“The Truth About Sharks” is that they are not what Spielberg, whoever directed Sharknado and the popular media have led us to believe. I filmed this footage of tiger sharks across 4 dives in September 2015 at a dive site called The Cathedral in Fiji (with footage of me contributed by Andrew Waldbaum and Robert Crowe). When given the choice between eating fish and humans, guess which tasty dish every one of these 5 big, mean, ferocious, man-eating sharks chooses?

The media is very quick to sensationalise human encounters with sharks, but let me ask you this: was Aussie surfer Mick Fanning attacked by a shark, or did he attack a shark? To be honest, the shark and the surfer did little more than scare the crap out of each other, yet the world’s media still persists in labelling the non-event a ‘shark attack’.

My heart goes out to anyone who has ever been affected by a tragic encounter with a shark, and no-one is denying that a very small number of incidents occur each year. But this number is nothing near the number of people who are injured or who lose their lives to dog attacks, road accidents, domestic violence, cows, falling coconuts, ladder accidents or mosquito bites (the greatest killer of them all!)

They say you never forget seeing your first tiger shark. I cried during my safety stop after I filmed mine (included in this footage), just to see such incredible beauty so close up, so completely docile and non-threatening. Then I bawled like a baby when I got back on the boat to think how they are caught and killed so savagely (endorsed by certain state governments in my homeland of Australia) in the name of incident prevention and retribution.

And please allow me to clarify. I am not taking aim in this video at surfers or spear fishermen. My heart breaks every time I hear that members of these groups have been involved in incidents with sharks. But we must all ask ourselves, what can we do not to become victims while participating in our chosen sports. Spearfishermen will defend their right to participate in their sport, but in my humble opinion, no fish dinner is worth dying for. Please find ways not to keep dead fish very close to your body so that you are able to keep yourself safe whilst in the water. I do not know what the answer is for surfers, but every surfer I have ever met seems to have a true understanding that there are sharks in the ocean (as there should be) and for the most part they understand and accept the responsibility that comes with enjoying the ocean in this manner.

As a scuba diver, I have determined that I will no longer dive with seals and sea lions, because if I come to grief when a shark mistakes my fin for that of a seal, it would be my fault, not the shark’s, for making that mistake possible. While there will always be risks when we choose to enter the ocean, I have decided not to put either myself or some unsuspecting shark in that position.

Swimmers. Surfers. Divers. Spearfishermen. Please make the wisest choices you can to keep yourself safe.

Politicians – for shark’s sake stop culling a vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem (especially in Australian waters where I live and campaign against you regularly) on the flimsy premises you have constructed that such actions will transform you to some Spielbergian hero to keep mankind safe. Jaws is no more reality than Sharknado. Please get a grip and find a better solution. If you have any wisdom to support your authority, you MUST stop killing our sharks and creating more problems than you have led yourself to believe that you are solving. Your delusions are literally contributing to the destruction of this magnificent planet.

“May the Fish be with You”