All the buzz about Shark Week
As the Discovery Channel gets set to air its ever popular Shark Week I’ve been flat out working with my management and sponsors on a few show ideas. I feel honoured that our ideas are good enough to be offered a production contract with an incredible production studio in Los Angeles. It’s definitely been a busy couple of months but I’m absolutely stoked.
So why did I mention Shark Week? Well at the beginning of this year Patric Douglas of SharkDiver.com offered to put me in line for the DSO (dive safety officer) on an upcoming shoot. It sounded like fun especially as it was in the Bahamas and I was itching to get back over there and revisit the Tiger Sharks of Grand Bahama Island. It turned out the shoot was with the Mythbusters, a show I’ve been a fan of since it’s inception. Actually I remember having an argument just a couple of years ago with a friend who didn’t particularly like the show, however their problems with it were exactly what I loved about the concept… quite simply they take a scientific approach to a problem, apply out-of-the-box thinking and come up with a replicable solution or proof. So yeah, I’m a bit of a science geek, no apologies here!
After meeting the Mythbuster crew and setting the guidelines for the shoot I joined them in the Bahamas aboard the Gulf Stream Eagle to film their Shark Week special. I was simply there for their safety but as I inevitably had to be in some of the same scenes they allowed me to work on camera and we had a lot of fun doing it! As I enter the work of television and film production I only hope that the crews I will work with are as professional as those guys. So it looks like I’m set to get a couple of minutes of airtime on Shark Week. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it, quite honestly if I make a couple of scenes or even get a glimpse in the background I’ll be stoked.
So I guess my enthusiasm must be contagious because a couple of my friends and sponsors have decided to help me celebrate. In all honesty it started out with my proposal that we get together and have a drink for each time a myth gets busted or we see one of our friends on TV, but they came up with a better idea… letting you guys score some free gear! I’m overwhelmed by their generosity as they’ve donated about $5000 in prizes, check out my website for details.
I’m having a lot of fun with this promotion but I’m really excited to see what else is on this coming week. Last years host Les Stroud has a special that will definitely be worth a watch. Apparently they went to South Africa to work with Great White Sharks. I got a bit of an insiders view of the shoot from Jeremiah Sullivan of Neptunic Sharksuits … I won’t provide any details but I look forward to seeing the show as the action he described to me sounds pretty incredible! Jeremiah is the man and has been in the shark industry for over 30 years, his shark suits are used in at least three shows on Shark Week this year (the same suits he so generously let me use to further enhance the safety of Adam and Jamie) and he appears on at least two, awesome stuff from J. Taking it back to my homeland there is a special on Australias North East coast which I hope will make me a little homesick! Marine Biologist Richard Fitzpatrick is profiled in this show which is awesome, he was a role model for me at college, he’s an amazing film maker and his work with Tiger Sharks is just incredible and definitely worth a watch.
Shark Week is an opportunity to have a bit of fun with a subject that we all love but there is a serious side to it as well. As most intelligent people know sharks are villainized and targeted worldwide by fisherman and the unfortunate effects of environmental degradation. While you are watching bear in mind that a lot of money is put into these productions not just for entertainment value but for education. Yes some of the shows might have some scary music and a deep throated announcer going for a bit of shock value, but the fact remains that it is the only week devoted to potentially endangered species on any network worldwide. I only hope that an objective viewer can watch these shows and see scientists, divers and yeah, even concerned hosts who are really making a difference and educating other about the true nature and plight of these amazing animals. I’ve looked up to many of these guys and girls for years and hope that in my future career (details to follow sometime soon ;) I’ll get to work with them and shine a further spotlight on some amazing work that seldom gets recognized…
Until then I’m stoked to have worked on a couple of great productions and if I do make the cut with the Mythbusters show I’ll be ecstatic. I’d specifically like to thank Patric Douglas of Sharkdiver.com for the hookup and a rad trip to give away, John from Bathys Hawaii and Aaron from Ocean Reef for the other prizes and their continued support.
Cheers guys,
Happy Shark Week
-Luke Tipple
Shark Diving with the future President?
Just as I thought the Bahamas Tiger Shark season was at an end the call came in. Patric Douglas from SharkDiver.com had a French documentary team lined up to shoot dolphins and tiger sharks and they needed me on-board. I’d just rounded out a month at sea which included a shoot with Discoveries Mythbusters for Shark Week and two weeks of diving with hardcore shark fans from Germany. With just enough time up my sleeve I met my Mum and brother in San Diego but when they left for New York I got back on a plane bound once again for the Bahamas.
In the rush I had just enough time to get the vessel and necessary operating gear sourced and delivered to the Gulf Stream Eagle. Among the requested items were two high tech underwater scooters, six bottles of oxygen, soft-no-lime (re-breather fuel), 300 pounds of chum, a helicopter, a dozen cases of wine, two shark cages and 6 dolphin shaped balloons… quite the unusual list but not one beyond our means! Usually I fully research my clients before we embark on the mission. Getting the background story and paying attention to detail really assists me in relating to a client and catering to their needs… but I have to admit, I stepped onboard knowing only that we had two vessels, 28 passengers, a potential serious language barrier and no real shooting schedule. Just the type of challenge I relish!
Ushuaia Nature is a team of predominately French movie makers that have traveled the globe for 20 years recording the beauty of our natural world. Yeah, that’s right, 20 years! These guys (and a couple of girls) comprise most of the original members of the film team and the comradery developed from spending so long together is obvious.
They are led by Nicholas Hulot… if the name doesn’t ring a bell then you probably haven’t spent any time in Europe where he is one of the most revered personalities on television. He is an author, TV host, and political force with a mission to spread global awareness of the need to conserve our natural earth’s beauty. He also founded the “Nicholas Hulot Foundation” and is being pressured to run for President of France!
The Ushuaia team boarded the vessel and I was finally presented with their shooting goals: to document and record the beauty of the Caribbean waters around Grand Bahama Island. The schedule included diving with Christine Zenato of Unexo, a well known shark handler who is experienced at inducing the state known as ‘tonic immobility’ (where a shark essentially ‘goes to sleep’ after having it’s highly sensitive snout stimulated by hand). Prior to the dive I had a chat with Scott Cassell of Sea Wolves (hardcore pioneers of giant squid and shark diving) who was backing Christina up as her safety diver. As I’d never dove with Zenato before I was curious what was in store, he assured me I was in for a treat.
I joined Christina underwater along with a few cameramen and one very powerful light array but interestingly the sharks had a severe negative reaction to the generator powered lights and would not settle down enough to be handled. Three dives later and with the removal of the lights and most of the divers Christina was successful in her mission, safely handling the shark and giving Hulot quite a thrill! (It should be noted that the handlers were wearing Neptunic Shark suits and would not attempt this dangerous activity without this level of protection.) Scott wasn’t wrong, seeing a shark handled the way Zenato did was something special. She’s an absolute legend in my book.
The following days were spent out at sea completing a number of their shooting objectives which included diving at Tiger Shark Beach with the resident Tiger and Lemon Sharks, swimming with Atlantic spotted and bottle nosed dolphins and even breaking out a couple of Kite boards to ‘surf’ with the playful dolphins! Their safety officer, Krov (a fellow Aussie and great guy), remarked that Nicholas is extremely lucky and seems to get amazing footage… his prophetic words proved correct on the second to last day.
While perusing a pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins on the beautiful White Sand Ridge the team decided to dive and get footage. Just as we were to hit the water someone yelled “Turtle”, followed immediately by “Tiger Shark”… to which I naturally replied “Dive Dive Dive!!!”. Unbeknownst to us we’d stumbled across the scene of a Tiger Shark attack on a huge old Green Sea Turtle. Three of the sharks, ranging from 6 to 10 feet, were aggressively feeding on the still living turtle. Knowing this was a rare opportunity to observe a natural feeding event I hit the water with the camera crew to witness the demise of this huge old aquatic reptile.
For the next 2 ½ hours I watched with a mix of awe, excitement and sorrow as the three Tigers harassed, bit and tore at the turtle. Honestly I wasn’t given much time to think about it as I was on high alert knowing that at any time the Tigers could, and most likely would, turn on us. Reflecting on it later I knew what I’d witnessed would stay with me forever as one of the most amazing and emotional things I’ve yet to see underwater.
This shoot was yet another success for us in the Bahamas and one that will always stay special to me. The French team were incredible to work with and their nightly sing alongs were quite the spectacle. I was privileged to celebrate Nicholas’ 53rd birthday with their team and laughed myself to tears when their crew doctor dressed as Elvis and serenaded the group with his hilarious version of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ before jumping overboard into the marina… absolutely classic stuff.
Till next time
- Luke
‘Shooting’ sharks with the Mythbusters
There are times that I have to smile through gritted teeth when people say I have the greatest job in the world… don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change it! But dealing with the trials and tribulations of bad weather, high maintenance clients, dicey boat crew and uncooperative (or un-present) animals is at times a challenge to say the least. Then there are those times that just make me stoked to be in the position I’ve worked so hard for. Luckily this was one of those!
MythBusters is an American popular science television program on the Discovery Channel starring special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use basic scientific methods to test the validity of various rumors and urban legends. I’ve been a fan of the show since its inception and always wondered what the guys would be like. For me it’s the “down and dirty” science that I find attractive along with a couple of classic host personalities. The MythBusters hosted Discoveries popular feature, Shark Week, a couple of years ago and due to their overwhelming rating success they have again got the nod to host the special in 2008.
The host role required MythBusters to film a premiere 2 hour special, busting shark myths. This year they chose to dive Tiger Shark Beach in the Caribbean and SharkDiver.com was asked to help set up the shoot and provide strategic safety and operations plans for the site. In February 2008 I was flown to San Francisco and along with the CEO of SharkDiver.com, Patric Douglas, visited M5 Industries for a pre-production meeting with the MythBusters team. I was excited to meet Adam and Jamie and curious to see what they were like in real life. Far from the prima-donnas that many would expect Discoveries top celebrities to be, the guys were just as down to earth as I expected. Jamie gave us a guided tour of his set (workshop) and laughed off the whole celebrity treatment stigma. Immediately I knew I would enjoy working with these guys.
The meeting took place with various producers, writers, fixers, cameramen, sound technicians, directors and the hosts, all of which fit around a small table! The MythBusters team is surprisingly small and is comprised of extremely talented people who know exactly how to get the most out of their subject. A number of proposed myths were discussed until we came down to a short list that would work given our time frame and safety requirements. It was professionally satisfying to be a source of advice to these guys and I was exited about the upcoming shoot on which I was officially dubbed the “Shark Diving Safety Officer”.
Three days before we were to fly to the Caribbean disaster struck… a fatal shark attack occurred in the vicinity of our proposed dive site. A Bull Shark attacked and fatally wounded a diver taking part in a shark feeding trip near Grand Bahama Island, just miles from our destination. Understandably the Discovery heads were extremely concerned about their talents safety but I convinced them that a combination of electronic Shark Shields, Neptunic Shark Suits and the cages I designed specially for this shoot would keep them more than safe.
We hit the ocean on the Gulf Stream Eagle equipped with all manner of dive apparatus, experiment rigs, boxes and boxes of camera and sound gear as well as the small crew of 8 MythBuster crew. We were amped to get out there and already the director, Alice, was cracking the whip to get us moving on the production schedule. For a top rating show you would expect an army of crew to be involved in its creation, but this small crew works so well together and it was a pleasure to be surrounded by such professionals.
Day one and dive one came around. Adam was stoked after not getting seasick and Jamie was excited to get back into the water (he’s a dive master and very experienced). I fitted them into their shark suits (specially designed chain mail) and full face masks and we tested to make sure that our Ocean Reef headsets were compatible with their surface station. With all systems in check we dove in to encounter Caribbean Reef sharks and capture some initial setup footage. The first dive proved to me that Adam and Jamie were quite competent divers and very comfortable in the water so off we headed for our primary dive site, Tiger Shark Beach.
This site is responsible for some of the most dramatic and beautiful footage of Tiger Sharks ever seen and it’s one of my favorite destinations. I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours underwater here having extremely up close and personal encounters with up to a dozen Tiger sharks at a time. The site is also thick with Lemon sharks which, while not traditionally considered dangerous, are actually in the top five list for attacks on humans.
What took place over the next eight days was a blur of activity both under and above the water. I coordinated my team of three safety divers along with their camera operators and of course Adam and Jamie to pull off some tricky, and quite valid, science. I can’t tell you exactly what the myths were or their results (sorry to disappoint!) but I can say the shoot involved plenty of shark bites, a helicopter, curious and frenzied sharks, plenty of dead fish and even medieval dive gear (seriously)! I was also asked to join the hosts on-screen to lend my professional expertise and opinions in interpreting the animals behavior in the experiments. I’m looking forward to “Busting some Myths” with Adam and Jamie on Shark Week!
We were challenged by time, weather and the nature of wild animals but in the end came home with some great footage. The crew were fantastic to work with and I’m sure we’ll run into each other again at a later stage. On a more serious note is was satisfying to work on a Shark Week production that didn’t involve criminalizing or misrepresenting my favorite aquatic animals, the fatal attack prior to our shoot highlighted to all just how dangerous it can be when sharks are not given the respect they deserve and a few lessons were learned by all on this adventure.
Cheers MythBusters for making my job the greatest in the world again!
-Luke
Check out the MythBusters episode on Shark Week this year,
scheduled to air sometime in Late July or early August 2008.
Proposed “Shark Finning” on the Great Barrier Reef
In December 2007 the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) released it’s new proposal for fin fish management along the eastern coast of Australia. This area includes the world heritage Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as well as countless estuaries and near-shore waters which are known to be breeding habitats for many species of shark. The recommendations were made after extensive public consultation which took into account the social and economic effects of shark fishing on the community, recreational and commercial fishermen as well as the global pressure to cease all shark fishing/finning.
Ocean Reef Endorsement
As divers we know the importance of equipping ourselves with the best gear for the job. Sometimes we use old-school, tried and tested gear, sometimes we use the latest and greatest. The most important thing is to ensure the gear will perform as required and not fail at a potentially critical moment.
In my role as Shark Diving Safety Officer for the Mythbusters shoot Patric Douglas from Sharkdiver.com supplied me with the latest Ocean Reef full face masks, the Neptune Space. I have to admit, sometimes I’m little skeptical about new gear, these days a lot of scuba gear is blatantly over-engineered and not all that practical (don’t get me started on integrated weight systems!), however these masks were a pleasant surprise and performed well in many trialling situations.
Recommendation from Patric Douglas, CEO SharkDiver.com
To people who know me well it’s no secret that my drive for success is relentless. I pride myself on being a professional in all aspects of my work and life and have enjoyed the personal satisfaction this level of commitment brings. I believe we are capable of extraordinary things but first must come the realization that you are your greatest asset. For many on the outside it’s difficult to recognize the level of personal sacrifice it takes to relentlessly pursue a dream. I still have a long way to go but what makes it all worthwhile is the people I work with, the marvelous animals I get to encounter and the personal satisfaction that comes with fleetingly sharing these experiences with others.
1,000,000 “Shark Attack” hits on YouTube
Recently the “Wildside Encounters: Shark Attack” video hit one million views and I’m absolutely stoked. So many people have asked about the story behind this unique piece of footage so here’s what really happened.
Isla Guadalupe is one of the few untouched places in the world where a traveler can truly visit an extreme environment. Out here we have no real contact with the outside world except for satellite phones and long range radio. There are no flights, choppers or fast boats to get out there but making the 24 hour sea voyage is well worth it when you consider it is the single greatest place to dive with Great White Sharks in the world.
BIG Wednesday hits San Diego, Dec 2007
We’d been monitoring the swell traveling down from the North for days. The call was for massive swells in excess of 20ft and there was a definite sense of anticipation in the air. The morning of December 5th 2007 was an eirie one, salty fog drenched the air as far back as two miles from the beach. I started the day at 5:30am packing my camera gear and board into the trusty Subaru Outback and heading to my mate Doops’ house. A quick check of the water confirmed this was to be the swell of the year, there were already news vans on the boardwalk and helicopters in the air… a good sign. Having just spent three months at sea chasing Great White Sharks in Guadalupe Island, Mexico I wasn’t fully ’surf fit’. A paddle out the day before had confirmed that while I could handle myself in some solid surf there was a good chance I’d be outclassed today, but I was determined to capture footage of this epic day.
Tiger Shark Beach report 2, 2007
I knew after the last report you would be champing at the bit to know just how well we followed up a week like that one! Well you’ll be pleased to know that Tiger Beach once again delivered as promised! In fact I am now convinced that this is truly one of the great Shark Diving Mecca’s of the Northern Hemisphere… if not the world! OK, so that sounds like a fair boast but being surrounded by a dozen tiger sharks and up to 30 lemon sharks AT THE SAME TIME will do that to a diver!
Tiger Shark Beach Report, March 2007
After almost 12 months of anticipation the Caribbean Tiger Shark season is once more upon us, and having just stepped back onto land after the first trip I can tell you it was well worth the wait! This year Sharkdiver continues to set the standard for eco-tourism as the only company in the Caribbean giving divers access to the safety of a submerged cage on every dive at Tiger Shark Beach!
