Our Question to Discovery Channel

From today's dive - bravo Lill!

WhySharksMatter has landed quite a coup.

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.

Thank you very much for your kind consideration.

Docu-Turd!

Sharky has done it again!

Shark Week has kicked off in the USA and since it is not being shown in Fiji, I got to fully relay on the comments by the other Shark bloggers. Blood in the Water is apparently so boringly stupid that neither Sharky nor Felix seem seriously outraged, just somewhat bemused.

Tomorrow is the turn of Deadly Waters.
I've been promised a video copy and can't wait to see the Fiji segment!

Did I commit the ultimate sin of unjustly berating an innocent member of the Shark diving community who on top of that happens to be -anathema!- a competitor - and will I thus have to extend a public apology to them, to Discovery, to the Fiji Peter Hughes, to Gurney Productions and to the fearless Les himself? And of course to you, our loyal readers?
Or will their tearful justifications be exposed as brazen lies on a public forum?
Boy-oh-boy: talk about having exposed myself!

Tomorrow, you'll know! Me, in about two weeks!
As a reminder, here's Aqua Trek's description of the Fiji shoot.

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. Les explained that he would not be lending his name to any ludicrous productions as he is friends with people like Jean Michel Cousteau and Rob Stewart. I honestly felt that there was just a desire to swim amongst large Bull sharks and our site is well known for this. The movie is not about Fiji or Aquatrek, our dive company, so the name “deadly beaches” does not make sense. They remained on a live aboard the whole time. They paid our daily dive rate. There were regular dive guests on our boat as well and the dive was conducted normally.

Talk manana then - I'm sure I'll be receiving some comments!

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.!

Bimini - Barbarians at the Gate?

Check out that pic.

Five people found it fit to send it over in e-mails replete with expletives - and yes this would be the daily fare in the life of an infamous watchdog blogger! :)

Prima vista this is certainly disturbing - but having been accused of jumping to conclusions prematurely, let's maybe hear it from the horses mouth first.

Eli, what happened?

This is obviously one of Bimini's Great Hammerheads.

I was first alerted to their existence by Joe's fantastic portrait and then later, by these stellar pics about the research conducted by Doc's Sharklab. And now that the Hammer is out of the bag, so to say, there are reports that everybody, his dog and the dog of is dog are invading the island in search of those elusive images - foremost of which the infamous twins of Discovery Channel Shark Porn made in the Bahamas, Stuart Cove and Gurney Productions! And of course, I hear, everybody is filming for fun and not commercially, lest they would have to, gasp, apply for the proper permits - I mean, seriously, is Discovery really that cheap?
Actually, forget that question!

But I'm digressing as always.

Don't get me wrong here.

It is great that Bimini is experiencing a growing influx of Shark enthusiasts that may, if properly managed, inject valuable long-term tourism dollars into the local economy.

But at the same time, this is already feeling like the proverbial free-for-all where an excess of exuberance may well end up ruining it for everybody - let alone desecrate the hallowed research sites of what is arguably the world's foremost and certainly most revered Shark research institution!

In brief - don't you go messing with Doc's Sharks!

From an initial missive by Tristan Guttridge, Executive Director of the lab.

For the past 23 years the Bimini Biological Field Station, "Sharklab" has been documenting the occurrence of Great hammerhead, S. mokarran sharks around the Bimini Islands.
In 2003 we located an area, "The Grate" where these animals could be baited in for snorkeling experiences and to facilitate tagging and genetic sampling. Last year this site was used for the first time commercially as a scuba diving experience for tourists and in the past two months a number of live-aboard vessels have begun to explore its potential. Whilst we are delighted to see people from around the globe interact with, and observe up close one of the worlds most charismatic predators we are keen to ensure that such experiences are conducted in a safe and responsible manner.

And there's also this open letter.
I must applaud Grant as this is really as good as it gets - kudos!

Indeed, luckily it's by no means too late.

With a bit more of respect and mutual cooperation, this could be turned into a win-win for everybody: Bimini's tourism industry, the Shark divers, Shark research and most importantly, the Sharks themselves! The solution: some of that good old fashioned self regulation for which the diving industry has always been a shining example!

At the risk of being accused of interfering.

We here at BAD sit very much at the junction of where Shark tourism intersects with Shark research, and are continuously learning and always thinking hard about the best ways of improving and promoting both sometimes conflicting sides of that equation.
Here's what I would suggest for Bimini's Shark viewing tourism - for Hammerheads but eventually also for other sites and species.

First and foremost.

• Somebody needs to assume the leadership role.
  The natural candidate for this would have to be the Sharklab which is by definition neutral and also disposes of by far the most comprehensive knowledge base about the local Sharks and potential Shark viewing sites. But this would imply their willingness to devote part of their resources to something ouside of their strictly academic purview, and they may not want to assume that responsibility.
  If so, is there some local tourism org (maybe Grant's?) that could do the honors?

Then, I believe that everybody should agree on a common set of procedures.

They should address the following.

• Snorkeling/free diving or SCUBA?
  This depends on species and possibly also on how the Sharks are being provisioned. Lots of bait/dangerous species = no snorkeling!.
  In the case of Great Hammers that appear to be specialized hunters of Stingrays and smaller Sharks but also Fishes and that as far as I know have never been implicated in predatory attacks on humans, I believe that both is possible and desirable, also in order to maximize the number of potential tourists.

• Baiting or hand feeding?
  We hand feed as we believe that by doing so, we can control the behavior of the (many) animals by controlling the amount of food we introduce. But we're the only operator on site and our feeders undergo many months of training. Also, Great Hammers tend to be solitary so control is not a primary concern and judging from this picture gallery, baiting via rigged baits is an effective and proven technique.
  But you can't have both!
  E.g., the Sharks in Tiger Beach experience both hand feeding and baiting. The result is that TB has become notorious for its beggar Sharks, i.e. Sharks that when there is no feeder acting as a focal point, approach and bump and even maul (!) unsuspecting clients - which to say it mildly is slightly disconcerting!
  We strongly believe that for the sake of the tourist but above all, the animals, protocols should be kept uniform in order to establish a predictable and thus safe routine.
  With that in mind and because not everybody is as good as Eli who really knows what he is doing, and because many oppose hand feeding for perceived ethical reasons: hand feeding is likely to be a no-go.
  And may I strongly advise against indiscriminate dumping, especially from the surface as this precludes any control over the animals' behavior!

• No more than one operator on site at any time - meaning that operators should announce themselves and that outings need to be coordinated (like e.g. in Cocos and the Galapagos)
  Compare once again with TB where multiple simultaneous operators have resorted to out-baiting each other in order to draw the Tigers to "their" side! There's also a risk of overcrowding and according lack of control by the operators. And most importantly - there needs to be coordination with the Sharklab not to interfere with their research!

• No touching, riding or otherwise molesting!
  This I hear has already happened and risks alienating the notoriously shy Sharks. It is I believe also profoundly disrespectful - can't one just fucking watch, capture images and admire?

Further suggestions

• Those bigger liveaboard vessels should install fixed moorings not to unnecessarily disrupt the habitats!

• Visiting vessels should make it a point to contribute to the local economy, e.g. by docking, buying souvenirs, having a meal at a local eatery, taking local tours, even refueling, much along the lines of Grant's letter.
  Ideally tho, clients should be encouraged to fly in and go out with a local operator - whilst staying at e.g. the Bimini Sands and Bimini Big Game that are Shark Free Marinas and that do not contribute to the destruction of Mangroves (and thus, of the Lemon Shark nurseries) like their principal competitor!

• Sharklab researchers should be invited to join in in order to add to their data and maybe even make presentations which would be a big plus for the tourists.

• The Sharklab could develop a simple citizen science questionnaire.
  It could comprise data about numbers, sex, size, presence of tags, simple behavior etc., and operators should encourage their clients to participate. This is valuable science and also great tourism as customers love taking part in research!

• The Sharklab could offer guided tours of the lab.
  Once again, shark divers love that kind of stuff and will undoubtedly be happy to pay a fee or make a donation!

So much for the Hammerheads and Reef dives

And the Bimini Bull Run?

As far as I understand it, it's a caged Bull Shark dive for punters off a dock at the Big Game. If you recall, that's the marina where that jackass hooked one of the resident Bulls, camera running - but those shenanigans are now being contained.

It is totally safe and utterly harmless, and good on them for having set it up.

But - and yes there had to be a but... :)

With experience telling us that it won't be long before some moronic punter will try and do this cageless (to change perceptions and for the Sharks!), may I suggest to prophylactically already develop adequate protocols for dealing with that inevitable eventuality!

Anyway.

As always, just a couple of personal suggestions..

But in the end, these are not my Sharks and this is certainly not my territory - and there are undoubtedly good local people already  looking into this and hopefully, taking charge!

Wishing everybody all the very best of success!

Pecunia non olet - or does it?

Remember Les Stroud?

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 response from 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.

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...

Shark Rescue in the Bahamas!

Source.

Watch.

This is cute - story here.

Dunno about the asking - but the Shark's docility and the obvious cooperation are certainly remarkable.

If only the man would finally walk all that breathy talk.

If only he stopped enabling all that Shark porn with his pal ABC4 and those horrible people at Gurney Productions. One would think that at our age, money would become less important and integrity, more?

But it is cute, so well done!

Part Two: The BAD and the Ugly!

Yum yum!

And now, to the juicy part!

But first.
This is when somebody will inevitably start shouting, how dare you attack fellow conservationists and invoke global peace and harmony and-so-on and-so-forth.

So lemme state this loud & clear, I don’t hate anybody here.

What I however do hate is bullshit.
And in the spirit of qui tacet consentire videtur, I will always reserve the right to criticize situations I don’t agree with - and if they happen to be in the public domain, I will also feel perfectly entitled to do so publicly!
I also believe that like in science, progress in conservation is achieved via dialogue but also, via robust debate where opinions may get heated but where everybody who is legit accepts that those are just the rules of the game – and where those who do not are simply not scientists and conservationists but posers and bullshitters.

In brief, where I’m coming from is that whereas it is great that Shark conservation has become sizzling hot and is uniting many passionate voices around a great common cause, bullshit continues to be bullshit and shenanigans, shenanigans - and the great common cause is in no way an excuse for any of that.
And like in real life, people are sometimes simply incompatible and thus mutually exclusive.

If you don’t agree, stop reading now - HNY and have a great life!
Seriously, spare yourself the aggro because the following aint gonna be pretty – but if you cannot resist and end up being outraged, spare me the lessons in ethics and instead, debate the assertions!

If the meteoric rise and the astounding successes of Pew teach us one lesson, then it is that the correct way to save Sharks is to pursue their protection by pragmatic, science-based advocacy and by hard work and smart negotiations aimed at legislative changes.
The rest is just stupid fluff and hot air, and counter productive to boot. We are not the ones who enact Shark protection - and rest assured that the people who do have zero time, zero patience and zero respect for the vocal clamoring of the Shark whacks!

Again, Shark conservation is inextricably liked (q.e.d.) to political and economic considerations, and he who does not understand that is just a fool.
Shark fishermen don’t hate Sharks, they want to make a buck – and the authorities don’t subscribe to conservation because they have changed their perspective and suddenly love Sharks, they do so because they have been convinced of the (eminently economic) need for sustainability and in the case of Sharks, because they have learned about the importance of several (not all!) species in regulating the marine environment and thus, of their economical value all the way to generating millions in income from tourism.

Shark finning?
The finning bans are archaic and ineffective and thus not anymore worth pursuing in isolation. Yes finning is an ethical abomination and needs to be abolished – but what is killing the Sharks is Shark fishing and if you care to open your eyes, you will quickly discern that many of the major Shark fishing hubs are processing the whole animals as the meat is increasingly sought after by ever increasing populations starving for protein, and other products like leather, squalene and even the eggs are introduced into the wider economy.

The facts and numbers?
Science is in continuous flux and the data do indeed change – but until they do, the latest peer reviewed science remains the best approximation of the truth.
Thankfully, there are now plenty of resources where anybody can consult the latest insights and data, meaning that those who continue to operate with inflated statistics and outlandish assertions lack any excuses and credibility whatsoever. The facts are plenty horrible as it is – so let’s please stick to those and refrain from the usual stupid inflated hyperbole!

The industry?
If there has been one trend at this year’s DEMA, then it has been Shark conservation - and everybody in the dive industry is now claiming that he has always been deeply and passionately involved.
Great – if only they all did walk the talk!

Instead, the usual shenanigans have continued unabated.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that nothing is just black or white. Competition is continuously leading many Shark diving operators to ever up the ante, this also very much in order to satisfy the continuous requests for ever more adrenaline by their clients. There is also an insatiable demand for images featuring stunt work with Sharks.
I understand that these are businesses and that those folks are merely trying to make a buck – but I certainly do not subscribe to the notion that these developments are inevitable, the more since we at BAD are doing very well indeed by promoting a totally different kind of experience, do not enable Shark porn and have in fact continuously tightened our protocols as a result of the stupendous increase in large Sharks visiting Shark Reef.

But you can’t have it both ways.
Stunt work with Sharks and promoting gratuitous adrenaline thrills got nothing to do with Shark conservation, period!

And the much-invoked Demystifying and Changing Perceptions about these Misunderstood animals?
Indeed - respectable Shark diving operations do that daily, and this without having to resort to those stupidities, and so do respectable Shark media!

Think about how the same was achieved with the terrestrial top predators: certainly not by showcasing scantily clad death-defying bimbettes perambulating in the savannahs and the Sundarbans and also not by turning alpha predators into pets by allowing tourists to physically interact with them, let alone ride them!

Changing perceptions by attempting to “prove” that we’re not on the menu of Sharks actually perpetuates the myth by reducing the animals’ fascinating and complex life history to one element only, that of shark-human interactions where some of the large species actually do devour people – which is perfectly normal and merely illustrates that they are the opportunistic top predators they just happen to be!

Nobody in his right mind asserts that Lions and Tigers are harmless – but most of us have learned to respect and love them for what they are, beautiful, charismatic and awe inspiring essential elements of their natural habitats, and very much endangered.
Think BBC documentary: that’s how you do it – and yes, the rest is just moronic BS!

Anyway, I’m digressing – here’s the list.

• Least credible Shark Conservation Org: Shark Research Institute
  
  Founded in the early nineties and once rightfully considered to be the visionaries and trailblazers in Shark conservation, this org has simply ceased to evolve and is now quite obviously well past its sell-by date.
  A motley grouping of baby boomers whose claim to fame, if any, lays way back somewhere in the distant past, they doggedly cling on to outdated concepts, data and strategies and achieve nothing substantive in the process. This year’s media by some of their featured members have been simply appalling, see below, to the point where the whole org is little more than a purveyor of clients for Amos’ pinnacle expeditions and has frankly become a major embarrassment to the cause - and being my usual polite self, I will certainly leave it at that!

• Most disappointing Shark Conservation Org: Shark Angels
  
  A great concept combining a promising initial triumvirate of passionate and good looking female Shark advocates, Shark Angels could have become the next big thing in Shark conservation.
  Well, after several years of waiting it turns out that it did not. Pretty girls posing with cardboard signs next to dead Tiger Sharks are just that, pretty - and the actual track record is that they have certifiably saved zero Sharks from the nets of the KZNSB or otherwise, not then and not after several years of pretty PSAs and obscure conservation work in SA. Now it appears that the epicenter has been moved to Canada and I remain equally unimpressed. Did I hear Toronto? Yes, maybe - but then again, maybe not so much!
  Up next? Canada. And the world... we shall see!

• Conservation Snake Oil of the Year: United Conservationists
  
  Wow. How could I be so blind!
  Like all strokes of genius, it’s so compellingly simple: humankind just needs to stage a media-based Revolution under the leadership of those visionary dreamers and doers - and the Planet will be saved! Because we are all inherently good deep down inside - and if you give us 50k, we'll even take you diving! We are the 99%!
  Send us your money and we will save the Sharks, Lemurs and Tigers! And we will end Ocean Acidification because once they see my movie, the uneducated masses in China, the US, Europe, India and Russia will rise and force global governments to agree on reducing emissions! Just like the Arab Spring – or whatever, just send us the money!
  Seriously!

• Least impressive Shark Conservation Achievement: California Shark Fin Ban
  
  As they say in German, The Better is the enemy of the Good.
  Talk about a missed opportunity! Nice – but given the impressive widespread good will, resources and star power, this is simply not good enough! Check out the legislation, corollary with exemptions and analysis: this is a (bad) licensing law that bans the possession of Shark fins (notabene, fins that are imported from Asia where they first get processed for consumption) and clearly unilaterally targets the principally Asian consumers of Shark fin soup in California.
  Is that really Shark conservation? Does closing down the Californian shark fin market really impact the global trade and really save Sharks, let alone combat Shark finning, one of the stated aims of the legislation? Convince me!
  
  Plus, there is this.
  The demise of California’s Blues and Makos is legendary - and yet with this law, the local commercial and game fishermen are still free to go and kill California’s Sharks, and anybody is still welcome to continue eating Shark steaks and to consume all other Shark products. And the outlawed fins of those Californian Sharks? Betcha that they get exported to Asia!
  Compare that to the excellent progress in Florida where more and more Sharks are being protected – still think this is an achievement to be proud of?
  But as I said, nice!

• Curiouser and Curiouser: Erik Brush (& Co!)
  
  "On the day that too many sharks have gone you will not know that a line has been crossed. It is only a while afterward that the sudden unleashing of methane hydrate into an already weakened atmosphere will show us our error. Then we will long for our predatory friends that could have regulated the food chain and kept the gas exchange of phytoplankton working for all life!" - Self Quote.
  
  New Age meets Shark conservation meets pseudoscience - and, meets the (obviously mad!) Hatter!
  Check out IMEC, Brush’s curious Facebook page and his curiouser personal website and tell me if I’m not right! And we've even got ourselves a new and mysterious Alliance!
  
  Anyway, all of this would just be harmless and actually, quite entertaining albeit in a bizarre way, were it not for the fact that the self professed marine biologist, Shark specialist and friend of Doctor Erich Ritter has managed to accumulate quite a loyal following (really? Are we witnessing the dumbing down of Hollywood?), among which some prominent representatives of the SRI who very much appear to endorse his pseudoscientific ramblings.
  Does Collier really think that Erik’s Shark math is very nice?
  Does the President of the SRI (doesn't R stand for Research?), apparently a German TV star and associate of Brush, really totally agree with Erik’s assertion that Sharks are the most critical factor besides human pollution to global warming and mass extinction?
  Whatever – right? But the cartoons are cute!

• Shark Pornographer of the Year: ABC4
  
  Well, no need to further post any evidence here.
  Andy is actually a nice personable guy, an accomplished cameraman and also brave to the point of being crazy - and thus highly sought after when it comes to filming stunts with large predatory Sharks. Several other cameramen do the same and although I hate the imagery they produce, I know that that’s what the market wants and respect them as professionals as I understand that they do what they do because competition in that field is fierce, jobs are scarce and they got bills to pay.
  What however riles me here is Andy's total hypocrisy of regularly partaking in Gurney’s despicable productions, see below, and then turning around and pretending to be a fervent Shark conservationist. Thing is, even if that were true, for every person conceivably heeding Andy’s self-professed conservation messaging, thousands are being certifiably influenced against Sharks by watching the images he produces.
  Can’t have it both ways buddy – either finally walk the talk, or take the $$$ and shut the F up!
  And the exact same applies to those Shark diving operators who continue to enable that shit - and no, I'm not about to post names lest I once again get accused of engaging in some food fight or the like: they know who they are and so do you!

• Shark Porn Production House of the Year: Gurney Productions
  
  Again, follow the link here.
  Discovery’s go-to people for those appalling Shark Week programs featuring idiotic scripts, idiotic experiments and idiotic anchors, they really transcend negative attributes. Absolute scum!

• Shark Porn Channel of the Year: Discovery Channel
  
  I’ve long stopped watching that shit that is Shark Week – but sometimes I catch a glimpse whilst zapping thru the wonderful selection of Fiji’s Sky Pacific and guess what, nothing whatsoever has changed. Not that they would care in the slightest - but I will continue to boycott Shark Week and BAD will continue to turn down those yearly requests for atrocious film shoots!

• Worst Shark Porn: How Sharks Hunt
  
  Featuring the chain wrapping of Emma, courtesy of ABC4 and Gurney - nothing to add to what I said there.

• Most embarrassing Shark Conservation Advocacy Stunts: Bikini Bimbettes and Warriorettes
  
  And I cite from a message by one of the Shark Greats – you would be amazed (and the bimbettes, totally ashamed!) if I told you her name!
  
  How I hate the latest bit of National Geographic Society shark porn!
  Absolutely ghastly that they have fallen so low, pandering to the lowest common denominator--sex and sharks. Not a scintilla of redeeming quality. I say this sight unseen as I refused to watch it after seeing the trailers.
  
  But that would be but one, albeit particularly pathetic example.
  Why some otherwise modern and emancipated women would agree to demean themselves by partaking in these embarrassing stupidities will forever remain a mystery to me – and undoubtedly, to the other 99.9% of intelligent modern and emancipated women who love Sharks but don’t engage in those shenanigans!
  
  Oh - did I hear Demystify and Changing Perceptions?
  By “proving” that Sharks don’t strike bikini bimbettes? Well guess what, they do, so sorry folks – and that makes them neither good nor bad, nor does that fact in any way diminish the validity of the assertion that we need to protect them!
  The swimwear stunts and experiments are moronic pseudo-conservation and pseudoscience that presumes that everybody out there watching is a retard – thing is, most people are not and will quickly identify them as what they really are, highly embarrassing self promoting publicity stunts!
  Tip o’ hat: Erich Ritter– and we all know how that one ended!

• Lifetime Achievement Award for Pseudoscience: Erich Ritter for Sharkitarianism
  
  Yes the above link is plenty sufficient!
  And after more than a decade of spouting those outlandish and I may add, very much self-debunked theories: still eagerly awaiting the first peer-reviewed paper on the subject!

• Most preposterous Assertions by Shark Expert: Ralph Collier
  
  George eat your heart out!
  Having managed to completely supplant him as this year’s undisputed token Sesselfurzer, Collier and his Shark farts have been nothing short of spectacular. From the epic dog analogy to having linked JAWS with the starvation of Grizzly Bears by means of the dreaded domino effect, the man is truly a cornucopia of moronic pseudoscience. Will he be able to further exceed this year’s stellar performance and grace us with more, forever unforgettable tidbits of hot perfumed air?

• Shark Conspiracy Whacknut of the Year: H E Sawyer
  
  Huzzah!
  We've finally got ourselves our very own, home-grown conspiracy – and shame on Wikipedia for not having posted it on the ominous list!
  So it turns out that not only are the numbers a conspiracy concocted by the scientific intelligentsia, but that all of us are (once again!) nothing but the puppets of Big Oil!
  
  Because, and I cite, shark conservation is actually a fig leaf for oil & energy corporations, through their ‘charitable trusts’ to ring fence large areas of international waters through MPAs, MCZs and ‘shark sanctuaries’ with the purpose of leasing it out to other oil & energy corporations, & using the money from that to fund the science that supports the policy of ring fencing large areas of international waters for ‘protecting sharks’ etc!
  
  Utter humbug? Far from it, here is the proof, black on white!
  Wow - makes Erik the Mad Hatter of Sharktivism look like a genius in comparison! If these are really the exhaust fumes of democracy, may I humbly suggest that this may indeed be this year’s ultimate Furz from the Sessel. May I further humbly suggest that the man urgently get himself a life and quite possibly, a diagnosis by a qualified psychiatrist, chop chop!
  
  As a reminder, here’s what the despicable cabal of evil has been doing in 2011 - unequivocally highly suspect!

Story here - check it out!

• Stupidest Shark Media: Guadalupe Mermaid
  
  Yes that would be the f@$%ing mermaid – and I’m still completely astounded by the sheer scope of the bullshit, hubris and mind-blowing stupidity!

• Irritating: Personality Cults
  
  Just one example among several.
  
  See, some of our founders made a little movie called Sharkwater. Soon NGOs started popping up and government policy started changing. All it took was information and a spark, and the world will never be the same.
  
  Have we got ourselves a case where the salesman is starting to believe his own marketing, with symptoms of incipient guru-esque megalomania?
  There is no doubt that Sharkwater hit a nerve and that it has done much for popularizing Shark conservation among the masses. But Rob is not the visionary trailblazer, Shark conservation did not start with Sharkwater and the recent spectacular successes are not at all attributable to that movie!
  
  Anyway, it is just one example and certainly not the most brazen one.
  The Heroes and heroines, warriors, whisperers, experts, specialists and whatnot are all legit if the moniker is being assigned by others - but when it is self promotion and really nothing more than branding, it becomes irritating.
  Does sharktivism really need its own version of the Kardashians and the associated frothy adulation and gossip? Maybe – but like in real life, I don’t like it one bit!

• Most Brazen Conservation Heist: Shark Research Institute
  
  Having nothing much to show for, the SRI is now mooching on other people’s hard work by insinuating that they were somehow responsible for all (!) of this year's Shark conservation achievements. From the SRI's Winter Newsletter - and I cite
  
  Thanks to you — our members — 2011 has been a very good year for sharks. Through SRI active participation, advocacy and legislative efforts we have achieved spectacular results. We still have work to do, but look at what has been accomplished this year alone!
  Give yourself a pat on the back!! Thanks to your support, 2011 has been a fantastic year for sharks. This year alone:
  * Honduras announced creation of 92,665-square mile shark sanctuary.
  * The Bahamas converted 243,244 square miles into a shark sanctuary.
  * The Marshall Islands, Guam and Palau created a region-wide 2 million square-mile shark sanctuary.
  * Chile banned shark finning in its water.
  * ICCAT agreed to reduce fishing of shortfin mako shark and porbeagle sharks (At least get your facts right! I thought you were there?)
  * The trade in shark fins, outlawed in Hawaii in 2010, was also prohibited in Guam, Oregon, Washington and California
  
  Certainly cleverly worded!
  I say, how cheap, sad and frankly revolting - simply unforgivable!

• Low Point of Academic Competition: Junior Controversy
  
  Got some time to waste?
  Read this and track back through the links. What you will discover is an ignominious smear campaign against Michael Domeier orchestrated by competing researchers. Dunno and don’t care much about what happened after it backfired, except for noticing that the Monterey Bay Aquarium has obviously not severed its contacts to the very much implicated Sal Jorgensen and Scot Anderson of TOPP.
  All very revealing and very disturbing!

• Stupidest Shark Conservation Memes and Slogans.
  
  Here, I did a quick brain storming session with some of my Shark friends.
  In no particular order: the Oxygen myth; No Fin No Shark No Future period (can anybody please tell me what that means?????); Fintastic; and last but not least, Fins Up!

And here endeth the list - happy I finally got it off my chest!

And, are you pissed off?
I sure hope so - the question being, at whom!
Comments welcome!

Anatomy of an Obscenity

Lemme tell you, it has been an ordeal.

I've slaved myself and watched Deadly Waters, most of it in fast forward as it is so incredibly boring and badly edited on top of being so disrespectful, exploitative, deceiving and stupid. No wonder that the blue bloggers' reaction to it has been so moderate: it's so bad, it defies description!

Felix of Oceanic Dreams and Drew of Wetpixel have posted their take on the overall program so I need not dwell on its entirety, the more as I just cannot stomach having to watch every stupid and obscene detail.

Just this.

The "experiment" with the trailing and stationary chumsicles? Absolute rubbish!
Caribbean Reefs are strictly piscivorous and do not feed on humans - ever! The proof: did they attack the idiot driving along on his scooter? If Gurney had wanted to create a correct analogy to humans, they should not have dragged along the Sharks' favorite food but, say, a bale of hay instead! But hey, it never was about facts, it always was only and exclusively about showing those Sharks in a state of frenzy.
Shame on Stuart for having been the token prostitute!

The "experiment" with the hand and the fish?
Remember the post about not deceiving the audience? When the Lemon predictably ignored the hand, they dipped it in fish blood!

And finally, please note down those operators who aided and abetted the exploitation of Sharks!
As a customer, you have a choice!

Which leads me straight over to the issue at hand, the Fiji shoot.

First and foremost: mission accomplished - mostly!
Please believe me if I tell you that I've been called many things, but "naive and utterly stupid" is just not one of them. When I exploded in a post about Aqua Trek, I was certainly painfully aware of the potential loss of goodwill this would inflict to our business. This post will undoubtedly trigger more of the same condemnation from the same quarters. So be it.
Apparently, exposing perpetrators is good - but when they happen to be your competitors, the very same action becomes "disappointing". Go wonder!

No, this has not been a "food fight" by any stretch of the imagination.
Far from it: after the debacle of having dropped the ball and allowed Gurney to sneak into the country, we decided to disregard our commercial interests and publicly embarrass the perpetrators because we wanted them to use their influence to prevent the airing or at least tone down the sequence. We also went very deep and very high within the Government of Fiji and the country's tourism stakeholders, again with the same aim. As a result, the location has been changed to "Oceania" and after the Fijigirl went out on a limb, the footage of the chumsicle and the night diving sequences have been scrapped.

What remains is a misleading, sensationalistic and stupid prime example of Shark exploitation. What did Stroud apparently say? That he would not be lending his name to any ludicrous productions as he is friends with people like Jean Michel Cousteau and Rob Stewart?
Indeed: hilarious!

Take for instance the Shark attack they re-enacted.
The one that happened not far from this very spot.... in an area that's a known Bull Shark feeding zone? It took me a while to find it, but it is this one.
The location? Check out the map (click on it for detail): yellow is Lake Reef where the show was filmed, red is Turtle Island - 200 miles away, on the other side of the island, far off the coast in a completely different habitat!


The activity: spearfishing - and I'll leave it at that!

And talking about deceiving the audience.
How about the blond bimbo with 12 years' experience diving with the deadliest animals in the South Pacific, that squeaks away on the back deck of the Fiji Peter Hughes? That would be Teresa Carrette, associate producer with Gurney. And the deadly animals? Carukia barnesi (which earned a scientist a honorable mention in the Darwin awards) and Chironex fleckeri, box jellyfish!
Could anybody please tell me how that would make her a Shark expert worthy of being showcased to a global audience?

No wonder her comments are so utterly stupid!
Bull Sharks may, or may not (neither I nor Juerg know of any relevant papers) have a high level of testosterone. But the link to aggression is tenuous at best and has certainly never be researched in Sharks.
What however appears unequivocal is that testosterone promotes the growth of muscle mass and bone density. That, and its effect on virility are why some men in general and bodybuilders in particular resort to anabolic steroids, among which Bull Shark testosterone.
Ever seen a Bull Shark? There you have it!
PS the testosterone assertion has since been debunked: it is utter baloney!

Ever dived with one?
If so, you will know that despite of their impressive size, they are very hard to approach and positively timid - much unlike the Reefs and especially, the Silvertips!
"Aggressive" my derrière - and certainly not "territorial"!
So much for Teresa's credentials - and hopefully, for her scientific career!

Other than that, there is Stroud, a diving neophyte, hand feeding massive predatory Sharks without even the protection of steel mesh gloves; there's Teresa flailing around her pasty white hands in murky water saturated with Fish juices; there are signs of impending feeding frenzy; there are cameramen out there in no-man's land bumping, or being bumped by the animals - in brief, there's an operator completely surrendering his dive site to a bunch of yahoos in breach of the most basic safety protocols.
How does that dovetail, exactly, with 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?
As I said, pretty brazen!

Plus, there's Stroud's hysterical commentary (dontya just love it how he shakes his head pretending to talk through his mask?) about "deadly waters," Shark attacks and aggression and trying to amp up the action by suggesting that he got bumped and chased out of the water - only to then languidly linger at the dive platform chatting away with the bimbette!
In brief, this is exploitative Shark porn at its very worst and a slap in the face of local conservation efforts and the local tradition and reverence of Sharks.

Did somebody really dare to mention the cause?

As to why Discovery chose to air this shit, what can I say.
As a reminder, check out their Corporate Social Responsibility statement.

John Hendricks launched Discovery Channel in 1985 with a mission to satisfy curiosity and make a difference in people's lives by providing the highest-quality, nonfiction content, services and products that entertain, engage and enlighten; and he chose the globe to represent Discovery's brand as a symbol of the company's commitment to protecting and celebrating planet Earth.
In keeping with this mission, Discovery Communications is committed to being a thoughtful and responsible corporate citizen, supporting the extension of science, environmental and other educational programs in the U.S. and abroad, and promoting the value of nonfiction content and documentary filmmaking across all genres.

That is the vision.
The reality: idiotic shows that pander to the basest emotions of idiotic audiences and are presented by idiotic hosts.

The network has clearly lost its way.
Despite of all the pathetic last-minute greenwashing, it is obvious that this year's disastrous Shark Week has severely damaged the brand and eroded its credibility not only with us Shark people, be it divers, operators or scientists, but with the public at large as well.
The resulting damage to its reputation and its goodwill will only be mended by bold managerial action. Pornographers like Gasek have clearly run their course and must be replaced by fresh and untainted talent that better embody Discovery's aim to be perceived as socially and ecologically responsible. Production companies like Gurney need to be dismissed and idiotic hosts like Stroud ought to be sent back to some remote wilderness to continue doing what they do best, i.e. munch on grubs in splendid isolation.

When people like Stephen Colbert catch on to your hypocrisy, it's high time to act decisively.
Will somebody have the vision to enact the necessary reforms?

And on this happy note... enjoy!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Human Week
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Fischer Reality Check - Comments by Dr. Michael Domeier!

In-water SPOT-tagging of an enormous GWS - source.

Sorry for the protracted silence.

We've been extremely busy.

Plus, I've found myself embroiled in a rather unexpected and increasingly pointless debate with Chris Fischer of Ocearch.

Chris should have followed the advice of Domeier's publicist, see below.
Now the exchange has piqued the interest of the man himself who has sent me a vigorous rebuttal of Fischer's assertions, initially however with the request not to publicize it as he wanted to keep to the high road and instead let Karma take its course.

Well, I don't believe much in Karma.

It is unpredictable and takes much, much too long to eventuate.

So upon much cajoling by yours truly, here are Michael Domeier's comments - and from what I recall and have been able to observe from the sidelines, I for one have no doubt that they are a truthful representation of the facts - tho still way too karmically polite!

Unabridged - although the formatting is mine.

Enjoy!

Any PR expert will tell you to never get dragged into a public, negative pissing match… excellent advice that I try to follow. 
But once every few years I’m forced to slide down the slippery slope to correct serious misinformation that affects me, or my organization… misinformation that only I am capable of correcting. 

Some people are so comfortable stretching the truth that they actually begin to believe the lie themselves. 

Remind you of anyone/anything?? A popup tag removed from a shark at Guadalupe Island? A tag presumably recovered from another shark off El Choyudo? Pictures of Junior circulated with wounds falsely attributed to my tagging of the same shark a year earlier? For each of these things I finally made a concise statement that set the record(s) straight. Here we go again, but perhaps not as concise due to the complex situation. 

Chris Fischer, at every opportunity, proclaims 1) that he spent $5 million to fund my research; 2) that he enabled me to become a great researcher; 3) that I greedily hoard the data and don’t share with the public; and 4) that he developed the equipment and methods to capture and tag large adult white sharks. 

1) There is no way Chris Fischer ever spent $5 million of his (or anyone else’s) money on my research. 

We joined forces to conduct 2 expeditions before he got a TV deal. My last Guadalupe Island expedition (Fall 2012) cost about $40K… and that was with the boat making a profit. So do the math. Also, there was never going to be a second expedition (2008). Chris had a big sponsorship from Red Lobster and was departing for a ‘round the world expedition. I even flew to Ft. Lauderdale to attend his big send-off party at the IGFA Hall of Fame. I flew on my own dime, wished him well and said goodbye. When Red Lobster dropped him, ending the voyage before it even began, we got together to do another expedition in 2008. He did not put his life on hold, bet his savings, etc., to provide me two boat rides to Guadalupe Island. I was the one who spent months and months in preparation for each trip… he just showed up at the dock. 

Yes, he paid for 2 trips to Guadalupe, but then struck a TV deal that allowed him to recoup those costs as he was getting $400K/episode. 

We were able to make multiple episodes from a single trip. Furthermore, I tapped two other private foundations to help pay for the tags and research; financial support that he never acknowledges. Fischer was fairly paid for all of the work we did together… this was not a huge philanthropic venture. On the contrary, he made it clear: “no cameras no trips.” The huge $$ figure he throws around must be for the entire operating cost of his ship and production company for each year he was making these television shows. But that’s not a fair way to account for the actual cost of the research (a fraction of the yearly operating budgets were due to the handful of research trips)… and he never discusses the INCOME. Any real accountant would tally just the costs of the specific trips… or think like this: what would it cost to charter a vessel for each research trip, and then subtract the income! Perhaps he took a loss, I don’t know; my organization took a financial loss… but no way did either of us wrack up losses in the millions. 

2) None of my recent white shark papers would have been possible without the 10 years I put in the field before I met Fischer. 

Fischer just happened to be in the picture as I began to really put all the pieces together. I knew SPOT tags were the only way to push the science forward. I also knew the sharks would be easy to catch, but I wanted to lift them from the water to safely remove the hook and do extra sampling (sperm, blood etc). I was developing a stand-alone pneumatic lift to accomplish the task. When Fischer showed me a picture of his new boat at a Billfish Foundation Board Meeting, I instantly recognized that the lift designed to pick up a yacht could shortcut my lift building plan. I asked if I could use the boat. The answer was “yes,” but only if I allowed cameras. I had never cooperated with a film maker in all my years at Guadalupe (well… Guy Harvey is an exception… but he’s an exceptional guy), and I had requests on a monthly basis, but this seemed like a good trade. 

When it comes to enabling, I think one needs to look at who really benefited from this collaboration. 

I brought Fischer into my world… he took my idea and crafted an entirely new career/image for himself. He even used the experience to gain his coveted Explorer Club status. Brett’s a good guy, but even he will tell you he (Brett) had no interest in catching sharks… even as we were heading to Guadalupe for the first time. If it wasn’t for my bringing Fischer into the marine science world, and consequently primetime television… he would be sitting in his home in Park City without a big boat waiting at the dock. Yes, he was about to lose the boat. If I had stayed true to my original course I would have accomplished the same work, it just would have taken me longer 

3) I do not hoard data. 

Like any professional researcher, I gather data until there is enough to analyze, allowing me to write an excellent publication. Then I publish and share with the world, just like every other working researcher that I know. In fact, I was careful to publish our latest findings in an open access journal, so the entire world could read the paper for free. 

I also disseminate results on our Facebook page. And yes, I have an app that costs a whopping $3.99… that helps me fund the research (actually… it brought in enough to do a nice upgrade (soon)… but not much more). I don’t have huge tv deals and corporate sponsors. So what’s the problem? Fischer slammed my app (and me personally) when it debuted and encouraged people not to purchase it. No, I don’t give the data to Fischer… why should I… it’s my data? He got all the TV shows and celebrity status he wanted… I got data. Furthermore, releasing research results prior to publishing can be problematic when the time comes to publish. Ask any researcher about that. I’ve been sharing more data lately simply to try to keep my organization afloat. But the last person I want running around the world, interpreting my unpublished data, is Chris Fischer. But that hasn’t stopped him from doing so. His brand building (photo shoots and interviews with big hooks draped around his neck, the hyped fishing template for the show) really hurt my reputation as a legitimate researcher. 

4) For our initial expedition I told Fischer he didn’t need to bring anything, just bait…I would do the rest.

I did the rest… and he forgot the bait (thus the infamous bait arguments on TV program). I conceived of the idea to use his yacht-lift to tag sharks, I designed the cradle, I designed the hook, the buoys, the line… everything. When the cradle didn’t work the way I had hoped, I was the one that tore it all down and fenced in the entire platform… Chris wanted to use the crane to pull the sharks onto the platform (yikes). Yes, my home-made hooks were prone to bending and breaking, but there was no place to buy such big circle hooks and we caught a few sharks that first year. And yes, the crew helped refine my concept for safely catching and handling the sharks. 

The SPOT tags used by all now, were built specifically to my design specs. 

I tried the off-the-shelf version and it failed. My version worked, and continues for me and for those who have followed. Lately I’ve made significant changes to the attachment of those tags… but that’s another story. 

Every single place we went with the ship was under my specific direction. 

I was in the wheelhouse each time we dropped anchor, putting the ship on my numbers… and we caught and tagged sharks every place we went. Our success was not due to the exceptional fishing prowess of Fischer; it was due to years and years of observation, study and note taking.

I  hate this sort of thing, and hopefully it will be years before I have to put myself out there like this again. 

But sometimes it’s a necessary evil. There are moments of clarity when you have to act, today was one such moment. Let me share a similar moment from years ago: while doing a big promotional push before the debut of our first TV episode, Fischer and I were both doing nonstop interviews in NYC. During a short break, my wife and I watched one of Fischer’s interviews, on FOX News, from the lobby of the hotel. We sat in stunned silence as he proclaimed that the entire research program was his idea and that he had pulled together the boat, crew and research. Just weeks prior he had proclaimed that I was nothing more than “a passenger with permits.” Suddenly it was clear this was not a good situation for me. The science message was being lost by the growing ego. In the end, I could not bear to watch the series that was based upon my own hard work. I tried to watch an episode during the season when Peter Klimley took my place… I was sickened at how Peter was made to look so foolish… turned it off again. 

There have been a huge number of people on-and-off the Fischer bandwagon, many of whom can confirm my statements if you care to track them down. Brett was a good friend… he knows the truth… unfortunately our friendship could not endure the awkwardness to keep in touch. 

I will be the first to say that I’ve noted a different tack from the Fischer camp lately… less fishing hype and more attention to the fish being studied. 

Perhaps lessons have been learned. But in my heart I know Fischer’s ride is about recognition… not about sharks. He didn’t know a clasper from a cloaca before I met him. I hope he does great things for the world… I hope he becomes more self-aware and learns to let his actions speak rather than his words. This whole thing started because he could not stand the fact he was not getting all the credit for a paper Nicole and I invested nearly 15 years to produce. 

Dr. Michael Domeier

PS: simply brilliant post by Patric here - kudos!

“I once thought (call it an evolution) that science and tv could be married together to deliver the best and brightest to waiting audiences. Then the major cable players started cutting doco budgets, slashing and burning them in an almost Visigothic manner until a 60 minute show was left with a budget of $150,000 and that included post production.

What do you get for $150,000 or less? You get Gurney Productions and sharks. There will always be someone who is willing to drop their pants and chain wrap a Tiger shark, and film it, (yes ABC that's you buddy) for a few film credits and the chance to film the next piece of shit that comes down the chute.”

PS2: Megalobomb unleashes!

The most challenging experience one will face during a career in white shark research is being suckered into working with someone that is a dick. Like a one-night stand, they/their projects may look attractive and say all the right things, but then you wake up and realize that you’re some wrinkly married man’s mid-life crisis.