Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Shark Film and Television Productions Bahamas - Popeye

Popeye the "friendliest shark" in the Bahamas
Her name is Popeye.

Named for a jaw wound that has left her with an unmistakable look, she's quickly becoming the Bahamas most filmed Tiger shark.

The wound is courtesy of a what we assume to be a fishing episode gone bad, but it could also be the result of any number of accidents waiting to happen for a curious Tiger shark in the Bahamas.

And curious she is.

Popeye as it turns out is the most inquisitive animal we have met to date at Tiger Beach, a world class dive and production site for sharks off Freeport. She likes close interactions with divers and cameras and is the perfect shark for film and television projects.

We enjoyed her company this spring on several productions with sharks that included an award winning Gillette commercial where she got top billing at the end. With a mug like hers you can understand why she got the final credit (click image for full size).

Most recently we worked with Popeye on a high energy commercial with an "international brand" and she literally saved the production by arriving early and staying late in conditions that made for tough shooting.

She needs an agent.

She works for fish.

This is one great shark.

She's also a terrific ambassador for shark conservation being a "survivor". That unfortunate hooking experience and her subsequent adoption by the dive community at Tiger Beach has produced a remarkably seasoned animal and we're thrilled to see and work with her when the opportunity presents itself.

Popeye is one of the reasons why Tiger Beach has become the place to film big charismatic megafauna, and they don't get more charismatic than Popeye.

Looking forward to seeing you soon big gal, try and stay out of trouble in the meantime.

Mexico's Big Shark Conservation Announcement - Politics or the Real Deal?

Last week we jumped into the shark conservation world of SINO's with a specific focus on Mexico and their inability to enforce conservation laws for sharks.

As we have been documenting for the past several years white sharks are frequently taken in Mexico's waters, leading us to questions a recent announcement out of Mexico that would protect all sharks and rays in Mexican waters starting in 2012.

It seems that we were not alone in this line of questioning and as it turns out the entire announcement of a vast shark sanctuary in Mexican waters may be premature or downright politics as usual in Mexico.

For an in depth update on Mexico's ongoing shark problems read Serge Dedinas blog post from the NGO Wildcoast, one of the the most credible sources for front line shark information in Mexico.

The Mexico Shark Fishing Moratorium Fiasco

So is the shark moratorium truth of fiction?

These types of policy “wars” in Mexico over proposals used to be carried out domestically in the state-run media. Different newspapers would publish policy proposals by competing factions in a government agency (the Mexican government under the PRI essentially bankrolled the press).
You would always know an article was a political message because it would appear without a byline with a very forceful and badly written statement about a very obscure policy. Another newspaper would carry the same type of article from a competing faction of technocrats calling for a different obscure policy.

Then the issue would vanish from the public spotlight.

What is unfortunate is that in the past, Mexico used to pass far-reaching conservation initiatives because it was worth the positive international media exposure it received–and then those plans would be implemented (to some degree).