|
Shark talk, Elasmodiver news, Conservation rants,
Forthcoming projects, New shark pictures, Exhibitions, Photography workshops,
Incoherent ramblings and more...
SHARKFEST, PREDATORS IN PERIL REBORN AND
A RHODE ISLAND DEEP ELASMO SHOOT
06/02/2010
Predators in Peril
Expedition Reborn
First the bad news... Our
2010 Central American Predators in Peril Expedition got turned down for funding. I'm
not sure why but rather than dwell on the time wasted in drawing up
funding proposals, I'm happy to move on and look for creative ways for
us to fund the expedition on our own.
Through a combination of
revenue sources including Photography Workshops, Sharkfest, a pending
photography exhibition and some good old fashioned hard work (at the
Winter Olympics) we think we can pull off a modified PIP Central
American Expedition that incorporates almost as much as the original
plan.
The new plan is to turn the
proposed epic road journey into a series of fly in - fly out satellite trips.
This ultimately works better because we can work on other projects in
between shoots, we will have better opportunities to keep the world
updated on our successes and we can avoid the rainy seasons much more
easily by heading to the right places at exactly the right times.
Sharkfest!
About a month ago I was
looking at places around North America where I could run a cheap fun
filled shark diving weekend. Moorhead City in North Carolina was the
obvious place because it is easily accessible, warm enough to be popular
and full of extremely photogenic sandtiger sharks.
Olympus Dive Center (which is
the premiere dive center in the region) was keen to host the trip so we
started hashing out the details. Shark diving trips with Olympus are
always fun because they can cater to big groups and their store and
staging area are set up well for apres dive entertainment.
Rather than just a dive
party I wanted to create an event that shark fanatics would really
enjoy. The result is Sharkfest - a shark diving weekend and mini film
festival just for shark people.
As soon as I mentioned the
idea to people they started getting excited. Information about Sharkfest
only went online just over a week ago and the first boat is half full
already so I think it is going to be very popular. The good thing is
that Olympus has two big boats so we could get a record number of sharky
people in one place at the same time which is bound to be memorable.
Attracting film makers to
submit their short films will probably be the hardest part to organize
but we have two films on the way already and screening times will be
limited to the evenings. I hope I don't have to reject submissions -
that would be tough. If you're interested in submitting a short but
you're not sure if your shark footage is up to scratch don't worry about
it. Sharkfest isn't Sundance or Cannes and you won't find a more
appreciative audience anywhere!
H2O Photo Pros in California
has kindly offered to sponsor the festival with prize money and I am
having a really special trophy made called an ELASMO for the crowd
favorite. More on that when its done and I have a picture to show you.
I hope some of you can make
it out for the whole event and come diving. Anyone that can't get there
during the day but wants to show up in the evenings to talk sharks with
us is more than welcome. More info here:
SHARKFEST
Rhode Island Expedition
Right now we are at Olympic
Village in Whistler BC. I am helping with some of the organizational
nightmares of this monstrous event. As soon as the Paralympics finish
in late March I am flying to Providence to dive with Film Maker Joe
Romeiro. Joe has a friend in the commercial fishing world who is keeping
an eye out for deep water species of sharks and skates for us. If he
finds some while I am there we are going to do a captive release photo
shoot. If any of you remember the 'walking the dog' blog that I
posted during the shark tour this will be the same kind of shoot. We'll
release the deep water species in one of the bays and try to get some
i.d. shots before they head for the hills. Its a pretty hokey way to shoot elasmobranchs but its the only way some species will ever be
photographed unless I strike it rich and buy my own deep water
submersible. I'm still working on that.
Sharks in a Fading Light
I have a local gallery
interested in a shark photography exhibition. Dates have yet to be
arranged but we're past the hand shake stage. The exhibition will be in
two parts. The first series of images focus on the traditional view of
sharks, portraying them as majestic apex predators. The second series of
images looks at the change that is starting to take place in the
public's perception and the plight that sharks now collectively face. It
contains enough 'pretty pictures' to make it appealing but also depicts
sharks on long-lines and other unpleasant realities.
I initially wanted to avoid
any toothy shots that would paint sharks as aggressive animals but I've
had a change of heart on this subject lately. Instilling fear into
people is obviously detrimental to sharks but painting them as teddy
bears is also foolish. Sharks are not monsters but they are formidable
creatures. Hopefully my images will convey that sentiment.
For the sharks,
Andy Murch
A NEW DECADE TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO...
02/01/2010
First, The Tiger Shark
Photography Workshop
I'm running a workshop at
Tiger Beach in The Bahamas in April. Space is limited to ten shooters.
The boat is half full already so please let me know if you're
interested. Its going be a fun trip. Amazing shooting opportunities and
lots of tips and presentations. We'll also have a whole week to kick back
and talk sharks - my favorite subject. More info on the
shark photography
workshop page
Second, a little
nostalgia and an important mission
I have spent the last decade
sliding over or diving into the ocean. Quite often, I was diving with
sharks but sometimes I was just snorkeling and looking down longingly at
the world below. Occasionally, I had the privilege of piloting
submarines.; driving over the seafloor, exploring the mysteries of the
deep from the safety of my acrylic goldfish bowl. Every time I entered
the water I came back nourished from the experience even when I was
charged with difficult tasks. And, when I finally dragged my water
logged body back to land, my mind remained deep in the ocean and there I
expect it will stay forever.
Of all the creatures that I
encounters none affected me as strongly as sharks. Sharks have
been such a captivating and pivotal force in my recent life that I now only accept jobs in places where I
can find sharks and I scrimp
and save to go to remote shark diving spots between shooting for magazine articles or
sub piloting
gigs.
After I loaded Elasmodiver.com
onto the web in 2002, I found even
more reason to travel to unusual coastal destinations; the pursuit of
rarely encountered species to add to the growing elasmodiver field
guide.
Initially, shark images were
simply trophies in my collection. I was a big game hunter with an
underwater housing and a bucket list of shark species that I wanted to
photograph. I really didn't know that much about the plight of
endangered species. I was simply overwhelmed by the beauty and grace of
the animals themselves.
I am still just as
infatuated with elasmobranchs (large and small) but now I am also
starkly aware of the sad decline of our ocean's top predators.
Regardless of the controversy over specific decline rates, few would
disagree that many sharks and rays are in trouble. According to the IUCN,
At least a third of the world's shark species are considered threatened.
Many more are data deficient implying that further research could reveal
more bad news.
The enormity of the problem
makes me feel pretty
helpless. I want to do something tangible to help but I am just a photojournalist. I can tell
people what I have
learned but the people that read diving and nature magazines already
love the ocean and the natural world. While its important to reinforce
the message lest we forget, there has to be a way to spread the word to
a wider audience.
I'm not sure what the answer
is or if anything can really be done to reverse the trend but I'll do my
bit. In 2010 I am planning to play the part of a missionary and my mission is to bring the word about over
fishing, shark finning and habitat destruction to people that still
don't understand what is happening below the surface of the sea. I hope
that you will all do your part too.
Spreading the Word
through the Elasmodiver Network
Elasmodiver gets around
150,000 hits a month. That still blows me away!
Not everyone that lands on
the site wants to read about the plight of sharks but there are more and
more shark conservation pages being added for those that care to look.
I'm also trying to sneak as
much conservation information as possible onto every page without
turning people off. To that end, I am in the process of updating every
species in the Elasmodiver Shark and Ray
Field Guide with IUCN info. That means that when little Johnny cuts
and pastes a page about great white sharks into his grade 7 school
project, he inadvertently learns more than just how big they grow. It
all helps.
There are now Elasmodiver
pages, channels and blogs on Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter and
YouTube. So, whatever way you like to get your news there is no escape
from Elasmodiver. Don't sign up for our Twitter feed unless you want to
live and breathe sharks. I am turning that account over to our new
social networking guru Bo Moran. He'll be tweeting and re-tweeting
Elasmodiver news and general shark stuff multiple times a day.
The pen may be mightier
than the sword but what is wrong with keeping a sword handy just in
case?
Outside of the web, I am now
trying to write every shark diving article with shark conservation in
mind. That's not always easy to do when you're writing about how much
fun it is diving with tiger sharks but I'm committed to squeezing the
message into the text wherever I can. I'm also pitching my stories to
way more magazines this year. I'm a slow writer and I'm starting to
think that I may be mildly dyslexic so its really cutting into my
shooting time but its a worthwhile platform even if it is preaching to
the choir.
In the next couple of
months, I have articles slated for Diver, Invertum, Oceans (a new mag -
keep a look out for this one), Xray, Shark
Diver (of course) and a few others that must remain nameless for now. I'll keep
plugging away on that front so expect to see more of my writing on the
news stands.
I also contributed an
interview for a photographic magazine which annoyed the hell out of me.
No matter how many times I pointed out that I don't spend every waking
minute 'in the jaws of death' they were not interested in any other
angle. It frustrates me to think that many editors outside of
dive/nature mags are still stuck on the sensationalist man-eater model -
its time to claw your way out of the 70's guys!.
At the end of the day I'm
really not sure if what I write has any effect. I plan to keep it up but
I look at Sea Shepherd and the front line approach that they have taken
by harassing whaling ships and ruining catches and I wonder if that
would be a more effective method in the battle to save sharks. I know
that I'll be labeled as a radical if I go down that path but on a whim I
registered SharkShepherd.com the other day. Every successful army has a
political and a military wing. I'm not sold on the idea of direct
intervention yet but I'm open to suggestion.
 Predators
In Peril Project update - The PIP Exhibition
On a less controversial
note, PIP is progressing. I have built a portfolio of images for the
Predators in Peril Exhibition and I'm out pounding the pavement, looking
for suitable venues. The exhibition consists of a number of my most
dramatic shark images. Each image is accompanied by a smaller image that
conveys the plight of that species and a message about the decline of
sharks in general. Sometimes I use images of dead sharks and sometimes I
use images with a more symbolic reference. I plan to use fishing hooks
to hang the images in each gallery if the curators don't object. For a
sneak peek at some of the images that are included please follow this
link: Predators in Peril
Exhibition
I have invested a fair chunk
of my net worth in this project. The images are printed on archival
silver rag and they look gorgeous. The intention is to educate everyone
that comes through the galleries and to raise funds for the 2010
Central American Predators in Peril
EXPEDITION which will take place later in the year.
Elasmo Ads
This year we're also
throwing our doors open to advertisers in the scuba diving and
photography industries to help raise funds for Predators in Peril. There
are banner, button and full page advertising opportunities. Our rates
are unbeatable considering our web presence so if you are a
manufacturer, dive shop or operator and you want a button on all 480+
pages on Elasmodiver please let me know. First come, first served.
Advertise on Elasmodiver
Extraordinary Ocean
Explorers
One more idea. Life is
short. Some people just want to get through it. Some want to make it
fun. And some people want to lead an extraordinary existence. Its no
secret which group I am in. The overland expeditions that I undertake
are rewarding on many levels but there are so many more opportunities
out there for the right people with the right ideas and the right
budget.
Have you ever wondered what
it would be like to dive off of Tierra Del Fuego or the Aleutian
Islands? Can you imagine what you'd see if you spent a night at 100ft
hanging from a baited line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? How about
sliding over the sea floor in a small submersible at any number of
unexplored abyssal reefs around the world. Does that sound interesting?
Maybe such adventures would
be disappointing. A waste of time and money. But maybe, with careful
planning and the right people involved we can achieve the unthinkable,
explore the unexplorable, and come face to face with the unencounterable.
How about an expedition to find a giant squid or an illusive longfin
mako or a mega mouth shark?
Why are these creatures
never photographed? Because its hard and because normal people don't go
if the expedition might fail. Well, I want to try. If you are interested
in joining me on an extraordinary expedition to encounter some of the
rarest sights in the natural world then let me know.
Right now Extraordinary
Ocean Explorers is not a club or a society or a group. It is an idea.
That is how it always starts. Someone with enough drive pulls together
the right people to create an adventure that is bigger than the sum of
its parts. Then it is up to you. If we try we may fail. If we don't then
we will definitely fail.
If you want to be involved
with the development of upcoming expeditions email me and we'll talk.
Happy new year! Thanks for
tuning in and for supporting Elsmodiver.
For the sharks,
Andy Murch
Shark
Pictures, Shark Projects and Shark Photography Workshops!
November 15th 2009
 The
2010 Central American Predators in
Peril Expedition is taking shape. This will be the most exciting
project that Elasmodiver has ever been involved in. If you thought that
the 2009
North American Shark Diving Tour
was ambitious, please have a quick look at the itinerary for
the 2010 expedition. Its all laid out on the new
Predators In Peril page on Elasmodiver.com
To quickly outline the
mission: Beginning in early May, we will be traveling through nine
countries along the entire length of Central America to photograph new
species of sharks. We have arranged to work with local researchers in
many locations and we will also be working with artisanal shark
fishermen and with a number of Central American dive operators.
We are hoping to photograph
at least a dozen new species that have not yet been documented in the
wild. The images will be used in an extensive public awareness campaign
and then offered to regional conservation groups to promote local
conservation initiatives.
We have put in a couple of
funding proposals but we still need help with equipment and field
expenses. Please take a look at the
Predators in Peril Expedition Wish
List if you think you may be able to help. And, please spread
the word about the expedition through any networks that you are involved
with. Media coverage is a very important part of the project.
TIGER BEACH
In other news, I have just returned from
Tiger Beach in the Bahamas. It was an unexpected last minute shoot that
I almost didn't go on but I'm glad I did because the sharks were VERY
friendly on this visit and the shooting opportunities were
outstanding. If you've never been to Tiger Beach you'd be forgiven for
imagining a palm fringed island surrounded by big striped sharks but TB isn't
actually a beach at all. It's a sand bank in the middle of nowhere that
rises to within about 20ft of the surface. The lemon sharks that patrol
the area have become accustomed to the occasional dive boat passing
through and the sound of an anchor chain rattling down to the seabed
acts like an aquatic dinner bell.
For first time visitors it
can be very daunting seeing a score of large lemon sharks circling just
below the swim step but lemons tend to be pretty well behaved sharks.
Tigers (in my opinion) are a little more unpredictable. The tigers
usually show up in ones and twos but you never really know what Tiger
Beach will dish out. I've heard of divers encountering a dozen tigers on
a single dive. I'm sure that would be fun for the adrenalin junkies that
go shark diving for kicks but it would make my job a little tricky so
I'm glad that we only saw a handful of tigers over the course of the
week.
I need an accommodating
shark that is bold enough to come in close and pose but doesn't get out
of control and swim off with the bait box. The 4 meter female that
adopted us on this trip was almost the perfect shark. 'Fluffy' as we
called her, was a beautiful animal that moved slowly among us for the
better part of two days. Judging by her distended belly she was either
digesting a turtle or almost ready to give birth to the next generation
of baby tigers.
Between Fluffy and the
omnipresent lemon sharks it turned into a great shoot:
MORE IMAGES ON
ELASMODIVER
After Tiger Beach I had a
week to kill in Florida which would normally have involved lots of
snorkeling with stingrays and hunting for little coastal sharks but I'm
ashamed to say that I barely got wet even though I was holed up right
next the beach in Fort Lauderdale. I spent the week sitting in a
darkened hotel room cleaning and sorting all of the images that I have
taken this year. It was a mammoth undertaking but I'm finally caught up
(almost). Pretty soon there will be a whole lot of new images on Elasmodiver.com
- I promise!
Here are some new leopard
shark pics to keep everyone happy:
2010 SHARK SHOOT IN THE
BAHAMAS
While in Florida I attended
DEMA - the yearly North American Dive Industry Bash. I'm glad I went
because after 4 days of schmoozing with magazine editors and dive
operators I walked away with lots of exciting plans for next year. So
many plans in fact that there is no way I can work on them all, but even
if I make half of them happen it is going to be an amazing 2010.
One tentative plan I have is
a Shark Photography Workshop in the Bahamas. This is a new direction for
me. Other professional shooters have done similar workshops but I have
been biding my time until I was sure I had something worth offering.
Now I'm ready. We're looking
at a
3 or 4 day shoot, mostly working with Caribbean reef sharks in different
environments. Two dives a day plus 'how to' workshops, photography
critiques (don't be shy) and daily slide shows.
The idea is that you walk
away with some good pics, a better understanding of how to shoot sharks
and some great stories about the crazy time you had with a slough of other
shark shooters in the Bahamas. Space will be limited so if that sounds
like fun let me know! Depending on interest, I'm hoping to set some
dates in April before the Predators in Peril Expedition gets underway.
NEW ELASMO T-SHIRTS!
Another spin off from DEMA, I bumped into Tom Sergent who operates the
company Amphibious Warrior Scuba Wear which raises money for shark
education and conservation activities. Tom is a big supporter of Elasmodiver
and he has agreed to
produce our new Elasmo T shirts that have been getting rave reviews. His
new AWSW website will soon be up and running but for now, if you want to
order an Elasmo T, go to Tom's AWSW fan page on FaceBook:
Amphibious Warrior Scuba Wear on Facebook
The Elasmo T's are US$22.
All proceeds go towards the Predators in Peril Project.
BAIT BALL DIVING IN THE
SEA OF CORTEZ
Tomorrow I leave for Cabo
san Lucas in Baja to shoot Marlins with Shark Diver Magazine. "MARLINS?"
I hear you say. Well, its a trip to shoot marlins attacking bait balls.
Don't tell the editor but I'm only going incase some sharks show up to
feed as well. If they do, I'll just have to wait for those pesky marlins
to get out of the way so that I can get the shot.
For the sharks,
Andy Murch
Shark Projects
September
25th 2009
Now
that the
shark
tour is officially over, I
am back on Vancouver Island formulating a game plan for next year. My
fall schedule is looking a bit grim regarding actual time in the water
with sharks but there are so many exciting projects that need my
attention that I'll be too busy to go diving anyway. Here are a few of
the things that I am working on:
 Image
Exhibition
An
exhibition featuring a selection of dynamic shark and ray images
designed to draw attention to the critical position of critically
endangered elasmobranch species. This will initially start locally
but if it is well received I will try to turn it into a traveling
exhibition. It is a great opportunity for me to get on my soap box
in a friendly setting to reinforce the message that shark stocks are
in decline and need to be protected at a global level.
There
are a lot of obstacles holding the project back such as: set up,
printing, framing, venue hire and advertising expenses but we have
high hopes for pulling this together by the spring of next year.
Shark-Shop.com
A retail
website affiliated with Elasmodiver that will ultimately become our
portal for marketing limited edition prints and other elasmodiver
goodies. This is not that big a project but its way beyond my web
savvy so if anyone wants to lend a hand...
The
Shark Dive Operator Initiative
The
original mandate of Elasmodiver was to create an exhaustive
shark and ray
field guide on the internet where divers could look
up a particular species that they were interested in and immediately
find out where they could dive with it. Well, eight years later I'm
nowhere near finished but I think that I've made a pretty good
start.
One of
the factors holding the project up is that I still don't know where
each and every elasmobranch is hiding and when dive operators are
talking about their dive sites on the internet, they don't usually
bother saying that stingray species A is sometimes found swimming
around at dive site B. Consequently, I've decided to approach the
problem from another angle.
The
Shark Dive Operator Initiative (I'm still working on the name) is an
email campaign to get every dive shop or dive operator that we can
find on the internet (not just those that run organized shark dives)
to fill out a quick survey answering which shark and ray species
they see in their neighborhood.
Once we
get the results, their contact info and a brief outline of what you
might encounter with them will get added to the
Dive Operator Directory.
I'm guessing that most dive operators will be pretty happy to have a
link from one of the largest shark diving resources on the internet
so the survey should get a good response. In return, we'll get
priceless information for our database and maybe even some location
ideas for upcoming shark tours. It is a mammoth project. Why any
sane person would attempt it I don't know...
Elasmodiver Expanded
No
surprises here. I'm swamped with new shark and ray images from the
2009 tour and it is going to take me months to add them all onto
Elasmodiver. There are at least 6 new species profiles to be added
to the Field Guide (like the Atlantic Guitarfish shown here) as well
as location pics, some new 'shark diving hot spot' features and lots more
that I don't even want to think about right now.
Shark
Diver Magazine Issue 21
Some of
you may have heard that
Eli was so inspired by the North American Shark Diving Tour that he
decided to dedicate the next issue of the mag almost exclusively to
our adventures. That was a nice gesture on his part but the reality
is that after I agreed in principle, I soon realized that I would
have to rewrite and expand upon my entire road trip blog so that it
would read well in a magazine. And, sort, clean and edit lots and
lots of pics so that Eli can cherry pick his favorites. It is very
time consuming but its kinda fun reliving all the high points and
writing about them from a more retrospective point of view.
From
what I've seen so far, the mag is going to look awesome. Here are a
couple of screen shots that Eli sent me. That's Claire surrounded by
silky sharks on the cover:
 Elasmodiver
on Facebook
Elasmodiver now has a Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elasmodivercom/130919737853
A month
or two ago a friend of mine started an Andy Murch Shark Photographer
Group on Facebook. That was going well but I couldn't figure out how
to keep everyone updated unless they actually visited the group to
see what had changed. So now there is a simple page that anyone can
join. Once you join Elasmodiver (or become a fan of it) on
Facebook you'll get all my website updates zapped straight to your
Facebook status updates page - much easier for me to manage.
Speaking
of Facebook,
Lately
it has seemed like there are so many shark group postings and worthy
causes that its difficult to know which ones to support. I am sure
that they are probably all worthy causes. The Shark Safe Network is
trying to get likeminded organizations to work together. In their
own words:
 The
Shark Safe Network provides a framework to combine and focus the
efforts of committed individuals and shark conservation groups
towards specific shark conservation campaigns. If you have a
passion to protect sharks, Shark Safe Network helps you to get
involved and make a difference - by participating in a current
campaign or by launching your own campaign in your community.
Shark Safe Network provides the
information, tools, raw materials and support. You provide the
passion!!
The goal of every Shark Safe
Network campaign is to reduce and ultimately eliminate wasteful
and unsustainable activities and products that threaten sharks'
survival. Shark Safe Network invites and welcomes participation
from any and all organizations and individuals, provided that
all campaigns are conducted according the Shark Safe Network
campaign principles.
And we always keep in mind that
helping sharks = helping people. When you consider any of the
issues that threaten sharks today, there is also a corresponding
negative impact on humans and the planet.
Shark Safe Network is all about
getting involved and doing something that counts. Join the Shark
Safe Network and you will make a difference!
Many
organizations have already endorsed the initiative so if you're
looking for an effective way to make a difference, take a closer
look at what the
SharkSafeNetwork is trying to do.
There
are lots more projects that I would like to start at some point but
these will keep me busy for a while.
I am
planning to go to DEMA in November so if you see me wandering around
in an Elasmodiver T-shirt please come up and say hello. It'll be a
busy weekend but there is always time to talk shark.
For the
Sharks,
Andy
Murch
|
