April 29, 2010 Man yesterday's blog was deep! Ok today is going to be a light hearted, I am getting pumped up about the next issue and the summer shark run we have planned.
I am still looking for a few stories for the next issue, trying to decide what I want to see in the new mag. My goal is of course to leave your jaw floored and you all pumped about shark diving. That is and always will be the goal. Of course until all the stories shape themselves I just don't know the direction of the mag. I am starting on a few pages of the mag this week, but until I have all my stories in I am not sure what I am going to do with it. One of my favorite issues is our last mag, # 22. I was really happy with the layouts and the articles and the flow and feel of the magazine, so I have my work cut out for me when it comes time to putting it together. Because my goal is to always out do the last issue of SDM. Keeping you all guessing and excited about the next mag is important to me.
Ok on to trips...our first stop is Cat Island in the Bahamas. This is also our first trip out there, and I am of course nervous about the logistics of the trip, and sharks showing up and everything you can think of. I always worry about our friends getting there safely, gear making to the island with us, and so on.
But I am also excited beyond words. The thought of finally seeing my first oceanic whitetip is such a high, no words can describe it. But I am cool and calm, until I see that first shark, then you'll see my excitement. The best part of this adventure is the fact that we are staying on the island. We rented a beach house and will be staying in a quiet part of the island where the only traffic and noise we will be hearing is the ocean lapping on the shore.
I am in love with the idea of getting lost out in this world; no emails, no TV, no schedule other than our early ocean appointment with the sharks is a dream beyond words. Just sharkin' all day with good friends, then cooking our meals at night, listening to music, talking about the day, drinking beer, till one by one, we slide from reality. Then wake up and do it again!
I originally scheduled it for 4 days of diving but my buddies all decided it was not enough time and wanted at least 6 days of diving, and who am I to argue with my friends?
So here we go, a brand new adventure to an island I have never visited before to seek out a shark that is very hard to find these days. Counting the days, counting the days!
April 27, 2010 Today's blog is mixed up with yesterday's blog. Yesterday I started a rant about sharks and my thoughts and ideas about conservation, the science of sharks, and eco-tourisms roll. But after reading it I decided to add a few more ideas and thoughts, because all of it is important, other than the blurb about my newspaper piece. Of course the idea behind why I mentioned it is important, but not the fluff about me. This blog might piss off a few people, but thats ok, because I am a story teller, both good and bad - that is my roll in life, and if it makes you think then I did my job.
I was featured in our local newspaper last Friday, which I am posting the link for those that are interested. The writer of the article did a good job, she did not fluff up the article with a man-eater story nor did she use words like brave, and fearless and all the crap I hate when most articles are written about sharks or diving with sharks. I understand that it's a neccessary evil in the media, because it helps sell newspapers and TV shows, and these companies depend on ratings, and eyeballs to sell advertising. Advertising is the life blood of any media company. So when I see a show on TV that depicts sharks as some mindless monster, I just change the channel, I don't rant and rave about it.
I have a lot of friends and I know a lot of people who get all bent out of shape when they see this kind of stuff on TV, and of course I used to be one of them. But time went on and I evolved, and I grew and understood the realities of the situation. In the end, I decided that I was the one with the biased views and that if I did not want to watch the shows, all I needed to do was turn off the TV. Don't get me wrong, I hate it when sharks are misrepresented, but I know what is needed for the media to sell programs and they are going to do what they need to do to keep operating. For them millions of dollars are at stake, and the ranting and ravings of a few thousand shark lovers is not important to the corporate world and their bottom line.
So instead of wasting time on that I decided to start putting my energy into other things where I can make a difference. Promoting marine reserves is one place where I am going to sink my teeth into. The more reserves that can be created the better off the oceans will be. Sharks are smart, and will soon realize that they are safe within these borders and will flock to them in the thousands. Sounds funny I know, but its true, and is straight out of the commercial fishermen's mouth. Why do you think places like Cocos, and the Galapagos still have huge schools of sharks. Its because these animals have learned that these places are relatively safe from longlines, and nets.
I am fortunate that I have been able to listen to all sides of the different debates surrounding sharks, as well as the continued population crisis. The arguement of whether sharks are overfished is ongoing, and from what I can gather will continue until all the sharks are either protected or gone. The shitty reality is, there is no way to ever get an accurate count of exactly how many sharks are out there. Its impossible, the ocean is too vast, and sharks are too highly migratory. Where they go changes annually, due to their food sources changing and always migrating as well. So how is it possible to accurately count sharks? As much as I wish that all threatened shark species will be individually protected, I know it's going to be hard. Fishing nations are going to fight tooth and nail to ensure that sharks remain a catchable, sellable economic resource. And since we will never be able to accurately count sharks to see how many are left - how do we protect an unprotectable species? We have to look at it the way it really is - it is seemingly impossible, and the oceans remain a big shopping mall for fishermen, and right now - everything is on sale!
The problem is, right now most of the science is bull shit. Tagging and studying sharks for grant money and psuedo science needs to end. I realize that its important to tag sharks, but when you have 30 different organizations tagging the same sharks and no one is sharing the information, what's the point? In my opinion - all science, money, and energy needs to be put into a program that will create real results. Other than that, there is no point of any further catching, tagging and dissecting any more sharks?
Ok, here is my opinion on what should be done to save sharks...
-We need a few conservation groups (working together) focused on helping create more NO-CATCH marine reserves. The PEW environmental group is currently working on this very thing. They aided Palau and helped create a shark sanctuary, protecting 230,000 sq feet of ocean from commercial fishing. We need more groups working together to do this very thing.
-We then need conservation groups (again, working together is key) focused on creating ranger teams to help protect these reserves. Park rangers are the key to any conservation effort - without some kind of protection from illegal fishermen, marine parks are pointless.
-As far as scientific research...The only reason a scientist should be studying sharks is to find out where they migrate, pup and breed...that's it. Population studies are too difficult to prove and will take too many years. "Migrate, breed, and pup" studies are more practical and can be proven in a shorter amount of time. Sat tags can accurately pinpoint where sharks go, what they do, and can create maps into their world. The results of this research should then be used to help create marine reserves to protect these precious pupping, breeding and major feeding/migratory areas.
-As an incentive for these newly created marine parks, Eco-tourism should be invited in to view these different places to help create jobs and pump money into the local economy. Obviously many people will want to protect sensitive areas from Eco-Tourism, but the reality is, sharks are an economic resource, and people still need to feed their families, especially in third world countries. So local communities are going to need to do one of two things; either fish them up and sell them, or collect annual revenue from tourists who want to dive with them. Which one is the better solution?
So there it is...science, conservation and Eco-tourism, working hand in hand - full circle. Simple and effective, and there is an end result - not a continued sustained crisis.
I know this might piss off a few conservation groups and fishermen, but I don't care, this is my opinion and I will be a lot more vocal about it as the years go on. Too much bull shit is out there, and very little is getting done. There has been a few small victories, which is great, but its not enough, A positive common sense approach need to be applied to saving sharks, and conservation groups working together with a common goal will work better then a bunch of groups, hording information to protect grant money, and their own interests.
Ok, I am off my soap box... for now!
April 21, 2010 Today is my birthday and I have hit the tail end of the thirties. Damn 39 years old. You wonder where the time goes? Birthdays are good times to reflect what you have done with your lives. If I stop and look back at my time spent during my 38th year of life, I wonder if I have lived it to the fullest? Did I experience enough adventures? Did I play with my kids enough? Did I say I love you enough to the people I care about? How many times did I fall on my ass and make mistakes? Or did I waste time and squander life?
In my 38th year I witnessed and filmed the largest aggregation of whale sharks ever recorded. 600 plus whale sharks feeding together. Definitely a high light.
Another life time achievement. My first sky dive. Another pretty cool highlight.
As I look back at my life and think about those things I can honestly say 100% - NO! - No, I did not live life to the fullest. No, I did not play with my kids enough. No, I did say I love you enough. No, I did not make enough mistakes. AND YES, I did waste too much time. Yes, I squandered too much time doing nothing.Yes, I watched too much tv. Yes, I did not accomplish most of my goals. Yes, I procrastinated way too much, and Yes, I did not dream enough.
I look at my life and those are the things I think about. I know I did a lot in my last year, I know I traveled a lot in my last year, but I don't think about those things too much, what I think about is all the things I did not do and it eats at me. And I use that to keep pushing myself forward, so that I never find myself dragging ass through life.
So anyway my birthday gift to myself is to try and double up on everything during my 39th year of life. Ha! just thinking about that get me all fired up inside...to be continued my friends!
As always I hope to see you out there...somewhere...anywhere!
April 20, 2010 I was going through some old SDM web pages that are stored on my hard drive and I was sort of reflecting over this road I have traveled with you all and I was blown away. Its hard to put into words what an amazing experience this has all been. The people I have met, the places I have been, the things I have seen. For a long time I have contemplated writing a book about this experience, but just the idea of trying to start something like that is too crazy to get into right now, at least not without some help. Between old journals, both written on notebooks, and stored on harddrives, there is just a huge river of nonsense too vast for me to even tinker with right now. Especially since I am in the middle of this journey with no end in sight.
So for now I will just keep notes and blurbs and store them in my big file called; "shit that happens to me, and things that I see." Ha, thats a good name for my book!
I just got back from a film festival in Florida where the Shark Con played at and I returned from it sort of in a daze with the whole experience. From seeing the movie with some of the characters that were interviewed in the Con (which is a whole other blog), to the Hollywood styled parties with big named actors (John Travolta, Billy Dee Williams to name a couple), and big budgeted producers, to the whole crazy marketing scene. It was an experience I will not soon forget. The one thing I returned with is although it was interesting and fun entering this world of high fashion and craziness, I still prefer sitting on an empty beach, watching the world as it should be, playing music (mostly Ipod music, my guitar playing still needs more work), hanging with a few good friends - than getting all dolled up in a monkey suit to be around pretty people. However we did meet some very cool people out there, and I am looking forward to running into them at future events and festivals. So despite a few things that left me dazed and confused, I did walk away from the fest feeling great about a few exciting moments.
This summer we have some great adventures in the works. I finally put together a trip to seek out oceanics. The liveaboard boats have been going out there for a while now and coming back with stories and images of these sharks. I have been drooling at the mouth to get out there, but the idea of being on a liveaboard boat crossing an ocean for 30 hours straight seemed like a crazy idea. 5 days of boat travel, in exchange for 4-5 days in the water seems insane. Especially since by flying to the island, we can get out by day boat and in less than an hour we can get to the deep water where the sharks are seen. So after a few phone calls, I booked a boat, set up logging, booked my plane ticket, called up a few friends to share the adventure with me and bang, May 11th we are on our way to Cat Island.
I really need this kind of adventure... even though there are no guaranteed sharks, it will be a guaranteed blue ocean, guaranteed fun and pure freedom from the world where we know everything. No phones, no tv, no internet, no shoes, just a few beers, some good tunes, a shit load of diving, and a whole lot of madness. Hell yea!
April 1, 2010 I was watching the adventure TV series "The Long Way Down" the other day. The synopsis is 2 friends, actors Ewan Mcgreggor and Charlie Bowman, travel around the world via motorcycle. The first season they traveled from London to New York, "The Long Way Round." They had such an amazing adventure they decided to do it again, this time from Scotland to Capetown, South Africa. Its an amazing adventure and a lot of fun to watch. These shows and this adventure they experienced is what I live for. I always get a fire after watching, wanting to just take off and experience the world.
LONG WAY ROUND TRAILER
The reason I brought up this show is there is one scene in particular that sticks out to me in "Long Way Down"...Ewan and Charlie are on their bikes traveling through this crazy desolate section of Africa. The kind of place that if things go bad you are screwed, help will never arrive in time, if at all. Anyway, Ewan and Charlie have a support team that was helping them through the adventure. The team consists of a medic, mechanic, cameramen, and the show producers. In one scene they reached this rough section and the team decided to travel close together to get through it as safely as possible. Normally the bikes did not travel with the support team, but they did for this section.
LONG WAY DOWN TRAILER
I was watching this gnarly bad-ass craziness unfold on tv, thinking man this is awesome, and these guys are amazing, when all of a sudden coming from the other way was a guy by himself on a bicycle with a back pack and his travel gear strapped to his bike. He had just traveled throught that trecherous stretch that the team was about to do. The guy was traveling around the world by himself on human power, and I believe he was a year or two into his adventure. He stopped and chatted with the team for a bit, and when he finally pedaled away, Ewan looked at Charlie and said, "don't you feel like the biggest pussy right now?" I love that scene, it always reminds me that no matter what you do in life, there is always another way to do something, there is always a new adventure to have, and there is someone out there more hardcore than you will ever be.
What is also amazing to me is knowing that everything under the sun has NOT been done yet. There are still so many things left to do, so many places left to see. So many first descents, first explorations, undiscovered species of plants and animals. It's EPIC stuff.
Remember - life is always moving forward my friends, and you're either moving forward with it, or life is leaving you behind...way behind!
Change your world!
March 23, 2010 So far sharks have had a rough time at the CITIES convention. Scalloped hammerheads have been shot down for protection and so have oceanic whitetips. As someone who is biased about wanting sharks protected I do have to say, I am upset by the decisions made to keep these sharks off the list. But I am also a realist and know that getting sharks like scalloped hammerheads put on the list was going to be hard. I have to say it... if I was on the outside looking in, and if I was a board member from one of the fishing nations, and I was doing my research on scalloped hammerheads, I would assume that scalloped hammers are doing fine, because there are huge schools everywhere; Cocos, Galapagos, Red Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Baja, and so on. They may be in global declines, but to a fishing nation who makes their living off of sharks, I am sure they believe they are doing ok. because they are everywhere. So I understand their skepticism.
However even an outside observer who knows nothing about sharks could easily be educated about a shark like the oceanic whitetip. These sharks are clearly a shark that has suffered huge losses globally and is an animal that is deserving of protection. These animals are on a fast and steady decline, and it will not be long before this species is gone. It will of course reach commercial extinction long before it is gone, if it hasn't already. But what will happen after that is the longliners who are targeting other species of sharks will wipe out all remaining oceanics in the process, thus eliminating a once extremely common species. So I was hoping for a better outcome for this particular species. It was a tough loss.
Now I am a realist when it comes to sharks. I understand that sharks are an animal that is consumed and harvested for more than their fins world wide, even in the US. Many nations around the world consider sharks an important part of their diet and not just the asian countries; European nations use dogfish for fish and chips, and fish sticks, mako and thresher is served in restaraunts worldwide.
Menu I collected from a Southern California restaraunt.
Sharks are used in lotions, for leather, makeup, and pills. So there is a demand for these animals and not just by the asian market. The asian market is in the spot light because they are (allegedly) the largest consumers of sharks, and we need someone to blame.
I believe we are all to blame, every single one of us - for the problems that the oceans and these animals face. The reason is, we are not more demanding of what is used in our foods, and lotions, medicines, and consumer products. We do not question the way our food is caught and killed, or what is caught and killed. We just go to restraunts and order whats on the menu, or buy the lotions, or tonics, without knowing anything about what's in it. Not sure if you knew this, but the H1N1 vaccine uses shark in it. The story is that the US uses a synthetic, but not all countries do. Just imagine how many sharks were killed to mass produce this vaccine? Also many body-care products use shark; makeups, lipsticks, lotions (have you ever used a Dove product?). So to me, sharks are in trouble for a number of reasons - and we are ALL to blame.
Ok, never mind sharks, what about the oceans? The garbage in the ocean is growing and growing, but has that stopped you from purchasing bottled water or sodas? Or demanding stores to stop putting your purchased items in plastic bags? We are all guilty. And maybe you are not to blame, but what about your family and friends?
I read an interesting blog the other day about the movie "The Cove." In the blog the writer mentioned how the filmmakers who were filming in that small Japanese fishing villiage were making fun of the Japanese for having iconic images of dolphin in and around their town. They were in a sense calling them hypocrites because they were slaughtering and consuming dolphins and they had images of them displayed everywhere. To which the writer of the blog replied, "why is it bad to have iconic images of dolphins, where dolphins are consumed? When you go to any steak house in the US, there are images and trophy heads of cattle all over the place?" Why is that ok for the Americans, and not ok for the Japanese? It implied we are forcing our views and ways of life on other cultures, which I found pretty thought provoking.
The reason for this blog today is just for you all to maybe think a little bit more about what it is we are fighting for and why. We are all fighting for something, and we are always pointing fingers, but when will it be time to stop and take a look at ourselves?
...Change your world!
March 19, 2010 So for the past week I have been packaging and packing mags for you all and the first batch of mags will be mailed out early next week. I know it is a slow process but since we are a small magazine company this is just how it is. Which is cool, I enjoy that its a total hands on experience, and I am involved with every part of the process of creating this magazine. From finding the stories and images, to selecting the images for the issue, to laying out the art work and how the mag is going to look and feel. Of course I am totally hands on when it comes to packaging the magazines and mailing the mags to you all. So when I get your emails of thanks and compliments its really a gratifying experience for me.
My desk with mags getting stuffed into the brown envelopes. Issue 22 is coming soon!
The best part of finishing up with a new mag is what happens after its done, It normally means I am off on another adventure. I don't think I plan it that way, it kinda just sort of happens that way. Crazy how that is? Well this summer is going to be an interesting sharky summer. I have a few spots we are going to check out and chum. The best part is that most are places I have never been before and I am desperate need of some new adventures. Don't get me wrong, how does it suck to go off to Holbox for a few weeks, or California, or the Northern Bahamas. But I am dire need of a new adventure seeking out different species of sharks. This is also the year that I am finally going to make my ultimate dream happen and I am going to finally go swimming with gators.
This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and this is the year to make my personal dream a reality. I know I am already living the dream with my job and taking people shark diving to different places around the world, but there are things that I want to do that do not involve sharks, and swimming with gators is one of them. Once I learned it was possible, I decided I have to do it also. So 2010 for me is going to be a long year of doing everything I can to accomplish goals.
One of my dreams that I had sat on for many, many years was sky diving. I had talked about it and talked about it, for ever it seems. Somehow I never got around to doing it. I finally did it this past January in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was the most intense feeling I have ever experienced, because it was so real, and so extreme. Once your up there and once that door swings open, it is for real, and there is no going back. At least for me there was no going back.
I of course did the tandum jump, which is where you are jumping with an instructor strapped to your back. So I was really at the mercy of the guy...shitty feeling. Anyway, once we got to 10,000 feet the door opened and my jump instructor told me to step outside the plane onto this little platform outside the plane. talk about a gnarly feeling. he instructed me to hold onto my harness straps, and not to grab any part of the plane, so I am stepping out and onto this little plaform and my heart is in my throat, the wind is screaming and I am feeling way out of my element and completely out of control.
The next thing I know we are gone and falling away from the plane. The wind is still screaming and we start rolling, I remember my brief instruction about arching my back, and kicking my legs behind me, which I do and automatically we stop rolling and I am falling towards the earth face down. At this point I am commited, we are free falling at over 100 miles an hour, and I sort of relax and just enjoy it for what it is. Its an unreal feeling watching the ground rush up at you, everything looks amazing and I had this unreal feeling ripping through me. The ground rush is the only way to describe it. We had a 45 second free fall and I am yelling out a few "frack yeahs," enjoying this crazy feeling of pure freedom that you get from not really caring if you live or die, because your so in the moment. Of course because it is 45 seconds, you can't help but hope that the shoot opens, because you have enough time to think about it. However I do remember thinking that it does not really matter if it did or not, because if it did not there is not much I can do about it anyway, so I just gave myself completely to the moment, and its an amazing feeling when you don't really care whether you live or die.
When the shoot opened and we were cruising down, I remember feeling relieved that it did open. I also remember looking down into the ocean hoping to see some sharks swimming around. I was totally absorbed with looking for shadows. One track mind! When we landed on the beach, I was sort of confused as to what or how I was supposed to feel. To this day I am still not sure how I felt about the jump. All I know is I want to do it again...
So it was after finally accomplishing this life long dream that I decided that I was going to move forward and chase every dream I have ever had where the dream starts with, "one day I will."
This summer gators are on my to do list, and I am going to make it happen...well gators and maybe jumping out of plane in Florida?
March 8, 2010 I am sorry for the blog silence, but there was a good reason for it...Issue 22 has finally left my hands and is now in the hands of the printers. This is one of the most memorable magazines I have ever created. Two weeks ago I was contacted by the PEW Environment group to discuss the upcoming CITIES meeting in Qatar. This year 8 species of sharks are up for Appendix II protection status. For those of you who do not know what CITIES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is, it's an annual meeting of member nations who gather to discuss the trade and protection of endangered species. Currently we have 3 species of sharks on the list, white shark, whale shark, and the basking shark. An appendix II listing will not ban international trade, but what it will do is require member nations to take steps to ensure that trade is not detrimental to wild populations. So to get more sharks put on this list is a good thing towards preserving the species.
So Pew contacted me, wanting to circulate our magazine at the next CITIES meeting to help show the voting members that do not know or understand that sharks have value in the Eco-tourism trade, that they do. Enough value that there is a magazine devoted to this sport. They said my magazine would be a great vehicle to distribute around at next weeks meeting. I jumped on the chance to help. So within this issue are a series of articles on over fishing for sharks and the speed at which these animals are disappearing. And some of the sharks that are up for appendix II listing.
So if within the next 2 weeks you see a newsletter and blog with me hooting and hollering, it is because these sharks won enough votes for protection, and our mag was there when it happened.
Ok, so time for the sneak peek,...here is what the new issue is going to look like...
This is an image by Amanda Cotton. Originally it was going to be an image by Andy Murch, but after showing the cover around, we were worried that Andy's mako shark image might be too scary looking for voting members of CITIES, and so we decided to change it. This was going to be the cover for issue 23, but I decided to flip flop covers and so I am going with Andy's cover on 23, and using issue 23 cover for 22 instead. As far as Amanda's cover, this pic is just amazing, not only is it a rare image of two tigers crossing each other right in front of the camera, but it is also the first time I have put tiger sharks on the cover from Tiger beach. As much time as I spend there, I have never had a TB tiger on the cover. I have had lemons and great hammerheads from TB on the cover, but never tigers. I am glad I waited till I had one of the best representations of TB and how special that place is.
