Why Sharks?

Most sharks we see have some kind of defining marks, like the scars this one has near its head

            Yesterday evening, shortly after finishing up the last blog post, I heard some familiar voices in the backyard and began to smell a fire going in the pit. When I went outside, I saw Mike, Dax, Tom, and a few other people hanging out. Turns out it was another braai night! I hadn’t heard about it earlier, but I wasn’t really surprised, since it was Dax and Mike’s last night. I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the backyard with everyone. A little later in the evening, just before it got dark, Jerome also came by to hang out with us. We talked some about how many sharks we’ve seen recently, how active they’ve been, and how so many people have such incorrect perceptions of sharks in general. Tom always says to the guests to forget the footage they’ve seen on Shark Week. Shark Week will show an hour of sharks constantly jumping out of the water, quickly chasing the bait, hitting against the cage, and things like that. What people don’t know is it takes a thousand hours of footage to get that one hour that they show. It takes a thousand photographs to get that one perfect shot. We told each other some of our favorite shark stories, like when we’ve been in the cage and seen a shark’s eye turn to look at us as it swims past. A lot of people think that sharks have black, lifeless eyes, but neither one of those things is true. Their eyes are deep blue, not black, and they do turn to look at you when you’re in the cage.

            While we were on the topic of Shark Week, we brought up an interesting question: why sharks? What is it about sharks that fascinates people enough to have an entire, insanely popular week dedicated solely to them each and every year? We all gave our own theories of why- maybe because they’re the oldest group of animals on this planet, so people are interested in them the same way they’re interested in dinosaurs. Maybe because they’re perceived as real life versions of “sea monsters”, seeming more like the stuff of nightmares than reality. Maybe because most people think that if they’ve ever been swimming in the ocean, even in the shallows (which most of us have), they’ve probably been in the presence of sharks. It’s probably some combination of all of those things, maybe with a few other things that we didn’t mention. It’s definitely interesting to think about though. I think that most everyone that works here, not just at White Shark Projects but in this white shark ecotourism industry in general, would probably agree that Shark Week does more harm than good for these animals. By only showing the most “exciting” or “eye-catching” footage, which takes many, many hours to get, these shows promote a completely false image of sharks. People see it and assume the shows are accurately portraying how sharks most often act- and that’s not what they’re doing! As someone that’s spent many hours out on the water with these beautiful animals, I can say that Shark Week is very misleading. I realize that more and more when I talk to the guests on the boat, and hear their false ideas on how these animals are “supposed to” behave. And hey, I get it; Shark Week wants to show the most exciting footage, since that’s what’s going to get the attention and the views. I’m just annoyed that it makes people think that it’s normal behavior for sharks to be constantly flying out of the air, charging at the bait as fast as they can, trying to eat anything you put in front of them. The majority of the sharks that we see around the boat are pretty calm, slowly circling the boat, maybe coming up to the bait, but certainly not violently lashing out at it. Yes, we will get the occasionally feisty one that goes after the bait, maybe steals it, maybe even ends up bumping the cage a little- but that’s the exception, not the rule. I guess the main thing I’ve learned, that I’m trying to say here, is you can watch Shark Week, along with movies like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea, year after year, but none of that will compare to actually getting out on the boat and spending time with these creatures that I love so much.

            Anyway, today we only had one trip out to sea, and the launch wasn’t until 11:30, meaning we didn’t have to be in the garage getting ready until ten. I got to admit, after all the very early mornings in the garage, it was so nice to sleep in a little this morning. It turned out to be a really nice late morning out on the boat- we saw about six or seven sharks, including a few re-sights. It’s actually much easier than you’d think to tell the sharks apart- they’re all very individual creatures! When we came back to the harbor, we hugged Mike goodbye and went to finish cleaning the boat. Turns out Dax is getting to stay one more night, and leaving after the second trip tomorrow. I’ve heard that there should be space for all three vols on both trips tomorrow, the first of which launches at eight. That means that it’ll be a nice long trip! We’ll have to stay out on the water until noon, because the boat can’t get back onto land during low tide. I’m not complaining about that- I like nice long trips out! This post’s food for thought is by Rob Stewart, who was a filmmaker and lover of sharks- he unfortunately just passed away a few months ago. He made a great documentary called Sharkwater, which this quote is taken from: “You’re told your whole life since you were a kid, sharks are dangerous. You’re warned not to go adventuring too far out in the ocean, but then finally… you see the thing you were taught your whole life to fear, and it’s perfect, and it doesn’t want to hurt you, and it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. And your whole world changes.”