The show was about research being conducted at Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Mexico. Which just happens to be where I photographed my buddy 'Slash', whose grin graces this blog. Naturally I was interested.
After closing the laptop and turning to the TV, I settled in with a coffee in hand to watch my friends in action, anticipating them gliding about and generally looking pleased with themselves. The reality of what I saw had me spluttering coffee on my shirt and exclaiming my shock to the hotel room (and several floors above and below).
What I witnessed was a fishing trip, basically. A prolonged struggle in which a shark is hooked and drug about the ocean by a boat for an hour until its life seemed suspended by a slender thread. Then this magnificent animal is pulled onto a platform and hoisted above water, a hose shoved in its mouth pumping water through its gills (much faster and more turbulently than it would naturally). It then gets tagged, sampled, and generally gloated over.
At that point I could watch no more. I assume the shark was shoved back in the water at some point, and a voice over probably said the shark would be no worse for the experience. Don't you believe it. There's no way a struggle like that would leave a shark unharmed. Great Whites have amazing recuperative ability it's true, but it takes time to recover, and one luxury no creature in the great food chain that is the ocean ever has enough of is time to recover from wounds, recover strength to fight rivals (and Great Whites do compete with each other), or recover strength to capture prey.
Instead of beautiful science, I witnessed gross and unnecessary cruelty. I hope true marine scientists and conservationists the world over will voice their concern over this 'research' practice.
The shark I saw when I tuned in had Slash's dappled sides, but I hope that was just a coincidence. I hope Slash was well away from the Island that day and that he and his brothers and sisters can find some peace.
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