Shark Week
Summary
Shark Weekis return to Discovery with a series of new naturedocumentarieslikeGreat White Serial Killer : Sea of BloodandSydney Harbor Shark Invasion . Each of those specials dives into deadly shark attack that are frighteningly recent , and which take place across the globe . As disclose in the statute title , Sydney Harbor Shark Invasionexplores recent onslaught and an uptick in shark population in the seas next to Sydney , Australia , andGreat White Serial Killer : Sea of Blooddetails grisly shark attacks in the Mexican fishing town of Yavaros .
The host of both specials ( and otherShark Weekprogramming ) is Paul de Gelder , an Australian Army and Navy veteran who lost his leg and part of an arm to a shark plan of attack in 2009 . De Gelder brings compassionateness to hisnature documentarywork , stress both with survivor of shark attacks and the shark themselves . Despite his own experience , de Gelder is passionate about restrain sharks — and the humans who angle , swim , and otherwise spend time in their habitat — safe .
There are many great nature documentaries , but only a few deserve to be control as the best , as the users of Reddit have helpfully pointed out .
Paul de Gelder spoke withScreen Rantabout his workplace on bothshark documentaries . In that conversation , he expose how his own journey as a shark flak subsister affected his work on the specials , and how it felt to revisit the website of his flak inSydney Harbor Shark Invasion . De Gelder also detail the importance of exploring way that humankind and shark can coexist and shared his Leslie Townes Hope for how prospective bather can approach swimming in the sea .
Paul De Gelder Details His Journey From Shark Attack Survivor To Shark Week Host
Screen bombast : You ’re leading two show about shark attacks this class . I know you have your own story with this , but what makes you need to lean into these account in such a public manner ?
Paul de Gelder : I intend it ’s good having make out from that scenario , with the power to read and be compassionate about it . mass that I peach to that have either been involved in shark approach or are part of a phratry or friendship group that have , understand that I know firsthand what it ’s like . Oftentimes they ’re more uncoerced to open up to me , as opposed to some random someone that wants to ask them .
Was it severe for you to find that pity ? I do n’t have intercourse how common that is among people who have been through what you ’ve been through .
Paul de Gelder : Yeah , it was . Having been in the war machine for so long , you get trained to bury that pity down . You become an self-reliant , “ complete the mission ” sorting of person , and that ’s it . Nothing on either side exists — just the mission . It was really hard , for a long time , to attempt and regain that connection to my emotion , and to find compassionateness for the shark and even for people . I ’m like , “ I ’ve got my own problems to worry about . Why should I have to care with it ? I ’ve have a prosthetic leg and a prosthetic hand , I nearly lost my calling , I nearly miss my whole biography . I need to focalise on me . ”
But the most grand matter I receive is that when you take the focus off of yourself and you put it onto other people and stress to help them , you actually find way , right smart good than when you ’re just trying to make yourself feel good . And then you ’ve bring forth two people that feel good . It was a long journeying to discover that compassionateness and the ability to look through the eyes of the shark and take care through the eyes of other citizenry but , since I ’ve been able to do that , my life has gotten exponentially just .
Great White Serial Killer Is A Compassionate Look At A Fishing Town And Shark Survival
I love thatGreat White Serial Killeris about you trying to help a specific community . How did that whole show occur together ? It seems like you all were down there reasonably quickly after the most late plan of attack pass off .
Paul de Gelder : The attacks had been happening for the late few yr , so this was a news report that was going to get made . Then , a shark attack find while we were in the planning appendage . That ’s why it seems like it was so close . We were n’t mobilize to go down flat after — a shark fire actually happened during the planning to make the show . It became even more poignant .
One of the most impactful consequence in follow that was when you all spoke to the human beings whose co - actor was attacked . How is it to have conversations with people like that and have empathy for them and the shark at the same time ?
Paul de Gelder : When we were standing around mouth to him in his doorway , he was verbalize Spanish , and we could not understand him . I could pick up a word here or there , but the emotion with which he speak resonate to the point where you could almost understand exactly what he was saying . That ’s how powerful it was .
Once we bewilder the translation and try what he in reality said , it was hard . They see it very different than the way we see it . They see it as , “ This is a monster . They ’re creating orphan . They ’re vote down everyone . They want to rust us , ” whereas we ’re trying to say , “ No , depend , this is a part of the ecosystem . You ca n’t kill them . ” And we were trying to get them to understand that if you kill this shark , it might not make any divergence . Another shark might come in in and kill another person next yr , and then you ’ve still start out the job .
So , [ we sound out ] , “ Why do n’t we work toward a answer that prevent everyone safe ? ” But [ with sportfishing ] being such an integral part of the way that their residential district makes a living , they want to feel safe , they require to feel protect , and the easiest way is just to kill sharks . It was a bit of an aroused and intellectual conflict .
Do you feel like you have an mind of what the right counterweight is between protecting people and wildlife at the same sentence ?
Paul de Gelder : We consider ourselves to be the most in advance species on Earth . We ’ve get these big head , and we can create tools and spaceship and all that sort of stuff and nonsense . sure , we can create tools to keep us good in the ocean from this one animate being . If we employ something as simple as a one - man cage , which has been used for decennium down in New Zealand and Australia to keep the diverse dependable , why could n’t it be used in the Sea of Cortez ? Pretty simpleton .
I think that it comes down to trying to be understanding enough to want to put those implementation into praxis as fight back to just killing thing . Every time that we try and alter nature to befit ourselves , nature pushes back . If we remove sharks from the sea , then other populations of Pisces are going to burst forth , which think of they ’re depart to decimate the populations underneath them , which creates a ripple effect , and then we ’ve put down the whole ecosystem . Letting nature have its own balance , respecting that , and earmark that to thrive , is go away to mean that we actually get to hold up .
Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion Investigates Shark Populations In Sydney Harbor… While Returning To The Scene Of De Gelder’s 2009 Attack
InSydney Harbor Shark Invasion , you ’re returning to the site of your own flak , which was in 2009 . What made you need to do that , and how did it experience ?
Paul de Gelder : I did n’t really [ Laughs ] . It ’s not something I ever think that I ’d be doing . I did have to go back and dive in the harbor a couple of times when I was with the Navy , but not in the same spot where I was attack — not actively going to spots where bull sharks had been tracked , and not trying to bring the bull sharks in , in water where you could barely see a twosome of foundation in front of you . That is very scarey stuff . I ’ve got bait with me as well .
But it was important . I ’m never one to manoeuver off from a challenge or something that scares me . I believe that we should face the things that are the scariest , because more often than not , we do that , and we realize that they were never that scary to begin with . Diving in murky water with bull sharks is not testament to that . I would highly not recommend doing that . But it ’s Shark Week . This is what we do .
How did you feel after ?
Paul de Gelder : I felt happy that I was still alive . The show is n’t about me endure back there . That ’s a part of it — showing the emotion and fear and trepidation is part of it — but it ’s more of an bionomical story where we ’re seek to get out if the warming sea flow and climate change are dissemble the dogshit shark ’ power to migrate out of Sydney Harbor , hence keeping them in the harbor longer and becoming more dangerous to humans .
There was an attack , once again , as with Yavaros … Maybe I ’m the magnet . While we were deploy , there was actually a shark pungency in Sydney Harbor , and it was the first one since mine . So , it was an in - depth facial expression into why this might be happening . Are the bull sharks hanging around longer ? What do we call for to do to keep people secure ? That ’s something that come down into my realm , very deep — trying to keep masses dependable , but also understanding that the shark have a intention , and that we need to keep them safe as well .
Should You Go Swimming This Summer? Yes, But “Stay Informed”
Shark Weekairs as many people go to the beach and want to drown in the sea . What would you say to viewers that are warn after watching these shows ?
Paul de Gelder : And also , there have been a bunch of shark bites and attack of late around America as well . It goes back to what I say in the first place . We consider ourselves to be the most intelligent species on Earth with these big brain . We create tools . We have Google . We have the cyberspace . We have lifeguards . We have drone . There ’s no reason for us to go out into this inherently wild and dangerous plaza without implementing some refuge strategies .
When we get into our car , what do we do ? We put on our seatbelts , we check our mirrors , we ram under speed , and we do n’t drink and drive , because we need it to be the safest experience possible . And yet . you have more likeliness of dying in your car on the fashion to the beach than you ever have a getting vote out by a shark . Yet , we still do it .
So , I would n’t require anyone to stay out of the sea . Just be impertinent about it . Respect it as a savage place . It ’s not your backyard swimming kitty . Stay informed . Use the cyberspace , use the tools that you have at your disposal to remain safe , and go out and enjoy this beautiful part of nature .
About Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood
After three calamitous Great White shark attack occurred off a small Mexican fishing Greenwich Village – including one in which a dupe was decapitated - shark attack survivor Paul De Gelder joins shark investigator Brandon McMillan and local life scientist Gador Mutaner to launch a plan to ID the cause of death and keep the villager in the Sea of Cortez secure .
discipline back for our otherShark Week2024 consultation :
Sydney Harbor Shark Invasionpremieres July 7 at 11 PM , andGreat White Serial Killer : Sea of Bloodpremieres July 8 at 10 post-mortem examination , both on Discovery .
