What do Nice Whites seem like up shut?
These animals are inherently uncommon, they take a very long time to succeed in these sizes. They do not attain maturity till 20 toes lengthy, and so they can get a lot larger than that even, and so they can stay to possibly 100 years previous. So that they see a number of issues and so they’re warriors. It is nearly like they’ve their very own trend sense as a result of a few of them have scars, a few of them have parasites, a few of them are very daring, have totally different colorations and markings, and so they actually… It is humorous as a result of a number of these issues that we see on their pores and skin and their physique are actually mirrored of their personalities too. So the sharks which can be essentially the most daring and aggressive and threat taking and most feral are those that look feral and those which can be scratched up and have 1,000,000 parasites on them.
Is there something that you simply assume audiences could be shocked to study what it is like filming for Shark Week?
It is typically loads more durable to get the sharks to come back to the boat or to point out up typically than individuals assume. In lots of instances you have got solely a seven, possibly eight-day window to mobilize a whole manufacturing group with scientists, movie crew, audio, administrators, security, first help, manufacturing, boats. And also you want the animals to point out as much as make all of it come collectively. So typically it takes a very long time, days, for the animals to point out up. You see these superior sequences and a phenomenal 5 act story unfold on the display, nevertheless it’s normally 1-1.5 days the place a lot of the great things will get shot that makes it into the present.
What’s the largest or coolest discovery you’ve got made in your profession?
The largest discovery that I’ve made can also be the best, which was partnering with tiger sharks to find the biggest underwater meadow of grass that is often known as seagrass. And it ended up being the ocean’s largest carbon sink. So these crops entice and retailer large quantities of carbon from the environment by means of photosynthesis. We put cameras on the tiger sharks and so they helped us make this discovery and it was hiding in plain sight all alongside. So if we hadn’t partnered and collaborated with the sharks themselves, we in all probability would’ve by no means seen it.
What’s life is like as a modern-day shark scientist?
Being a modern-day shark scientist is superior as a result of there’s by no means been a higher set of instruments and alternatives on the market to attach with individuals digitally round what we’re doing. And it actually provides me the possibility to be myself. In fact I am a scientist, however I am a reasonably regular particular person identical to anyone else.
Are we seeing a rise in shark assaults globally? If that’s the case, why?
It seems as if shark assaults are rising. And it is sensible, as a result of, in lots of instances, off of each coasts right here in America, notably the East Coast off of North America, shark populations are both largely secure, or barely rising as effectively. Conservation efforts have created protections which have allowed sharks to, in some instances, replenish their populations, so there’s extra of them. And it is taken 5, 7, 10, 15 years for some species, however now there are extra of them, and so they’re coming in touch with an rising human inhabitants. Extra individuals, extra sharks, extra social media, extra telephones. It creates a formulation that can undoubtedly enhance the encounters, and the reporting of the encounters.
