Thursday, May 21, 2009

Only a dead tiger shark is a good tiger shark .....

..... is what ignorants believe.

I would have thought that
Mark Quartiano who calls himself "The Shark" would at least be knowledgeable about sharks. He has been hunting sharks for the last 40 years, and probably considers himself a shark "expert".


Well, let me tell you, Mark is certainly a proficient shark hunter but he knows next to nothing about his prey.

I wrote him recently to find out whether he would consider diving with sharks with me one day, hoping that such an experience would turn the killer into a conservationist.

This is part of his reply to me:

"Thanks for your offer...but I never get in the water with sharks....and the last time I checked Tiger sharks accounted for most all shark fatalities in the world..."

I just don't understand guys like him. Mark has been into sharks for decades - and he would never get in the water with sharks? He is probably not the only one. I am sure Australian born Vic Hislop, definitely the most infamous shark angler, is also terrified of 'man-eating' sharks, and would never snorkel or dive with them.

Poor guys - they must have too much testosterone to even imagine what they are missing....


Mark's business is to feed on people's fear of sharks; mine - if I can call it a 'business' - is to show that sharks are not dangerous, not even the big ones.

Mark will never convince me that what he does is right; he, in turn, would simply refuse to even try to look at sharks the way I do. Too bad...

Here are two images that reduce the irreconcilability of
our positions to a graphic impact:



Playful tiger shark - alive and bad?
Photo: Amanda Cotton




Crucified tiger shark - dead and good?


4 comments:

the One called "Bitey"... said...

C'mon Wolfgang - don't you understand that to be a "Real Man" in this world you have to be fearful and vengeful of anything that might force you to look inside yourself and confront your frailties? That you have to be on constant guard for threats to your "Manhood" (like reading a book, driving a compact car, or respecting other living things) and practice your swaggering, posturing masculinity at every moment of the day?....

"Real Men" like Mark the Dork.. I mean "Shark"... and Vic Hyslop can't be distracted by something as horribly unmanly as respecting every creature's place in the big puzzle....

(I wish I were being ironic, but this is how most "Manly Men" think. Anything less and people might think they're girly, or something.)

Hanli Prinsloo said...

I don't know about real men or testosterone, not being or having either, but I would very much like to introduce myself to this kind of man and say, Hi my name is Hanli, I'm only 165cm tall, weigh around 55kgs, and have freedived with tigers twice my size and ridiculously heavier, and I survived, I more than survived! I LIVED! Every minute spent with them was a minute of my life I will treasure forever... and then I might kick them in the shins...hard.

I love you Wolf

Wolfgang Leander said...

Dear Hanli:

Thank you for your comment - you are so sweet!

I am 168 cm "tall", and now weigh 54 kgs. Wouldn't we look like (elderly) bro and sis?? :-)

Need to put on some weight before being back with our tiger girls!!!

See you next year in South Africa.

XOXO

Wolf

just me said...

I have found this years after ur posting. Mark the Shark is one of the most ignorant and damaging persons on earth. I will NOT call him a man. He is male only!! I have dived w reef sharks. Never have had chance to dive w tiger.. but I wd.. in a heartbeat. UNDERSTANDING these magestic creatures means to observe and respect. I will wager Mark and other sharkkillers have NEVER truly observed. One instance changes their perspective. And then they DESTROY. It is his IGNORANCE AND BIAS that instills fear in people.
I dream of diving w a white one day. I wonder if by that time there will BE
any to dive with??

Sincerely, Barbara Marshall, KC, Missouri