I was on Larry King on Wednesday to be part of a panel on sharks in
support of Discovery’s Shark Week. The panel consisted of Phillipe
Cousteau, Jack Hannah, Les Stroud, myself, and two shark mistake
survivors: Chuck Anderson, and Valerie De la Valdene. Most of them
had seen Sharkwater.
The Discovery and CNN approach to the panel was to languish on the
danger and adventure of sharks, then get into the conservation
issues. What started out as speaking of the most dangerous beaches,
the most dangerous sharks, etc evolved into a very different
conversation. All panelists, including two shark mistake survivors,
shifted the conversation, discussing how sharks aren’t predators of
people, that they make mistakes, that they’re incredibly important to
ecosystems, and that they’re being wiped out. Questions about how
dangerous sharks are were met with answers like, “they’re not that
dangerous, but that’s not even the point. The point is that they’re
being wiped out and we need to do something.”
It was a great day, and a sign in the shift of consciousness
regarding the world’s most feared predator. People can love and care
for something they don’t fully understand. We have that capability.
The conversation about sharks is changing, and we’re all part of it.
Hi Rob,
Not sure if you remember me - we had dinner in Key West. Watch the show last night - must say I was apprehensive at first - specially with the title. Was pleasantly surprised by the turn of the conversation.
Hope all is well with you…
Felix
PS - Let me know if we can exchange links…
There is a cool way to help conserve sharks and learn more about them at the same time. Check out adoptashark.com where the public can adopt a shark that has been satellite tagged and they find out where it went. The money from the adoption goes to buy more tags and support the program. It is really cool. Right now they are tagging great whites in Guadalupe Island, you can even name the shark you adopt!
All I have to say is wow! I watched the Larry King Live show, and it has really opened up my eyes. Rob, everything you said and talked about on the show interests me so much…I wish there was some way I could help to get more involved in shark and sea life conservation. You really have inspired me and I can’t wait until I get to see the movie!!!