Sharkwater Page #3

You hardly have

really serious bites.

So that tells us something,

...out of these millions and millions

of encounters...

...that we have with these animals.

So just based on that,

sharks cannot be dangerous.

People think:
Well, they're dumb...

...they're stupid.

That's not true.

Their intelligence is quite amazing.

They have short-term memories,

long-term memories...

...they can learn by observation.

So nothing is stupid or primitive

in these animals.

So all the ideas,

well, they just follow a blood trail...

...they just bite everything that is shiny.

Well, pretty quick you realize,

hey, that is all wrong.

In just one year,

crocodiles around the world...

...wiped out as many people

as sharks have killed...

...over the past 100.

The crocodile is protected.

No?

The sharks not?

Yeah?

Yeah?

So I should not...

Like, it's not a good idea

to go swimming with sharks?

They're the scourge of the ocean

and everyone should go and catch one.

All the greens can come around

and say that these things...

"Let 'em live, let' em live. " Okay?

We can live on land too...

...but we don't go out there

and bite the bums off them, do we?

But they come in here and get us.

How bad

is the shark as a predator?

You make it sound

as though it really is a direct threat...

...to human beings

who dare swim in the water.

Well, you try swimming,

with a shark like that...

...in 8 feet of water

and you'll find out...

...because we got no hope,

if they decide to eat us.

But don't you think

that one effect of you going out...

...and capturing sharks

and talking this way...

...is that you bring about

an hysteria in people...

...they're going to panic?

No, I've saved a lot of lives.

If it wasn't for me

and what I've done in the last 25 years...

...there'd be a lot more people killed.

The fact is,

sharks do not eat people.

If they did, I would've been eaten

a long time ago.

Most sharks have teeth

which are ineffective cutting tools...

...and can't effectively remove flesh...

...from something larger

than their mouths.

One hundred needles in your leg...

...would have a tough time

removing a chunk of flesh.

Most sharks lack

the equipment they'd need...

...to go after large animals like us,

and they know that.

They've evolved

to eat certain prey items...

...and most sharks are picky eaters.

They won't bother wasting energy...

...going after something

they know they can't eat efficiently.

When a shark mistake does happen...

...the person inevitably

ends up back on shore.

In most shark attacks...

...flesh is never removed.

Even in the odd case

where someone dies...

...it's usually because of blood loss...

...not because the shark

ate the person.

A twelve-foot

or even a six-foot fish...

...could do anything it wanted

to a human...

...and they don't.

It's a huge testament

to sharks' sensory systems...

...how few people

are attacked each year.

You wouldn't go for a run

next to a pride of lions...

...but we do this with sharks

all the time.

There are millions of people

entering the water every year...

...in areas where sharks hunt...

...and very few people are bitten.

If they wanted to eat us,

they would.

The mythology about sharks

has traditionally been...

...uh, they're kind of

the embodiment of evil...

...and they have sharp teeth

and they kill people.

But the fact is,

people used to think of whales that way...

...whales used to be

dangerous Leviathans.

I mean,

just read Moby Dick, you know.

Moby Dick was portrayed

by Captain Ahab...

...as being a monster of the deep.

You know, a man hunter.

But everything in the environment...

...everything that exists,

eats something else.

We tend to be afraid

of spiders and snakes...

...but, you know,

we love puppy dogs and seals.

Once people see whales or sharks

in a different light...

...they can change their mind.

These are beautiful creatures...

...absolutely beautiful creatures...

...that have every right in the world

to live on this planet.

I went to all the major

conservation organizations...

...and there was virtually no one

doing anything to save sharks.

Are you really concerned

or you just wanna call names?

Oh, / am very concerned,

extremely concerned.

Well, then, let's see some action

instead of all of this whining.

Then I met up with Paul Watson.

What is my type, sir?

The renegade

of the conservation movement.

He sunk a whole Norwegian

whaling fleet...

...and ended pirate whaling

in the North Atlantic...

...when no one else could.

Paul was one of the original

activists in Greenpeace...

...and he's been at war against poaching

for 30 years.

I set up the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society in 1977

...as an organization

to intervene directly...

...to uphold international conservation

laws, regulations and treaties...

...so it's not a protest organization...

...but an organization

to really fill a vacuum...

...because there really is no enforcement

agencies anywhere in the world...

...to uphold these international

laws and treaties.

They're trying to sink the ship;

...they are trying to sink the ship.

So part of the role of the activist,

like Paul Watson, is:

"Don't let them get away with it...

...or make 'em do it in the light of day. "

He's a hero...

...someone who just does...

...what the politicians

haven't got the guts to do.

Captain Paul Watson...

...leads possibly the most violent...

...and radical, green movement

in the world.

Well, if you kill anybody,

I'm holding you personally responsible.

You have no authority over us,

we're in international waters. Over.

Move aside, get 'em!

Launched from the gunboat,

police attack Sea Shepherd...

...with tear gas bullets

and tear gas canisters.

It's the first time in history

that an unarmed conservation vessel...

...has been fired at.

No, really what we're here to do

is to, you know...

...to rock the boat, to make noise;

to make people think.

That's really the main objective...

...of the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society.

Why aren't you people

doing anything?

The only violence

that's being committed...

...is the illegal slaughter of whales...

...and that is violent

and that is the crime. Over.

Paul and Sea Shepherd

were launching a campaign...

...against poaching in two of the world's

last sanctuaries for sharks:

The Galapagos, Ecuador...

...and in Cocos, Costa Rica.

Cocos is a tiny island

in the middle of the Pacific...

It's a national park

and a world heritage site...

...with the greatest concentration

of sharks in the world.

But Costa Rica has no money

to protect it...

...and poachers

raid the waters every day.

No, it's been cut in the head!

The sharks were being wiped out.

Well, Jesus Christ,

put it out of its misery.

So the President of Costa Rica

asked Sea Shepherd for help.

Why, it's illegal as well.

Paul was my kinda guy,

the only one I knew...

...who was doing anything

to save sharks.

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