it comes to Fijigirl’s fairy tale, what I can say with absolute certainty is this.
Brandon knew of the contents and intents of the show.
He willingly and knowingly completely surrendered his site and its Sharks to the crew of Gurney, to the point that his own staff was relegated to the role of mere spectators.
ATB delivered chum and bait to the Fiji Peter Hughes vessel that the production company were using as their base and that vessel remained on site for several days during which the film crew conducted multiple dives with and without ATB.
A chumsicle was deployed in total breach of established procedures.
They conducted night dives in baited conditions, again a total breach of protocol.
Clients were taken to Lake Reef to witness the film crew flailing around bait in the attempt to excite the Sharks – in total breach of protocol and the most basic safety procedures (one guest witness was so upset by what he saw that he demanded a refund and was given a free dive on the next day).
You be the judge of whether "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" is an adequate description of the above. As I said, pretty brazen!
As to our despicable role in this fiasco... we did indeed not call ATB directly. Brandon and his bosses have historically made it abundantly clear that they do not seek dialogue and co-operation with BAD and it would have been an exercise in futility. As it turns out, he knew everything anyway.
Plus, before Les Stroud turned up in our dive shop, Aqua-Trek was simply not on our radar. We were working on keeping Gurney out of the country and were completely focused on talking to the relevant authorities and to the folks of Peter Hughes in Fiji and the USA. But as soon as Les left our office, we called and informed the Dive Commission which is the competent authority in such matters. They are part of Fiji Island Hotel and Tourism Association (of which we and ATB are members) and FIHTA did inform Brandon (who already knew) - precisely as per what I wrote in my original post.
We and many others are now trying to sort out Brandon's mess, as it's not about Brandon or Aqua-Trek. In the big scheme of things, they are frankly of no importance - and nor are we! To us, this is about the Sharks, the reputation of Fiji and how the Shark Diving Industry needs to handle the media.
He has managed to convince Mr. Paul Gasek, an Executive of Discovery Channel, to answer 10 questions relating to Discovery's Shark Week. Here is the background to that serendipitous opportunity.
So there - here's our question. David, my heartfelt thanks for the chance of hearing it directly from the horse's mouth!
Dear Mr. Gasek
As you may know, one of your forthcoming programs, “Deadly Waters” has caused quite a controversy here in Fiji.
We are one of Fiji's pre-eminent Shark diving operators and were contacted by Joshua Puga of Gurney Productions who wanted to come and film our Bull Sharks for the aforementioned show. After having seen the program's "Experiment List", we declined their request, this based on the following aspects of the planned show.
The depiction of Sharks as man-killing monsters
The untrue allegation that Fiji is a hot spot for Shark Attacks
Above all, the damage such an allegation would cause to the fragile tourism industry of a small island country
Gurney then tried coming back via the "back door", by having a local live-aboard vessel contact us asking whether we would host them and a video team shooting for Discovery's Shark Week. Having asked for further clarifications, we were told that the show "hadn't yet been named" - but we soon noticed that the producer and the host, Les Stroud, were the same as in January . Once again, we declined to cooperate and informed the vessel about the production team's true intentions.
The shoot was finally hosted by our local competitors who however claim that they had no idea about its true nature as they were told by Gurney that it was a scientific program for Animal Planet.
If true, this would mean that after having unsuccessfully tried to mislead us, Gurney Productions only succeeded in filming the show's Fiji segment by deceiving the Shark diving operator who would have otherwise opposed the production like we did.
I assume Discovery Channel care about their reputation for being factually and scientifically accurate and thus credible. I also assume they they pride themselves in following impeccable ethical standards.
With that in mind - and assuming that your own independent verification would lead you to conclude
That the allegation that Fiji is a "high-fatality hot spot" is a complete fabrication and that there are no data whatsoever supporting it
That such an allegation would cause substantial damage to Fiji's tourism industry
That Gurney Productions used deceit in order to film the Fiji segment of "Deadly Waters"
Would you then be willing to completely scrap "Deadly Waters", or at least remove the segment that was filmed in Fiji?
We look forward to your reply and would be happy to provide you with copies of all correspondence and corroborating evidence if so wished. You can reach the dive shop's manager, Andrew Cumming at Beqa Adventure Divers.
The discussion about what was intended as a post about Shark diving media, how we, the operators must act as stewards and gate keepers and how we miserably failed to do so in Fiji got derailed and quickly morphed into a petty mud slinging contest.
Not that I'm surprised: the Shark universe is populated by uniquely abrasive and strong personalities and in the present case, it was all too easy to interpret it as the attempt by one operator to rubbish his direct competitor. Like in many other locations, there is a long history in which they are the "pioneers" and we, the "wannabees and interlopers" who "mooched" from them. The whole story is of course much more nuanced (and ugly) but the end result is that we often behave like squabbling children despite of our resolve not to debase ourselves by engaging in petty brawls in the gutter. Not something anybody wants to get embroiled in, not something anybody can be proud of and something I've sworn to try and avoid. Yes, the learning curve has been pretty flat - but there has been progress and this, too, will blow over as always.
Alas, it is the pure mechanics of the present event that have led to this unfortunate situation. Our focus had been to prevent Gurney from ever entering the country and we had concentrated on talking to the relevant authorities and associations and then, to the liveaboard they had contacted. We were actually very confident that they would heed our warning and agree that we had to put a stop to the shenanigans and were thus completely unprepared and quite frankly shocked when it then ended up playing out as it did. And angry!
In that context, I'm particularly thankful to Patric for having reverted the discussion to its core message: the despicable anti-Shark rubbish producers like Gurney pitch and Discovery fund and then air, and the role we the operators, other enablers and the filming industry can, and need to play in order to prevent it from happening in the future.
I was happy to hear that several well-meaning, intelligent and passionate people out there are already working on various tangible initiatives aimed at reaching that goal. I cannot really talk about it, the more as I don't know the details - but my hunch is that it involves coming up with better programs but also, coaching and empowering the operators.
Regardless of the end result (it won't be easy, it never is), that in itself is progress. And if our rants have made a useful contribution to that discussion, we are quite happy to weather any resulting backlash - as there undoubtedly will be.
Shark diving is evolving at a staggering pace and this is but one small step in that process. Yes there have been quite a few setbacks but overall, the direction is clear: as an Industry, we need to assume responsibility for protecting the Oceans we love and from which we derive our sustenance.
The big Gorilla in the room is of course the seemingly insatiable appetite for Shark fins and the resulting slaughter of Sharks. I've blogged about it before, the likely solution will have to be some sort of a compromise.
But we're just to small for tackling the Gorilla. Our personal contribution to finding solutions consists in trying to help change perceptions - and trying to have the media depict a more positive image of Sharks is part of that effort. We also believe in promoting small-scale Conservation that will help preserve and regenerate stocks until bigger and better funded NGOs and Governments agree to put in place better, comprehensive and Conservation-oriented legislation. Luckily for us, Fiji has already firmly embarked on that route. Thirdly, we believe in sponsoring research that will provide the data required for that process. And finally, we believe that we need to involve the local stakeholders and the Country that hosts us as this is the only way we will be able to achieve sustainable and enduring results.
This would be us - others have different priorities and aims. Good to be back on message.
He of the Turkeys and Hams! Yes, this guy! He popped into our dive shop on Tuesday asking for directions to the folks down the road. Dunno if he did it to spite us or because of a genuine mistake - thing is, we realized then that we had lost the battle and that Deadly Waters would be featuring their Fiji segment as planned.
We already knew they were trying to weasel in via the back door as one of the local liveaboards had long asked us whether we would be willing to host them and a group of clients for a professional 3-day shoot for Discovery's Shark Week. When we finally managed to dig out some details, we were told that the group would come with their own safety divers, need a chumsicle and require no further service other than unlimited access to our site. It was also stated that the show "had not yet been named" and that they intended to try and bring the Sharks to the surface for topside shooting.
Sound familiar? Here are excerpts from the original "Experiment List" of Deadly Waters, by Gurney Productions, Discovery's pet production house for anti-Shark programming.
Fiji: Tiger/Bull Sharks
To compare how depth affects the predatory nature of sharks, we’ll deploy two balls of frozen bait at different depths. One will be at the surface, the other will be eighty feet below. We’ll then watch if sharks in the Bahamas are more likely to strike deeper underwater and hypothesize a reason. Finally, Les will draw a comparison between Tiger, Mako, and Bull shark behavior.
We will head to a remarkable Tiger and Bull Shark feeding ground that has rarely if ever been filmed. Although they are the deadliest shark on earth, these well fed Tigers and Bulls are used to seeing divers and usually ignore them – but every now and then they randomly attack and kill one – why? Is it something the diver does?
Les will go down in a specially designed clear polycarbonate shark cage which will make him appear to the sharks as though he is unprotected. Les will conduct a series of experiments to try to elicit an attack responsefrom the sharks (he will be safe). He will flail about, float lifelessly, release a large burst of bubbles and finally hold freshly killed fish, in order to determine what is causing these well fed sharks to randomly kill humans!
Just Great! After years of trying to establish a safe and mellow routine and to keep the Sharks away from the surface, having Les & Co. come and thrash our dive site!
We of course declined to enable the shoot. Yes, for the second time! I'm sure you've read the link above (if not, please do) so I'm gonna spare you the bit about the evil anti-Shark propaganda and damage to Fiji's vulnerable tourism industry. Instead, let me post this letter from a fellow dive professional we work with.
Upon reading the experiment list it leaves me in a state of amazement. The idea of putting Les in a perspex tube to incite an attack on a diver is totally irresponsible. It shows zero thought to any future divers & is trying to promote an attack. Where did they come up with the theory that any diver/swimmer has ever been attacked let alone killed by a bull shark in Fiji? The other experiment of trying to lure them to the surface also goes totally against the safety that the operations in that area adhere to which is to keep them deep & not surface orientated. I hope very much that this project does not proceed in Fiji as it is the last thing that the diving or tourist industry here needs. On a purely selfish note; we want to use the bull shark dive as a drawing card to get guests to book on our liveaboard & this show will do nothing to help us down that path. The reality is that it may even deter divers from coming to this destination in the future as they will simply associate Fiji with bull sharks attacking people. This is not good news & lets hope that it does not happen. I could go on & on about this but in short the bull sharks here have no history of attacking people so to let someone in the water for a few days to make a sensationalist documentary about that happening & potentially create attack scenarios on people in the future is abhorrent.
Well, we sure gave it our best shot. We tried convincing the liveaboard that this was not the kind of business and publicity they, or Fiji wanted. A friend spent political capital trying to convince their offshore headquarters. More political capital was invested in seeking dialogue with the Fijian Authorities. Hell, fearing the worst as they were always gonna be the dark horse in the process, we even had somebody try and talk sense to our local competitor!
I guess we should have known better. Money apparently talks - much louder than one's professed love of Sharks and fake Eco-branding. And contrary to the title of this post, it does have a smell. It reeks of greed, recklessness, stupidity and disrespect of one's host Country. This is now their legacy - and I'll leave it at that. See, I'm still trying to be polite!
But in the end, it's not our Country, not our dive, not our operation - and hopefully, not our reputation, either. Although as always, we'll have to share the negative repercussions, as will Fiji Tourism.
In the end, the real losers will be the Sharks. A great shame - especially because we got so close to doing the right thing.
PS: Underwater Thrills have followed up with this great post. Kudos.
A Production Company who know nothing about the subject proposes a documentary about Big Cats to a big Television Channel.
So far, they have produced "Lion Hunters" and "Lion Hunters II" where teams of big game hunters compete for bringing down the biggest lions. The new show will feature the "Mountain Man", an extreme solo mountain climber and absolute ignoramus of felines. He will be safely sitting on the roof of a Land Rover from where he will throw a) a wheel of Emmenthal cheese b) a Yellowfin Tuna and c) a Black Forest Cake at the World's "deadliest Cats", i.e. a pride of African Lions, a Bengal Tiger and a Jaguar. Obviously, these groundbreaking experiments require that the team travel to the most iconic Wildlife Parks of Africa, India and South America, all expenses paid.
The Television Channel enthusiastically accepts and airs the piece during their "Safari Weeks". The Big Cat lovers are outraged but the Television Channel couldn't care less. Business is Business.
Sound preposterous and stupid? Look no further than Discovery Channel's "Shark Feeding Frenzy" where "Survivorman" Les Stroud throws Turkeys, Beef and Hams at some unsuspecting and undoubtedly surprised Sharks in the Bahamas and in South Africa! Did the idiotic diet harm the animals? Probably not. Did the "experiments" lead to any insights, scientific or otherwise? Yeah, Right!
But, and this is important: did the show demean the Sharks and once again reduce them to nothing but dangerous and brainless eating machines? Very much so!
And what about the treatment of Sharks in "Shark Hunters" and "Shark Hunters II", the same Production Company's previous Shark "documentaries"? You be the judge of that.
With the Shark Week 2009 shooting season in full swing, here come those very same guys with the following proposal for yet another Pro-Shark "documentary-entertainment show".
Titled "Deadly Waters", the plan is to travel to the five "most dangerous beaches for Shark attacks" where the waters are "infested with Sharks" and conduct a series of "experiments" to determine what causes the attacks. The locations they have chosen are the Bahamas, South Africa, Oz, Florida and... Fiji! A list of questions includes - what makes these specific locations so deadly? - do you have any documented Shark attack case studies....?
Well, we sent them packing - and I herewith formally apologize to those well-meaning friends who sent them our way thinking that they were doing us a favor.
Thing is, we were not only outraged by their unacceptable portrayal of Sharks and the stupidity of their new "experiments" - but also and foremost, because of the damage they were intending to inflict to the reputation of Fiji. Talk of "deadly beaches"and "Shark infested waters" is simply toxic for the Tourism Industry, the principal income earner of most Island Countries. Yes, also for the Bahamas whose image has already been tarnished by past and equally stupid programs.
With that in mind, we took it onto ourselves to go talk to the local Authorities and to the Tourism Association. As a consequence, not only will those guys be denied any filming license, but anybody enabling this shoot will have to face serious consequences. Having spread the word, we understand that similar initiatives are being undertaken in the Bahamas. Enough is enough.
At the same time, Shark Divers have turned down another idiotic request for yet another idiotic Discovery show.
Does that mean that we hate Discovery or that we want to harm those Production Companies?
Certainly not! Discovery has recently aired some wonderful Shark programs, like Mike deGruys wonderful piece on the research conducted at Osprey Reef, or "Sharkman" where Mike Rutzen experiments with Tonic Immobility. Truly epic programming and they must be commended for it!
So why the garbage? Wolf's insightful post and the ensuing discussion thread clearly point to the fact that those guys are merely trying to do Business, and that they are merely satisfying the market's demands for ever bigger sensations and ever dumber programs. And I might add: for ever dumber show hosts! Is absolute ignorance and zero experience a precondition for getting the job? And what is it with those herp guys (one already deceased) that are being unleashed on the Marine environment? Is being bitten in the arse by giant snakes not good enough anymore?
But I'm digressing. Thing is, what we do is not Entertainment, it is Shark Conservation. Following the obvious utter failure of the 2007 open Letter to Discovery and their equally obvious disregard for the welfare of Sharks, those who care will have to find other ways of getting their voice heard.
One strategy may be to convince everybody in the Industry to simply follow our example. After all, it is us the operators who control the locations, opportunities and animals. If we refuse to partake in this stupidity, the buck stops right here and now. Yes it is cool to be on Discovery and it might also be good money - but in the long term, we not only harm our own reputation, we also contribute to harming the reputation and the well-being of our host Country.
Is that really what we want? Is that what our clients want? How does it dovetail with the image of Sharks we are trying to portray?
At the same time, some serious talk with the Authorities of the Countries most affected by this nonsense could well lead to better scrutiny and especially, to stiff sanctions vis-a-vis those operators that enable those shoots. And finally, the clients should be alerted to shun those operators who obviously put money and short-lived fame ahead of long-term sustainability and Conservation.
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