One Photographer’s Quest to Redefine the Shark

I expected to conscionable a dreaded “man-eater,” but erstwhile I saw it, I realized that it was a defenseless animal, much acrophobic of maine than I was of it. That infinitesimal aroused my curiosity, and I decided to larn much astir sharks. I travelled to the land of Guadalupe disconnected the Pacific seashore of Mexico to spot large achromatic sharks, and I took a tiny point-and-shoot camera with me. When I managed to photograph a large achromatic shark, I realized that the camera was much than a tool, it was a means to scope my extremity of gathering sharks.

The movies person reduced sharks to 1 oregon 2 descriptions for galore people: They are terrifying and insatiable. What bash you larn from being with them and wherefore bash you support them?

From a precise young property I dreamed of being a diver due to the fact that my parents were divers. While my parent died erstwhile I was lone 1 twelvemonth old, my dada utilized to archer astir maine his adventures with sharks. He said they were bad. When I was 7 I saw the movie Jaws, and I was drawn to the quality Matt Hooper, the scientist. At the end, erstwhile the shark destroys the boat, Hooper gets into a cage, the shark breaks it and everyone assumes helium indispensable person been eaten, but successful the end, helium survives. Soon aft seeing the film, we went to a formation successful Tuxpan, successful the eastbound Mexican authorities of Veracruz. My dada bought a small dormant shark from a fisherman, and I played with it connected the formation with my half-brothers. Those moments led to my emotion for sharks. For me, surviving alongside animals is my harmless space. It is past that I consciousness calm, erstwhile I’m genuinely myself. I consciousness free, astatine ease.

WIRED has covered however overfishing has reached the heavy seas, threatening rays and sharks. In your 20 years of encounters with these creatures, person you seen changes successful their populations, and what is it similar to witnesser first-hand the interaction connected our oceans?

I person seen 2 phenomena. Without going excessively acold from my home, adjacent the land of Cozumel, disconnected the seashore of the Riviera Maya successful the Caribbean, determination was erstwhile much beingness than determination is now. But I person besides seen places similar Cabo Pulmo, astatine the extremity of Baja California, wherever 20 years agone determination were astir nary sharks, and present it is teeming with them. When sharks are contiguous naturally, without idiosyncratic supporting the colonisation and feeding them, it’s a motion that the ecosystem is healthy. In Cabo Pulmo they person created protected areas that person go points of hope. There are not capable of these areas, but determination you tin find the full nutrient chain, from sharks to the smallest plankton. When you instrumentality distant the sharks, the full ecosystem becomes unbalanced.

Lately, I person seen much and much dormant and bleached coral, and it’s precise sad.

What does that look like?