Sunday, August 30, 2015

How not to get bitten by a Shark!


Andy Murch knows his shit.
This is really as good as it gets.
 
Especially RULE #10!
Cool testimonials here and here - and indeed, we're definitely not tourist pleasers, and would never encourage any goofy, risky behavior, nor tolerate silly selfie-takers!

Anyway, required reading.
And then, stick to it!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

OSAM Crowdfunding Campaign - no weird hidden Skulduggery!

Oh FFS mate, yer killing me...

Watch.



So in those years, he has not only become a father but grown a full beard, too!
But something has definitely not changed, see at top! :)

But I'm digressing as always.
Please read this and then, do have a look at the Indiegogo campaign that is literally brimming with awesome perks, including getting your hands on the best-ever wetsuit made by man!

Not yet convinced?
Then check out this post: everybody contributing is automatically entered into a raffle where the upper-echelon donors get the chance of bagging one week of diving with BAD for two - accommodation and flights included!
Now how cool is THAT!


Monday, August 24, 2015

The Most Awesome Stupid Thing!


Indeed!

This is a real nice testimonial, thanks!
I especially did like the part about how the dive did motivate them to learn more, courtesy of the always awesome Shark conservation talks by Ben and Manoa.
Way to go!

And this is the video of that dive.
Enjoy!



Sunday, August 23, 2015

A Fever of Stingrays - Video!

Betcha those are our Sharks - source.

Yup - calling this a fever may well be correct!

But then again, maybe not!
These are Cownose Rays - yes they do have a stinger but taxonomically, lumping them in with the  proper Stingrays would not be accurate!

But I'm digressing.
Enjoy!



OSAM - Leone!


Nice!

I got a lot of time for Leone.
Intelligent, erudite and extremely well spoken, he has been of invaluable help in establishing the Fiji Shark Corridor, and shines through brilliant and insightful interviews in OSAM.

Enjoy!



Saturday, August 22, 2015

Ocean : Brinkley!

Source

Enjoy!



To be continued!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

OSAM - Interview with Juerg!

Nice!

Read this.
Juerg is a very good friend and somebody I respect immensely, and from whom I've learned a lot. Our relationship has undergone a remarkable evolution, from a goal-oriented and initially, mutually cautious collaboration into what is more of a symbiosis, with both parties profiting and incidentally, having heaps of fun in the process!
BAD was able to secure the collaboration of a highly respected and prolific Shark researcher, and he was able to secure exclusive access and major influence on the direction of an equally stellar Shark research and conservation project that will continue to lead to new amazing insights for many years to come.

Or so I hope.
So here's to the next dozen years!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Healing in Bull Sharks - Survivor: Progress Report!


Click for detail!

Behold!

Remember Survivor?
Here he is again - very feisty, healthy looking, and with most of the injury covered in skin.

Is this amazing, or what!

Monday, August 17, 2015

Fiji Beqa Sharks!


Yes those would be our Fiji Bulls!
But it get's even better!

Check out this link.
Now, move the cursor over the pic - is this cool, or what!
Special thanks to Jayne and Courtney who took it onto themselves to schlepp the 360-degree gizmo all the way to Fiji, and to Charlie Charlie for braving the beasts when composing the image!

Sunday, August 16, 2015

OSAM - Review, Interview and Teaser Clip!


Nice.
David has received another great review.
Plus, there's an excellent interview with music producer David Lawrie, and here is Teaser Clip 1.

Enjoy!



Saturday, August 15, 2015

Bondi Vet - the Video!



Apparently, the episode has aired last Monday!
Alas, the video won't play back in Fiji, so I guess watching it will be reserved for our Australian friends. We've received plenty of positive feedback so fingers crossed that you'll like it, too!
And this is of course great, so thank you so much for it!

Enjoy!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Ritter - appalling!


Damn the guy!

I was actually enjoying my blogging retirement.
But this shit and specifically, his underhanded description of that infamous predatory attack by a Bull Shark cannot remain unanswered.
Here is that attack.



No the attack did not happen because the spotter did not do his job.
It happened because (read it - brilliant!) a stupid self-promoting Sharkitarian who had developed the inane hypothesis that they would not bite him as long as he would lower his heart rate, or whatever, decided to wade around, bare-legged, among a pack of feeding Bull Sharks!
I mean, seriously!

And the worst thing?
Despite of the fact that the Bulls Shark disproved his inane hypothesis, camera running, he continues to spout the same pseudo-scientific drivel til this day - and some poor suckers in Germanic Europe believe him and continue to give him money! Case in point: if you can, you may really want to experience the truly epic masterclass in snake oil salesmanship in the YouTube series prowin- pro nature donates 50 000 U$ for Erich Ritter's SHARKSCHOOL e.g. here.
Simply amazing - both the indisputable craft of Ritter and the naivety of his credulous victims!

Anyway.
There's a sucker born every minute, nobody else cares, and he is and will forever remain the laughing stock and pariah of the Shark research community. I just feel sorry for poor gullible Amin who will inevitably end up like all those other gullible past foundations, sponsors and philanthropists, see below: um teure Erfahrung reicher, and tainted by association!

But back to the spotter.
Here's what he had to say when confronted with the allegations.
What a sad and pathetic little man!
Perception is nine tenths of reality to someone like this guy! Ritter, you have always done your narcissistic "martyr" act far too well!

I think back at the events of that day and see him flexing his muscles in an Arnold Schwarzenegger pose while stating loudly for the two cameras...."We aren't afraid of no stinking sharks"!
This was his response to my telling him he should get out of the water as the tide was slack, too much bait and blood was in the water and we could not control the sharks safely after already having several close calls. He looked at me and laughed! My crew and I exchanged worried looks after his comment.

But the Discovery crew said to Ritter..."we only need 5 more minutes of B roll" and Ritter, who was always a whore to the cameras, said "no problem"!

5 minutes later I was fighting to save his life....and did so thru rapid and definitive means.
I still have the blood stained belt I used to tourniquet his leg. I held him in my arms in the emergency flight I had on standby and kept him from going into shock. I stopped the paramedics in the US from reopening the wound when they wanted to ogle a shark bite by pulling off my clot producing dressing that kept him from bleeding out, and sat the day and night in the waiting room thru his surgery and recovery to make certain that he would be OK. He walks to this day because I saved the hanging torn muscle in his leg when others told me to leave it but I wrapped it into his wound and that muscle was surgically reattached and allows him to walk and run without a limp and continues to work his ankle to this day.

He will never know that I got the Walkers Cay company to give him $10,000 for his recovery and a year later when they decided they wanted repayment of that loan....I fought them hard to back off and leave the man in peace.
They agreed.


So as the "spotter" who you blamed for this horrible misfortune in your "little man's life" I say this.
You should thank me Eric for "giving" you a "war wound" which has been your only meal ticket and the only thing that gives you any credibility among the misguided groupies that you pander to. It certainly has not been your scientific insights in shark behavior or papers full of pseudo scientific drivel that has earned you any acknowledgements.


My crime was that I was loyal to you.
Something you know so little about based on that rambling dissertation I just read! You managed to burn every bridge with every solid individual that wanted to believe in you and who would have launched you into a viable scientific career.

Sadly Ritter....You just can't fix stupid!

Thanks for allowing me to rant!
Mike, feel free to print this if you like. 
Gesagt getan!
 

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

OSAM - Trailer!


Finally!

Behold the official trailer!
Having watched the entire movie too many times to count, I'm frankly totally incapable of giving you an opinion about this - but should it have whetted you appetite for more, there is now a completely new, exhaustive website, and there is obviously a plethora of posts which I invite you to read bottom-to-top.

Enjoy!




The Official Trailer for the groundbreaking, award winning feature length Documentary, "Of Shark and Man."


David Diley is a thirty-two year old man, trapped in a dead end job in England's industrial north and his life is going nowhere. He does however, have a lifelong dream...

Should David follow the advice of everyone around him and forget about it, or should he risk everything and against all the odds, take his one chance to fulfill his greatest ambition, an ambition which finds him in the middle of a feeding frenzy with sixty of the world's most dangerous sharks?

“Of Shark and Man” is a ground breaking film about one man's journey to get closer than anyone thought possible, to the world's biggest Bull Sharks and tell the incredible untold story of Shark Reef in Fiji, one of the greatest marine conservation successes of all time.

“Of Shark and Man” is an epic, incredibly ambitious and cinematic love letter to the world's most feared predator, in which, for once, the shark is the hero.

Sunday, August 02, 2015

SoPac Weather - crazy!

Click for detail - Source.
Source

The forecasts have it fizzle out by Wednesday, or drift towards poor Vanuatu - but better keep an eye on it in case things change!

Best of luck everybody!