Neil on CNN

Neil Hammerschlag is a shark scientist right here in Miami who is very active in researching and protecting sharks - as per Mike's blog (and an email from Neil) - I found out that he had been featured on CNN to discuss the possible impact that oil spill may have on sharks:





Read the complete story here - Neil and team, keep up the good work...

Tibu Leander

Tibu Leander - Photo by Wolf Leander

My dad was here about two weeks ago, and as always he spent a lot of time with Tibu.

Tibu is a three year old weimaraner that has become part of the family - his name is short for Tiburon (shark in Spanish).  I have tried to capture images of him with little luck - my old man, on the other hand, had his Leica M-6 with him (said he wants to get back into land photography) and did a few sessions with him.

I think Wolf really captured Tibu's soul and personality in the images (see all here) - something he has done over and over with his shark photography.  You see, when you take pictures of most animals (including humans) you need to be able to connect with them.  

Growing up and traveling with my dad, I would observe him talk to people of all walks and backgrounds before taking their portraits (he has a very solid collection - I think we need to develop a Latin American Dreams website :) ).  In many cases he even developed lasting relationships - he is the godfather of a little girl he photographed in Ecuador.

With animals, I have seen him done the same - gaining their acceptance to be photographed...spending hours in the water observing their behavior and understanding their unique personalities...

More Family.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (Miami, June 2010)
Click to enlarge

This is my one and only grand-dog Tibu. Smart, sensitive - just like his parents Felix and Carmen...... :-)

Mourning - a never ending healing process...

My mother Ana Catarina and my youngest sister Erica died a little over a year ago.

The wounds still hurt. Will they ever heal? When I look at these images, taken fifty years ago, I know they won't.

Mother and sister - their relationship was not as harmonious as it sometimes appeared.

Erica and I had so much in common - it was not just our sense of humor... and yet, our affective bond had deep cracks of misunderstandings.

I will never get over the deaths of my parents, my sister, my friends. There are so many important and irrelevant things still unsaid between them and me. That is what I find so troubling to be left behind.

I am already afraid to perhaps have to be around when the next loved one will die - if I am lucky that next one will be me. No, I am not trying to be 'funny' - I mean it...

Madame de Stael, Stefan Zweig, and Hermanus.

Madame de Stael lived in Paris and Switzerland in the late 18th / early 19th centuries, and was famous for her literary and political salons; Stefan Zweig was an Austrian cosmopolitan whose books were read all over the world during the first half of the 20th century; Hermanus is a picturesque vacation and whale-watching town in South Africa's Riviera.

OK, fine, but what is the connection?

A bookstore.

Not just a regular bookstore but a most unique and charming second-hand bookstore owned by a cool South African couple: Beth and Noel Hunt.

Beth and Noel Hunt in front of the "Hemingway's Bookshop"
Photo: Wolfgang Leander
Click to enlarge

It was at the "Hemingway" bookstore where I found, and bought, a book by Stefan Zweig ("Drei Meister"), published in Germany in 1923, and Madame de Stael's classic oeuvre "De l'Allemagne".

I would have never met the Hunts were it not for my buddy Jean-Francois Avenier, aka "Jifa", who lives in Hermanus and is a good friend of them.

Both Beth and Noel love books - most definitely a prerequisite to open a store to sell used and rare books which is what they did some fifteen years ago to fulfill an old dream of theirs.

Beth is also a published author; she has written a beautiful book about Hermanus, a coffee table book, richly illustrated and even featuring some of Jifa's wildlife photographs.

Beth and her first book "Hermanus"
Photo: Wolfgang Leander
Click to enlarge

A second, very personal book is underway, and almost ready to be born, as it were. It's Beth's autobiography, and since she is a youthful lady, more books by her can be expected in years to come. Noel is the president of the Beth Hunt Fan Reader Club, and a passionate painter in his spare time.

This remarkable couple owns a handful of dogs, all rescued from the streets, which gives you an idea about the size of their hearts. Not long ago they started a crusade against the killing of baboons.

I absolutely love Beth and Noel - they are my kinda people!

The Hunts
Photo: Wolfgang Leander
Click to enlarge

Here's to the Hunts! They have been married to each other for the past 25 years; may they live together another 25 years - at the very least!!

Jeff Shaw and an Angel

Jeff Shaw from OceanicDefense posted the video below on Facebook - definitely thought it was worth a share.  Back in the early eighties we had a similar experience in Bonaire with a Queen Angel fish that was actually at the same site year after year...incredible interaction.

I Can't Stop Thinking about the Tiger Sharks of Aliwal Shoal...

To understand why, let me share these images with you; they were all taken in 2008 when Aliwal Shoal was at its best.

The Old Man in the Sea of his Passion
Photo: Felix Leander

Click on image to enlarge

Tiger Sharks of Aliwal Shoal - gone, forever....

Photos: Wolfgang Leander

Click on images to enlarge

Mighty but Vulnerable: The Tiger Sharks of Aliwal Shoal

William Winram with a female tiger shark
Photo: Wolfgang Leander

Click on image to enlarge

When I look at this female shark I cannot help but getting overpowered by deep anguish - is she still around or has she been caught in the shark nets of near-by Scottburgh, or perhaps killed by senseless fishermen?

Aliwal Shoal is a marine sanctuary, and tiger sharks belong to the species that are expressly protected there.

Yet, the place is rather dangerous for these most gentle and non-aggressive animals.

As many as forty tiger sharks get fatally trapped every year in the shark nets and hooked on the baited drums which are 'managed' by the Durban-based Natal Sharks Board.

When you consider that the once plentiful tiger shark populations world-wide have been diminished by some 80-90% during the past 30 years or so due to indiscriminate over-fishing - mostly for their fins as you probably know by now, dear reader - you would think that this precious species, like many others, would be in a safe haven in the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area. They aren't.

Why don't people, in this case South Africans, cherish what they are so privileged to have, and that is unique and almost as ancient as God himself? Because of greed, indifference, stupidity - and, most sadly, a complete lack of basic compassion for the suffering of fellow creatures. It's always the same story.

What is wrong with us humans? How heartless and stupid can we be to knowingly destroy what we are part of, and not care about it?

Albert Einstein comes, again, to my mind: "Only the universe and human stupidity have no boundaries; however, I am not so sure about the universe".

A Bit of Personal History: My Old Man as a Young Man.

Wolfgang Leander

Click on image to enlarge

Thanks to the Internet I was able to get a hold of this photograph of my father, Wolfgang Leander (1905-1964), when he was 28 years old. At that time (1934), he was the test pilot and chief pilot of the Fieseler aircraft factory in Kassel.

What is interesting about this image is the incredibly modern design of the Fieseler Fi 5, a light training and aerobatic plane that was quite well known in Germany; however, it was not as hugely popular as the legendary Fieseler "Storch" that was developed in 1936, and was the first aircraft to boast a stunning STOL performance.

The owner of Fieseler Flugzeugbau, Gerhard Fieseler, became an international celebrity as the first aerobatic world champion. The historical championship, during which two contestants crashed and died, took place in June 1934 in Paris. My father was a member of the international jury, and represented Germany at this spectacular event - being the only Jew in the German aviation world....!

During 1934 most German Jews had already lost their jobs and were being subjected to the ever increasing state sponsored antisemitic terror.

As a pilot, Gerhard Fieseler must have held my father in the highest esteem. In a reference letter, Fieseler described my father's flying skills as being "outstanding and far above average".

In 1936, Fieseler, a member of the Nazi party, was either forced by more radical Nazis, or was himself convinced, to finally get rid of his Jewish chief pilot which was when my old, still young man emigrated to South America and eventually settled in Bolivia to join the local airline, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano. as a commercial pilot.

My dad was, thus, spared the ultimate hell that awaited the Jews in Europe only a few years later at the hands of the Germans.

A Curry in a Hurry....

I always thought that the best place to eat curries outside of India was London. After having been to Durban a few times, I am convinced that it is there where you will find the best Indian cuisine.

I love Indian food; to me it is the most divine food on earth - and probably also in heaven...

In Rocky Bay, which is close to Scottburgh, a couple of newly found friends and I decided to try out an unassuming Indian restaurant. Since I always wanted to be taught how to prepare a nice, hot curry dish, I thought I could get a cooking crash course by blackmailing the friendly owner of the restaurant, Sheila Behary.

Thus, I told Sheila that we would eat in her place under the condition that she would have to teach me how to cook the dish I would order. Sheila is a very clever lady, and as she realized that I meant "business", she immediately agreed to accept my rather unusual proposal.

I then went straight into the kitchen and learned how to prepare a delicious vegetable curry under the watchful eyes of my teacher.

Sheila Behary and me.
Photo: Sophie van Coller

What can I say - "my" curry turned out to be a success story! In case you find it hard to believe, just look at the dishes and all the happy faces in this photograph:

Left to right: Dr. Leonard Compagnio, Lesley Rochat, Ram Behary, Sheila Behary, Sophie van Coller, Wolfgang Leander, Rejoice Ngwane.
Photo: Mark van Coller

Click on images to enlarge

Nery & Gautier: World Class Freediving at its Best.

Guillaume Nery and Julie Gautier

This has gotta be the best freediving video clip I have ever seen.

Congratulations to both Guillaume Nery and Julie Gautier!!

Accompany Guillaume on his free fall into the blue abyss: