The shark diving industry blog covering sharks, shark cage diving, shark conservation and things we find "amusing" since 2008 www.sharkdiver.com, www.sharkdivers.com, www.divingwithsharks.com
We at Shark Diver believe in "Safe and Sane" shark diving. The example in the video below is how NOT to dive with sharks.
Ataque provocado de un tiburón. OJO IMÁGENES FUERTES que pueden herir la sensibilidad del espectador.El ser humano es lo más estúpido que he descubierto en mi vida.
Posted by Buceo Recreativo on Tuesday, January 26, 2016
For years we have warned about how stupid and dangerous it is to ride, hug and harass sharks in the Ocean. So here you see first hand what can happen, when you don't respect the sharks. They are not mindless killers, but neither are they pets that just want to be hugged. If you love sharks like I do, you respect them for what they are and are not trying to make them into something they are not.
Diving with Great Whites from the safety of a cage.
We at Shark Diver offer "Safe and Sane" diving expeditions, where you get to see sharks up close and personal, without any touching or harassing of the sharks.
Up close and personal. No touching needed.
I always say "I absolutely love sharks, but it is not a mutual feeling". The sharks don't love me, it's not in their nature and that is absolutely fine with me.
Let's go shark diving and see what these magnificent creatures are all about. No touching, no hugging, just enjoying the awesome feeling of being in their presence.
Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver About Shark Diver.
As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.
There are a lot of conservation organizations out there, all looking to raise money for their causes. It's rare that you see a call to sign a petition etc. that is not automatically asking you for money, after you signed it. There is nothing inherently wrong with asking for money, because there are cost involved with saving the oceans. With some groups however, making money seems to be the main purpose, regardless of who, or what they hurt in the process. Take the following example.
In 2010 the "Ady Gil", a small vessel operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society collided with the Japanese whaling ship "Shonan Maru 2" and sank some time later. "SSCS" has always claimed that the collision damage inflicted on the "Ady Gil" is what caused her to sink and maintained that the Japanese intentionally rammed their vessel.
There is video evidence that the collision itself was actually caused by the captain of the "Ady Gil", by accelerating into the path of the "Shonan Maru 2" at the last moment. In this video, you can see that the "Ady Gil" is stopped in the water and a little before the collision there is whitewater behind the vessel, a sign that it engaged the props and accelerated forward, right into the path of the Japanese ship.
This video has led some people to accuse SCCS of intentionally causing this accident to create publicity for their "Whale Wars" TV show and to raise money from their supporters. I'm not accusing the captain of the "Ady Gil" of trying to intentionally ram the Japanese ship. While I think it's more likely that he wanted to cut right in front of it to get some dramatic TV footage and simply miscalculated, the claim that SSCS created this whole event gained some credibility, when in the aftermath of the sinking, Pete Bethune, the captain of the "Ady Gil" came out and stated that he deliberately sank the vessel on the orders of Paul Watson.
Sea Shepherd maintained that the "Ady Gil" sank because of the damage it sustained during the collision and that they made every effort to save it. In reply to Bethune's admission, the SSCS released this statement by Watson. In part it read: "So why has Bethune decided to make such an accusation to the media and the public that I ordered him to sink the Ady Gil?
The answer is obvious. I fired him the day before for providing false
statements to the Japanese police. He then threatened to make this
allegation against me if I did not reinstate him. I refused. In fact, I
sent Bethune’s threats to the media before he released them."
After hearing Bethune's confession,Ady Gil, a person who donated 1 Million $ to the SSCS and who the boat was named after, ended up suing them for the loss of the vessel. After years of back and forth, last September, the arbitrator in this case issued finally issued a ruling that now became public.
The ruling includes a scathing assessment of Paul Watson: "The Arbitrator found Mr. Watson’s testimony regarding
certain events to be highly evasive, internally contradictory, or at odds with his own prior
written statements, and in certain areas simply lacking the basic indicia of genuineness
that instinctively inspires confidence and trust"
So now we know that Paul Watson ordered the deliberate sinking of the "Ady Gil"
A couple of days ago, Chuck Swift, former captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel "Bob Barker" also came out and admitted publicly that the "Ady Gil" was intentionally sunk and issued a public apology on Facebook, for his role in it.
YES. I, along with Pete Bethune and Luke VanHorn, did board the vessel
Ady Gil and intentionally scuttled it. We sank the vessel Ady Gil and
lied to everyone inside and outside of SSCS to cover that truth.You can read his entire statement here
Why was it so important to Paul Watson to sink the "Ady Gil"? Before acceding to Mr.
Watson’s demands, (to deliberately scuttle the vessel) Mr. Swift recalls that he asked Mr. Watson, “Why is this so
important to you?”, and Mr. Watson responded, “Our audience needs closure.” I guess this illustrates where Paul Watson's priorities are.
Entertaining his audience is more important than what he claims to care
about. Of course Watson had no qualms about the fact that the "closure"
he provided to his TV audience was a blatant lie and he didn't hesitate
to use that lie to raise money.
From the ruling: Of course, whatever the rationale for deceiving the viewing public
(which might be presumed to understand that “reality shows” do not
actually reflect reality)
Here are some excerpts from the arbitrators ruling, that offer insight into the reasons the SSCS wanted to scuttle the "Ady Gil" and how "real" "whale wars" really is.
the evidence suggests that the Ady Gil was unlikely to sink for any
appreciable period of time, notwithstanding the damage she incurred from the collision
with the Japanese fleet the
crew’s thinking (to scuttle to Ady Gil) seems to have been directly influenced by the presence of the Animal
Planet film crew, which gave SSCS unparalleled public exposure and greatly expanded
its fundraising possibilities.
Certainly, a plodding tow operation to deliver a damaged
vessel to shore would not have made for interesting television viewing
By contrast, the collision of the Shonan Maru #2 with the Ady Gil already had captured
unparalleled media attention, with Mr. Watson giving interviews from the Steve Irwin
and Pete Bethune taking non-stop media calls on board the Bob Barker. The crew was acutely aware that the sinking of the Ady Gil would create the occasion for more
dramatic reality television
Indeed, Mr. Swift testifies that “during our
discussions/arguments leading up to my capitulation to Paul’s order to sink the Ady Gil,
he was telling me ... ‘Oh, the media on this would be great.’”
Paul’s a genius, and he’s a media genius especially. And sometimes he’s
open-minded, and sometimes, he’s not. And, when he sets his mind on
something he’s like a pit bull getting lock jaw, and I was unable to change
his mind, which is why I eventually executed his orders
As for the scene in "Whale Wars", where Bethune and Swift discussed abandoning the ship: The decision to stage this scene for the cameras was the result of discussions between Mr.
Bethune and Mr. Swift, in the presence of the Animal Planet crew: they said we need to just create the scene that makes it look like you were
making the decision to abandon the boat. And I knew from Whale War’s
perspective, ... the decision to abandon a boat by the captain is a pretty
powerful scene. I went along with it
The arbitrator offered this thought. Of course, whatever the rationale for deceiving the viewing public (which might be presumed to understand that “reality shows” do not actually reflect reality), there was no legal or moral justification for deceiving Claimants, the owners of the Ady Gil. So we know that SSCS and Paul Watson have no problem deceiving their supporters and the viewers of "Whale Wars" who think that the series is an actual documentary. What is interesting to find out is that they equally have no problem with throwing their own employees, donors and volunteers under the bus, blaming them for their own actions.
There are many great organizations working to save the oceans and it's inhabitant and I encourage to support them. Just check them out carefully before you choose which one you want to support.
Cheers, Martin Graf CEO Shark Diver
About Shark Diver.
As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.
After the movie "Jaws" came out in 1975, a lot of people were afraid to even enter a pool or a bathtub. Who knew that one could actually find a shark in a pool?
"Nicole Bonk was visiting friends at the Mariner's Cay condo the week
before last when she saw two boys carrying the five-foot blacktip shark,
with hooks in its mouth, and dump it into the pool at around 11 p.m."
She and her husband pulled the shark out and carried it to the
Intracoastal Waterway, where her husband held the shark by the tail in
the water so it could try to flush out the chlorinated pool water. Then
they released it.
"We tried to revive him but he mostly likely did
not live," she said. "He was barely moving after the trauma. We did our
best to try to save this creature."
It's really disturbing that these kids had so little regard for a living creature. I'm glad that Nicole Bonk and her husband tried to save the shark and hope that it survived.
This story shows that human beings are both capable of cruelty and compassion. I'm glad that the "Sun Sentinel" focused it's article on those issues and not on trying to scare people into thinking they have to be afraid to enter a pool.
I hope that they find the kids who did this and teach them that this is not acceptable behavior.
She reported the incident to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, but no officers arrived until the following
morning.
"These two kids, they came back from fishing and threw
this half-dead creature into the pool as a prank," she said. "They left
the shark in the pool to die. I think they're terrible children because
it's animal cruelty."
The wildlife commission is investigating the
incident and attempting to find evidence from video security cameras
around the pool. Cheers, Martin Graf CEO Shark Diver About Shark Diver.
As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.
