I was quite impressed when I watched this video of a diver cutting away a thick rope that had been slicing into the flesh of a massive whale shark. The animal, spotted 300 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, remained calm throughout the operation.
Daniel Zapata, dive team leader aboard the Solmar V cruise ship, said the divers knew it might be dangerous to cut the whale shark free, but it was heartbreaking for them to watch while the animal was suffering.
“We talked about it for some time between dives,” Zapata said in a question-and-answer interview with Joanna McNamara of Project Aware. “When we saw the whale shark again, I knew I had to help. It felt so good to cut this whale shark free. I found a thinner section of the rope and cut through it. I unwrapped the rope from each side of the whale shark and finally she was free.”
The action may have saved the life of the pregnant female and her unborn offspring, according to observers.
This video was featured on the Smithsonian Channel as part of the latest series “Secrets of Shark Island.” The “secret,” according to promotional material, is that the Revillagigedo Islands, some 200 miles from the Mexican coast, is home to one of the greatest concentrations of fish in the world.
“This is the only natural juncture for miles in an otherwise empty Pacific Ocean and a crucial area for migrating sharks and other apex predators,” states the Smithsonian Channel website. “Enter a world where whitetip sharks, giant lobsters and moray eels share living quarters, humpback whales breed, and mantas and tuna feast on bait in this land of plenty.”
The Smithsonian Channel has been going a little crazy over sharks the past few years. But it isn’t just about sharks. It’s about the people who love them. Two years ago, we were introduced to “Shark Girl” aka Madison Steward, who grew up around sharks on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and is as fearless as they come around the sharp-toothed creatures. See second video on this page.
“Sharks are misunderstood like no other creature, to the point where it is actually contributing to their slaughter,” Madison told Gerri Miller of Mother Nature Network. “I think it has a lot to do with media, but also that people cannot go and see them for themselves and learn the truth.
“Sharks are NOT what you think,” she continued, “and myself and many other people spend hours in the water with large sharks and feed them at ease on regular occasions. They are the apex predators, and nature doesn’t make animals like this for no reason. They are essential in our oceans. In previous years, the decimation of the shark population has caused the surrounding ecosystem to collapse. They are truly the ‘boss’ of our oceans.”
The third video is something of a personal manifesto from Madison Stewart, spoken in a voice-over as she swims in an awe-inspiring underwater world with ethereal music playing in the background.
If you think you know sharks, take a quiz from MNN.
Want to see more amazing sharks and stories from people involved with them? Check out these videos from Smithsonian Channel:
“Secrets of Shark Island” series
- “How the Volcanic Islands of the Pacific Came to Be”
- “You’ve Never Seen This Many Sharks in One Place”
- “What’s a False Killer Whale?”
- “Baby Humpbacks Need 150 Gallons of Whale Milk a Day”
“Shark Girl” series
- “A Live Shark Is Worth 1,000 Times More Than a Dead One”
- “You’ve Never Seen a Shark Feeding Frenzy Like This”
“Death Beach” series
“Great White: Code Red” series
- “A Shark’s Entire Body Is an Ear”
- “The Secrets of Sharks’ Eyes”
- “Smelly Seals Don’t Stand a Chance Against a Shark’s Nose”
- “Sharks Aren’t Cold-Blooded Killers… They’re Warm-Blooded Ones”
“Hunt for the Super Predator” series
Also, “Shark Girl” Madison Stewart has produced some fine videos since she was 14 years old. Watch them on the Madison Stewart website, “Good Youth in a Bad Sea.”
