Sharks in Hawaii!

More aggressive 10-foot Galapagos Sharks?
You be the judge of that!
Opinions?

Story here.
Enjoy!

Hawaii - good News!

From Stefanie.

This is one small Shark operator showing the world how to get the job done: to care about conservation, to take on important issues in one's back yard, to show leadership, to cooperate and network, to persist doggedly despite of the adversities.
Kudos to everybody involved!

Good news again!

The Shark fin bill SB2169 made it through the third reading and House vote yesterday. This is truly a minor miracle, because last week, the bill died in the last committee. We thought it was over. But we were able bring it back to life through some exceptional pressure from a few key people. The judiciary committee brought it back reluctantly, then finally voted to move it out. Just in the nick of time.

Yesterday, during he House vote, there was only one "No" vote.
We can all have a quiet cheer for a partial victory, but of course we are a long ways from being done. Next, this measure will go in to conference, where Representatives from the Senate and the House side will get together to come up with a final version. Once we can wrangle it through the conference meetings, it can move on to a Senate vote. After the Senate vote it will be sent to the Governor.

Thank you so much for your support and for all the great letters and statements.
I am not sure if and when we need more testimony sent in. I have to have a meeting with all the people involved in this measure to talk strategy. Will let you know in another update if there is anything else you can do to help.

Aloha
Stefanie

Full story here.

A Confession and a Demand

Yes this GW is smiling!

Would you believe this!

From the website of none other than the much-maligned South Florida Shark Club!

As many of you know me on here, my name is Shannon Bustamante , and i have a confession and a demand to share with anyone willing to listen.
In the past I was as stubborn, immature, and ruthless as every other idiot out there that kills every shark they come in to contact with!!!!! I would slaughter them in cold blood and sell them to pay for my fishing trips, and even save up money, because i would catch so many.

But all of a sudden a close friend of mines for years (William Fundora) started Harassing me every chance he got about how wrong it was for me to be killing every shark i caught. At first i was in denial and very hard headed, as i would brush him off every time he would start. But as time went by i started educating myself more and more about sharks and the whole echo system, and the more i learned the more i changed.

Today i can honestly and proudly say that me and everyone fishing with me release every shark that we catch, which is a huge milestone, however it is not quite enough!!!!!! Not at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Full post -and comments- here !
Now is this cool, or what?

Bravo Shannon!

"Sharks" have venom!

Back to square one.

I've been following an entertaining and witty Shark thread on Southern Fried Science but as usual, talking about "Sharks" just doesn't cut it, unless you do that in very general, and thus rather unspectacular terms.

Think: "Birds". They fly - right?
No, actually "they" don't - but of course, most do!

My point is that one needs to focus on the individual species - and then, one will also find Sharks that have venom.
Granted, most don't. "Sharks" are also not ultimate Predators, but many of them are - in their own specific habitat, not in some vague entity as "the Ocean". As the Southern Fried Scientist points out, there’s no such thing as a perfect predator, just one that’s ideal for the environment it’s in.
Exactly! Go ask the Plankton off Ningaloo Reef whom they fear most!

Anyway, I just wanted to make that point.

Great Essay!

Image: Chip Scarlett

Following our Anniversary, I had a short chat with Chip.

As anticipated, his retirement has been less than transitory and I wish him the best of success, and luck in his newest, equally high-powered and stressful incarnation! The bad news being that Shark Conservation has lost an authoritative voice as his commitments are now preventing him to take up that job with "that NGO".

The good news is that he has found time to work on a new website and that he has started it off by posting a wonderful, highly personal and poetic Pictorial Essay about Sharks!

Good on 'ya Chip and may this be a template for many more such productions!
By yourself and by the many Shark-loving image hunters out there!

Conservation - Filipino Style!

Pic from http://www.marketmanila.com

From a Filipino Cooking Blog.

KINUNOT RECIPE

1 kilo of Shark or Manta Ray
3 Coconuts (grated from the market)10 Lemons (kalamansi)
3 Cups Malunggay Leaves
10 pcs chili peppers (Labuyo)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp. coconut oil
1 cup chopped onions

DIRECTIONS: Prepare a large pot by placing the shark or manta ray with just enough of water to cover the fish. Bring to a boil and take out the fish and dispose the foul hot water. Let the fish to cool off, meanwhile, cut and press all the kalamaPnsi in a bowl. Flake the fish from its bones and set aside. Prepare the grated coconut by mixing a cup of lukewarm water and pressing it with both hands, pouring the cream to the prepared bowl, then set aside. In a hot pan, put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, then saute the garlic and onions until golden brown. Place the flaked fish and the lemon juice (kalamansi), then let it cook for another 10 minutes. Add the pressed grated coconut cream, the malunggay leaves and the chilies and let it simmer for another 10 minutes until the dish is almost dry. Serve it hot on a dish with steamed rice.

And then, this

Sad to say that sharks are included in the list for extinction nowadays as shark fins were needed much for the soup delicacy in all of Asia by Chinese restaurants. As an environmentalist, I do not recommend to cook shark for Kinunot. We only cook the Manta Ray which is still very sufficient in numbers in the oceans.

Sad indeed!
Especially, when the Shark in question is the 41st ever seen Megamouth Shark! Caught near Donsol, Philippines, and then quickly turned into a Bicol style feast. Right under the nose of the local WWF representative who pleaded with them not to do it!

That sure sucks!
But should we all gnash our teeth and proceed with indiscriminate finger pointing and condemnation, like the majority of the media and the bloggers have chosen to do?
Frankly, I'm on the fence on this one.

From what I understand, "fishermen trawling for mackerel" accidentally caught the Shark that died in their net. They then brought it back to shore for an "assessment" that was effected by the WWF.
Did you spot anything improper so far?

What I miss, is some explanation as to what the WWF wanted to do next.
Schlepp the 1,000-pund, 13-foot carcass to some scientific institution? For what: DNA and tissue analysis, for which they could have taken a sample in situ? Or oblige them to follow Fisheries Administrative Order 208 that "provides that after documentation, the carcass of all endangered marine animals should promptly be buried"?
And, did they offer some compensation for foregoing a welcome and serendipitous meal of 500 kilos of protein? That's a lot of Kinunot feeding a lot of people!

Why I'm playing advocatus diaboli, is that this touches on several topics that defy the black-or-white judgments we all-to-often apply. When it comes to Conservation, here's what I believe.

• The root cause of all our problems is that there is too many people striving for ever more Lebensraum and quality of life. Alas, that's a fact of life and whilst preserving our idealism, we must propose solutions and not just engage in vocal condemnation. Also, the solutions we offer need to be pragmatic and based on our willingness to compromise.
• Conservation must ultimately address the issue of poverty. Meaning that when dealing with poor, Third World countries, it's just not good enough to issue regulations ex cathedra. There is a need to provide for compensation or for showing viable alternatives.
• Assuming that it is OK to eat animals, the alternative to harvesting wildlife is to breed domesticates. Typically, that implies clearing native land for pastures and in order to grow animal feed. Ultimately, that may well entail far worse consequences for the Environment.
• People of different Cultures may eat whatever they please. If that implies the killing of animals and especially, the harvesting of wildlife, it must however happen in a sustainable, and ethical way.
• Ethically speaking, all Life has the same value. If it's OK to kill and eat Pigs, Chicken and Tuna, it's equally OK to eat Dogs, Cats - and Sharks! And Whales, too! Once again, to me, the only discriminating factor here is sustainability. Rat stew anybody?

Yes, it's complicated!

With that in mind, was cooking an accidentally caught, rare Shark really such a crime?

Deflated!

I've just finished reading "Sea Salt", by Stan Waterman.

Quite frankly, I feel somewhat deflated.
I honestly thought that some of the threads that get bounced about in the Blogosphere might cast a novel, maybe sometimes even a visionary light onto the relationship between humans and the most iconic denizens of the Ocean - and now I find out that Stan has said it all ages ago.

Well, I should have known better.
Like Ron and Val, Stan has participated in the very inception of the Fiji Shark Project when we held that memorable first brainstorming on the upper deck of Pelagian back then in 2002. I did and still very much value his insights and support and he always makes it a point to come check on our progress during his yearly forays into Fiji.
I now understand that much of what I believe and have come to learn is a direct consequence of having had the privilege to spend time with him and all of the other diving legends I've been fortunate to meet over the years.
As always, nihil novi sub sole, just another turn of the Wheel.

Be amazed!
Here's what the Great, gentle Man has written in (italics are mine):

1986: "The Rambo Out-of-the-Cage Club" (this is about cageless diving with Great Whites)
"So what are my thoughts about all this? I of course (now that I've had my go in the arena), hope there will be a lid on such activity. In all seriousness, I begin to think that such stunts demean the magnificent predators. We prove for the consumption of our own human egos and the titillation of the public that we don't know the meaning of fear.
The Sharks themselves are not impressed. They have no sense of machismo; they just survive.
After many years of diving with Sharks, I believe I would rather see and film them in the wild, unmolested by man and happy that they do not eat me. I like to think that intelligent fear may be synonymous with healthy respect.
Henry Beston wrote in his book, "The Outermost House": for the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they live finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not our brethren. They are not underlings. They are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and the travail of the earth."

1994: "Neither Friend nor Monster"
"The Shark-feeding syndrome has such broad currency these days that I feel the activity has endengered a too-casual attitude towards the Shark. Divers who started with a healthy fear (let's call it healthy respect) of the animal are wooed by its grace and control and apparent shyness in the presence of humans.
Despite the common opinion that Sharks are unpredictable, they have proven very predictable. Their behaviour within the Shark-feeding exercise is steady and under control. However, the margin of safety is very thin indeed. One small mistake in the conduct or appearance of the human element in this banquet can be the catalyst for a sudden, nightmarish accident. There have already been accidents and there will be more.
Humans are fallible. The Shark's response to instinct is constant and immutable. The point I want to make is that these fascinating animals are neither monsters nor friends. Their instinct is to feed.
Most of the Shark-feeding performances are safe, with the odds strongly in favor of the divers involved. While these activities have done much to dispel age-old fears, they have led to complacency and carelessness, which is the flipside of respect and regard for potential danger.
The Shark's instincts were shaped over 300 million years ago. Its course is clearly programmed. Our instincts, on the other hand, are both young and easily eroded by familiarity. Let us use our intelligence to sustain a prudent, careful relationship with the Shark."

1999: "To Feed or not to Feed"
"Maybe "prudence" and "respect" are the key words. The exposure to great marine animals by diver experience and through the entertainment media has done much to build a consensus for Sharks. That in turn bears on legislation to protect them. Like so many controversies over humanity's relationship to the animals with which we share the planet, there are varying sides - not all good, not all bad.
Just keep in mind the words of William Blake: "What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
That "symmetry" may be thought of as a deep-rooted instinct in all predators. The "immortal hand or eye" imbued them with that instinct millions of years before we evolved. That imperative is still deeply rooted in them."

And! Check out this: Stan and his family!
Yes, January 1958!

Good on 'ya, Google!

The plight of Sharks continues unabated, as witnessed by these shocking statistics for Shark landings (that is, EXCLUDING finning where the carcass is dumped) for June in Ecuador - the same country already infamous for its ineptitude in managing the Galapagos National Park.
As always, well done to Shark Diver for having found and posted them.

But for once, where there's plenty of shadow, there is some light as well.
Whilst Yahoo's Alibaba portal continues to brazenly ignore the petitions by Conservationists and offers a "choice" of hundreds of sites selling Shark fins, one of its principal competitors has obviously decided to forgo those earnings in favor oft ethical considerations.

As of today, I believe, Google has updated its Advertising Policies that exclude the sale of products obtained from endangered or threatened species to explicitly mention Sharks.
This of course is not only laudable, but smart business sense as well, as anybody loving Sharks should, and probably will completely refrain from conducting any business with Yahoo and its despicable subsidiary but deal on Google instead.

Thank you Helen for he heads-up about this wonderful piece of news.

World Record Great White - and it gets even better!

Another tacky joke, I hear you ask?

You be the judge: first spotted by the guys over there at Shark Diver, this wonderful news tidbit from the beautiful land of Oz is spreading like wildfire across the ticker.

Incredible - but then again, why not..... in a country famous for its killer spiders, deadliest snakes, disemboweling birds, venomous egg-laying mammals, the most venomous marine animal known to mankind , the most lethal fish and mollusks and largest crocs, news of a lake harboring a 21 foot Great White may just be ordinary fare.

Although, according to Ozzie "expert" opinion, "a large shark like that would stick out like dog's balls". Right.....

But indeed - if true, that animal would be a veritable "Submarine", a world record fish weighing about two tonnes.
Of the kind an "elderly gentleman" could easily disentangle from his net. Mind you, all by himself.
And, as any fisherman, would refuse to talk about.

Great Whites: Socially Sophisticated and Smart

Have you ever looked at the Shark pages of Underwater Times?

Quite an experience!

I was expecting the usual assortment of gore, sensationalism, stupidity (culminating in "Shark attacks boy in his bedroom") and half-baked punditry - so imagine my joy and surprise at finding this fabulous article about Great Whites!

Well written and well researched, it finally depicts this iconic animal as what it really is: an awesome apex predator, exquisitely adapted to its environment and featuring the very same traits that we've finally learned to admire in our big cats and bears.
Among many other things, we learn that the Great White's "reputation as a ruthless, mindless man-eater is undeserved. In the past decade, ..... Shark experts have come to realize that Sharks rarely hunt humans—and that the beasts are sociable and curious. Unlike most fish, White Sharks are intelligent, highly inquisitive creatures."

These findings dovetail perfectly with what we're learning from interacting with our big Bull Sharks and Tigers on The Shark Dive here in Fiji - all very intriguing and exciting indeed!

Great journalism and required reading - and kudos to Paul Raffaele for a job very well done!

Dire

I always look forward to reading Patric Douglas' excellent Shark Blog which is always entertaining, informative and sometimes controversial - but this time, all the news are dire.

Starting with Delta Airlines' appalling choice of celebration menue, global Shark Conservation is experiencing a backlash: from the Philippines to Australia to, of all places, Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, the indiscriminate slaughter of Sharks continues unabated, fueled by ignorance, greed and outright stupidity.

Or whatever. Trying to fathom the motives of that "sport" fisherman who found it fit to kill and display a pregnant Tiger Shark simply transcends my empathic faculties.

All very distressing and sad, really.

As to Patric's proposal, it is certainly a daunting task - but considering the appeal of Tiger Beach among diving VIPs and aficionados, not an impossible one.
Will they raise their voice in his support?

We at BAD wish you the very best of Success!

Science in Action!

Juerg is about to wrap up his first batch of experiments and I've asked him whether he could post a short summary of his endeavors.

Here we go:

"The Fiji Bull Shark Tagging Program is in its fifth season.

What started with a few pop-up satellite tags in 2004 is now a much broader research project aiming at understanding Bull Shark Behavior and Ecology. To summarize the first 2008 field season (January to March): it has been spectacular and highly satisfying!

We've collected lots and lots of data, done spectacular dives, the Sharks have been very well "behaved" and best of all: we learn more and more about these fascinating predators!

So far, we have deployed more than two dozens acoustic tags and a state-of-the-art miniaturized pop-up satellite tag.

Sharks equipped with Acoustic Tags will give us presence/absence data.
Whenever a tagged shark comes into detection range of a so called underwater listening station (receiver), it will be picked up and we will know what individual was there at what time of the day. Some of those tags also tell us the temperature inside the shark’s stomach - any guess what that could be?

The bulk of these tags has been hand-fed, mostly to Bull Sharks.
This is for sure the least invasive technique and Rusi has proven his usual mastery in ensuring that they were placed with the correct individual Sharks.
The downside of this technique is that the tags will only stay in for a few days to maybe a few weeks, but we are able to collect some very valuable data never the less.

In addition, we have attached a few acoustic tags externally and those will hopefully stay on the Sharks for much longer and keep us informed on how often and how long they visit Shark Reef and other reefs during the year.
For instance, we tagged Bumphead externally on February 23rd. That didn't seem to stress her at all and she hung around for a few days before going walkabout. Yesterday, she turned up with the tags still properly attached. Where did she go? Hopefully, the receivers placed on the other reefs will tell us.

But it certainly shows that most probably, the Bull Sharks do not spend all their time on Shark Reef but wander around, sometimes for weeks or even months at a time.

Here, Pop-up Satellite Tags could tell us more.
These tags collect temperature, depth and location data for a preset time interval. After that, the tags detach from the animal, float to the surface where they establish a link to a satellite to which they download the data - and we will eventually get an e-mail message ‘from the Shark’ telling us where it has been and what it has done!
Cool, isn’t it.

Well, of course it’s not quite that easy and and the data require a lot of analysis before we can safely say what has happened. But for sure, it’s exciting.
The satellite tag we have deployed this year is due to pop up sometimes next week.
So keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

Besides these ‘technical’ approaches, we have also collected Observational Data, for example, who is feeding and how many times, who does not feed and just hangs out with its mates, plus how do the different shark species on Shark Reef interact with each other. Altogether, we are getting to know our beloved beasts better and better!

So next time you visit Shark Reef Marine Reserve, keep looking out for a tagged animal.
And enjoy the show!"

Thank you Juerg and Moce Mada!

Pundits

When it comes to opinions, there’s controversial and then there’s just plain asinine.

Take for instance this, and many other articles and posts dealing with the Bahamas Shark Incident and Adventure Travel in general. They all portray us as as a death-seeking, reckless and lunatic bunch of complete idiots and desperadoes that need to be stopped for their own, and the sake of mankind at large.

Well, as the Germans say, "paper is patient", it does not care about the rubbish people write on it.
So is obviously the web which is increasingly populated by whackos and wannabees hawking their latest Conspiracy Theories (Reptilian Humanoids anybody?), extolling the virtues of esoteric Quackery (how about Cetacean Aquacranial Therapy for a change?) and yes, sniping from the comfort of some air-conditioned suburban office to enlighten us with these increasingly irritating pieces of supercilious horse manure.

What ever happened to the Pundits, "erudite (i.e. non-rude) persons who make comments or judgments, esp. in an authoritative manner"?
As in: intelligent, informed and above all, impartial and unbiased?

Having been drawn into the unfathomable depths of the current US primary process, I'm starting to wonder.
Does the political preference of, say, senior Chihuahua-owning and Bible-thumping middle-class white Baptist widows residing in rural Pennsylvania really constitute a valuable piece of information worthy of profound analysis on Larry King Live?
Is anybody, ever, going to revert to the Big Picture and put things back into proper perspective? And, maybe, educate the public in the process?

Instead, to get back to our nick of the universe, all I can see is an unnerving succession of, I'm sorry to say, uninformed and condescending morons pontificating about the dangers and ethics of feeding Fish and how what we do teaches Sharks to associate humans with food. The "obvious" consequence being that the so conditioned Beasts will then retaliate and devour some other poor innocent and unsuspecting sod when denied an adequate culinary offering.

Did I once say that I wasn’t about to join the fray?
Well, I guess I must have changed my mind. Seriously, enough is enough.

About the former, may I point out that people who attract Fish by offering them food are called Fishermen, not Divers.
Worried about the safety of your precious beaches? Go break the cojones of the guys surf casting from the breakwater, how about that.
So, please, take your fight to IGFA and not us.

The latter at least sounds plausible. Plausible, yes - but it is dead wrong never the less.

With the notable exception of a prominent statistician who has obviously never seen it fit to leave his office in favor of some lowly menial in-loco experience, all relevant industry professionals assert that they cannot discern any such behavioral changes. As a matter of fact, nor can we, and this after close to ten years of baiting.
But then, our collective experience is obviously worth precisely zilch as everybody knows that we’re just a gang of greedy reckless lunatics whose sole aim in life is to kill our clients whilst lining our pockets in the process.

And what about the relevant Scientific community?
There, opinions vary but on closer inspection, they once again are not based on facts, but on personal conjecture and on individual preferences instead.
In my experience, your average Marine Biologist tends to be highly paranoid about having some large Shark sniff at his heels (or, God forbid, gobble down a priceless specimen!) whilst he's engaging in some groundbreaking field research. Thus, any activity that could carry even the most remote risk of infringing on his well-being will inevitably be frowned upon, proof or no proof.
The veritable Shark specialists on the other hand could not care less about such mundane trivia and continue to bait, tag, manhandle and generally, interact with Sharks in total impunity. And, some would say, in reckless lunacy.
In brief, nobody has so far deigned to stoop so low as to try and scientifically prove, or disprove those assertions.

Is anybody of Authority ever going to present us with some proper evidence?
Watch this space!

Having said this, I reject, denounce and repudiate, and deeply apologize for the foregoing which is evidently nothing but the un-erudite ranting of some reckless and incompetent lunatic bozo. Considering who I am, not only a Shark diver but also, believe it or not, a Lawyer, I’m sure you understand.
No Pundit intended!

BAD Footage

No, you got me completely wrong: it is us who is BAD!

This is just a short post to alert our US friends to the airing of "Shark God", a documentary that David Ireland, the Wildlife Man, has filmed with us in 2007.
It will be shown on Discovery's High Definition Channel (hence not the "normal" Discovery Channel) on 17/4/08 at 8pm and at 11pm, on the 18/4/08 at 3am and 4pm and again on 19/4/08 at 10am EST.

Judging from his toothy website featuring a vast array of death-defying encounters with -to name but a few- ferocious Reptilians, angry Rhino and killer Boars and of course, giant and mostly lethal Marine Monsters, David seems to be quite a character. And lucky, too!!!
Once again, he doesn't disappoint, as, and I cite: "Sea God" is arguably the most extreme shark film ever produced and one of the " Wildlife Man`s" greatest achievements."
Whow!!!

Actually, the Staff tell me that they very much enjoyed the man and the shoot and that David is really a very nice, mellow and professional bloke with a passion for Shark Conservation.

Did the Shark God Dakuwaqa drag him down to an untimely, and watery death, I hear you ask with bated breath?
Of course, ah aint telling!

Enjoy!

Ta da !!!

Great News!

It has taken weeks of cajoling and subservient supplication - but the Hawaii Dream Team have finally agreed to roll out the Results of last month's Fish Count. They however ask me to include the caveat that this is work in progress that may remain in a state of change.

I cite:
"But does one ever complete such a project? It is already ramifying into realms of possible new species description, biogeographical considerations, faunal and habitat changes over time, etc. (....)

Obviously further research is required at SRMR to fully assess the faunal diversity.
Considering the constraints of observer time and survey methods utilized, the 381 fish species recorded during a brief window of time in a limited area is an impressive number and indicative of a rich and diverse fish fauna.
The shark population at SRMR would appear to be supported by a solid foundation at lower trophic levels."

Besides featuring several Range Extensions and very possibly, some new Undescribed Species, the List is a treasure trove of supplemental information that can be accessed by clicking on the small links in the lower right corner of the pictures.
Having promised not to embarrass John with further accolades, I must however insist in commending Rob Whitton for setting up a phenomenal, instructive and user-friendly website - way, way better than we could have ever imagined or hoped for!
Whow!!!

We all are obviously incredibly proud and unendingly thankful.
Guys, from the bottom of our hearts, Vinaka Vakalevu!

New Kid on the Block!

To the discerning Sharkaholics, male Silvertip Sharks are somewhat of a Holy Grail.
Having dived many of the iconic Silvertip spots from the Burma Banks to Valeries' Reef to Avatoru Pass, I've only ever seen one, a tiny sub-adult hovering above Silverado Rock in Cocos Island.
People in the know tell me that whereas the big females are resident, the males are transient and also prefer much deeper water, well below recreational diving depths.

Same for Shark Reef: so far, Madonna, Joker, Lady and the other Silvertips have all been females - so imagine my surprise and excitement when this lil cocky fella came dashing into the Arena!
Did he only turn up for a quickie or will he make a Commitment and hang around?
Men being men, only time will tell - but he's been back again, as documented by the above picture.

And who is the lucky, and talented photographer, I hear you ask?

None other than the intrepid guardian of not only the Cute and the Furry (or was it "Hairy"?)

but also




the very Big and the very Noisy,

my friend Karen Varndell of Dive Vava'u!

I think it's great that the Bold and the Toothy have a place in her heart as well!



Fingers crossed that our very first male Silvertip will become a regular and thus warrant an own name.

Which one?
Well, obviously, Adam!

Diving with Sharks

There has been a fatal Shark diving accident in the Bahamas and as always, the web and news tickers are buzzing with controversy.

On one side, and sadly spearheaded by a direct competitor, you have the usual assortment of know-it-all, I-told-you-so pundits and self-proclaimed wannabee Shark Experts fanning the flames and heaping judgmental blame, scorn and sarcasm on the operator and the victim alike.
On the other side, the operator's friends and clients have quickly circled the wagons and are busy singing his everlasting praise and fending off any perceived attacks regardless of their provenience or intention. Good on them and good on him, he certainly needs it and most probably deserves it.
And of course there's that smug ueber-charlatan Mr. Ritter desperately trying to garner publicity by sanctimoniously offering his help and "expert advice".

Did a single one of those people witness the accident?
Did I find a single exhaustive description of what really happened?

On a positive note, until now, nobody is blaming the Shark.
Many however blame the Shark diving Industry in general, asking for better regulation or an outright ban of those activities. The latter is highly worrisome, as one of the undisputed merits of Shark tourism is to help change perceptions and to contribute to Shark Conservation. Sharks are still being slaughtered by the millions and deserve any help they can get.
Fingers crossed that common sense will prevail - maybe through more honest dialogue?

Am I about to join the fray?
Hell, no.

But being a Shark Feeding Operator, BAD are being asked for an opinion, so there:

Does diving with Sharks involve risks?
The answer is unequivocally Yes, it does - but what doesn't?

I won't bore you with wonderful statistical comparisons involving collapsing sand holes, Life in general (!) and lightning, I also don't want to discuss the pros and cons and ethics of feeding and I will also not engage in speculation about the causes of Shark strikes, a tedious and ever-changing assortment of sometimes plausible pseudoscientific theories that will never be verified or falsified.
Unless one could convince a thousand volunteers to go thrashing about at dusk in deep water off the coast of, say, Kona , that is.
You get the gist.

The fact is that Shark incidents happen. They are exceedingly rare and poorly understood.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to the question whether adult people should be free to make their own informed decisions about engaging in potentially dangerous activities at their own personal risk.
We believe that the answer should unequivocally be, Yes they should. Life after all holds no guarantees and it should be everyone's personal decision how to conduct it meaningfully and enjoyably - whilst clearly assuming the responsibility for one's decisions.

We however also believe that operators who conduct Shark dives commercially need to do so as responsibly, professionally and safely as humanly possible.
That's what the clients have a reasonable right to expect.

Also, believe it or not, we don't have a death wish.
Thus, upon having taken on the Shark Dive, we quickly agreed that we needed to devise a set of new and stringent safety procedures, and pronto.

Having contacted Gary Adkison, arguably one of the world's most experienced, and generous shark people with decades of experience in Bull Shark interaction, he promptly proceeded to descend on us with messianic fury urging us to discontinue our "dangerous" hand feeding routine.
Thus prompted, we obediently rigged up several humongous chumsicles only to capitulate in the face of prohibitive logistical challenges and the fact that 400 pound Bull Sharks are simply not Caribbean Reefs and will tear anything apart in a matter of seconds. We tried dumping food, only to be confronted with clouds of sand, blood and gore and signs of incipient feeding frenzy. We tried pole feeding only to have the Sharks bite the poles and break off their teeth. Crates got torn to pieces and swept away, rigged fish got gobbled up in the blink of an eye - you name it, we've tried it.

In the end, we all agreed that hand feeding, whilst also providing for the best entertainment value, was by far the safest and most controlled way of handing out food without polluting the reef and incurring uncontrollable risks.

Did we try out metal cages? Frankly, we didn't even consider them.
Procedures are circumstance-specific and cages are probably the best way to safely observe some very large, predatory Sharks like Great Whites, Blues and Makos, especially when diving in open ocean and at very shallow depth to which the animals are being baited. This is however not what we do.
In a reef environment, there are other ways of achieving the same result, i.e. ensuring that the animals do not approach the clients, and vice versa.

This has led to the present format whereby The Shark Dive is essentially a show with clear segregation between Spectators and Performers.
Clients are dressed in dark, full-body garb and gloves, supervised and confined to a walled-off viewing area and any personal and hands-on interaction with the Sharks is being discouraged.
Much easier for the safety divers, much more controlled and also, certainly less stressful for the animals.

Keeping in mind common sense and all of the usual caveats, we are reasonably confident that Sharks are largely predictable and can be conditioned to follow a simple set routine.
Tourists however are not. Fear, bravado or overconfidence can quickly lead to problematic situations. Photographers and cameramen can typically become oblivious of their surroundings or incur unreasonable risks. As a commercial operation, we believe that it is our duty, and interest, to limit those hazards.

Direct Shark interaction -especially in baited conditions- is a special skill requiring years of experience and also, great respect and knowledge of the animals, both individually and as a species.
It is loads of fun and highly rewarding - but in a commercial operation, we believe, it needs to remain confined to Industry Professionals.
Some of our staff have logged thousands of hours interacting with Sharks and none of them would ever claim to be in total control of those situations.
After all, big Sharks are never pets and giving them cute names and ascribing anthropomorphic attributes to their behavior should never detract from the simple truth that they are hard wired, powerful and potentially lethal apex predators. It is probably true that they don’t perceive us as nourishment but it is equally true that they certainly don’t perceive us a “friends”, either.
Generally speaking, they will tolerate our vicinity provided that we display adequate behavior and remain calm, alert and sometimes, assertive. And sometimes, we might be prompted to leave.

No dive briefing, however exhaustive, detailed and professional, will ever succeed in uniformly transmitting those skills to a group of, essentially, strangers with diverging backgrounds and experience.

You can however rest assured that we'll always try our very best to entertain and amaze you with a well-choreographed, exhilarating, mellow and above all, safe experience!

Guaranteed?
Well, yes - but it will always be you who will need to make your own, informed decision.
After all, you are an Adult.

Bull Shark Mania!

The prime Bull Shark season is in full swing and the first batches of killer shots for 2008 are already starting to populate the world wide web.


The Running of the Bulls has exceeded even our wildest anticipations, with over 30 Bull Sharks turning up on every dive. Our record so far: 36 fish heads gone in 28 minutes, then the fish bin was empty and the show over.
With the exception of Kinky and Long John who usually turn up later in the year (beats me why, but that's the pattern), all of the usual suspects have already made an appearance and are busy teaching the proper etiquette -don't rush, come in from the left- to the newbies.
Word seems to be spreading that Shark Reef is the place to be and the numbers of newcomers are truly staggering, ranging from several big females to dozens of sub-adults fresh from the nursing areas. This is a big challenge for the feeders as especially the small teenage males display much, eh, attitude and always try to rush in for a quick snap. Makes Whitenose, our longest lasting regular male, look placid by comparison!
Talk about intense!

Any Tiger Sharks?
You bet, especially huge and mellow Scarface, always an awesome and amazing experience.

Also present Whitetail the Lemon Shark who doesn't stop getting bigger and loves spooking the guests. Giant Groupers Ratu Rua and Ratu Tolu with their escort of Golden Trevallies. And all of the "lesser" characters, amongst which for the first time an elusive male (!) Silvertip Shark and of course the ever troublesome Gray Reef Shark duo of Bevis and Tootsie.

Juerg of course is having one hell of a time.
The adjacent reefs are littered with acoustic receivers and the data are coming in fast and furious. Plus, we're learning about dominance, field testing the latest generation of sat tags, evaluating our huge database and ever refining our procedures.
All very very cool, and loads of fun in the process!

And what about the other reefs out there?
Despite having been pummeled by the tail ends of not one, but two Tropical Cyclones that sandblasted some of the popular dive sites like Side Street and one of the wrecks and despite the mild La Nina conditions favoring an outbreak of Crown of Thorns Starfish, Beqa Lagoon never ceases to provide for exhilarating coral dives and amazing encounters.

Take this little guy for example, one of maybe a dozen ever photographed worldwide.
Dubbed the Hairy, or Irish Setter Ghost Pipefish, it is so elusive that it hasn't even been described, i.e. scientifically named yet!

The pictures in this blog are from patsOn 2.0's fabulos Blog "dreams and nightmares of beqa lagoon". PatsOn was with us at the beginning of January, not a photo pro by any stretch of the immagination and best described as "self effacing": but what a truly gifted photographer!
Do you speak Russian? Me neither, but Alta Vista helped me to at least get the gist ("Benga of lagoons awaits you!") of the informative, emotional and humorous descriptions.

All I can say is: Whow!!!
Very, very well done and спасибо vakalevu!

The Renaissance Man

Meet John Earle, Homo universalis extraordinaire!

How to describe the man?
For sure, a bonvivant and raconteur. A sportsman and adventurer. A brilliant analytical mind. A Philosopher. Meticulously attached to minutiae whilst never forgetting the Big Picture. Wits that always manage to crack me up. Husband to formidable (and obviously, endlessly tolerant) corporate lawyer Jackie. Father and, I think, grandfather (at which, having become biologically redundant, he had to devote himself to other worthwhile tasks).
Bachelors degree with honors from Princeton University. Ex Navy and airline pilot. One of the original Hawaiian surfing bums. Extreme climber. Accomplished fly fisherman. Dives since 1957 and once "cornered" the market for rare endemic Hawaiian shells, pocketing a small fortune in the process. Has three fish, two shells and one shrimp named in his honor.
Did I miss anything? Most probably!

Certainly once a reckless mad dog, John must have somewhat mellowed as time went by.
His latest, and passionate incarnation sees him as a Research Associate in Zoology at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu and fervent disciple of Prof. Dr. John E. "Jack" Randall, the unmatched guru and elder statesman of Fish Taxonomy, considered by many to be one of the more tedious disciplines of Ichtyology.

Did I say: "mellowed"? And: "tedious"?
With Jack having described every reef fish all the way down to the limits of certain death by DCS, John and fellow researcher, and desperado, Dr. Richard Pyle decided to strap on a couple of Cis-Lunar MK4 closed circuit rebreathers and headed straight down into the twilight zone.

Several near-death experiences and quasi fatal decompression accidents later, they are considered to be the pioneers of tech diving and deep water exploration. With every dive yielding one or more new species, they have thus positioned themselves smack at the very cutting edge of science.

I first met John in July 2002 when he and Jack joined Pelagian's infamous Voyage of Discovery from Kimbe Bay to Rabaul, PNG. The trip yielded Amblyeleotris neumanni, a pretty shrimp goby from remote Lolobau Island and my very own ticket to immortality.
Like most people touched by Jack, we became friends and have since tried to keep contact, not an easy feat considering his ever busy ichtyological schedule and my own erratic girovagations.

When we established Shark Reef Marine Reserve in 2004, John was gracious enough to fly in and conduct a first baseline fish count.
267 species in 7 dives represent a (and I cite) "high species count for a few dives in a limited area, especially considering that the presence of large sharks distracted somewhat from a focus on smaller fishes. The fauna of Shark Reef is exceptionally rich."
Ceci-dit, it was always obvious to me that the condition of Shark Reef was way below its true potential. The hard corals were just beginning to stage a tenuous comeback after the double whammy of the 2000 coral bleaching and tsunami; and the reef had been transformed into a garbage dump by the previous operator, thus tipping the balance in favor of predators, grazers and scavengers.

Four years later, the coral is thriving and we've substantially reduced the amount, and augmented the quality of introduced nutrients.
John enthusiastically offered to come document the changes to the ecosystem. Having achieved mental mastery over 5,000 fish species along with all of their distinguishing features, he's now a scientific silverback in his own right, all the way to turning up with a wise man's beard and his very own first disciple, Rob Whitton, a young, smart, promising computer whiz.

And boy, what a harvest this has been!
Preliminary findings point to a much more balanced ecosystem harboring over 370 species, and counting, among which such oddities as Cockatoo Waspfish and Longtail Ghostpipefish.

And there's more: at least 2 range extensions, among which the spectacular hovering shrimp goby Stonogobiops yasha.
Last time I saw one of those was in 2002 in Palau. At that time, I was still a photographer and my attempt of getting the ultimate picture of both gobies together with both shrimp, a blue-faced shot at 43m on Nitrox 32, earned me both 125% EAN and a permanent excommunication by my trusted Aladin Computer.
This time, yasha was peeking out from a hole in the midst of a colony of equally beautiful Yellownose Shrimp Gobies. Must be that the presence of large sharks had so far somewhat distracted me, too.

And, very possibly, Shark Reef might boast the presence of not one, but a whopping three species new to science!
Two shrimp gobies are "cf", i.e. comparable (yet clearly different) to known species, requiring DNA sampling. One, a dragonet, is obviously something brand new, triggering a Code Red Capture Alert from Jack in Hawaii.

Intrigued?
Click the pictures and judge for yourself!


All-in-all, very very cool indeed!

And, what next?
I cite John: "...........our return next year with collecting gear to capture these species and surely add more to the list. On our last dive I added 4 additional species to the list, so the well is not dry and the count could eventually exceed 400 species. This is astounding given that I have not used ichthyocides….yet. A little whiff of rotenone does work wonders in convincing recalcitrant Amblyeleotris to become scientific specimens."

Watch this space!

Thank you!

2007 has been Beqa Adventure Divers' most amazing year yet.

Despite the political upheavals and the discouraging -and unneccessary- travel advisory warnings and after a frightening dip in dive bookings in early January, the year started with a bang as we were named Fiji's Best Dive Operator, a wonderful surprise and a great honor. Like last year's glowing report by the Lonely Planet, the AON Awards are not based on often questionable self-promotion but are instead a true peer review by other local Tourism Operators.

On the Conservation front, we were finally able to expand the protected area of Shark Reef Marine Reserve by signing on yet another local community, the huge village of Deuba with their enormous fishing grounds. We've named the resulting 30-mile protected coastline the Fiji Shark Corridor and are very confident that it comprises most of the territories of our smaller Reef Sharks and Bull Sharks, but probably also those of our resident Tiger Sharks.

And, to my utter surprise and delight, we're likely to post our first ever small profit!
This despite having decided to secure our uncompromising quality standards by replacing our 3-year old engines and most of our dive gear, hiring a high-profile Dive Instructor and paying out a whopping 15 grand in bonuses to our loyal, incomparable BAD boys and girls.
Also, Village payments are likely to top $ 35,000.-, more than double last year's.

That all was only possible thanks to you, our loyal customers!
Along with scores of diving VIPs, more than 3,000 intrepid sharkaholics braved the doomsday scenarios and their very own personal Angst to pay a vist to our toothy friends and thus make a valuable contribution to Shark Conservation.
Thank you so much for that!

Many of you then took the time to post your experience on the web, often a funny and exhilarating read, let alone fabulous footage and photos.
Did I find a single complaint? Of course not!
Here's a small selection of what's out there, well worth having a peek at:

- Personal reports:
. Kevin Baldacchino
. Sam and Andy
. "Blue Legend"
. Tom Huck (......!)
. Darren Frost and Kerry Stephens
. "adiver69"
. Greg Davis
. Minna and Justin
. Michael Patrick O'Neill
. "Home or Away"
. Aidan and Danni
. Emma + Mark

- Group Reports:
. Shark Diving International
. Academic Treks

- Reviews:
. Dive Site Directory
. Dive the World

- Articles:
. Underwater Australasia
. XRay Magazine
. The Independent
. NZ Herald

- Research
. Brunnschweiler, Earle

- Images (just one of many many many....)
. Pterantula

I wish you a prosperous and adventure-filled 2008!