Do you want to watch a con movie?

The shark world has been pretty quiet this year and there seems to have been a shift in conversation, people accepting people for who they are and what they do, and somewhat of a harmony.  Chatter on Shark Week was minimal compared to last year - I have to confess that I still have not seen one episode, they are saved on the DVR...pretty sad, but that is what a few years of bad programming can do...

But now there seems to be something people are talking about - a movie called "The Shark Con - A new Controversial Film" - it actually came up towards the end of last year.  I do not know what to make of it from watching the trailers and it all strikes me as very one-sided without any credible voice from the scientific community on a subject that deserves that type of input.

Shark Diver recently posted a good read about it...

"As predicted it has aroused quite a L'orage du merde among members of the shark diving and shark conservation community.

If the litmus test for industry anger and backlash could be measured in email terabytes, then this "documentary" would win all manner of awards.

Having not seen the film but watched the evolution of it within the industry I am struck at how fast some of those involved with the film are running for the hills. Disavowing their on screen presence and soft pedaling their way out the back door..." - READ COMPLETE POST

David Ulloa: Filming Sharks with the Power and Beauty of Poetry

David Ulloa

It took me about ten minutes to come up with this title, and without wanting to praise myself, it couldn't have been more accurate to describe David Ulloa in a nutshell.

I met David last fall when we both signed up for a dive trip to Tiger Beach. David is a professional film producer, cameraman, technical diver, script-writer, director, and above all a warm and compassionate human being. We felt at once the bond of friendship that comes from the heart. A platonic coup de foudre as it were.

Felix and David had the same going between them. Thus, one could also say ours is a platonic menage a trois - to stay in French... :-)

David in full gear - he must love what he does otherwise he couldn't put up with all that stuff

David's love of animals, and his ability to speak, whisper, sing silently to them in their language, be they horses, dogs, birds or sharks is absolutely stunning. He connects with animals on a level that is almost magical as you feel immediately, actually can see, how they respond to the communicative energy he emanates.

I have learned from David in thirty minutes just watching him handling horses more than I could have gathered from a scholarly treatise on man-horse interaction.

"Doc" Gruber and I were in Nassau last week to meet with some government people in shark protection related matters. As a "sales" tool I had requested David to furnish me with a short video clip of our friendly shark encounters at Tiger Beach.

This is what David put together - have a look, and you will agree with me that when David films underwater, it is the poet who writes, not the sophisticated camera technician who records.

David Ulloa's shark films are not documentaries about sharks - they are odes to them.