A shark diver reflects on 'Endless Summer' and 'Blue Water, White Death.'
Blue Water, White Death came out in 1971 and Endless Summer came out in 1966. While I'm not old enough to have seen them when they came out, It's been several decades since I first watched these films. Today, as a shark diver who has looked deeply into the topic of shark culling, it's interesting to realize I either didn't think twice about the connection to shark culling in these two films.
It's also interesting to consider speciesism in these films and how our feelings toward whaling may have changed, how using a harpooned mammal for a film shoot might be criticized today, and seeing these shark experts needlessly kill sharks with bang sticks.
Admittedly, I'm uncomfortable criticizing such a wonderful, and seemingly innocent film as 'The Endless Summer'. However, the shark information given in the film is quite damaging. Telling the audience there is a 50/50 chance you'll be killed by a shark if you don't swim at a netted beach is not only misinformation, but a promotion for the ecologically devastating company, The Natal Sharks Board.
Skyler Thomas reflects on the films Blue Water White Death and Endless Summer in his shark podcast
Much has been made about the devastating effect the movie JAWS had on the human mindset of sharks and the subsequent treatment of sharks. After recently rewatching the film I wanted to offer this opinion; the lines delivered by the shark expert were more damaging than the violent scenes of the shark killing people.
Why? Please watch / listen to this latest episode to find out.
Richard Dreyfuss's character, Matt Hooper, was spreading the very lies politicians use to cull sharks today. I've long defended JAWS and other "shark fear films" based on personal accountability; humans should be able to think rationally, rather than base their approach to existing on earth upon the feelings a Hollywood movie incited. However, I think it's worth pointing out that the most damaging aspects of JAWS were not the scenes of a shark killing people, but the misinformation spread by the "shark expert" in the movie.
The lasting fear of JAWS is less likely from images like these than from what the shark expert told the audience
In the previous SharkCast Chris Fallows provided his take on the white shark disappearance in South Africa. In this episode we hear from Dr. Sara Andreotti, who's research backs up Chris's logical take on the matter. Watch the video at the link above or read more at whitesharkcafe.com
Chris Fallows sets the record straight on orcas, the white shark disappearance, and governments selling out wildlife. We even talk a little about Shark Week.
When one stops to think about what has been taking place in South Africa, rather than acting like it's a shocking mystery that the white sharks are gone, one should wonder how the white sharks could ever have been expected to survive. South Africa already had off-shore long-lining then chose to add in-shore long-lining where the white sharks spend 8 months of the year. Even if these long-lines didn't entangle and kill white sharks, they would essentially be removing the in-shore food source of the white shark. How does one survive without a food source? Why would one stay without a food source? Furthermore, South Africa intentionally kills white sharks along the shores of their north eastern migration route. So they are killed where they eat, they are killed where they migrate, they are still undoubtedly poached to an extent, they are still caught heading back into pelagic waters, and their food source is being fished out. But hey, let's blame orcas.
#orcas #orcavsgreatwhite #southafrica #disappearingwhitesharks #chrisfallows #apexpredators #orcaskillwhitesharks #sharkweek #airjaws #skylerthomas #sharkcast #sharkpodcast
There's a good chance you know Cristina Zenato for her work removing hooks from sharks, but a conversation with Cristina is an opportunity to think about doing good as part of a bigger picture. One littler thing is better than no big thing! When speaking with someone who spends her time engaging in acts of kindness toward other species, the very topic of 'speciesism' is hard to resist. Why are humans so uncomfortable giving sentient credit to nonhumans? All footage is property of Cristina Zenato and Kewin Lorensen except where Skyler shares his own clips. Learn more at Cristinazenato.com
Special guest Eli Martinez shares his stories and footage of several amazing species, not just sharks.
Officially kicking of this season's podcast is special guest, Eli Martinez. Perhaps best known for his interactions with massive tiger sharks, Eli has branched out and spent considerable time getting to know a wide range of amazing species. You can join Eli on a wide variety of his adventures by going to SDMadventures.com. Be sure to check out some of my other videos with Eli Martinez shared on the end screen.
Underwater cinematographer and shark diver, Dan Abbott, joins Skyler Thomas on White Shark Video's Shark Cast to kick of this season of tiger shark themed shows.
Kicking off this season of podcasts we opened up by having a little fun analyzing some rather hairy encounters with tiger sharks and divers. Yes, we threw out that naughty phrase "shark attack" that tends to draw so much attention, but after all, the clips we reviewed were originally called attacks. After watching our analysis would you still consider them to be "attacks"? Be sure to watch part 2, which premieres next week. 
#tigersharks #sharks #sharkattacks #reaction #reactionstosharkattacks #sharkdivers #sharkpodcast #podcast #sharkcast #sharkmandan #danabbott #skylerthomas #whitesharkvideo
Ready for an alternative to the garbage "reality TV show" joke that is Discovery Channel's Shark Week? Try Shark Weeks. Leading up to and running through the infamous 'Shark Week', a new podcast discussing real shark issues will run a weekly episode.
Join your host, Skyler Thomas, for video interviews in the podcast section of the White Shark Video youtube channel. More details coming soon After the successful "shark night" at the unofficial White Shark Cafe in North Beach San Francisco, I've switched to selling my original shirt designs on T-Spring. I gave away a few crates worth of shirts that night to promote the cafe and thus ran out of all physical inventory. If popular demand requires it, I might start screen printing again, but until then please order on Spring. And let me know which shirts you love the most.
It's waaay overdue and I'll never get to all of them so finally here is my first offering of the most annoying things I here over and over and over again. Read the full write up and get details on the shirt contest here.
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