The masses choose to live a life where they are mere shadows of people, watching the world pass them by. Living vicariously from the safety of their couches. We who have chosen life, know what it feels like to truly be alive. They don't know what it's like to face your own death on the back of bull, or what its like to see the Egyptian pyramids, and feel the sting of the sun on your skin, or what it feels like to stand on Everest and breath in that cold thin air. And if your out there, and this blog bothers you - then good! This is your souls wake up call. Get up off your ass and start living. There are no excuses good enough to choose a dead soul, over a life of discomfort and adventure. Choose the unknown.
Get out there, and stay out there.
And when I say stay out there, I don't mean literally. I mean it in a way where a piece of your soul never returns home. And it will happen that way when you seek out great adventures. Because when you come home from one of those kind of trips - you never really come home, you are forever changed by the experience. I remember chatting with my buddy Andy Murch on Instant messaging one evening. We were talking shark and about some upcoming trips for about an hour when he finally said, "I better go, I need to get back to this party I am at - before they think I am anti-social." I was like, "what the hell are you doing chatting with me on the computer while your at a party man?" His reply was something to the effect of, "Its a room full of people, and their lips are moving but they are saying nothing." I understood completely. Dead souls my friends, the world is full of dead souls...do not become one!
I'll see you out there.
PS- Matala Ulun is a Penan Indian word which means - chose life.
September 23, 2010
There has been a lot of industry mud slinging going on lately. A few blogs out there have been writing about different people within the shark diving industry; slamming them, talking about how they are doing things wrong, how they should behave, and how they should interact with sharks. These watch dog bloggers are also the same people who slam me every chance they get. I could go into throwing out names of these people and what I think of them, but whats the point? This name calling and industry bull shit does nothing to help sharks...not one thing. These bloggers sit behind computers, calling out others on their behavior - instead of putting their focus on real issues, and sticking with that.
Here is the deal. Everyone in the shark diving business loves sharks, and the fact is we are not going to like some things other people do or say, but thats ok. That's the beauty of this world, we can choose to listen to the other persons opinion and hear what they have to say... or not. And then choose to move on. But when you disagree with someone and then spend the next few weeks publically slamming that person, what does that gain? How do the sharks benefit from that? They don't - and the blogger just made another enemy in a tiny industry that needs everyone joined together to try and create real change. "We are all brothers from different mothers," as the saying goes. And we don't have to like everyone in our family but we do need to respect each other enough to join together when there is something like saving sharks to be done.
Just my humble opinion, you can take it for what its worth.
September 21, 2010
I am finally back from our California trip. I happily spent two weeks in California chasing sharks around Catalina Island and La Jolla. It was an amazing time with really good friends, and I am forever changed by the experiences I had out there. Thanks again to everyone who joined me on this trip - it was amazing. My trip report will be written up by the end of the week, so keep checking back for it. Yesterday was my first day back in the office and I am overwhelmed by the amount of work that is in front of me. Plus it is hard going from being on the back of a boat, starring out into perfect oceans, and dropping into her belly looking for sharks - to sitting behind a desk writing about it. That is never an easy transition, and it gets hard with each and every adventure. But it is also the most important part of the adventure - transferring the experiences from memory to written words. Like I have said, I am first and foremost a story teller.
The original...Summer of the Sharks.
Speaking of stories that need to be told. I have a story that is itching to be told. I am planning out the filming of our 3rd movie, "Summer of the Sharks 2." I am still working out details for the shoot but I am officially greenlighting the project and have begun writing out the story lines and ideas for the shoot. This film will be my official directorial debut, as our first two films were written/directed by my good friends - Rusty Armstrong, and Steve Pavon of Endless Perserverence Films. They did amazing jobs with our movies, creating two award winning films for us. But I am at a point in my film making career where I want to get more involved in the behind the scenes aspect of film making, which is why I decided to wear the directors hat for this one. I am still going to be seeking help and counciling from them, but I will take over the role as chief story teller for this one, which I am really stoked about.
`The shark bus we drove around during the filming of Summer of the Sharks in the summer of 06'.
In Summer 2, we will be introducing some of the industries top shark diving characters with intimate interviews and their underwater work, which should take the film to a whole new level of awesomeness. For now I am keeping the names of the people that are going to be in the film a secret, but as the filming moves along - I will begin releasing some behind the scenes pics and short videos in our blog that will lead up to the release of our movie. I am pretty excited about the project as it will have been officially 5 years since we filmed the original Summer of the Sharks movie, and so much has changed since our first film.
On location in St Maarten, Caribbean.
It originally stared myself and Andy Murch, with a few of our friends making cameos here and there. Of course you will see both of us again in this film, but the films direction and feel will be totally different, so expect an entirely different movie than the original. My goals have always been to tell great stories and it is a must that if I am to make this movie it has to be better than the original...way better!
Filming makos for SOTS.
The original film crew from Summer of the Sharks. L-R; Andy Murch, Paul Spielvogel, Eli Martinez, Rusty Armstrong, and Rafa Flores.
When I look back at my years here at SDM, it has always been about wanting to make films and tell better stories. That was always important for me. Telling good stories and making a film that people will want to watch over and over again. The reason is because all of my favorite films I will watch over and over again, I never grow tired of watching them. And that is the most important thing for me, is to make a film you all will want to watch over and over again. And as the chief story teller on this project, if the film sucks royally...then I will have failed as a story teller. So it is important to me that when you watch Summer of the Sharks 2, you will want to watch it again the following day - and hopefully again the day after that.
That is always the most important thing for me when cutting together stories for the magazine. I want to create a magazine that you never want to throw away and will keep you thumbing through it - re-reading the articles weeks, or months and possibly years from now. It also translates into the film I hope to create for you all.
So anyway we begin shooting in January of 2011. News, blogs, and updates about the film will be added to both our website and facebook pages, and the first official write up about it will appear in issue 25 of SDM. More details about it will be blogged on a later date...
September 2, 2010
It's been a busy summer, with lots of travel, plenty of sharks, and thankfully lots of renewed subscriptions. Which keeps me super busy when I am in the office. Issue 23 was a lot of fun to work on and I was really pleased with the final product. But like in life, we must move forward and issue 24 is now the mag that I am focused on. I am still seeking out the stories that will fill these pages and I am still trying to find the heart and soul of this issue, and that always happens when I don't have a cover for the issue. Which is not the norm, I normally have an idea of what I want to use for the cover of the new mags, but right now, I have no idea the direction I want to take for it, so the search continues...
Around the corner is our mako and blue shark trip to Catalina Island in Southern California. I love these sharks, pelagics it seems are my favorite because they are such amazing sharks to interact with when they show up. It is going to be interesting to see what kind of season we are going to have. The blue/mako sharks around Rhode Island this year just kicked ass and Joe of 333 Productions and his buddy Brian had an amazing season with plenty of crazy shark action. I am curious to see what the end of the season shark count is going to be this year? Should be up there.
Mako from our 2009 Catalina trip.
The thing about pelagic sharks is they are just gnarly sharks. You know how most Shark Diver's preach about how sharks are harmless and safe to dive with? Well most sharks are, however there are a few sharks that are not. Pelagic sharks would be on that very short list of what I call advanced sharks. You really need to know what your doing and be very comfortable around these kind of sharks. Both blues and makos can be aggressive sharks, and will put the fear of life into you - if your not use to their behavior. Blues are bitey sharks, and a species that should never be allowed to nose or touch you. And makos, when they do hang around should absolutely never be allowed near your body. I love diving with these kind of sharks, because they are some of the most amazing sharks you will ever encounter, but you better know and respect the rules if you ever encounter one.
I have been taking people out to dive with makos and blues in California for a few years, and my buddy Joe of 333 productions has been diving with them for a few seasons, and he began taking people out around Rhode Island last season. We have sat and discussed these things over and over, talking about the differences between reef sharks and pelagics, and the trouble with divers thinking they can treat them the same - and the reality is, you just can't. When you dive with any type of shark there are rules you need to follow - but with pelagics there are a few more rules added to the list. Don't get me wrong, diving with pelagics is amazing and fun, and a beautiful experience like no other, you just have to be mindful of where you are and what your doing. You can never forget about the shark behind you, if you do your asking for trouble, and there is no room for error with these types of sharks.
Image by Andy Murch
If you get bumped from behind by a reef or a lemon shark, 99% of the time the reef shark will just bump and swim off - not so with blues and makos. Blues bump, feel around, and if given the chance, it will mouth the diver. Makos do not bump divers closed mouth, they always bump open mouth, due partly to the way their teeth are designed. Pelagics mouth things out of instinct, because the rules of the open ocean are different from the reefs. Which is why it is important that divers respect these rules, and with these guys if you don't respect the rules, you will get pulled from the water.
Image by Andy Murch
Anyway, that was just a little inside into the world of blues and makos, and how we see them. The whole point of showing people sharks is to put you out there where you can create great images or video, and to share time with this type of shark. Moments and Memories...that's why we dive.
This mako season I am changing things up and adding a morning dive seeking out the bottom dwelling sharks that make their home in the waters around Catalina. California has so many amazing shark species and there are a variety of sharks that call the kelp beds their home, including; horn sharks, Pacific angel sharks, soupfin sharks, leopard sharks, and swell sharks. My personal goal is to see a soupfin shark. A species that I have never seen before. I am hoping it will be slinking around out there when we hit the kelp beds. But we will see? Walter Heim took some really great images of soupfins that we published in issue 22. If you haven't read his article or seen the images, all I can say is..."shame on you - SDM is man's greatest invention next to the I-pod!"
