A Day as "Shark Bait" ?!?

Every time we get the message out there, we are one step closer to saving our sharks. So we always welcome [positive] press.

A follow up to the Planet in Peril piece that featured both Shawn filming and Alison on camera, Nightline decided to do a piece on White Sharks – and the Shark Angels. Sadly, only Alison and I were together – as Kim was busy gearing up for the 2009 Sea Shepherd whaling campaign – though we missed her very much.

You can watch the footage and read about the experience here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/IntoTheWild/Story?id=6291994&page=1

Unfortunately, due to low visibility and howling winds, Nick Watts walked away still afraid of white sharks, as his cage diving experience was not the calm and beautiful one many of us have had where you realize, these sharks are not Jaws. Instead, sharks were appearing right in front of him out of no snapping at bait and hitting the cage where while he got thrown around in the “washing machine” aka cage due to the rough seas, but it was still nice to hear him acknowledge sharks are critical to this planet.

And I love this statement: “And the cage diving? Did it change my mind? Well, I'm probably more scared of sharks now than I ever was. But boy am I impressed by them. I'm on board with the Shark Angels: Let's save the stuff of my nightmares.”

Shifting my Perspective: The White Shark’s World

I have finally seen the world through the eyes of a shark.

For the last month or so, Paul and I have been on the National Geographic Crittercam deployment team thanks to Shark Angel Alison! Alison is working with the group to put cameras on the backs of white sharks and she needed a first mate and a cameraman. Enter Paul and myself.

Over the last several weeks now, the alarm has been going off quite early – as we are eager to get to Seal Island early to deploy cameras. The team consists of Mark and Graham (from Nat Geo), Alison, Paul and myself as well as a person or two on any given day from MCM.

Imagine my surprise to learn that Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) has actually come onboard to do a piece on the job I was assigned to. Yes, that is right – I am head chummer and it is considered, I guess, one of the grossest jobs in the world. That means I prepare the concoction that attracts the sharks (consisting of mashed fresh and very rotten fish as well as the dregs from the bottom of Alison’s fish freezer) and put as much in the water as I tend to get all over myself – including in my hair, eyes and mouth somehow. All day long it is stomp, mash, mix, dump, and pour. Oh, and I get to punch the eyes out of the fish that are used as bait. (Note to those of you who have never done it… fish eyeballs can squirt eye juices like 5 meters at an incredibly high velocity when the cornea is punctured which can even be directed at, say, an unsuspecting cameraman.) Funny, I love it and even more, the fact that I am contributing in some small way to learning about White Sharks.


Besides, these days I think any good day ends with me smelling like dead fish. I take great joy in getting as dirty as I can. I am beginning to love the aroma because I know that it means I have a chance to see the creatures I love. And, who wouldn’t love spending their days at the infamous Seal Island hanging with white sharks whom have been putting on quite a show – I am even lucky enough to have seen my fair share of predations, including breaches!

You see, we know so little about these animals. Even Alison who has spent 2000 hours at sea studying them has just touched the surface of the iceberg. The amount of time scientists study and are able to witness the behavior of white sharks is so limited, considering most of the shark’s time is spent below water and white sharks in captivity are not a feasible option. So the camera is a great way for Alison to get a first-hand view of how sharks behave when she isn’t bringing them to the surface to study them.

Being on the team is a chance of a lifetime that I know few will ever be lucky enough to experience. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to participate in ground-breaking research, learn much more about a mis-understood animal, and get into the field to study the creatures I spend my life trying to save. It has really added to my arsenal of first hand experience and knowledge, making me a much better conservationist I am certain.

I am bound by confidentiality and cannot share details about the cameras, process and the results. But what I can share is the hard work and loooong days for the past month were all worth it. We gathered over 20 hours of footage in several camera deployments that were barely noticed by the sharks and went almost flawlessly. And, believe you me, the world from a white shark’s eyes isn’t at all what you would expect. We watched the footage on the edge of our chairs.

I cannot wait to hear more from Alison as she continues her quest and the gathering and analysis of the data.

Something much, much scarier than sharks...

Paul (my favorite camera man from Lkwid Productions) and I headed out to do some filming for the national evening news here in South Africa and nearly lost our livelihoods! (Read the story then watch the footage...)

It all started innocently enough. Shark Angel Alison’s research is being featured in a national story on SABC and rather than head out with her, they wanted some footage of her in action. Since we have spent the last two weeks on the boat filming just that, the timing was perfect and Paul provided some great footage.

However, they were quite keen on getting some underwater footage, and Paul was quite keen on using his pole cam. He has been dying for someone to mutter the words... "I just wish we had some underwater footage of the white sharks..."

So, without much fore-thought or pre-planning on the logistics of using a heavy camera on a pole, in rough seas, with White Sharks, out we headed to Seal Island to try our luck… It wasn’t long before a real player showed up, and Paul eagerly plunged the camera in the water. Our goal was to capture the shark underwater maybe even WITH the National Geographic Crittercam on.


This beautiful shark made several passes eyeing what we thought was the bait… My job was to let Paul know where the shark was, so that he could slowly pan towards her (in addition to my full time post as Head Chummer and First Mate). Each time, she came closer and closer into the camera, and Paul was beaming, just dreaming of the type of footage he was probably capturing. (With no screen, it is difficult to know exactly what is happening, and as Murphy’s Law often has it, you always think you are getting better footage than you are, but this seemed like it was definitely the million dollar shot.)

Then before you could blink your eye, this four meter lady swam past the bait and launched towards the camera putting on her full attack speed… All we saw from our vantage point was a wide open mouth and teeth – and even more desperate, a terrified look in Paul’s eyes as he managed to pull the 50 pound camera out of the water attached to a slippery, straight swimming pool cleaner pole like it was a feather. I have never seen such super human strength, but he was centimeters away from losing his beautiful and quite costly lens… The shark didn’t stop there. Frustrated, she thrashed and managed to soak Paul at the same time. So Paul was dripping wet with freezing water and wide eyed just having been scared to death by the thought of the tens of thousands of dollars he might have just lost.

After Morne, Alison and I all had a good laugh (yes, at Paul’s expense just a bit) and checking the housing for scratches, we then heard from Morne that he has lost countless lenses doing just that… And even had to dive in for one camera! In our enthusiasm, Paul and I had just forgotten one thing: to ask if the shark ever goes for the camera instead of the bait.

It is definitely worth the risk though… we are both totally addicted to the pole cam. Had the visibility been better, the footage would have been simply amazing. We are already desperate to get another chance to peek in on the White Sharks. This time though, we are strapping the camera to Paul!

Watch the drama unfold... Note, Paul has a wide angle lens, so things are MUCH, MUCH closer than they appear!

Another Angel Saving Sharks

I just finished filming my latest segment for the Underwater Channel with my new favorite filmmaker who I dragged to South Africa all the way from Malaysia after working with him in Sodwana, Paul Wildman and the amazing shark whisperer (and filmmaker) Morne Hardenburg. This time, I found myself in False Bay, South Africa, the largest bay in this country – a place notorious for its Great White Sharks.

(Paul at sea filming.)

While great white sharks are the sharks our collective nightmares are made of, the truth about these sharks is quite startling. While they are considered the most dangerous sharks to humans, in reality they desperately need protection from us – instead of the other way around. White Sharks around the world are severely endangered and are at risk of extinction.

But they are thriving here in Capetown, in many parts thanks to a very special researcher who is helping the world to better understand white sharks – and hopefully, through increased understanding, determine better ways to conserve them.


So, I spent a few days heading out with Alison Kock, my fellow Shark Angel and great white researcher on her boat to learn more about her research and the white sharks she has been studying for years. I was hoping to get up close and personal, tag some animals, and maybe, just maybe if I was lucky, see a white shark hunting for seals. The time of the year is right, so I kept my fingers crossed.

I was so excited to do this piece for two reasons: first, I love white sharks, and second, I was quite excited to see Alison in action. A skipper, a scientist, a shark lover and an angel. She truly is my hero.

We left the harbor with much anticipation, hoping to see not only a shark tagged, but also the infamous breaching seal island is famous for.

The sharks breach around Seal Island primarily in July and August. This is when they rocket out of the water to catch the unsuspecting seals, who leave the safety of the island to fish. Typically breaches happen in the morning, and it is rare to catch a glimpse of one.

You can see the seals darting back and forth when they travel to the island, constantly scanning the water below for sharks. They stay in groups to increase their protection.

When we arrived, we saw some seals very close to the boat, so Alison told us to watch the water. That is when two seals rocketed out with a white shark following closely behind. It was such an amazing site to see a four meter shark fly out of the water and somersault down on top of two seals. I think I stopped breathing. The shark missed, but we were able to witness the cat and mouse chase with the injured seals for quite some time. Later we saw the injured seal on the shore.

(Catching the end of the breach.)

Alison has spent over 2000 hours at sea studying the creature she is desperate to protect. She has tagged over 75 animals at Seal Island and has radio transmitters throughout False Bay to track their movements. She has ID-ed over 500 unique animals by their dorsal fins, and has gotten to know some sharks quite well over the years. Undoubtedly, what she has learned has saved countless sharks.

While South Africa leads the world protecting its white sharks and was the first country to do so, many are still killed each year by fisherman as unintentional bycatch, by shark nets installed on other parts of the coasts whose sole purpose is to kill the sharks that come too close to the beaches, and by poachers greed as white shark jaws and fins are so valuable. And even more are injured every year by fisherman, boaters, spear fishermen, and even some cage diving operators.

The population of sharks around the world is plummeting, with some species nearly extinct. Over 100 million sharks were killed last year, primarily for their fins. And unfortunately, white shark fins are some of the most sought after.

But Alison’s work helps people realize the importance of sharks to the ecosystem, protects the sharks from their biggest predator – man, and also debunks so many common myths that inevitably lead to the death of sharks.

(Alison ready for action.)

After the breaching, we got into position to begin attracting sharks to the boat.

The tagging process starts first with attracting the sharks by chumming the water with mashed sardines and anchovy oil – which creates a scent trail similar to the natural chum slicks created by Seal island. A floating piece of foam is also placed in the water, as the sharks, who are naturally curious, are attracted to the float. It wasn’t long before the sharks started coming in.

Then, the bait is thrown into the water – in this case a tuna head. Throwing the bait is a tough job, as the goal is to get the sharks interest, without allowing them to eat the bait. Often the sharks were not even attracted to it.

I found the behavior of the sharks unique and surprising. Not only did they respond in a cool, collected and unthreatening way that is very different to what you would expect from movies like Jaws, but they each had their own personality. In fact, we saw a shark that Alison instantly recognized as one that she had known for over five years, merely by the way it approached the boat.

Not only does Alison spends many days every year at sea, tagging and tracking sharks, she also takes genetic samples. She sends the samples to a lab in Europe so they can analyze the DNA and determine the heritage of white sharks throughout the world.

Finally, we had a shark take great interest in the bait. So, when a shark does show interest, the next step is to ID the shark by taking photos of its dorsal fin. Alison then determines if this is a shark she wishes to tag. If she decides to tag the shark, it is a long process of working the shark into an exact position that allows Alison to tag the shark right below its dorsal fin, ensuring the shark is not injured.

(Art-y dorsal ID picture - I added a new flair to the job.)

On our best day out, we caught the attention of a 3.5 meter male shark who we later called “Motor Mouth” since he was so interested in chomping… After bringing him past the boat several times, Alison was able to tag him which was such an incredible experience. To have a shark so close yet show no signs of aggression was amazing.

(Motor Mouth after the tagging.)

After tagging Motor Mouth, he slowly swam away – hardly bothered – with a new piece of jewelry. But this jewelry contained a radio transmitter that can stay active for up to two years, so Alison can track him for years to come.

Seeing the sharks interact with us, the seals and each other at Seal Island was definitely an opportunity of a lifetime, and one I will not easily forget. Not only did I learn so much about white sharks in a single day, I gained a new appreciation for the important work Alison is doing to ensure white sharks will continue to thrive not just in Seal Island, but around the world.

White shark research is significantly under-funded though we are learning new things about them every day. The work Alison is doing is critical to their conservation and the species survival.

(Alison in action taking a genetic sample.)

In my experience many scientists do not get heavily involved in conservation. Alison is a new breed of scientist who has bridged the gap – realizing she needs to protect what she is studying.

What we don’t understand, we fear. We know so little about these amazing creatures. In fact, birthing and mating has never even been witnessed before. Our ignorance, I think, leads to our irrational fear of white sharks. I truly believe the more we can learn about these sharks, the more we can, and will want to, protect them.


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