Shark Focus

MEMBER’S pagesAnd it strikes…like ThunderballWe all remember Benchley and Spielberg’s Jaws, but as a kid the one shark film that reallyprompted curiosity, and was responsible for my fascination with sharks, was the 1964 Bond filmThunderball. Displaying some of the finest underwater videography of its time and breath-takingscenery around Nassau, Thunderball made the Bahamas look like the place to go if I wanted tomeet a shark face to face. Ten years ago I did just that, completing a PADI Open Water course anda handful of dives during which I was pretty much guaranteed a chance of seeing a shark. And Icertainly wasn’t disappointed.Fast forward to 2012, I thought it would be great to revisit the Bahamas and try out some divingon one of the quieter islands, Grand Bahama. We booked the all-inclusive Viva Wyndham resort inFreeport as it was located on the beach and promised shark diving within minutes of the hotel. Withthe little dive boat waiting for us on the beach, it was literally a stone’s throw away from the onsitedive shop.Once the engines revved and we were on the move we went straight into the briefing – althoughhalf way through we came to a stop as we were already at the dive site. With an almost perfectlycalm sea, and a more than comfortable air and water temperature, we broke the surface to seesharks immediately. At first you see shadows, and as you descend the shadows come alive withdetail. The sharks generally go about their own business but do, from time to time, come in closeand it is during these special moments you can truly appreciate their beauty. The species youare most likely to encounter is the Caribbean Reef Shark, although Nurse Sharks are also quitecommon and Bulls and Tigers have been known to make very rare appearances.The thing I loved most about this dive trip is that it was completely stress free. The dives wereshallow, the currents were minimal and whether you have hundreds or just a few dives in your logbook, it is very peaceful just to kneel on the sandy bottom at 35ft and observe our finned friends intheir natural environment.The shark diving sites are all in close proximity and relatively shallow, so doing two morning diveswon’t take it out of you too much, leaving lots of time to enjoy the rest of the island and resort. Allin all, if you are looking for the perfect excuse to get acquainted with our aqua buddies and wouldlike a little bit of sunshine and relaxation time too, Grand Bahama is a great place to start lookingfor your next holiday. And if you like diving armed with a camera like myself, you have great lightand –even better – the perfect subject!Caribbean Reef Shark Carcharhinus perezi. © Paul Martin.Paul MartinLettersHello Shark Trust,My name is Darcie and I’m 13. I would like to say thank you for allthat you have done to help the sharks. Since I can remember I haveloved sharks and when I am able to I want to become a marinebiologist. I am already well on my way as I have work experience inAustralia next year, working on the Great Barrier Reef. I have beenvery lucky to have these experiences as I have passed the first stageof scuba diving, so I can dive with a more experienced diver.At school all I ever talk about is sharks, or when I do apresentation, I always do it about sharks when I can.At home I have a shark poster, two soft shark toys, pens, pencils,rulers, sharpeners, rubbers, pencil cases, t-shirts, a flannel, a towel,a light switch sticker, necklaces, bracelets, fossilised teeth, Lego, abag, a purse, top trump cards, magnets, dvds and books about them,and even a model. What can I say I’m crazy about them!When I have enough money I am going to adopt a shark becauseI love them and think people should see that they’re not killingmachines but misunderstood creatures who only attack because,like any other creature, they have to survive on what they can. I justwould like to say thank you so much for all the work you’ve done tohelp the sharks, even the ones that have been caught in nets, theones that are washed up on beaches, the ones that have had theirfins chopped off and then throw back into the sea. I just can’t thankyou enough. You have given hope to all those shark lovers.Thank you,Darcie Heeley (Chesterfield)FundraisingThe Shark Trust is privileged to receive lots of donations in supportof our work. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of oursupporters who continue to support shark conservation by generouslygiving their time, passion and money.At the beginning of the year the Shark Trust received £233 from AnnaJoicey, who had been busy fundraising for sharks over Christmas.Anna, age 9, had raised this money by reading a grand total of 9books as part of a shark read-athon. Below Anna writes about herexperience of fundraising and why she wanted to help sharks.‘I love sharks and I feel sorry for them because there are not manyleft. I wanted to raise money because I love reading . It wasvery hard and took me a long time, I had to concentrate lots becauseI had to read 5 books but I read 9 over the Christmas holiday.I have lots of shark books so I got to know more about them.I am going to soon start my PADI Bubblemaker, so later (when I get older) I can seesharks with my own eyes.I hope to keep doing good things for sharks. ’JuniorMEMBER’S pageAnna Joicey. © Anna Joicey.Thank you to Jade Rotherham, age 11, who sent in this amazingdrawing of an Atlantic Weasel Shark!The Atlantic Weasel Shark is slender in shape with a moderately longsnout. It is light grey/brown in colour with yellow stripes and likes toeat squid.Jade’s picture can also be found in our online shark gallery atwww.sharktrust.org/sharkart, along with lots of other fantastic art.If you’ve been inspired to create some shark art or have drawingsyou’d like to send us, please post your work to:Shark Trust4 Creykes Court, 5 Craigie DriveThe Millfields, PlymouthPL1 3JB.Or you can always scan a copy of your work and send it to us by email.In May 2012, Sealife London Aquarium launched anew attraction called ‘Snorkelling with Sharks’. Thisexperience offers guests the opportunity to snorkel inSealife’s main shark tank, within the confines of a nettedcage at the surface, and learn about the threats thatsharks face and the importance of conservation. Theaquarium have offered to generously donate £5 from eachexperience purchased to the Shark Trust - to date £3225has been received, which we are extremely grateful for!We also received donations from: Mark Chuwen who chose to donate £50 to the Trustinstead of sending Christmas cards; and Charlie Gordon, age 8, who kindly asked hisfriends and family to make donations to the Shark Trust instead of buying presents forhis birthday, raising £161!Unfortunately we don’t have room to list everyone who has made a donation but youcan find out more about all our generous supporters by visiting our Walls of Fameonline at www.sharktrust.org/fundraise.10 www.sharktrust.org Shark Focus 46Shark Focus 46 www.sharktrust.org/fundraise 11