She Built Shark Science Where Almost Nobody Was Looking

Shark Conservation What happens when an entire coastline is full of species we barely understand, and almost no one is studying them? In this episode of Beyond Jaws, we speak with Ghofrane Labyedh, a rising shark scientist originally from Tunisia who is helping build shark and ray research in Cameroon. You’ll hear how she entered marine science, why West Africa remains one of the least understood regions for sharks and rays, and what it takes to create science where little existed before.
Marine Biology Careers Ghofrane shares the realities of doing fieldwork, building trust with local communities, working with fishers, and navigating the challenges of conservation in developing research systems. Her story shows that ocean science is not only about data, it is also about people, persistence, and creating opportunities where others see barriers.
Women In Science one of the most inspiring moments in this episode is hearing how a young scientist from North Africa is helping lead change in a region where shark research has long been overlooked. It is a reminder that the future of conservation may come from voices the world has ignored for too long.
Connect with us:
Website: https://bit.ly/37TMqeK
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3eorwXZ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondjawspodcast7591
Dave:
Website: https://www.lostsharkguy.com/
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3q1J9Q5
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lostsharkguy
Andrew:
Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/
Instagram: https://bit.ly/37g5WkG
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpeakUpForBlueTV
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Hey everybody, welcome
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back to another great episode
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of the Beyond Jaws podcast.
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Today on the podcast,
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we're gonna be focusing
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or interviewing Gofrein Labdiet.
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She is one of the keynote speakers
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at Sharks International 2026.
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It's happening in this
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early May, coming up in 2026.
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And we're excited to have her on
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because we've never had her on before.
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She's such a fun person to interview.
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She works in Cameroon,
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working on the LASMO ranks
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and she's originally from Tunisia.
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So we're gonna get her background.
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We're gonna get her life story
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and we're gonna get her shark
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conservation career story
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on the book.
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So we can't wait to do that.
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So let's start the show.
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Hey everybody, welcome back
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to another exciting episode
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of the Beyond Jaws podcast.
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I'm your host, Andrew and
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your co-host, Andrew Lewin
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here with my co-host, Dr. David Ebert.
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Dave, are you ready to interview Gofrein?
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Oh, absolutely.
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I've seen her name around.
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I've actually met her
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and talked with her before.
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I thought she was a real dynamo.
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I was really happy to see her on here.
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I'm glad we were able to get her on for,
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have her on for the
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interview for this podcast.
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And yeah, it's definitely
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like kind of West Africa,
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Cameroon, that area is not an
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area that's well known at all.
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And so she's one of the people we had.
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We had a Guido Lourz on last year
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who's working North
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of her in West Africa.
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But that's just, West
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Africa is just really
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a largely unknown
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area for sharks and rays.
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So she's really doing some interesting
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kind of exploring type research where
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she's working out there.
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And obviously being a
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young woman, working in an area
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that there's probably not too many women
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working in that working in.
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So it's really excited to have her on.
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And she'll be a spark plug, I'm sure.
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No, absolutely.
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You know, I think it's interesting to see
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more and more young scientists
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and female scientists at that that we've
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been having on the podcast
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that are going out and into
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areas where, like you said,
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shark research hasn't
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really been established yet,
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or even just knowing what types of sharks
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are there, we just haven't seen.
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And so we're like, they're going to be
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pioneers in these countries to say,
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"Hey, you know, this is
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what we've discovered.
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"Girlfriend made this network of
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connections throughout Cameroon,
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"working with the government, you know,
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as easy as that may be,
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"or as hard as that
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might be, as she mentioned,
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"as she's going to
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mention in the interview."
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You know, it's going to be interesting to
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see where this progresses.
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It has to start somewhere
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and starting with Girlfriend
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and the network of people and fishers
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that she's dealing with.
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So I think it's going to be a really
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interesting episode.
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So why don't we get into
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that interview with Girlfriend.
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Enjoy, and we'll talk to you after.
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Hey, Girlfriend, welcome
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to the Beyond Jaws podcast.
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Are you ready to talk about sharks?
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Yes.
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All right.
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Well, welcome to the Beyond Jaws podcast
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where we have another
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amazing guest who'll
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be one of the keynote speakers at the
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Sharks International this year in May.
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Andrew and I have been featuring several
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of the keynote speakers who
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have not been on the podcast
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over the last several weeks.
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And we have another tremendous guest.
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We have girlfriend, Labiette, who's
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originally from Indonesia.
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Almost said Indonesia, but she's from
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Tunisia, but she's
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now working in Cameroon.
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Girlfriend is an aquatic biologist and
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ocean conservationist whose passion
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for marine life began on the shores of
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Montsterat, Tunisia, which had to look up
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on a map because it's a beautiful city in
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the Mediterranean just
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across the straits of Sicily
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from the island of Sicily.
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Girlfriend started her career as a
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volunteer monitoring sea
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turtles and experience that
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contributed to the establishment of the
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Kuret Islands Marine Protected Area,
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which inspired her lifelong
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dedication to ocean conservation.
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From 2019 to 2024, she worked with the
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African Marine Conservation
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Organization, AMCO, in Cameroon,
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focusing on the
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conservation of sharks and rays.
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In 2022, she became the shark and ray
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program manager,
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leading fish market surveys,
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socio-economic studies with fish
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communities, also volunteer
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training and policy advocacy.
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She translated scientific research into
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reports and policy briefs
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to guide decision-making and
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secure funding for
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conservation initiatives.
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In 2023, she helped create a network of
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researchers and organizations working on
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sharks and rays across
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western central Africa with her friends
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at the Manitrust Guy Stevens Group,
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bridging gaps with research skills and
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policy across the region.
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In 2024, Girlfriend became a National
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Geographic Explorer.
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In 2025, she became a fellow for both the
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Sustainable Ocean Alliance and the Nature
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Environment Wildlife Filmmaking Program,
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working to combine science and
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storytelling to inspire action.
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Her schooling, she has a Bachelor of
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Science in Marine Biology and Aquaculture
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from the Higher Institute of
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Biotechnology at Ben Sturett,
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Monastart in Tunisia, also an MSC from
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the same university in marine ecology.
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She currently is the start of new
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programs, the lead coordinator for the
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West and Central Africa
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Elasmobrein Coalition for the Manitrust
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and began her new role as
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the regional vice chair for the
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IUCN shark species
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shark specialist group.
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And with all those impressive
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achievements, she has a lot more she'll
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tell us about today.
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With that, welcome to the show, Gophraim.
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Thank you so much. Thank you for all you
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have been saying about me.
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Yeah, all of those hats, I'm wearing all
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the different hats. It's
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for the sharks and rays.
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And yeah, thank you for also inviting me
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today. It's such a
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pleasure to be with you.
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And yeah, let me know what you what you
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want to know about all
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you have been introducing.
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Yeah. Well, we want to know everything
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about you, but let's start off with how
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you got interested in the marine
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environment on sharks.
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And how did you how did you get
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interested? Actually, I have a funny
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story because every time I want to do
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something, the universe shifts me to one
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other thing changes the path for me.
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Because first, when I got my
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baccalaureate when I was about to start
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university, I wanted to study genetics.
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And I went to another city in Tunisia, a
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coastal city by the sea. I was studying
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genetics by that time, like the diseases
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that we can have related to our parents,
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the like those kind of diseases.
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And I was leaving just two minutes far
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from the sea. I remember I I wasn't able
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to swim more than two
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meters depth by that time.
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And the sea was just next to the house.
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So I was always going to to to test
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myself if I can go far, if I can see
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more. And I got myself a mask.
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And I slowly, slowly, I found out that
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the ocean is more than we thought it is.
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It's more than summertime. It's more than
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you swim and you don't see what's below.
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You just like we use it to swim and we
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don't see what's going on and the water.
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And I really got fascinated and slowly,
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slowly, I heard about an association next
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and the same city I was in.
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It's called Notre Grand Bleu, our big
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blue in French. And I started
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volunteering with them. They were
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volunteering. They were like working on
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an isolated island, a remote island, no
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habitants there to save sea turtles.
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That this island was a stable site for
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notification for sea turtles. And I was
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spending almost like all of the summer
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there and an isolated island, no
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electricity, no running water, just
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waiting for the sea turtle to come out
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from the sea and to wait for for it to
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like to prepare her nest.
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And lay the eggs and then market. And by
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then I felt really alive. I felt that I'm
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leaving an impact, changing something in
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the world. I'm not just existing,
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sleeping and eating and that's it.
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And I went to mom one day and I said,
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mom, I'm going to change my studies and
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I'm going to stop genetics and I'm going
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to start marine biology. Everyone was
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upset at me and I cried so much. Yeah. I
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cried so much that night because it was
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like a big decision that I was
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about like to make in my life.
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And I felt like I'm giving up on a dream
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and I'm starting the unknown because I
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was following my heart. I wasn't
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following my mind. I was following
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something that I love suddenly something
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that I discovered suddenly. And yeah,
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that's how I got to the marine biology.
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And I never regretted
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that decision. Never.
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Good. How was it though? Like, you know,
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after your parents didn't like your
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family didn't like it, you still have to
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push through to like, that's what you
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01:09:36,666 --> 01:09:40,000
wanted to do. So what was that process
264
01:09:40,000 --> 01:09:42,250
like? Like, how did you how did you get
265
01:09:42,250 --> 01:09:44,083
through that? Because we've had guests on
266
01:09:44,083 --> 01:09:46,041
here before where marine biology wasn't
267
01:09:46,041 --> 01:09:49,708
their first path. And so to push through
268
01:09:49,708 --> 01:09:51,791
that and where families not really
269
01:09:51,791 --> 01:09:53,208
agreeing to it, how
270
01:09:53,208 --> 01:09:54,250
did you just continue on?
271
01:09:55,250 --> 01:09:58,833
It demands a lot of time. They like my
272
01:09:58,833 --> 01:10:01,083
family is mom for me. I don't have a big
273
01:10:01,083 --> 01:10:03,916
family. It's mom and it's like more than
274
01:10:03,916 --> 01:10:06,333
enough. She wasn't she wasn't
275
01:10:06,333 --> 01:10:08,958
understanding what's going on first. She
276
01:10:08,958 --> 01:10:14,583
was seeing me as if I'm lost. And I'm
277
01:10:14,583 --> 01:10:15,750
like doing something
278
01:10:15,750 --> 01:10:17,250
that she cannot understand.
279
01:10:17,291 --> 01:10:20,041
Like, why are you stopping something you
280
01:10:20,041 --> 01:10:22,833
wanted to you left of in your city to go
281
01:10:22,833 --> 01:10:24,833
to another city and to study genetics?
282
01:10:25,458 --> 01:10:28,333
And now you are like, like changing your
283
01:10:28,333 --> 01:10:31,916
mind. But quickly, mom, she was she was
284
01:10:31,916 --> 01:10:36,250
like, I, I use it always to let mom be
285
01:10:36,250 --> 01:10:38,000
with me even in the zoom meetings.
286
01:10:38,291 --> 01:10:41,375
If I'm if when I was going to Cameroon,
287
01:10:41,375 --> 01:10:43,833
for example, like now I'm I work in
288
01:10:43,833 --> 01:10:46,791
Cameroon, the first few meetings that I
289
01:10:46,791 --> 01:10:49,541
was starting the preparation for my
290
01:10:49,541 --> 01:10:52,083
internship in Cameroon, mom, she was with
291
01:10:52,083 --> 01:10:54,833
me like she was just listening and seeing
292
01:10:54,833 --> 01:10:57,250
how how the preparation is going on.
293
01:10:57,250 --> 01:10:59,833
I'm a unique child, by the way, she
294
01:10:59,833 --> 01:11:02,875
doesn't have like other other like
295
01:11:02,875 --> 01:11:07,000
children except me. So that was so hard
296
01:11:07,000 --> 01:11:13,958
for her to see her unique kid is like, is
297
01:11:13,958 --> 01:11:17,583
going is going from like a field to
298
01:11:17,583 --> 01:11:19,958
another field and starting a
299
01:11:19,958 --> 01:11:21,916
new career in another country.
300
01:11:22,250 --> 01:11:24,708
And it's not a common country Cameroon.
301
01:11:24,708 --> 01:11:26,791
It's not the Europe. It's not the
302
01:11:26,791 --> 01:11:30,250
Maldives. So it wasn't easy for her. But
303
01:11:30,250 --> 01:11:33,333
she she was like, she was following
304
01:11:33,333 --> 01:11:37,750
following me. And I think that the the
305
01:11:37,750 --> 01:11:41,416
fact that I was making her inside of
306
01:11:41,416 --> 01:11:45,166
everything goes going on, like made her
307
01:11:45,166 --> 01:11:50,250
more more like accepting what's going on
308
01:11:50,250 --> 01:11:52,250
because she was she was like,
309
01:11:52,291 --> 01:11:56,166
inside all the behind the scenes. So she
310
01:11:56,166 --> 01:11:59,250
she she knew everything. Yeah. And for
311
01:11:59,250 --> 01:12:04,083
example, also during my my master's
312
01:12:04,083 --> 01:12:06,833
degree when I was like presenting my my
313
01:12:06,833 --> 01:12:08,833
thesis and everything, she was present
314
01:12:08,833 --> 01:12:13,916
and she was hearing the the like my my
315
01:12:13,916 --> 01:12:16,708
professors, how they they were impressed
316
01:12:16,708 --> 01:12:18,166
by my work and everything.
317
01:12:18,291 --> 01:12:21,583
So she was so she was so proud. And also
318
01:12:21,583 --> 01:12:24,291
that there was another thing that
319
01:12:24,291 --> 01:12:28,375
happened. I went on TV in Tunisia because
320
01:12:28,375 --> 01:12:32,208
that was funny. That just happened. It
321
01:12:32,208 --> 01:12:36,875
like I went on TV because in 2021, I was
322
01:12:36,875 --> 01:12:43,083
in Cameroon and the the like the the cup,
323
01:12:43,291 --> 01:12:46,583
which is like the it's the football game
324
01:12:46,583 --> 01:12:47,250
in in Africa, like the
325
01:12:47,250 --> 01:12:51,458
in all Africa. And they found out that I
326
01:12:51,458 --> 01:12:54,583
was the only Tunisian person who was
327
01:12:54,583 --> 01:12:57,625
leaving in that city in Cameroon. And
328
01:12:57,625 --> 01:13:01,416
they made like a short film about me. And
329
01:13:01,416 --> 01:13:04,041
that made mom so proud of me like
330
01:13:04,041 --> 01:13:07,125
everyone saw me on the TV like her her
331
01:13:07,125 --> 01:13:09,666
daughter is is in another country doing
332
01:13:09,666 --> 01:13:13,458
an amazing work. So it demands time. And
333
01:13:13,458 --> 01:13:15,625
it wasn't easy because it was so
334
01:13:15,625 --> 01:13:16,250
different. Like I wasn't following her.
335
01:13:16,250 --> 01:13:19,166
Like I wasn't following any other like
336
01:13:19,166 --> 01:13:21,958
any one other steps like I wasn't
337
01:13:21,958 --> 01:13:24,791
following my friend steps or my cousin
338
01:13:24,791 --> 01:13:27,833
steps in the family. I was like the new
339
01:13:27,833 --> 01:13:32,208
example, which is which is not easy at
340
01:13:32,208 --> 01:13:34,333
all. Yeah, for sure.
341
01:13:34,333 --> 01:13:36,708
Because there's not like a lot of people.
342
01:13:37,208 --> 01:13:39,291
There's not really like a lot of Tunisian
343
01:13:39,291 --> 01:13:41,541
marine biologists, at least that I know
344
01:13:41,541 --> 01:13:42,666
of it like in the shark world.
345
01:13:43,625 --> 01:13:48,458
Oh, oh, we have we do have but we get we
346
01:13:48,458 --> 01:13:52,666
we don't like the ones I know they are in
347
01:13:52,666 --> 01:13:55,625
Tunisia. Most of them, they say they
348
01:13:55,625 --> 01:13:58,000
still in Tunisia. Yeah, but in Cameroon,
349
01:13:58,625 --> 01:14:00,666
I'm the only one. Definitely.
350
01:14:02,250 --> 01:14:06,208
No, nobody. Yeah, yeah. I could I could.
351
01:14:06,208 --> 01:14:06,916
Marine Biologists
352
01:14:06,916 --> 01:14:09,916
Tunisian. I'm only the only person.
353
01:14:11,291 --> 01:14:15,125
That's true. Well, well, everybody knows
354
01:14:15,125 --> 01:14:17,041
who to go see then. And you're also doing
355
01:14:17,041 --> 01:14:19,916
sharks, which I know that that part of
356
01:14:19,916 --> 01:14:22,666
the world, there's a very few people that
357
01:14:22,666 --> 01:14:23,958
really ever done sharks in
358
01:14:23,958 --> 01:14:25,250
that part of the world as well.
359
01:14:25,250 --> 01:14:31,916
Now, since you've shown up in Cameroon,
360
01:14:32,500 --> 01:14:33,833
do you have like a following of other
361
01:14:33,833 --> 01:14:36,166
people kind of gotten inspired about the
362
01:14:36,166 --> 01:14:37,375
type of research you're doing
363
01:14:37,375 --> 01:14:40,250
and try to get involved with?
364
01:14:40,250 --> 01:14:44,958
Actually, in Cameroon, I'm trying to get
365
01:14:44,958 --> 01:14:48,583
other locals be involved with in that's
366
01:14:48,583 --> 01:14:53,125
one of my main goals, because it's, it's
367
01:14:53,125 --> 01:14:58,250
not common. And the skills are miss it.
368
01:14:58,291 --> 01:15:01,291
Even when people they want to, they
369
01:15:01,291 --> 01:15:03,791
cannot because, you know, they don't know
370
01:15:03,791 --> 01:15:07,625
the way how to do that. I like the
371
01:15:07,625 --> 01:15:10,833
identification of sharks and rays, how to
372
01:15:10,833 --> 01:15:14,458
collect data. So that's, that's what I'm
373
01:15:14,458 --> 01:15:17,000
I was doing. And that's what
374
01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:19,250
I will keep the doing as well.
375
01:15:19,291 --> 01:15:24,541
I one of one of the people I I trained,
376
01:15:25,000 --> 01:15:28,791
she recently got a grant from save our
377
01:15:28,791 --> 01:15:31,875
seas and she will attend the Sharks
378
01:15:31,875 --> 01:15:34,833
International. She's Cameroonian. She's
379
01:15:34,833 --> 01:15:40,500
23 years old. Yeah, that's that's like a
380
01:15:40,500 --> 01:15:43,166
big, a big, huge, like
381
01:15:43,166 --> 01:15:46,166
impact for me. Yeah. Yeah.
382
01:15:46,250 --> 01:15:48,625
Who is it? Can you say her name? Yeah,
383
01:15:48,625 --> 01:15:52,583
she she she called fitra fitra fitra.
384
01:15:52,583 --> 01:15:57,250
Okay, shout out to a bit of podcast. And
385
01:15:57,250 --> 01:16:01,875
yeah, yeah, yeah. She actually in
386
01:16:01,875 --> 01:16:03,333
Cameroon, they speak
387
01:16:03,333 --> 01:16:04,958
French more than English.
388
01:16:06,375 --> 01:16:10,375
Like that. Cameroon is the linguistic. So
389
01:16:10,375 --> 01:16:13,208
they speak both French and English. But
390
01:16:13,208 --> 01:16:17,208
85% of Cameroon, they speak French and
391
01:16:17,208 --> 01:16:19,583
the rest they speak English, because they
392
01:16:19,583 --> 01:16:20,666
were colonized by
393
01:16:20,666 --> 01:16:23,208
English and friends. So, yeah.
394
01:16:24,291 --> 01:16:28,208
And like sometimes the only problem for
395
01:16:28,208 --> 01:16:31,708
the new like the early careers that they
396
01:16:31,708 --> 01:16:35,291
cannot speak English example for her. She
397
01:16:35,291 --> 01:16:37,250
speaks more like French is more
398
01:16:37,250 --> 01:16:39,416
comfortable in French. But I was telling
399
01:16:39,416 --> 01:16:42,166
her that I'm Arabic and my English is not
400
01:16:42,166 --> 01:16:45,416
I'm not native like speaker and it's okay
401
01:16:45,416 --> 01:16:48,416
to make mistakes, but which is not okay
402
01:16:48,416 --> 01:16:49,750
that you will not try.
403
01:16:50,250 --> 01:16:52,583
So I'm pushing her now she can speak
404
01:16:52,583 --> 01:16:54,791
English very well. She can communicate.
405
01:16:55,750 --> 01:16:57,750
Yeah, so the attending the Sharks
406
01:16:57,750 --> 01:17:00,416
International for her will be amazing. So
407
01:17:00,416 --> 01:17:02,916
she will be in the shock. She will be in
408
01:17:02,916 --> 01:17:05,958
the shock and she will like explodes. I
409
01:17:05,958 --> 01:17:07,250
know her. She will do fine.
410
01:17:07,291 --> 01:17:09,666
Well, let's, let's be honest, like, you
411
01:17:09,666 --> 01:17:11,625
know, Dave and I obviously English is our
412
01:17:11,625 --> 01:17:13,083
first language, I speak a little bit of
413
01:17:13,083 --> 01:17:14,958
French because I live in Canada, but, you
414
01:17:14,958 --> 01:17:16,875
know, it would be very difficult for us
415
01:17:16,875 --> 01:17:19,250
to go to a country where English is not
416
01:17:19,250 --> 01:17:20,125
the first language and
417
01:17:20,125 --> 01:17:21,000
to learn that language.
418
01:17:21,291 --> 01:17:23,791
We always I always give respect to people
419
01:17:23,791 --> 01:17:25,666
who that's not like, you know, they
420
01:17:25,666 --> 01:17:26,916
coming from a country where English is
421
01:17:26,916 --> 01:17:28,625
not their first language. They come in
422
01:17:28,625 --> 01:17:30,125
and they speak English to accommodate
423
01:17:30,125 --> 01:17:32,291
everybody else. I always give them props
424
01:17:32,291 --> 01:17:34,166
for that because that's not an easy thing
425
01:17:34,166 --> 01:17:36,125
to do. It's got to be uncomfortable. I
426
01:17:36,125 --> 01:17:37,791
know I feel uncomfortable when I go to a
427
01:17:37,791 --> 01:17:39,416
different country where like if I if it's
428
01:17:39,416 --> 01:17:41,125
Spanish country or Italian, like, you
429
01:17:41,125 --> 01:17:42,500
know, wherever you are, not speaking
430
01:17:42,500 --> 01:17:45,458
local language and you try and it's, you
431
01:17:45,458 --> 01:17:46,250
know, it's not going to be perfect.
432
01:17:46,250 --> 01:17:48,333
But the fact that people are trying is
433
01:17:48,333 --> 01:17:51,333
just amazing and it's difficult to feel
434
01:17:51,333 --> 01:17:53,666
comfortable with that. So the fact that
435
01:17:53,666 --> 01:17:55,541
she gets more and more comfortable by
436
01:17:55,541 --> 01:17:57,708
continue to try and having you to kind of
437
01:17:57,708 --> 01:17:59,375
encourage her to do that. It'll be great
438
01:17:59,375 --> 01:18:01,375
and being a sharks international people
439
01:18:01,375 --> 01:18:02,916
are from all over the world. They're
440
01:18:02,916 --> 01:18:05,166
going to be comfortable with her and let
441
01:18:05,166 --> 01:18:07,541
her try and get the words out. Be
442
01:18:07,541 --> 01:18:08,250
patient. Absolutely.
443
01:18:08,291 --> 01:18:11,416
There'll be plenty of people there that
444
01:18:11,416 --> 01:18:14,958
speak French and yeah, true. I mean, I'd
445
01:18:14,958 --> 01:18:17,416
say I would say probably speak in Arabic
446
01:18:17,416 --> 01:18:18,916
as your first language. You're going to
447
01:18:18,916 --> 01:18:22,541
find fewer Arabic speakers. Yeah, then
448
01:18:22,541 --> 01:18:24,375
you will French speakers there. I know I
449
01:18:24,375 --> 01:18:28,208
know Rima speaks Arabic, I believe and we
450
01:18:28,208 --> 01:18:30,125
never we have we have never been speaking
451
01:18:30,125 --> 01:18:32,958
Arabic. Remember me. We are both.
452
01:18:34,250 --> 01:18:38,500
Yeah, I've I've been in her home
453
01:18:38,500 --> 01:18:41,416
territory there in Dubai and so I've I've
454
01:18:41,416 --> 01:18:43,708
actually seen her speak in Arabic. Oh,
455
01:18:43,708 --> 01:18:47,041
nice. Nice. I think she speaks like four
456
01:18:47,041 --> 01:18:49,875
or five, six languages. Quite a few quite
457
01:18:49,875 --> 01:18:53,125
a few languages there. Anyway, I know
458
01:18:53,125 --> 01:18:54,791
there's she won't have any problem.
459
01:18:54,791 --> 01:18:56,291
There'd be enough people speaking French
460
01:18:56,291 --> 01:18:59,208
to to to get by and to speak.
461
01:18:59,291 --> 01:19:02,041
You know, you're obviously speaks some
462
01:19:02,041 --> 01:19:04,416
English Arabic and you also speak French
463
01:19:04,416 --> 01:19:06,875
pretty well. Yeah, yeah. Three languages.
464
01:19:07,416 --> 01:19:09,541
Yeah, yeah. Three languages. That's yeah,
465
01:19:09,541 --> 01:19:11,416
that's three more and I speak. So that's
466
01:19:11,416 --> 01:19:15,166
pretty good. You you you speak you you
467
01:19:15,166 --> 01:19:16,750
speak any other languages than the
468
01:19:16,750 --> 01:19:20,250
English. You said French and go and date.
469
01:19:21,041 --> 01:19:23,541
I I speak a little bit of French. I grew
470
01:19:23,541 --> 01:19:25,375
up my my mom's from Quebec City, which is
471
01:19:25,375 --> 01:19:27,125
a friend of province here here in Canada.
472
01:19:27,375 --> 01:19:29,583
So I I went to French school when I was a
473
01:19:29,583 --> 01:19:32,083
kid all French school. But I lost a lot
474
01:19:32,083 --> 01:19:33,625
of vocabulary. But if I go back to
475
01:19:33,625 --> 01:19:35,708
Quebec, like I went back to Montreal not
476
01:19:35,708 --> 01:19:38,083
long ago and I was able to I was able to
477
01:19:38,083 --> 01:19:39,416
get around. Let's just say the more I
478
01:19:39,416 --> 01:19:42,166
speak it the the more vocabulary, right?
479
01:19:42,166 --> 01:19:43,208
It's like trying to figure out. Yeah,
480
01:19:43,208 --> 01:19:44,250
it's all about practice. Yeah.
481
01:19:44,250 --> 01:19:47,333
Yeah. But when I when I was growing up, I
482
01:19:47,333 --> 01:19:48,875
used to work in the fields picking crops
483
01:19:48,875 --> 01:19:50,666
and most of you know, a lot of the people
484
01:19:50,666 --> 01:19:52,125
out there are Spanish speaking. So I
485
01:19:52,125 --> 01:19:53,791
learned how to curse really well in
486
01:19:53,791 --> 01:19:56,541
Spanish at one time, which is it's it's
487
01:19:56,541 --> 01:19:58,958
funny. But most people in a lot outside
488
01:19:58,958 --> 01:20:00,625
say an academic circle most languages
489
01:20:00,625 --> 01:20:03,000
whenever I had exposure to people
490
01:20:03,000 --> 01:20:04,500
different. Yeah, you learn the curse
491
01:20:04,500 --> 01:20:07,375
words first right away. You know, it's
492
01:20:07,375 --> 01:20:09,166
funny. You learn the curse words. You
493
01:20:09,166 --> 01:20:10,708
don't forget the curse word. No, you're
494
01:20:10,708 --> 01:20:12,166
trying to speak. Try to carry on a
495
01:20:12,166 --> 01:20:13,833
conversation without cursing. It's.
496
01:20:14,250 --> 01:20:19,625
Really hard. Yeah, I can imagine. And
497
01:20:19,625 --> 01:20:22,166
that's a universal thing. I've had
498
01:20:22,166 --> 01:20:23,791
exposure in other languages, Chinese,
499
01:20:24,416 --> 01:20:26,833
Portuguese. It's like they always you
500
01:20:26,833 --> 01:20:28,375
always learn a few of the curse words
501
01:20:28,375 --> 01:20:31,083
first. Yeah. For whatever reason, it's
502
01:20:31,083 --> 01:20:32,750
just a universe. My experience is just
503
01:20:32,750 --> 01:20:36,208
like a universal 100%. Yeah, okay. So
504
01:20:36,208 --> 01:20:37,791
it's not just growing up high school. We
505
01:20:37,791 --> 01:20:39,291
had a lot of different people from all
506
01:20:39,291 --> 01:20:41,250
over the room. And as soon as they had,
507
01:20:41,250 --> 01:20:42,333
they knew a language of the
508
01:20:42,333 --> 01:20:43,250
Spanish Mandarin Cantonese.
509
01:20:43,291 --> 01:20:45,916
Like, I knew how to swear in all of
510
01:20:45,916 --> 01:20:48,500
those. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Filipino.
511
01:20:49,291 --> 01:20:50,541
Yeah, those types of things. It was
512
01:20:50,541 --> 01:20:53,458
always really good. I don't feel like
513
01:20:53,458 --> 01:20:58,791
just a day thing. So maybe we'll have an
514
01:20:58,791 --> 01:21:02,125
after the show and go Frank and teach you
515
01:21:02,125 --> 01:21:04,958
some some some curse words in Arabic. So
516
01:21:04,958 --> 01:21:11,291
actually, I'm like, I'm getting more used
517
01:21:11,291 --> 01:21:12,250
to French because I live more in Tampa.
518
01:21:12,250 --> 01:21:15,916
So I speak more French than Arabic. So
519
01:21:15,916 --> 01:21:18,708
but when I got back to Tunisia, I was
520
01:21:18,708 --> 01:21:21,375
like perfect in Arabic yet I was like,
521
01:21:21,375 --> 01:21:25,166
kinda afraid. Oh, maybe I forgot how to
522
01:21:25,166 --> 01:21:27,375
speak Arabic. But no, no, it wasn't the
523
01:21:27,375 --> 01:21:29,125
case. My friends, they were telling me
524
01:21:29,125 --> 01:21:33,166
no, you are fine. You are fine. Yeah.
525
01:21:33,625 --> 01:21:34,833
Well, let me ask you this. When you go
526
01:21:34,833 --> 01:21:36,250
speaking a language, when you go out to
527
01:21:36,250 --> 01:21:37,916
like a lot of the villages and some of
528
01:21:37,916 --> 01:21:39,625
the more remote areas there, do you find
529
01:21:39,625 --> 01:21:42,250
they speak more of a local a local d
530
01:21:42,250 --> 01:21:47,666
dialect than you mean in camera? Yes.
531
01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:50,541
Yeah, it's it's really an interesting
532
01:21:50,541 --> 01:21:54,333
question in Cameroon. They do have more
533
01:21:54,333 --> 01:21:59,291
than 200 local languages. And the accent,
534
01:21:59,291 --> 01:22:03,375
the accent of the French here, it's
535
01:22:03,375 --> 01:22:05,791
totally different than the French I use
536
01:22:05,791 --> 01:22:08,791
it to speak in my country. So when I came
537
01:22:08,791 --> 01:22:12,250
like the first time here, my brain, like
538
01:22:12,916 --> 01:22:15,750
got a little bit confused. First, I was I
539
01:22:15,750 --> 01:22:18,125
was hearing even like new expressions of
540
01:22:18,125 --> 01:22:21,000
of the French language, like they they
541
01:22:21,000 --> 01:22:23,791
use other expressions, but now I speak
542
01:22:23,791 --> 01:22:26,875
like them 100%. Like I even use the same
543
01:22:26,875 --> 01:22:28,375
experience. Sometimes they are confused.
544
01:22:28,791 --> 01:22:31,666
Like, are you Cameroonian? I'm like,
545
01:22:31,666 --> 01:22:37,750
almost. Yeah, but yeah, I was I was
546
01:22:37,750 --> 01:22:39,500
almost in all the
547
01:22:39,500 --> 01:22:41,791
coastline of Cameroon. And
548
01:22:43,041 --> 01:22:45,375
the north of the coastline, they speak
549
01:22:45,375 --> 01:22:48,500
English and they speak the PG. The PG is
550
01:22:48,500 --> 01:22:51,541
something extracted from the English when
551
01:22:51,541 --> 01:22:53,458
you when you hear it, you feel like it's
552
01:22:53,458 --> 01:22:55,750
English, but it's not English. It's
553
01:22:55,750 --> 01:22:58,750
another language. It's it sounds so
554
01:22:58,750 --> 01:23:01,500
similar to English, but it's not English.
555
01:23:01,500 --> 01:23:06,291
It's it's so close. And yeah, it was the
556
01:23:06,291 --> 01:23:09,791
hardest thing, like honestly, but the
557
01:23:09,791 --> 01:23:11,208
other the other like
558
01:23:12,666 --> 01:23:14,541
part of the coastline, they do speak
559
01:23:14,541 --> 01:23:19,916
French. And I've never been in a place or
560
01:23:19,916 --> 01:23:22,458
a village where people they couldn't
561
01:23:22,458 --> 01:23:24,541
communicate with me. It's whether French
562
01:23:24,541 --> 01:23:28,083
or English, even though they they still
563
01:23:28,083 --> 01:23:31,250
speak other languages. So I was lucky.
564
01:23:31,666 --> 01:23:33,708
Yeah, I was really lucky. Yeah, they
565
01:23:33,708 --> 01:23:35,875
always speak English or French. So you
566
01:23:35,875 --> 01:23:38,250
can communicate in one way or another.
567
01:23:39,250 --> 01:23:41,375
Okay, yeah, I found like some of these
568
01:23:41,375 --> 01:23:42,916
like, you know, even in South Africa,
569
01:23:42,916 --> 01:23:45,583
there's something like two or three dozen
570
01:23:45,583 --> 01:23:46,916
different languages when you start
571
01:23:46,916 --> 01:23:48,875
bringing in all the tribal languages and
572
01:23:48,875 --> 01:23:51,750
you could really get into. Yeah, you can
573
01:23:51,750 --> 01:23:53,958
really get get lost in all kinds of
574
01:23:53,958 --> 01:23:56,166
usually if is if you use English will
575
01:23:56,166 --> 01:23:57,708
kind of get you around pretty much most
576
01:23:57,708 --> 01:23:59,250
certainly if you're in the city areas of towns, you can do that.
577
01:23:59,250 --> 01:24:02,250
When you get out out there, you can speak
578
01:24:02,250 --> 01:24:04,083
they'll speak a whole host of other
579
01:24:04,083 --> 01:24:06,416
languages. That's why it's kind of kind
580
01:24:06,416 --> 01:24:08,333
of curious when you go out like in
581
01:24:08,333 --> 01:24:11,000
Cameroon, particularly how it is how it
582
01:24:11,000 --> 01:24:13,583
is outside trying to communicate with the
583
01:24:13,583 --> 01:24:16,791
people. So, you know, so I got another
584
01:24:16,791 --> 01:24:18,000
question. I have a question for you too.
585
01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:19,083
When you go out there, when you go out,
586
01:24:19,083 --> 01:24:20,250
particularly the more remote areas, how
587
01:24:20,250 --> 01:24:22,166
is it being a young woman going out
588
01:24:22,166 --> 01:24:23,958
trying to in the villages and stuff?
589
01:24:24,708 --> 01:24:25,916
That's got to be an interesting
590
01:24:25,916 --> 01:24:29,250
experience for you. Yeah, actually, I think it's a good experience.
591
01:24:29,250 --> 01:24:34,166
Actually, it's not the same for me when I
592
01:24:34,166 --> 01:24:38,250
did it first, like when I did it after a
593
01:24:38,250 --> 01:24:40,625
couple of times, like the first times
594
01:24:40,625 --> 01:24:43,208
were the most tough time for me.
595
01:24:44,291 --> 01:24:48,458
I remember like I the first time I came
596
01:24:48,458 --> 01:24:52,458
here to Cameroon, I was 25 years old. I
597
01:24:52,458 --> 01:24:56,291
and I've never been to the sub-sarian
598
01:24:56,291 --> 01:25:00,666
Africa before that was my first time. And
599
01:25:00,666 --> 01:25:03,583
when I first came here, I was in a
600
01:25:03,583 --> 01:25:06,375
village. I was based in a village in
601
01:25:06,375 --> 01:25:08,500
Cameroon called design gay.
602
01:25:09,666 --> 01:25:13,875
And there was no electricity, no running
603
01:25:13,875 --> 01:25:17,166
water. I was sharing the same room with
604
01:25:17,166 --> 01:25:22,208
other Cameroonians. That was so like
605
01:25:22,208 --> 01:25:27,458
tough for me. Like I just left home. That
606
01:25:27,458 --> 01:25:29,041
was an internship. I wasn't
607
01:25:29,041 --> 01:25:30,916
paid. I was just volunteering.
608
01:25:31,291 --> 01:25:34,291
I was like training the staff to identify
609
01:25:34,291 --> 01:25:36,833
sharks and rays and prospect the
610
01:25:36,833 --> 01:25:40,000
biodiversity and everything. So I was
611
01:25:40,000 --> 01:25:43,416
really kind of in the shock. Like it was
612
01:25:43,416 --> 01:25:46,208
a cultural shock. I felt that I'm not
613
01:25:46,208 --> 01:25:49,166
African. I was like, Oh, I'm from Africa
614
01:25:49,166 --> 01:25:51,250
and I'm feeling like this. What about
615
01:25:51,250 --> 01:25:53,583
European people? Like I'm still from
616
01:25:53,583 --> 01:25:56,833
Africa. Why am I feeling like kind of
617
01:25:57,958 --> 01:26:02,291
isolated, you know, and slowly, slowly I
618
01:26:02,291 --> 01:26:06,291
was searching for for like how I can fit
619
01:26:06,291 --> 01:26:10,083
how I can be a different but not an
620
01:26:10,083 --> 01:26:13,333
outsider because these two things are so
621
01:26:13,333 --> 01:26:16,250
different. Like you can be different, but
622
01:26:16,250 --> 01:26:19,500
you can fit in. But being
623
01:26:19,500 --> 01:26:21,250
an outsider is the problem.
624
01:26:21,291 --> 01:26:25,041
You need to find like a way to adapt to
625
01:26:25,041 --> 01:26:28,291
to like get used and everything and
626
01:26:28,291 --> 01:26:31,875
slowly, slowly I found myself I was
627
01:26:31,875 --> 01:26:34,000
searching for the things that I never had
628
01:26:34,000 --> 01:26:37,250
in my own country, like the simplicity,
629
01:26:37,875 --> 01:26:41,250
the wildness, how people are so easy to
630
01:26:41,250 --> 01:26:45,166
get with how how they are so welcoming,
631
01:26:45,625 --> 01:26:47,250
so warm and everything.
632
01:26:47,250 --> 01:26:50,875
So, yeah, for a young woman, as you say,
633
01:26:50,875 --> 01:26:53,291
the first time I was in the fish market,
634
01:26:53,833 --> 01:26:55,791
people, they didn't accept me because I
635
01:26:55,791 --> 01:26:59,333
was different. But when they when they
636
01:26:59,333 --> 01:27:04,250
they kept seeing me going back again and
637
01:27:04,250 --> 01:27:08,291
again and being committed and having the
638
01:27:08,291 --> 01:27:11,333
same goal every week, they have been
639
01:27:11,333 --> 01:27:12,250
seeing me every month.
640
01:27:12,291 --> 01:27:14,875
They have been seeing me. They started
641
01:27:14,875 --> 01:27:17,833
calling me my daughter, come my daughter,
642
01:27:18,291 --> 01:27:22,000
come my and that's that's kind of I am an
643
01:27:22,000 --> 01:27:24,166
emotional person, by the way, I'm so
644
01:27:24,166 --> 01:27:27,375
emotional and I can cry even in the
645
01:27:27,375 --> 01:27:30,916
team's meeting. I'm like, I cannot, I
646
01:27:30,916 --> 01:27:32,250
cannot hide my emotions.
647
01:27:32,291 --> 01:27:37,291
And this is like, this is a power, not a
648
01:27:37,291 --> 01:27:39,458
weakness because they use it to tell me
649
01:27:39,458 --> 01:27:41,208
that you are weak because you are
650
01:27:41,208 --> 01:27:45,000
emotional, which is not true. The key to
651
01:27:45,000 --> 01:27:47,541
get fit inside of Cameroon was because
652
01:27:47,541 --> 01:27:50,500
I'm emotional because the population saw
653
01:27:50,500 --> 01:27:54,333
me emotional and Karen
654
01:27:54,333 --> 01:27:57,250
feelings with me, Karen love with me.
655
01:27:57,250 --> 01:28:02,458
They trusted me. They gave me space to
656
01:28:02,458 --> 01:28:06,375
exist with them. If they saw me only as a
657
01:28:06,375 --> 01:28:09,416
scientist, I'm in the fish market just to
658
01:28:09,416 --> 01:28:12,208
collect data and leave. I would never
659
01:28:12,208 --> 01:28:15,250
keep existing until now. I would maybe
660
01:28:15,250 --> 01:28:19,708
spend two or three years and then I'm
661
01:28:19,708 --> 01:28:20,958
gone, like from Cameroon.
662
01:28:21,250 --> 01:28:24,875
But the thing that really kept me being
663
01:28:24,875 --> 01:28:28,125
here and kept the fishers and the coastal
664
01:28:28,125 --> 01:28:31,541
community to like accept to work with me
665
01:28:31,541 --> 01:28:34,833
and collaborate with me is because I'm
666
01:28:34,833 --> 01:28:38,291
emotional. I'm carrying emotions with
667
01:28:38,291 --> 01:28:40,000
signs at the same time,
668
01:28:40,000 --> 01:28:41,250
not just signs with me.
669
01:28:41,291 --> 01:28:45,458
I'm here for a reason and we are all here
670
01:28:45,458 --> 01:28:48,541
for the same reason. So we don't need to
671
01:28:48,541 --> 01:28:51,000
be like, I'm a young woman, I'm
672
01:28:51,000 --> 01:28:53,875
different, I'm foreign and I'm not from
673
01:28:53,875 --> 01:28:58,083
the same country, but we have unicity at
674
01:28:58,083 --> 01:29:01,291
the same time. We are all searching for
675
01:29:01,291 --> 01:29:04,000
purposes, why we came to
676
01:29:04,000 --> 01:29:05,250
this life, why we exist.
677
01:29:05,291 --> 01:29:09,000
So everyone is searching in his own way.
678
01:29:09,750 --> 01:29:13,000
And that's why I found myself like
679
01:29:13,000 --> 01:29:15,708
slowly, slowly, more than a young woman
680
01:29:15,708 --> 01:29:23,166
in a different country. And like, I feel
681
01:29:23,166 --> 01:29:25,791
at home as I was telling you that I'm not
682
01:29:25,791 --> 01:29:28,833
in my own country, but I'm still feeling
683
01:29:28,833 --> 01:29:31,541
at home because we built something
684
01:29:31,541 --> 01:29:33,250
through time, trust and
685
01:29:33,291 --> 01:29:41,416
trust and like, like vision. So that's
686
01:29:41,416 --> 01:29:44,416
why I faced it. I faced all those
687
01:29:44,416 --> 01:29:47,125
challenges of being foreign and being
688
01:29:47,125 --> 01:29:50,625
young and being a woman in in like, in
689
01:29:50,625 --> 01:29:54,583
the fish marketplaces more for men than
690
01:29:54,583 --> 01:29:57,208
women. But in Cameroon is different. You
691
01:29:57,208 --> 01:30:00,000
can find women selling fish more than
692
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:01,291
men. So maybe that's
693
01:30:01,291 --> 01:30:02,250
why I could have exist.
694
01:30:02,250 --> 01:30:06,416
And I could have like, have more trust in
695
01:30:06,416 --> 01:30:11,041
myself and confidence. So yeah, that's
696
01:30:11,041 --> 01:30:15,750
that's how I I got where I am today, even
697
01:30:15,750 --> 01:30:18,416
though it wasn't easy at first.
698
01:30:19,041 --> 01:30:22,375
So now with you're going there and you
699
01:30:22,375 --> 01:30:24,583
got your mainly your focus now on the
700
01:30:24,583 --> 01:30:25,708
sharks and rays. Is that your
701
01:30:25,708 --> 01:30:28,000
main work you're doing there?
702
01:30:29,250 --> 01:30:33,916
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so now you are you
703
01:30:33,916 --> 01:30:35,583
doing this like is this part of through
704
01:30:35,583 --> 01:30:38,791
the man to trust you're doing this.
705
01:30:38,791 --> 01:30:42,583
I can I can I can tell that how the story
706
01:30:42,583 --> 01:30:46,250
how the story went like just a brief.
707
01:30:47,125 --> 01:30:49,000
First, when I came to Cameroon, I was
708
01:30:49,000 --> 01:30:51,625
searching for whales, not for sharks and
709
01:30:51,625 --> 01:30:55,250
I wanted to study whales. Oh, cool.
710
01:30:55,291 --> 01:30:59,708
Yeah. And we we don't have resident
711
01:30:59,708 --> 01:31:02,541
whales in Tunisia. They just passed by.
712
01:31:03,166 --> 01:31:07,250
They don't they don't like exist for a
713
01:31:07,250 --> 01:31:09,708
permanent way. So I was searching outside
714
01:31:09,708 --> 01:31:12,250
of my country because I was sure.
715
01:31:12,250 --> 01:31:16,791
And a simple search on Google, I found
716
01:31:16,791 --> 01:31:19,541
out the African marine by the time it was
717
01:31:19,541 --> 01:31:21,583
African marine mammal organization
718
01:31:21,583 --> 01:31:23,708
conservation organization.
719
01:31:23,916 --> 01:31:25,250
I'm cool. I found about them.
720
01:31:25,250 --> 01:31:29,125
And I found about another organization in
721
01:31:29,125 --> 01:31:31,750
Australia and I send my CV and my
722
01:31:31,750 --> 01:31:35,291
motivation letter to go for an internship
723
01:31:35,291 --> 01:31:40,000
and both they like accepted me for an
724
01:31:40,000 --> 01:31:42,583
interview. But I didn't reply for the
725
01:31:42,583 --> 01:31:45,500
Australian organization. And I replied
726
01:31:45,500 --> 01:31:46,791
for the Cameroonian. I was
727
01:31:46,791 --> 01:31:48,250
like, let's go slowly, slowly.
728
01:31:48,250 --> 01:31:51,750
I don't want to go so far. Let's go
729
01:31:51,750 --> 01:31:54,416
slowly, slowly. So I went to Cameroon
730
01:31:54,416 --> 01:31:57,625
first for two months as internship for
731
01:31:57,625 --> 01:32:00,166
whales and the marine megafauna as well,
732
01:32:00,458 --> 01:32:03,166
including sharks and rays, sea turtles,
733
01:32:03,583 --> 01:32:06,333
dolphins, whales and everything. It was
734
01:32:06,333 --> 01:32:09,875
in 2019 when I spent two
735
01:32:09,875 --> 01:32:10,250
months as the first time.
736
01:32:10,250 --> 01:32:14,875
All I saw most of the time was sharks and
737
01:32:14,875 --> 01:32:17,791
rays being landed in different sizes,
738
01:32:18,208 --> 01:32:22,041
many species, around 30 species being
739
01:32:22,041 --> 01:32:25,000
like processed in many ways, smoked,
740
01:32:25,416 --> 01:32:28,583
dried, finished everything. And when I
741
01:32:28,583 --> 01:32:30,916
was did the research, I found nothing. No
742
01:32:30,916 --> 01:32:34,791
papers published, no reports, no laws
743
01:32:34,791 --> 01:32:37,250
protecting this species in the country.
744
01:32:37,250 --> 01:32:40,458
So I felt and I didn't see any whale. I
745
01:32:40,458 --> 01:32:43,791
spent around 12 hours in the sea and I
746
01:32:43,791 --> 01:32:46,708
didn't see any whale. So it was like a
747
01:32:46,708 --> 01:32:49,791
message from the universe, like a call
748
01:32:49,791 --> 01:32:53,125
from sharks. It's an urgent call that
749
01:32:53,125 --> 01:32:55,333
that's what you need to do for now. You
750
01:32:55,333 --> 01:32:58,458
have been in Cameroon to to know what's
751
01:32:58,458 --> 01:32:59,833
going on about sharks and rays.
752
01:33:00,250 --> 01:33:03,625
And and then I went back to Tunisia and I
753
01:33:03,625 --> 01:33:05,833
did my master's degree on sharks and rays
754
01:33:05,833 --> 01:33:08,458
on Cameroon. So my master's degree was in
755
01:33:08,458 --> 01:33:12,000
Tunisia, but the topic was on sharks and
756
01:33:12,000 --> 01:33:13,458
rays in small scale
757
01:33:13,458 --> 01:33:15,000
fisheries in Cameroon.
758
01:33:15,250 --> 01:33:19,291
And then I got back to Cameroon in 2021
759
01:33:19,291 --> 01:33:22,875
for six months in the northern coastline
760
01:33:22,875 --> 01:33:27,208
to to keep like exploring what's going on
761
01:33:27,208 --> 01:33:29,750
for sharks and rays. By the end of the
762
01:33:29,750 --> 01:33:33,041
six months is we found out about very
763
01:33:33,041 --> 01:33:34,625
rare species of
764
01:33:34,625 --> 01:33:36,250
mobile it raise its mobile.
765
01:33:36,291 --> 01:33:45,500
And we use it to post on iNaturalist and
766
01:33:45,500 --> 01:33:49,708
that's how we were like we have been
767
01:33:49,708 --> 01:33:52,208
contacted by Manta Trust. I don't
768
01:33:52,208 --> 01:33:55,833
remember who contacted us first when he
769
01:33:55,833 --> 01:33:58,333
saw the picture. It was like, oh, this is
770
01:33:58,333 --> 01:34:01,666
a very rare species. If you can keep this
771
01:34:01,666 --> 01:34:03,875
specimen and the
772
01:34:03,875 --> 01:34:05,250
partnership started by then.
773
01:34:05,250 --> 01:34:09,208
And so it was basically someone they were
774
01:34:09,208 --> 01:34:11,708
monitoring iNaturalist to see if there's
775
01:34:11,708 --> 01:34:13,708
anything actually the organization I use
776
01:34:13,708 --> 01:34:16,291
it to work with. We use it to have our
777
01:34:16,291 --> 01:34:18,500
own application. It's called siren
778
01:34:18,500 --> 01:34:21,333
application. Fishers is an application.
779
01:34:22,375 --> 01:34:25,333
They take pictures and they send us.
780
01:34:26,000 --> 01:34:27,875
That's how we can know what's going on in
781
01:34:27,875 --> 01:34:30,458
the sea. Yeah, that's so it was a picture
782
01:34:30,458 --> 01:34:32,958
from a fisher actually. And we use it to
783
01:34:32,958 --> 01:34:35,250
to to post those applications.
784
01:34:35,250 --> 01:34:44,500
And that's how we yeah that's how we we
785
01:34:44,500 --> 01:34:49,041
got like a message or any mail. I don't
786
01:34:49,041 --> 01:34:51,791
remember very well from Manta Trust team
787
01:34:51,791 --> 01:34:57,041
and in 2022 the Manta Trust team came to
788
01:34:57,041 --> 01:35:00,500
Cameroon to train us on the section and
789
01:35:00,500 --> 01:35:02,458
how to take samples and
790
01:35:02,458 --> 01:35:04,250
how to do the morphometric.
791
01:35:04,250 --> 01:35:13,500
And we wrote a paper on that species on
792
01:35:13,500 --> 01:35:17,833
that specimen that we found and in 2023
793
01:35:17,833 --> 01:35:23,666
we am cool and Manta Trust. They created
794
01:35:23,666 --> 01:35:25,333
the first network in
795
01:35:25,333 --> 01:35:26,583
Western Central Africa.
796
01:35:28,291 --> 01:35:31,083
People who are working on sharks and rays
797
01:35:31,083 --> 01:35:33,166
organizations researchers.
798
01:35:35,250 --> 01:35:38,875
They create like we created that network
799
01:35:38,875 --> 01:35:42,291
in 2023 and we hosted the first workshop
800
01:35:42,291 --> 01:35:45,708
in Cameroon where 12 countries
801
01:35:45,708 --> 01:35:50,125
participants came to Cameroon and we
802
01:35:50,125 --> 01:35:52,625
drafted the first strategy on
803
01:35:52,625 --> 01:35:54,250
sharks and rays in the region.
804
01:35:54,291 --> 01:35:58,958
So that's how and now like for the last
805
01:35:58,958 --> 01:36:01,666
five years I was working for amco
806
01:36:01,666 --> 01:36:03,416
African-American conservation
807
01:36:03,416 --> 01:36:06,875
organization and starting from this year
808
01:36:06,875 --> 01:36:09,375
I'm working for the Manta Trust as a
809
01:36:09,375 --> 01:36:13,833
consultant to coordinate this network
810
01:36:13,833 --> 01:36:16,250
that we created in 2023.
811
01:36:16,291 --> 01:36:22,208
Yeah to enhance research collaboration
812
01:36:22,208 --> 01:36:26,916
and policy in the region. So for now I'm
813
01:36:26,916 --> 01:36:30,666
yeah I'm with Manta Trust. Yeah. Yeah.
814
01:36:30,666 --> 01:36:32,291
That's quite easy. That's a
815
01:36:32,291 --> 01:36:35,000
quite a story. Yeah. Yeah.
816
01:36:37,250 --> 01:36:40,166
Well I mean you know it's we tell people
817
01:36:40,166 --> 01:36:41,875
it's all time and the people listen to
818
01:36:41,875 --> 01:36:44,291
the show is like nobody ever has like a
819
01:36:44,291 --> 01:36:47,250
straight line from like I'm going to do
820
01:36:47,250 --> 01:36:49,208
this and I'm going to go here. It just it
821
01:36:49,208 --> 01:36:50,916
just never goes that way. There's all
822
01:36:50,916 --> 01:36:52,958
this sort of zigzagging.
823
01:36:53,291 --> 01:36:56,708
Yeah. In your case you weren't even
824
01:36:56,708 --> 01:36:58,291
originally you're looking for whales
825
01:36:58,291 --> 01:37:00,208
which you never found the whales and then
826
01:37:00,208 --> 01:37:03,708
you I saw I saw whales in 2024 in
827
01:37:03,708 --> 01:37:06,791
Cameroon that we were in looking we were
828
01:37:06,791 --> 01:37:09,000
we weren't looking for them but we saw
829
01:37:09,000 --> 01:37:10,541
them. Yeah. That was funny.
830
01:37:11,291 --> 01:37:13,791
So I was like five years after you first
831
01:37:13,791 --> 01:37:15,791
went there right. Exactly. Yeah I was
832
01:37:15,791 --> 01:37:18,958
like okay. Just a little bit late but
833
01:37:18,958 --> 01:37:22,208
it's okay. Yeah. Just took five years.
834
01:37:22,208 --> 01:37:23,666
Well at least you found them eventually.
835
01:37:23,875 --> 01:37:26,333
That's a good. At least I saw them. Yeah.
836
01:37:26,750 --> 01:37:29,375
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what. So now
837
01:37:29,375 --> 01:37:30,750
as you're doing this you're still you're
838
01:37:30,750 --> 01:37:32,875
going out in your surveying the species
839
01:37:32,875 --> 01:37:34,750
out there and stuff. And so what's sort
840
01:37:34,750 --> 01:37:37,291
of the direction you're looking at for
841
01:37:37,291 --> 01:37:38,375
like with all this this
842
01:37:38,375 --> 01:37:39,250
information you're gathering.
843
01:37:39,291 --> 01:37:41,791
I mean, Cameron's one of those places in
844
01:37:41,791 --> 01:37:43,791
which is most of the countries in West
845
01:37:43,791 --> 01:37:46,083
Africa is it's just like a black hole as
846
01:37:46,083 --> 01:37:48,250
far as knowing what species occur there.
847
01:37:49,166 --> 01:37:52,583
Yeah. Absolutely. So what do you so so
848
01:37:52,583 --> 01:37:54,250
obviously assume you're you're building
849
01:37:54,250 --> 01:37:55,416
up a database of the
850
01:37:55,416 --> 01:37:58,041
species you're seeing there. Yeah.
851
01:37:58,250 --> 01:38:02,083
Yeah. Actually we have been lucky because
852
01:38:02,083 --> 01:38:06,250
you know in in Western Central Africa we
853
01:38:06,250 --> 01:38:09,250
like many things not just one main thing
854
01:38:09,250 --> 01:38:16,541
we like like finance we like skills and
855
01:38:16,541 --> 01:38:20,166
we have been lucky because the the base
856
01:38:20,166 --> 01:38:22,375
data line that we got it
857
01:38:22,375 --> 01:38:24,250
was based on citizen science.
858
01:38:24,250 --> 01:38:26,708
It was based on the siren application I
859
01:38:26,708 --> 01:38:30,083
was telling you about. Right. So we when
860
01:38:30,083 --> 01:38:35,333
I arrived in 2019 I found a database of
861
01:38:35,333 --> 01:38:39,250
almost 5000 observations of sharks and
862
01:38:39,250 --> 01:38:45,291
rates in just like four years I found
863
01:38:45,291 --> 01:38:49,958
like huge database and this database
864
01:38:49,958 --> 01:38:53,250
guided us where to go and what to do.
865
01:38:53,291 --> 01:39:00,125
We knew which fish markets we need to do
866
01:39:00,125 --> 01:39:06,333
the survey in and we knew which are the
867
01:39:06,333 --> 01:39:09,000
species that need more protection than
868
01:39:09,000 --> 01:39:14,375
others. So when I came here the first
869
01:39:14,375 --> 01:39:17,416
thing I wanted to implement is the fish
870
01:39:17,416 --> 01:39:20,708
market service in parallel with the
871
01:39:20,708 --> 01:39:22,250
citizen science because citizen science is a very important thing.
872
01:39:22,291 --> 01:39:24,375
So citizen science is a very great tool
873
01:39:24,375 --> 01:39:28,791
but we need in depth data as well. So we
874
01:39:28,791 --> 01:39:30,875
started the fish market service in the
875
01:39:30,875 --> 01:39:33,833
key fish markets where we know that's
876
01:39:33,833 --> 01:39:37,250
that the sharks and rays are being landed
877
01:39:37,250 --> 01:39:41,750
in huge quantities. So that's where we
878
01:39:41,750 --> 01:39:43,916
started the fish markets first.
879
01:39:45,291 --> 01:39:51,333
And what we look for is that who are the
880
01:39:51,333 --> 01:39:55,208
species that are really threatened and at
881
01:39:55,208 --> 01:40:00,250
the same time being landed a lot being
882
01:40:00,250 --> 01:40:03,958
like cold a lot. So that's
883
01:40:03,958 --> 01:40:05,250
what we were looking for.
884
01:40:05,291 --> 01:40:11,291
And also the sizes like we found out that
885
01:40:11,291 --> 01:40:16,041
90 percent of the land are driven nice
886
01:40:16,041 --> 01:40:19,166
guitar fish the plexion guitar fish and
887
01:40:19,166 --> 01:40:20,250
this call up hammerhead.
888
01:40:20,291 --> 01:40:29,083
So like you cannot to draw and it like a
889
01:40:29,083 --> 01:40:32,458
very particular mob and you say oh I will
890
01:40:32,458 --> 01:40:35,291
go to the fish market to find this and to
891
01:40:35,291 --> 01:40:38,375
do this. No you need to go with the flow.
892
01:40:38,791 --> 01:40:40,875
You go to the fish market and
893
01:40:40,875 --> 01:40:43,250
you observe what's going on.
894
01:40:43,250 --> 01:40:46,750
We have this species are being landed the
895
01:40:46,750 --> 01:40:50,416
most and being like threatened the most.
896
01:40:51,291 --> 01:40:54,583
OK. What what can we we know more about
897
01:40:54,583 --> 01:40:57,000
them. Oh they are driven nice. So
898
01:40:57,000 --> 01:41:00,875
probably they're like the fishing areas
899
01:41:00,875 --> 01:41:03,958
are overlapping with nursery areas.
900
01:41:04,291 --> 01:41:06,916
We cannot prove this now but it's
901
01:41:06,916 --> 01:41:10,916
probably the case. So you need it's like
902
01:41:10,916 --> 01:41:14,083
a puzzle and you are collecting the
903
01:41:14,083 --> 01:41:17,958
pieces and you cannot you cannot be sure
904
01:41:17,958 --> 01:41:22,250
100 percent of what you will find. But
905
01:41:22,250 --> 01:41:24,458
you need to keep collecting and keep
906
01:41:24,458 --> 01:41:28,625
observing. And that's how you can have a
907
01:41:28,625 --> 01:41:30,250
macro vision of what's going on.
908
01:41:30,250 --> 01:41:35,125
I think there's a lot of this data like
909
01:41:35,125 --> 01:41:37,333
you're collecting now is this going to be
910
01:41:37,333 --> 01:41:39,666
used you think eventually by policymakers
911
01:41:39,666 --> 01:41:42,250
to develop like a national plan of action
912
01:41:42,250 --> 01:41:46,666
for sharks. Actually yeah it's very
913
01:41:46,666 --> 01:41:52,041
complicated. It's very good. Yeah I spent
914
01:41:52,041 --> 01:41:54,708
five years trying for
915
01:41:54,708 --> 01:41:56,250
like national action plans.
916
01:41:57,666 --> 01:42:00,916
I hope one day it will work but it didn't
917
01:42:00,916 --> 01:42:04,375
work yet. I changed my strategy actually.
918
01:42:04,666 --> 01:42:07,833
I'm working now for fisher with fishers
919
01:42:07,833 --> 01:42:12,250
to protect sharks and it's easier. It's
920
01:42:12,250 --> 01:42:14,583
easier. I found a way as you're working
921
01:42:14,583 --> 01:42:15,916
right with the people who are catching.
922
01:42:16,333 --> 01:42:19,041
Yeah I found the way they are releasing
923
01:42:19,041 --> 01:42:20,541
back the baby sharks
924
01:42:20,541 --> 01:42:22,250
and raise now the fishers.
925
01:42:22,250 --> 01:42:26,208
They are aware the baby sharks and raise
926
01:42:26,208 --> 01:42:30,583
they will not give a very good income if
927
01:42:30,583 --> 01:42:34,375
you will sell them. So it's better to
928
01:42:34,375 --> 01:42:38,000
release them back if the individual is
929
01:42:38,000 --> 01:42:40,791
still alive. You release it back. It's
930
01:42:40,791 --> 01:42:46,083
better. And it's a sort of collaboration
931
01:42:46,083 --> 01:42:49,291
more than we are passing
932
01:42:49,291 --> 01:42:50,458
by the fishing community.
933
01:42:51,250 --> 01:42:52,500
And they are collaborating with the
934
01:42:52,500 --> 01:42:55,958
fishing community for it for like the
935
01:42:55,958 --> 01:42:59,666
same vision. You are suffering from this
936
01:42:59,666 --> 01:43:02,500
nowadays situation of the ocean. There is
937
01:43:02,500 --> 01:43:05,625
no more fish. The climate is not the
938
01:43:05,625 --> 01:43:11,541
same. Instead of going once a week you
939
01:43:11,541 --> 01:43:13,583
are going like twice a month.
940
01:43:14,375 --> 01:43:17,125
Why all of this is because that we are
941
01:43:17,125 --> 01:43:20,458
not doing the sustainable practices. One
942
01:43:20,458 --> 01:43:22,666
of the sustainable practices is to
943
01:43:22,666 --> 01:43:24,916
release back sharks and raise and the
944
01:43:24,916 --> 01:43:27,083
fishing community is aware and happy to
945
01:43:27,083 --> 01:43:31,791
help. So I've been like going through
946
01:43:31,791 --> 01:43:34,416
this approach and showing the government.
947
01:43:35,000 --> 01:43:36,708
Look the problem is no more
948
01:43:36,708 --> 01:43:38,541
the problem. It's the solution.
949
01:43:39,875 --> 01:43:44,041
Do what you need to do. The fishing
950
01:43:44,041 --> 01:43:46,333
community is safe and sharks and raise.
951
01:43:46,750 --> 01:43:48,291
What are you waiting to
952
01:43:48,291 --> 01:43:51,000
do. Please start something.
953
01:43:51,291 --> 01:43:55,000
So yeah that's what I want. And at the
954
01:43:55,000 --> 01:43:57,458
same time where I'm working in the south
955
01:43:57,458 --> 01:44:00,666
like so close to me there is the first
956
01:44:00,666 --> 01:44:05,541
marin protected area in Cameroon. But
957
01:44:05,541 --> 01:44:11,208
there is no like management plan yet. So
958
01:44:11,208 --> 01:44:13,583
we are trying to influence the management
959
01:44:13,583 --> 01:44:19,291
plan to be like including the sharks and
960
01:44:19,291 --> 01:44:21,250
raise protection in it.
961
01:44:21,291 --> 01:44:24,166
At the same time including the say like
962
01:44:24,166 --> 01:44:26,875
the live release. So the fishers are
963
01:44:26,875 --> 01:44:30,333
doing this in other areas. It's going to
964
01:44:30,333 --> 01:44:32,875
be amazing if you will include it in the
965
01:44:32,875 --> 01:44:34,958
management plan of the marin protected
966
01:44:34,958 --> 01:44:40,166
area. So you as a scientist you will be
967
01:44:40,166 --> 01:44:41,250
straight to the point.
968
01:44:41,291 --> 01:44:44,125
Oh I have like threatened animal. We need
969
01:44:44,125 --> 01:44:46,250
to protect it. There is no way but I'm
970
01:44:46,250 --> 01:44:50,666
using other like ways I'm navigating to
971
01:44:50,666 --> 01:44:55,416
show like it's like mathematics. You know
972
01:44:55,416 --> 01:44:58,208
like you can you can find the same result
973
01:44:58,208 --> 01:45:00,583
but with different ways. And that's why
974
01:45:00,583 --> 01:45:03,375
that's what I'm doing now. So I'm showing
975
01:45:03,375 --> 01:45:06,958
the government that we have different
976
01:45:06,958 --> 01:45:08,875
ways. And please choose one.
977
01:45:09,458 --> 01:45:12,958
I'm giving you options and just choose
978
01:45:12,958 --> 01:45:16,250
one. Yeah it takes time. It takes time.
979
01:45:16,541 --> 01:45:19,875
Go ahead. Yes. Our quick question here
980
01:45:19,875 --> 01:45:23,125
about all this this process. So you're
981
01:45:23,125 --> 01:45:25,208
working with fishers and you have a great
982
01:45:25,208 --> 01:45:26,333
relate. You're you're building that
983
01:45:26,333 --> 01:45:27,916
relationship and you continue to maintain
984
01:45:27,916 --> 01:45:29,666
that relationship which is nice because
985
01:45:29,666 --> 01:45:31,583
it's on the ground. You're on the ground.
986
01:45:31,833 --> 01:45:33,791
You know you're seeing this firsthand and
987
01:45:33,791 --> 01:45:37,041
they seem to be interested as as many
988
01:45:37,041 --> 01:45:37,875
fishers are around the
989
01:45:37,875 --> 01:45:39,250
world to protecting the
990
01:45:39,291 --> 01:45:41,666
resource right. But then you have the
991
01:45:41,666 --> 01:45:43,583
other side where it's you know you want
992
01:45:43,583 --> 01:45:45,708
to enact it into into policy. So you have
993
01:45:45,708 --> 01:45:48,208
to build this relationship with with
994
01:45:48,208 --> 01:45:51,416
government officials. What's it like you
995
01:45:51,416 --> 01:45:53,416
know I don't have like Dave has way more
996
01:45:53,416 --> 01:45:56,500
experience than I do in in Africa in in
997
01:45:56,500 --> 01:45:58,791
different countries in Africa and working
998
01:45:58,791 --> 01:46:01,000
with people there of all different of all
999
01:46:01,000 --> 01:46:03,041
different countries. What's it like
1000
01:46:03,041 --> 01:46:06,166
building that relationship with you know
1001
01:46:06,166 --> 01:46:07,250
people from the government of Cameroon. Is it do you find that you're doing that?
1002
01:46:07,250 --> 01:46:12,333
And did you have experience in doing this
1003
01:46:12,333 --> 01:46:14,250
before so like you just kind of just
1004
01:46:14,250 --> 01:46:15,625
described just sort of that entire
1005
01:46:15,625 --> 01:46:20,541
process. Actually it's it's complicated.
1006
01:46:20,541 --> 01:46:23,166
I will not say it's difficult or easy but
1007
01:46:23,166 --> 01:46:25,666
it's complicated right which is which is
1008
01:46:25,666 --> 01:46:28,250
like logical. Yeah. And it demands a lot of patience. You need to be sweet patients like you. That's why I'm using other ways at the same time.
1009
01:46:37,375 --> 01:46:40,166
If you will if you will only use like
1010
01:46:40,166 --> 01:46:43,166
policy and government and national action
1011
01:46:43,166 --> 01:46:46,000
plans and you will stop doing anything
1012
01:46:46,000 --> 01:46:49,250
else you will end up by doing nothing but right the best thing is that you keep knocking the doors of the government and at the same time you do parallelizing.
1013
01:46:57,125 --> 01:47:02,125
So the government will say oh this is
1014
01:47:02,125 --> 01:47:05,708
doable this is this can be realistic
1015
01:47:05,708 --> 01:47:09,791
because you need to translate what you
1016
01:47:09,791 --> 01:47:10,250
your thoughts you you cannot like you need to put yourself in the shoes of others. You cannot expect the same way you are.
1017
01:47:10,416 --> 01:47:14,125
You cannot like you need to put yourself
1018
01:47:14,125 --> 01:47:17,333
in the shoes of others. You cannot expect
1019
01:47:17,333 --> 01:47:20,791
the same way of thinking from government
1020
01:47:20,791 --> 01:47:24,833
like you. Sorry for the word but that
1021
01:47:24,833 --> 01:47:27,208
means I'm stupid if I will I will like
1022
01:47:27,208 --> 01:47:30,916
expect that like I cannot I cannot expect
1023
01:47:30,916 --> 01:47:34,375
that my that the fishers will think the
1024
01:47:34,375 --> 01:47:37,000
same way like me or I will never also
1025
01:47:37,000 --> 01:47:38,833
think the same way as fishers.
1026
01:47:39,291 --> 01:47:42,833
So you need always to be empathetic be
1027
01:47:42,833 --> 01:47:46,291
like okay they are being hard here that
1028
01:47:46,291 --> 01:47:49,166
makes sense. Let's see why let's see how
1029
01:47:49,166 --> 01:47:52,041
can we make it easier. Can we make it
1030
01:47:52,041 --> 01:47:55,916
more like smooth. So it's really
1031
01:47:55,916 --> 01:47:58,708
complicated and it needs like sometimes
1032
01:47:58,708 --> 01:48:01,583
they can give you promises.
1033
01:48:02,291 --> 01:48:05,583
They will never tell you no or close the
1034
01:48:05,583 --> 01:48:08,291
doors and that's the thing like first
1035
01:48:08,291 --> 01:48:10,708
time you will meet people from government
1036
01:48:10,708 --> 01:48:12,583
you will be so impressive. They will give
1037
01:48:12,583 --> 01:48:14,916
you all the promises. Yes you will do
1038
01:48:14,916 --> 01:48:18,166
this will do that. And you will go back
1039
01:48:18,166 --> 01:48:21,041
home flying. Oh yeah I've done everything
1040
01:48:21,041 --> 01:48:23,583
and then nothing happened.
1041
01:48:31,291 --> 01:48:33,875
I've been naive. I've been telling my
1042
01:48:33,875 --> 01:48:36,291
boss. Oh no no they told me that they
1043
01:48:36,291 --> 01:48:38,041
will do this. They will do that. And then
1044
01:48:38,041 --> 01:48:44,208
I got it. Yeah I got it. It's not easy.
1045
01:48:44,458 --> 01:48:46,875
It's a whole system even for them. It's
1046
01:48:46,875 --> 01:48:49,875
not easy to integrate such laws inside of
1047
01:48:49,875 --> 01:48:51,958
the system. It's not
1048
01:48:51,958 --> 01:48:53,250
like a click like this.
1049
01:48:53,291 --> 01:48:56,291
It needs like revision and revision and
1050
01:48:56,291 --> 01:48:59,541
revision and revision and it needs to be
1051
01:48:59,541 --> 01:49:03,291
revised by many like different like
1052
01:49:03,291 --> 01:49:07,958
people. So it needs time and patience and
1053
01:49:07,958 --> 01:49:11,083
it needs more approved like you need to
1054
01:49:11,083 --> 01:49:15,250
prove to them. It's it's it can be real.
1055
01:49:15,250 --> 01:49:18,791
So you can do it. The problem the thing
1056
01:49:18,791 --> 01:49:21,458
that you are seeing as a problem is being
1057
01:49:21,458 --> 01:49:24,291
the solution. So please just to change
1058
01:49:24,291 --> 01:49:26,791
something just do something. And one of
1059
01:49:26,791 --> 01:49:30,625
the things I I I really like to do is to
1060
01:49:30,625 --> 01:49:35,916
create a space where the government and
1061
01:49:35,916 --> 01:49:37,250
the fishers can communicate.
1062
01:49:37,250 --> 01:49:41,875
I love this. I really love. Yeah. OK.
1063
01:49:42,375 --> 01:49:45,916
Like you are given orders and they know
1064
01:49:45,916 --> 01:49:49,416
they're like they know what's going on
1065
01:49:49,416 --> 01:49:52,000
more than anyone more than the scientists
1066
01:49:52,000 --> 01:49:54,083
more than the government the fishers they
1067
01:49:54,083 --> 01:49:56,208
are always in the sea. They know more
1068
01:49:56,208 --> 01:49:59,333
than anyone. So I give them the space to
1069
01:49:59,333 --> 01:50:02,125
talk talk about what's going on. Let the
1070
01:50:02,125 --> 01:50:04,916
government listen to you. And that's how
1071
01:50:04,916 --> 01:50:07,208
the debate can get like
1072
01:50:07,291 --> 01:50:10,208
interesting and can be fruitful and we
1073
01:50:10,208 --> 01:50:14,041
can co create solutions because I cannot
1074
01:50:14,041 --> 01:50:16,541
create solutions alone. I've seen them
1075
01:50:16,541 --> 01:50:21,375
only from my perspective. It's it won't
1076
01:50:21,375 --> 01:50:25,291
be so impactful. Everyone needs to be in
1077
01:50:25,291 --> 01:50:28,333
the same area and everyone needs to
1078
01:50:28,333 --> 01:50:31,083
decide not just the government not just
1079
01:50:31,083 --> 01:50:33,291
the scientific community not
1080
01:50:33,291 --> 01:50:34,250
just the fishing community.
1081
01:50:34,291 --> 01:50:37,916
Everyone at the same time. So yeah I'm
1082
01:50:37,916 --> 01:50:42,083
like sometimes I sound weird but by the
1083
01:50:42,083 --> 01:50:45,541
end I sound more logical when people like
1084
01:50:45,541 --> 01:50:48,125
they follow me until the end. Yeah that
1085
01:50:48,125 --> 01:50:51,416
makes sense. So yeah that's
1086
01:50:51,416 --> 01:50:53,916
that's what I was trying to do.
1087
01:50:54,291 --> 01:50:58,291
Yeah that that's an amazing story. So I
1088
01:50:58,291 --> 01:50:59,625
just want to keep you too much longer
1089
01:50:59,625 --> 01:51:03,583
here. So that you you've done some
1090
01:51:03,583 --> 01:51:05,166
amazing stuff earlier in your career.
1091
01:51:05,166 --> 01:51:07,541
Where do you see your career going over
1092
01:51:07,541 --> 01:51:12,041
the next five ten twenty years. It's a
1093
01:51:12,041 --> 01:51:14,083
funny question especially for me. I was
1094
01:51:14,083 --> 01:51:16,333
telling you I wanted genetics. I found
1095
01:51:16,333 --> 01:51:18,416
myself in modern biology. I wanted
1096
01:51:18,416 --> 01:51:20,750
whales. I found myself with sharks and
1097
01:51:20,750 --> 01:51:23,083
rays. So maybe I will tell you something
1098
01:51:23,083 --> 01:51:23,250
now. And I'm going to tell you something now.
1099
01:51:23,291 --> 01:51:27,375
But I'm sure that we have it on record.
1100
01:51:27,375 --> 01:51:29,125
We'll have it recorded. So we'll play
1101
01:51:29,125 --> 01:51:30,958
back to you later. Basically no one
1102
01:51:30,958 --> 01:51:35,750
recorded for me before. Yeah. Actually I
1103
01:51:35,750 --> 01:51:38,541
will tell you about my dreams. Then my
1104
01:51:38,541 --> 01:51:42,458
big dream. Then then like where I see
1105
01:51:42,458 --> 01:51:46,000
myself like my big dream is to have a
1106
01:51:46,000 --> 01:51:50,291
small boat a very simple boat that I get.
1107
01:51:50,291 --> 01:51:51,500
I can go around the
1108
01:51:51,500 --> 01:51:53,250
world and I can make a boat.
1109
01:51:53,250 --> 01:51:57,666
I can make the local people to see those
1110
01:51:57,666 --> 01:52:02,916
like very small individuals and snorkel
1111
01:52:02,916 --> 01:52:06,416
as I started love in the ocean. I love
1112
01:52:06,416 --> 01:52:09,416
making people snorkel and seeing the tiny
1113
01:52:09,416 --> 01:52:11,291
very very tiny with the microscope.
1114
01:52:12,250 --> 01:52:15,375
And like the very tiny animals like to
1115
01:52:15,375 --> 01:52:18,333
show people things that we didn't use to
1116
01:52:18,333 --> 01:52:22,583
see. It's easy to see but we didn't know
1117
01:52:22,583 --> 01:52:25,208
how to see. So that's my big dream is to
1118
01:52:25,208 --> 01:52:28,291
have a boat. We travel around the world
1119
01:52:28,291 --> 01:52:32,875
showing this very very simple things to
1120
01:52:32,875 --> 01:52:35,416
local people and then leave.
1121
01:52:35,666 --> 01:52:38,791
This is like my my my my dream.
1122
01:52:39,291 --> 01:52:41,541
Yeah. I love it. I think it's fantastic.
1123
01:52:41,791 --> 01:52:43,791
It's connecting people to the ocean which
1124
01:52:43,791 --> 01:52:46,291
is such an important part. Right. You
1125
01:52:46,291 --> 01:52:49,750
know a lot. I think that the in here in
1126
01:52:49,750 --> 01:52:51,041
North America Dave you probably heard
1127
01:52:51,041 --> 01:52:52,750
this before. It's you know people were
1128
01:52:52,750 --> 01:52:54,291
often referred to like when you try to
1129
01:52:54,291 --> 01:52:56,333
get grounded you touch grass like touch
1130
01:52:56,333 --> 01:52:58,541
nature you get in nature. I always say
1131
01:52:58,541 --> 01:53:00,666
you know you you touch water. You know
1132
01:53:00,666 --> 01:53:02,541
just go out and touch the water. Feel
1133
01:53:02,541 --> 01:53:04,500
grounded. Feel like. And I think that's
1134
01:53:04,500 --> 01:53:07,250
such an important aspect to how people
1135
01:53:07,250 --> 01:53:09,250
need to feel about about the ocean.
1136
01:53:09,291 --> 01:53:11,500
And about nature in general. Because a
1137
01:53:11,500 --> 01:53:13,791
lot of times we feel we're so involved in
1138
01:53:13,791 --> 01:53:16,041
our own lives that we don't get. We don't
1139
01:53:16,041 --> 01:53:17,750
feel that connection to nature and often
1140
01:53:17,750 --> 01:53:20,250
that disconnect can lead towards a lot of
1141
01:53:20,250 --> 01:53:22,916
bad things right. Yeah. Like it's
1142
01:53:22,916 --> 01:53:25,333
sometimes there are things in life that
1143
01:53:25,333 --> 01:53:28,541
are so easy but we we don't have the
1144
01:53:28,541 --> 01:53:31,875
chance to get them. So I would just to
1145
01:53:31,875 --> 01:53:35,833
try to help locals to have this change.
1146
01:53:35,833 --> 01:53:37,500
That's it. It's a simple
1147
01:53:37,500 --> 01:53:39,250
thing. But sometimes we can't.
1148
01:53:39,250 --> 01:53:42,166
And we can never have them. I was really
1149
01:53:42,166 --> 01:53:45,583
lucky to have them like this. And yeah.
1150
01:53:45,916 --> 01:53:51,375
So that's my awesome my my tiny dream. Do
1151
01:53:51,375 --> 01:53:53,958
you think do you think you'll ever use
1152
01:53:53,958 --> 01:53:57,458
genetics and combine that with sharks at
1153
01:53:57,458 --> 01:54:00,041
some point. Absolutely. This is the next
1154
01:54:00,041 --> 01:54:03,083
step. Absolutely. Yeah. Acoustic
1155
01:54:03,083 --> 01:54:06,041
telemetry and genetics. I
1156
01:54:06,041 --> 01:54:08,250
want to start my PhD on that.
1157
01:54:08,250 --> 01:54:12,416
Because I've been saying that I know that
1158
01:54:12,416 --> 01:54:15,291
there are nursery grounds in Kamhoon but
1159
01:54:15,291 --> 01:54:18,375
to confirm them I need more evidence and
1160
01:54:18,375 --> 01:54:20,333
the more evidence is the acoustic
1161
01:54:20,333 --> 01:54:24,583
telemetry and some genetics as well.
1162
01:54:24,958 --> 01:54:28,250
Maybe to to like assess more the
1163
01:54:28,250 --> 01:54:30,041
biodiversity because not
1164
01:54:30,041 --> 01:54:31,250
everything is being landed.
1165
01:54:31,291 --> 01:54:34,458
And all we have been doing is like to
1166
01:54:34,458 --> 01:54:39,041
collect data on the landed species. So I
1167
01:54:39,041 --> 01:54:42,291
want to combine these two things to go
1168
01:54:42,291 --> 01:54:47,291
deeper in what's going on in Kamro. Yeah.
1169
01:54:47,291 --> 01:54:52,166
Very nice. Thank you so much for coming
1170
01:54:52,166 --> 01:54:53,833
on the show. We're going to have you back
1171
01:54:53,833 --> 01:54:55,583
to see how your dream is
1172
01:54:55,583 --> 01:54:56,250
progressing. Absolutely.
1173
01:54:56,291 --> 01:55:00,500
Absolutely. So I hope so. And I'll look
1174
01:55:00,500 --> 01:55:02,625
forward to seeing you here in a month or
1175
01:55:02,625 --> 01:55:04,916
so or a few weeks for the Sharks
1176
01:55:04,916 --> 01:55:08,541
International. And anyway anyway we
1177
01:55:08,541 --> 01:55:09,916
really really enjoyed having you out.
1178
01:55:09,916 --> 01:55:10,791
We'll definitely have you back again
1179
01:55:10,791 --> 01:55:12,875
sometime to get updated on your dream.
1180
01:55:13,500 --> 01:55:15,541
Absolutely. And good luck as the keynote
1181
01:55:15,541 --> 01:55:18,708
for Sharks International. It's the first
1182
01:55:18,708 --> 01:55:22,791
time for me to be a keynote speaker and I
1183
01:55:22,791 --> 01:55:26,166
will tell the story how I got to be a
1184
01:55:26,166 --> 01:55:29,833
keynote speaker in public. I love telling
1185
01:55:29,833 --> 01:55:32,958
stories. I love telling stories. Yeah.
1186
01:55:33,291 --> 01:55:35,083
Yeah. You're great. I love it. I love the
1187
01:55:35,083 --> 01:55:37,250
stories. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
1188
01:55:37,500 --> 01:55:39,416
You definitely you definitely deserve it.
1189
01:55:39,416 --> 01:55:41,000
It is. It's your first time. I'm sure it
1190
01:55:41,000 --> 01:55:43,333
won't be the last time with the way you
1191
01:55:43,333 --> 01:55:46,541
are expanding our knowledge on on Sharks
1192
01:55:46,541 --> 01:55:49,791
and Rays and in Kamroon and other places
1193
01:55:49,791 --> 01:55:53,250
and look forward to having you back on
1194
01:55:53,250 --> 01:55:55,250
and talking more about about Sharks.
1195
01:55:55,291 --> 01:55:58,166
Thank you so much for providing such a
1196
01:55:58,166 --> 01:56:02,416
safe spaces for early careers like me to
1197
01:56:02,416 --> 01:56:05,166
talk about the work they are doing the
1198
01:56:05,166 --> 01:56:08,125
dreams they have. They do have it's not
1199
01:56:08,125 --> 01:56:11,666
like very common. And yeah. I'm like the
1200
01:56:11,666 --> 01:56:15,708
more people feel seen and heard the more
1201
01:56:15,708 --> 01:56:17,708
they are confident. So really thank you
1202
01:56:17,708 --> 01:56:20,250
for giving us such a space. Really.
1203
01:56:20,250 --> 01:56:23,125
Thank you for that cover. We love giving
1204
01:56:23,125 --> 01:56:25,750
space. That's what this podcast is for.
1205
01:56:25,750 --> 01:56:27,708
So thank you. Appreciate it. All right.
1206
01:56:27,708 --> 01:56:29,000
We'll talk to you later. Thank you
1207
01:56:29,000 --> 01:56:30,625
girlfriend for joining us on today's
1208
01:56:30,625 --> 01:56:33,458
episode of the Beyond Jaws podcast. Great
1209
01:56:33,458 --> 01:56:35,416
to have you on. I can't wait to hear
1210
01:56:35,416 --> 01:56:38,541
about your keynote speech at Sharks
1211
01:56:38,541 --> 01:56:42,041
International 2026 definitely deserved a
1212
01:56:42,041 --> 01:56:44,500
true pioneer as I've mentioned before the
1213
01:56:44,500 --> 01:56:46,958
interview true pioneer in discovering
1214
01:56:46,958 --> 01:56:48,541
Sharks in Kamroon
1215
01:56:48,541 --> 01:56:49,250
originally from Tunisia.
1216
01:56:49,291 --> 01:56:52,000
Dave and going to camera into a
1217
01:56:52,000 --> 01:56:53,375
completely new country. She even
1218
01:56:53,375 --> 01:56:55,041
mentioned that it feels like home to her
1219
01:56:55,041 --> 01:56:57,625
now more home than when she goes back to
1220
01:56:57,625 --> 01:57:00,000
her original home. And so I think that's
1221
01:57:00,000 --> 01:57:01,291
that's really interesting as David
1222
01:57:01,291 --> 01:57:03,791
someone who's done research in in in
1223
01:57:03,791 --> 01:57:05,125
countries that are pretty far from the
1224
01:57:05,125 --> 01:57:06,416
U.S. or pretty far from your home.
1225
01:57:07,250 --> 01:57:07,833
So you know, I think the question is,
1226
01:57:07,833 --> 01:57:08,958
what's the what are the challenges when
1227
01:57:08,958 --> 01:57:11,166
you first get into a place like this? And
1228
01:57:11,166 --> 01:57:13,333
obviously South Africa is very different
1229
01:57:13,333 --> 01:57:16,750
from from Cameroon in a lot of ways. But
1230
01:57:16,750 --> 01:57:18,666
like what's that like to go into a new
1231
01:57:18,666 --> 01:57:20,916
country and try to establish that network
1232
01:57:20,916 --> 01:57:22,750
of people that will give you information
1233
01:57:22,750 --> 01:57:25,416
from a community of Fisher's and have
1234
01:57:25,416 --> 01:57:26,916
those those types of relationships?
1235
01:57:30,291 --> 01:57:33,000
Yeah, South Africa is a very different
1236
01:57:33,000 --> 01:57:37,750
country than it is today. And it's it's
1237
01:57:37,750 --> 01:57:38,916
literally like being an explorer when
1238
01:57:38,916 --> 01:57:40,458
you're going into some area South Africa
1239
01:57:40,458 --> 01:57:43,125
had a little bit in my case had had some
1240
01:57:43,125 --> 01:57:45,125
shark research done it kind of faded away
1241
01:57:45,125 --> 01:57:45,250
in the seventies. And then we kind of when
I showed up there with Leonard Campan.
1242
01:57:45,291 --> 01:57:46,583
in the 70s and then we kinda,
1243
01:57:47,000 --> 01:57:48,041
when I showed up there
1244
01:57:48,041 --> 01:57:49,041
with Leonard Campania,
1245
01:57:49,041 --> 01:57:50,291
we kinda reinvigorated the
1246
01:57:50,291 --> 01:57:51,916
whole shark research there.
1247
01:57:52,166 --> 01:57:53,791
But people have heard
1248
01:57:53,791 --> 01:57:55,000
me talk in the podcast,
1249
01:57:55,000 --> 01:57:56,125
I spent, went to Namibia.
1250
01:57:56,833 --> 01:57:57,625
Nobody had ever done
1251
01:57:57,625 --> 01:57:59,125
anything in Namibia at all.
1252
01:57:59,333 --> 01:58:01,041
It was completely unknown.
1253
01:58:01,875 --> 01:58:03,125
And so that was just like
1254
01:58:03,125 --> 01:58:04,958
literally like an adventure
1255
01:58:04,958 --> 01:58:06,000
just trying to get around
1256
01:58:06,000 --> 01:58:07,416
there and study sharks and rays.
1257
01:58:07,416 --> 01:58:08,041
So I can really
1258
01:58:08,041 --> 01:58:10,208
appreciate what she's doing.
1259
01:58:11,500 --> 01:58:12,958
Though I always kinda have to add the,
1260
01:58:13,416 --> 01:58:14,041
well, she does have
1261
01:58:14,041 --> 01:58:15,250
like, you know, cell phones
1262
01:58:15,458 --> 01:58:16,708
and computers and internet.
1263
01:58:17,125 --> 01:58:17,583
Yes, a little bit.
1264
01:58:17,583 --> 01:58:18,916
Cause I didn't have any of that stuff.
1265
01:58:19,208 --> 01:58:21,791
I mean, I, this is not a joke,
1266
01:58:21,791 --> 01:58:25,291
but literally I had a compass and a map.
1267
01:58:25,500 --> 01:58:26,791
That was how you navigate.
1268
01:58:26,791 --> 01:58:28,875
There was no GPS, nothing.
1269
01:58:29,333 --> 01:58:30,958
So I have to sound like,
1270
01:58:30,958 --> 01:58:31,875
you know, your grandfather
1271
01:58:32,166 --> 01:58:33,083
and say, talk about, you
1272
01:58:33,083 --> 01:58:34,000
know, walking in the snow
1273
01:58:34,000 --> 01:58:35,208
and your bare feet or something.
1274
01:58:36,541 --> 01:58:37,958
But no, you really to go into an area
1275
01:58:37,958 --> 01:58:38,958
that in West Africa,
1276
01:58:39,500 --> 01:58:40,416
you know, we had, we had
1277
01:58:40,416 --> 01:58:43,166
a Lucy on a few weeks ago,
1278
01:58:43,833 --> 01:58:45,208
talking about Angola.
1279
01:58:46,000 --> 01:58:47,291
And in her case, she is,
1280
01:58:47,708 --> 01:58:49,000
her parents were Angola.
1281
01:58:49,458 --> 01:58:51,208
So she had a, and she has family there.
1282
01:58:51,208 --> 01:58:52,541
So you had a little bit of a connection,
1283
01:58:52,541 --> 01:58:53,250
but again, that's
1284
01:58:53,250 --> 01:58:55,416
another area in West Africa
1285
01:58:55,416 --> 01:58:57,250
where nobody really knows anything.
1286
01:58:57,750 --> 01:58:59,041
Right. So she's going in there,
1287
01:58:59,041 --> 01:59:00,375
having to build those relationships
1288
01:59:00,375 --> 01:59:01,791
with the community and stuff.
1289
01:59:02,333 --> 01:59:03,875
And I think probably,
1290
01:59:03,875 --> 01:59:04,541
I think it helps too,
1291
01:59:04,541 --> 01:59:05,333
a little bit of your,
1292
01:59:05,333 --> 01:59:07,000
well, in Lucia's case,
1293
01:59:07,041 --> 01:59:08,750
she's not exactly a complete foreigner
1294
01:59:08,750 --> 01:59:09,875
where his girlfriend is.
1295
01:59:09,875 --> 01:59:11,791
She's Tunisian to
1296
01:59:11,791 --> 01:59:13,666
establish herself there.
1297
01:59:14,875 --> 01:59:15,875
And as we talked about, if
1298
01:59:15,875 --> 01:59:17,583
you, you kind of go there,
1299
01:59:17,583 --> 01:59:19,375
if you go there and you're around,
1300
01:59:19,375 --> 01:59:20,125
you go there more than
1301
01:59:20,125 --> 01:59:21,291
like one or two days,
1302
01:59:21,708 --> 01:59:22,500
they'll get to know you and
1303
01:59:22,500 --> 01:59:23,958
start asking you some questions.
1304
01:59:23,958 --> 01:59:25,250
And you have to, that's all about
1305
01:59:25,250 --> 01:59:26,458
building those relationships.
1306
01:59:27,125 --> 01:59:28,000
And it takes, you have
1307
01:59:28,000 --> 01:59:28,833
to be kind of persistent
1308
01:59:28,833 --> 01:59:30,166
and be showing up there and
1309
01:59:30,166 --> 01:59:31,791
show you have a keen interest
1310
01:59:31,791 --> 01:59:33,541
in the community, what's going on there
1311
01:59:34,041 --> 01:59:36,333
to kind of, to build those relationships.
1312
01:59:37,083 --> 01:59:37,875
Yeah, no, absolutely.
1313
01:59:38,166 --> 01:59:39,791
I mean, that's the thing, right?
1314
01:59:40,000 --> 01:59:43,458
Is the patience, the, you
1315
01:59:43,458 --> 01:59:44,250
know, you have to give yourself
1316
01:59:44,250 --> 01:59:45,916
the vulnerability, giving yourself over
1317
01:59:45,916 --> 01:59:47,375
to getting to know people,
1318
01:59:47,375 --> 01:59:48,583
spending that time with people.
1319
01:59:48,958 --> 01:59:49,916
I think it's an
1320
01:59:49,916 --> 01:59:52,791
important aspect to consider,
1321
01:59:53,541 --> 01:59:55,333
something that needs to be done more.
1322
01:59:55,791 --> 01:59:58,041
And then also working, you
1323
01:59:58,041 --> 01:59:59,208
know, at one point she said
1324
01:59:59,583 --> 02:00:00,333
that she feels more
1325
02:00:00,333 --> 02:00:02,375
comfortable working with fishers
1326
02:00:02,375 --> 02:00:03,541
than she does with the government,
1327
02:00:03,541 --> 02:00:05,041
because the fishers will do more faster.
1328
02:00:05,458 --> 02:00:07,375
And it gets worked because you have the
1329
02:00:07,375 --> 02:00:08,291
people who are out there
1330
02:00:08,291 --> 02:00:10,291
doing the work to be able to
1331
02:00:10,291 --> 02:00:12,416
see the value of, you know,
1332
02:00:12,416 --> 02:00:14,458
protecting these sharks or, you know,
1333
02:00:14,458 --> 02:00:15,833
sort of logging these sharks
1334
02:00:15,833 --> 02:00:18,416
and they see that value in the future.
1335
02:00:19,000 --> 02:00:21,333
So, you know, seeing how those
1336
02:00:21,333 --> 02:00:22,625
relationships build,
1337
02:00:23,500 --> 02:00:25,666
you know, over that time, hopefully as
1338
02:00:25,666 --> 02:00:27,416
she works more with the government,
1339
02:00:27,416 --> 02:00:29,333
they may not have had anybody advocate
1340
02:00:29,333 --> 02:00:32,250
for sharks before and probably not.
1341
02:00:32,291 --> 02:00:34,458
And so, you know, trying to see how
1342
02:00:34,458 --> 02:00:36,875
slowly or quickly that relationship will
1343
02:00:36,875 --> 02:00:38,708
move forward to get into
1344
02:00:38,708 --> 02:00:40,458
see laws get into place.
1345
02:00:40,541 --> 02:00:41,875
That'll be really
1346
02:00:41,875 --> 02:00:43,041
important in the future.
1347
02:00:43,041 --> 02:00:44,416
But it, you know, starts with somebody
1348
02:00:44,416 --> 02:00:45,791
and it starts with Gofran.
1349
02:00:45,791 --> 02:00:47,375
And I think that'll put her in the books,
1350
02:00:47,375 --> 02:00:49,333
you know, as someone who started that
1351
02:00:49,333 --> 02:00:51,541
work and built a positive
1352
02:00:51,541 --> 02:00:53,166
relationship with fishers
1353
02:00:53,333 --> 02:00:55,666
in those communities to discover sharks
1354
02:00:55,666 --> 02:00:57,750
and log and observe all these different
1355
02:00:57,750 --> 02:00:58,833
sharks that are in there.
1356
02:00:58,833 --> 02:01:00,833
And I'll be honest, I'm sure you are too.
1357
02:01:01,958 --> 02:01:04,083
You know, we're excited to see, you know,
1358
02:01:04,333 --> 02:01:06,041
what comes out of this, you know, how
1359
02:01:06,041 --> 02:01:07,791
many sharks are going to be discovered?
1360
02:01:07,791 --> 02:01:09,375
Are there going to be some, you know,
1361
02:01:09,541 --> 02:01:10,916
species that we thought hadn't been seen
1362
02:01:10,916 --> 02:01:12,291
in a long time may have gone extinct?
1363
02:01:12,666 --> 02:01:14,583
Or are we like some lost sharks or are we
1364
02:01:14,583 --> 02:01:16,250
going to see, you know, sharks that we
1365
02:01:16,250 --> 02:01:18,125
typically thought would be there,
1366
02:01:18,125 --> 02:01:18,750
but just haven't been
1367
02:01:18,750 --> 02:01:20,166
logged in those areas.
1368
02:01:20,166 --> 02:01:20,750
And you never know
1369
02:01:20,750 --> 02:01:21,791
what discoveries we get.
1370
02:01:22,166 --> 02:01:23,541
And this is why we always tell people,
1371
02:01:23,541 --> 02:01:25,416
you know, go workplaces where we haven't
1372
02:01:25,416 --> 02:01:26,208
looked for sharks before.
1373
02:01:26,666 --> 02:01:28,666
I mean, this is an example, this podcast
1374
02:01:28,666 --> 02:01:30,791
is an example of, you know, interviewing
1375
02:01:30,791 --> 02:01:33,750
people from South America, from Africa,
1376
02:01:34,250 --> 02:01:35,833
from Indonesia, from
1377
02:01:35,833 --> 02:01:37,125
Australia, from all over the place,
1378
02:01:37,125 --> 02:01:39,416
where they go to places where, you know,
1379
02:01:39,416 --> 02:01:40,833
research hasn't been done and they've
1380
02:01:40,833 --> 02:01:43,083
been able to make these amazing
1381
02:01:43,083 --> 02:01:45,250
discoveries or even just the regular
1382
02:01:45,250 --> 02:01:46,583
discoveries of the species
1383
02:01:46,583 --> 02:01:48,125
that are there, you know.
1384
02:01:48,125 --> 02:01:49,208
And I think that's
1385
02:01:49,208 --> 02:01:50,666
really important to see.
1386
02:01:51,041 --> 02:01:52,666
So, yeah, Gofran, you're amazing.
1387
02:01:52,958 --> 02:01:55,833
The keynote speech is
1388
02:01:55,833 --> 02:01:56,416
going to be amazing.
1389
02:01:56,416 --> 02:01:57,875
I'm sorry, I'm going to have to miss it.
1390
02:01:58,208 --> 02:02:00,416
But Dave, you'll be there supporting her
1391
02:02:00,416 --> 02:02:01,625
and hearing from her.
1392
02:02:01,875 --> 02:02:03,083
And so that'll be at
1393
02:02:03,083 --> 02:02:05,000
Sharks International 2026.
1394
02:02:05,000 --> 02:02:05,833
That'll be exciting.
1395
02:02:06,083 --> 02:02:07,583
So I'm looking forward to seeing that.
1396
02:02:08,041 --> 02:02:09,625
Now, Dave, if people want to get a hold
1397
02:02:09,625 --> 02:02:11,833
of you, how would they do so if they want
1398
02:02:11,833 --> 02:02:12,708
to ask questions or
1399
02:02:12,708 --> 02:02:13,708
comments or anything like that?
1400
02:02:13,916 --> 02:02:16,000
Lost Shark Guy on Instagram, also on Go
1401
02:02:16,000 --> 02:02:17,791
to the YouTube channel, Lost Shark Guy.
1402
02:02:18,500 --> 02:02:20,208
Check out our series, Searching for Lost
1403
02:02:20,208 --> 02:02:21,083
Sharks, Extinct or
1404
02:02:21,083 --> 02:02:22,458
Alive, the latest episode.
1405
02:02:22,916 --> 02:02:24,791
On River Sharks is now posted.
1406
02:02:25,083 --> 02:02:27,958
And please leave a comment and let me
1407
02:02:27,958 --> 02:02:29,083
know how you enjoy it
1408
02:02:29,083 --> 02:02:30,166
and hopefully enjoy it.
1409
02:02:30,166 --> 02:02:30,875
And please subscribe.
1410
02:02:32,500 --> 02:02:32,916
Absolutely.
1411
02:02:33,166 --> 02:02:34,041
Don't forget to subscribe.
1412
02:02:34,041 --> 02:02:35,791
We got more content coming out.
1413
02:02:36,541 --> 02:02:37,791
It's going to be it's going to be amazing
1414
02:02:37,791 --> 02:02:38,875
working on it right now.
1415
02:02:39,458 --> 02:02:41,041
And if you want to get a hold of myself
1416
02:02:41,041 --> 02:02:42,583
and Dave, you can go to at
1417
02:02:42,583 --> 02:02:44,416
Beyond Jaws on Instagram.
1418
02:02:44,416 --> 02:02:46,750
And of course, our YouTube channel is
1419
02:02:46,750 --> 02:02:49,208
Beyond Jaws Pod on YouTube.
1420
02:02:49,333 --> 02:02:50,958
And you can just subscribe to that and to
1421
02:02:50,958 --> 02:02:52,166
follow so you don't miss any of the
1422
02:02:52,166 --> 02:02:54,375
episodes of the other episodes where you
1423
02:02:54,375 --> 02:02:56,333
can see our faces and you can enjoy us
1424
02:02:56,333 --> 02:02:57,750
talking to our guests.
1425
02:02:58,000 --> 02:02:58,791
So thank you so much for
1426
02:02:58,791 --> 02:03:00,250
joining us from Dave and I.
1427
02:03:00,250 --> 02:03:02,750
We really appreciate your time and we
1428
02:03:02,750 --> 02:03:03,958
want to thank you so much for joining us
1429
02:03:03,958 --> 02:03:05,291
on this episode of
1430
02:03:05,291 --> 02:03:06,541
the Beyond Jaws podcast.
1431
02:03:06,541 --> 02:03:07,000
Have a great day.
1432
02:03:07,000 --> 02:03:07,541
We'll talk to you next
1433
02:03:07,541 --> 02:03:09,041
time and happy conservation.





