Death at Sea (New Poem)

 

So on my recent expedition, I finally had an open sea encounter with a Great Hammerhead shark.   Technically, I had one at Protea Banks in South Africa, but it was VERY fast and mostly fleeting – all I saw was it’s caudal fin speeding it away from our group of divers. 




In Florida, to quote erstwhile shark fisherman Quint, I got the head, tail, the whole damn thing.  Unfortunately, Great Hammerheads are a speedy fish and this one was on a mission (my camera battery also died, so I didn’t get a shot), so it was similarly fleeting. But I saw it – and now, when it comes to the big sharks – I’ve only got three left I need to tally in the wild:  a tiger, a basking, and a megamouth.   

Sadly – this was not the only thing I would see on this dive.   I witnessed a man die.  The news article I’ve linked to glosses over what happened, but it was a fairly grisly way to die.  As a spectator to it, I’ve been trying to make sense of it – and gosh, let’s see how my brain reacts the next time I do a big step off a dive deck or try to get up on a ladder out of the ocean. This poem is an attempt to reconcile what I know and what I don’t know about death.     Continue reading “Death at Sea (New Poem)”

A Fool in Dakuwaqa’s Gardens: A Klute Dive-A-Long

What’s it like to Scuba Dive with sharks? Most of the time, it is a calm, ethereal experience. But some of the time, especially when the sharks know there is food to be had, the energy in the water changes. The sharks are still indifferent to us, but they can definitely let their presence be known!

This dive was at Beqa Lagoon in Fiji, where the sharks help support the communities of Beqa, Yanuca Island, and Korovisilou.

While the sharks are given incentive to show up, the dives are regulated amongst the local community dive shops to not stress the sharks – a strictly no-touch policy among the guest divers, and non-lethal, non-invasive deterrents are used when the sharks (here, the bull sharks) get a overly aggressive (you’ll see the shepherd staffs used once or twice).

I hope you enjoy this dive, and I encourage you look up the ways sharks enrich Fijian life, from the opportunities they give communities, to their place in traditional Fijian beliefs, art, and music!

(Filmed during the 2017 Shark Angels expedition to Fiji)

Graphic from Fiji Airways











Sharks in the News, November 9, 2018

Baby shark doo doo doo

They found a new shark nursery in Ireland!   Let’s hope the Irish government protects this area from the destructive practice of trawling, especially bottom trawling!

Shark meals, ready to eat.

There’s discussion going on after the fatal bite incident involving Arthur Medici off of Cape Cod of going after the seals to limit great whites in the local waters.   Here’s why it won’t work.

 


There will be a screening of Sharkwater: Extinction in Denver on Monday, December 3rd, hosted by Fins Attached Marine Research and Conservation.  Go to the Facebook invite to learn more now!

MIDNIGHT MEGALODON MADNESS

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY

Well, it’s finally here!   The Meg, this summer’s big ol’ shark movie is finally here, and I’m pretty darn stoked!

I’ve already seen it – and it’s fun!  Checkout my review on Arizona’s Original Nerd Blog, Nerdvana Media!

Wanna see it with me? Come to the Alamo Drafthouse in Phoenix/Tempe on Friday!  I’ll be doing some shark poems, and I’ll be doing a shark science Q&A after the film!  Click this link to RSVP to the event and buy tickets!

And you want some some science with your shark schlock?  I talk about C. megalodon HERE.  

Have fun this weekend, and don’t forget to check out The Meg, opening in theatres everywhere, Friday, August 9th!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

That’s right, it’s Shark Week!  And I’m reviewing it all week long, and like Homer, I’m muttering to myself in a dark room while I do it!

But not here!  No, over at Nerdvana Media, Arizona’s #1 Nerd/Geek Blog!

Catch up on my reviews:

Shark Week 2018, Night 1 review: MY GOD, IT’S FULL OF STARS

Shark Week 2018, Night 2 review: GRONK EAT SHARK NOW?

Shark Week 2018, Night 3 review: DONKEY SAUCED ORCA NIGHTMARE

Shark Week, 2018, Night 4 review: MONEY MAKES THE SHARK WEEK GO ROUND

Shark Week 2018, Night 5 review: IN THE (SHARK) MOUTH OF MADNESS

Updated daily, except for clip shows!

Dear Media, Stop Covering Shark Derbies/Rodeos – National Oceans Month, Part 4.

This is how I like to see sharks – in the wild, doing shark-y things.

My favorite thing about shark pups is how they are more or less the same from the moment they are born to the day they die. There are, of course, important physiological and behavioral differences, but from an aesthetic point of view, they’re just… smaller (and dare I say, cute?).

This is how I do NOT like to see sharks (from the website BNQT, apparently associated with USA Today – and used under the Fair Use Doctrine):


Epic battle with giant thresher shark could be one for the record books

Oh, well if it’s “one for the record books”, this is totally OK.
Continue reading “Dear Media, Stop Covering Shark Derbies/Rodeos – National Oceans Month, Part 4.”

THANK YOU PHOENIX COMIC FEST

Even in the end, I’m still skeptical about C. megalodon.

Hi everyone who stopped by my booth at Phoenix Comic Fest this weekend!  I hope I was able to teach you a little bit about sharks, and I hope if you walked away with poetry, a tiki mug, a t-shirt, a poster, or even a little shark of your very own, that you will appreciate these magnificent animals as much as I do.   Plus, the profits from this weekend’s sales will go directly to Fins Attached Marine Research and Conservation.

If you came to either of my panels, I hope you learned some cool facts about megalodon and modern sharks, and I’m sorry that the Nerd Slam was cancelled (but watch this space – we are rescheduling!).

I’ll have my store more functional and with more items by Sunday, so if you ran out of Con-Cash, keep an eye out, and we’ll have everything I have quickly out to you.

And in the meantime,  please check out my short film of some of my adventures with sharks around the globe!  And please bookmark my site, as I add new shark-y or poetry content.

Thanks,

The Klute

Poem: The Consequence of Technology Unchecked.

SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING — Season:2017 — Pictured: (l-r) Tara Reid as April Shepard, Ian Ziering as Fin Shepard, Cassie Scerbo as Nova Clarke — (Photo by: James Dimmock/Syfy)

Here’s a poem from “Chumming the Waters” (available in my new shop!) that touches on the themes which seem to be dominating the week, which include anthropogenic climate change (and our government’s steadfast refusal to acknowlege it), devastating storms, and as always, sharks.

I give you The Consequence of Technology Unchecked!
Continue reading “Poem: The Consequence of Technology Unchecked.”

My Interview with #Sharknado5 director Anthony C. Ferrante

This weekend, I had the pleasure of interviewing #Sharknado5 director Anthony C. Ferrante on the absurd pleasure that is the Sharknado franchise.

Head over to my friends at Nerdvana and read all about it!

https://nerdvanamedia.com/television/sharknado-5-anthony-c-ferrante/121292/