28th July 2021
If you’ve been bitten by a shark, and known others who have been attacked by sharks it would be reasonable to expect you to never want to see one again. This isn’t the thought, nor has it ever been, of famous shark diver and activist Valerie Taylor.
The 85 year old starting diving in 1956 and was spearfishing by 1960 to put food on the table, becoming Australian scuba champion and being asked to start recording life in the Great Barrier Reef.
At first she dived with sharks wearing the famous metal mesh scuba diving gear and was bitten just under the chin, a bite she claimed was very painful. Her colleague Rodney Fox was slightly unluckier, a few bites meaning he required over 450 stitches.
But despite this, Valerie rightly claims that sharks aren’t monsters of the sea but an integral part of the oceanic eco system and Playing With Sharks puts this message across. The sad thing is that many who watch the documentary won’t actually listen to the message and will still see them as a risk to swimmers, regardless of the fact that we’re in their waters, not the other way around.
With thousands of sharks being killed daily for their fins (not nutritional by the way) and other body parts it seems an uphill task and one that Valerie Taylor is all too familiar with.
Part of the documentary shows when she was advisor to the Spielberg film Jaws (1975). Rather than bringing attention to sharks about to be endangered it sent shark hunters in their thousands around the World looking to kill them. Florida alone was almost wiped out of them entirely. One could question Taylor’s efforts after seeing the effects of Jaws and noting she also shot shark sequences for the sequel Jaws 2 (1978) which likely increased death rates, however her expertise and knowledge has always suggested that they mean no harm to us.
These sharks will sadly continue to be hunted regardless of how many watch the documentary. The message will be seen, but once again, not listened to.
Have you seen these?
