The Shark Wasn't the Real Story. the Ocean Mystery Was.

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Question I have for you today is,
why are people acting like a great

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white shark suddenly appearing in
the Mediterranean Sea is such a huge

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thing when scientists have known
that they were there for decades?

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This is the How to Protect the Ocean
podcast, your weekday ocean news update.

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If you care about staying informed
about the ocean every single weekday,

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Monday to Friday, hit that follow
button on your favorite podcast app

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because we are going to be talking
about some great things today.

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So let's talk about a recent underwater
video of a great white shark in the

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Mediterranean has gone viral, but that
shark itself isn't actually the story.

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The video itself is.

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Because today I wanna explain why
scientists are excited for the video,

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and why the public is so surprised,
and why this moment tells us something

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important about ocean conservation.

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So here's what we know of what happened.

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So divers that were removing ghost nets
from the organization called Healthy Seas,

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they were removing ghost net fishing gear.

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They recorded a great white shark.

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Now, if you haven't checked out Healthy
Seas, I'm gonna put it in the show notes.

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I've had actually people
from Healthy Seas on before.

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They specialize in removing ghost nets,
but not just any regular ghost netting.

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A lot of the times they specialize
in removing aquaculture ghost nets.

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That's right.

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The people will start an
aquaculture business, open pen

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anywhere in the Mediterranean.

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So a lot of the times
they've been doing…

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When we had them on, it
was in the Greek Islands.

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And somewhere in the Greek
Islands, they would eventually

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just abandon that aquaculture
net, and it would just sit there.

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And all the infrastructure that goes
with the mechanics of the nets would

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actually just dissipate into the water.

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And you'd be floating plastic
and styrofoam and all this

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stuff, and it was awful.

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And so Healthy Seas actually works
to get rid of all of that stuff,

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all that junk that's in there.

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And so they were also getting rid
of ghost net fishing gear when they

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came across this great white shark.

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Because they video everything so
that they can tell a story, which

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by the way, if you are not into
communication for your nonprofit,

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that is the key to getting stuff like
this as well as your own story out.

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So they video everything.

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They record everything.

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And the footage captured, in
the Strait of Sicily, a great

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white shark in the Mediterranean.

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That's amazing.

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And of course, outlets
treated it like it was a major

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discovery, like the first ever.

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But great whites have been seen
in the Mediterranean for decades.

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And that's something that I feel
like, sometimes it gets caught up.

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And scientists were excited because
it was underwater footage, and getting

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underwater footage is incredibly
rare, especially in the Mediterranean.

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But we've known that
there have been sightings.

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There was a paper in the 1960s that
said, "Hey, you know what? There are

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great white sharks in the Mediterranean."
There were sightings in the 1980s.

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But they've never actually had a recorded
sighting, like a video recorded sighting.

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And this great white, if you watch
the video, I highly recommend you go

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on the Healthy Seas YouTube channel.

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They'll have it there.

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If you watch the video, it's amazing.

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Like, you get to see this beautiful shark.

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It looks like it's in great health.

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There's a bunch of remoras and other
fish that are swimming along with it.

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And it's really exciting to see that there
are great whites in the Mediterranean.

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But it's not something that should
get blown up and we're sort of like,

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"We've never seen them there before."
Because fishers have seen them for

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a long time and we just see this.

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Now, it is something to talk about.

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We gotta talk about how social media
reacts to wildlife sightings, because

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it's all in the frame of reference.

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I was talking to my colleague and
good friend, Dr. David Ebert, who

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I co-host the Beyond Jaws podcast.

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And we talked about it.

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I said, "Hey, did you hear
about this news that a great

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white was videoed and things?"

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He's like, "Yeah." But he's
like, "That's not really news.

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We don't see them often.

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They are rare, but that has been seen
before." And I think when you talk about

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the frame of reference in where all this
is going, I think you're looking at areas

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where we're saying, "Hey, you know what?

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Like, just because a shark is there
doesn't mean it hasn't been seen

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before." We tend to just look at
the last 10 years or even in social

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media times, like even months or even
days in some, in like news cycles.

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And whatever's gonna get the
clicks, that's gonna get the clicks.

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And of course, the headlines that
come out, they wanna make it as

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desperate or as urgent as possible
so that you're gonna click on there.

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And like I said, I don't wanna take away
from what this is, you know, the first

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video that we've seen in a long, long
time, if not ever, of a great white shark.

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Healthy Seas did a fantastic job
in getting it out there, and I'm

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sure they know that, hey, this
is news, and this is good news to

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see that great whites coming back.

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That means there's food there,
possibility and that kind of stuff.

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But just 'cause every time a
shark shows up somewhere, people

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act like it's a huge invasion.

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Some people are like, "Great white
sharks shouldn't be there." It's not

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just following our assumptions, right?

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Just 'cause we don't see something
doesn't mean it isn't there.

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The ocean is a huge place.

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The Mediterranean is a huge place.

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And there are a lot of
different things that happen.

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It's very clear, so you can see a lot
of stuff, but there's probably a lot

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of things that we don't know that are
in there, new species and so forth,

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that we just haven't discovered 'cause
we haven't gone exploring enough.

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You know, a lot of times, great white
sharks, marine mammals, any other

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type of sharks, sometimes the fish and
stuff, we see them because we either

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fish them out and when they get caught
in fishing nets, or we see them on

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the surface every once in a while.

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I'm thinking more marine mammals,
we'll see them as they…

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'cause they have to come breathe.

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Sea turtles have to come breathe,
breathe air at the surface.

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So we see those a little bit more often.

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But just 'cause, like, great white
sharks aren't seen all the time or

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other fish aren't seen all the time
doesn't mean that they aren't there.

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And I think that's something that
we need to really look at how

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we view these types of things.

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I was just out in Halifax this past week.

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The great whites were being
talked about all over the place.

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We probably already had great whites
out there for a number of years.

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But when more people are out on the water
and more people are actually looking for

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these sharks, we're starting to see more.

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So the public perception of
these sharks have just shown up.

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Maybe there's a little bit more
because of the population increase

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along the East Coast and maybe,
the one in the Mediterranean is

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interesting 'cause it's endangered in
the Mediterranean and in that area.

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But, like, on the Atlantic Coast,
we're starting to see this boom of

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great white sharks along the East
Coast, even along the West Coast.

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And that's a great thing.

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That's a conservation success.

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So the fact that there's more sharks
out there, we know that they're coming

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more north because maybe it could be
a cumulative impact of climate change

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being warmer up north, but also the
fact that they're doing better, so

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they need more territory to hunt and
so forth, is really a great thing.

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And I think we're starting to see
that perception of, hey, great whites

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being shown in the Mediterranean.

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It's actually fun.

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It was actually a good news story,
not a scary story, and I think

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that's really great to see, and
we need to see more of that.

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So that's something that I'm interested
in, it's kinda good and that's where this

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story really gets interesting, is when the
shark wasn't really expected to be there,

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and I think that's really cool to see.

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And what was unexpected really was
getting such a clear look at an animal

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that scientists rarely get to see,
especially in the Mediterranean.

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The video is on point.

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So like I said, check out the Healthy
Seas YouTube channel because I'm

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sure it's on there, and it's gonna
be something that's really good.

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Mediterranean great white population
is thought to be really, really small.

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And because of the fishing pressures,
especially along the southern border of

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the Mediterranean, we don't really see a
lot of them because they've disappeared in

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the past, they've been caught in the past,
and they just haven't replenished as much

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as we thought they would have or as much
as we thought we weren't affecting them.

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So, there's only potentially a few
hundred animals that remain in the

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area, and they're very difficult to
study because we can't really see.

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So visual evidence will create
this type of public excitement

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and even scientific excitement.

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Scientists are coming out being
like, "Hey, this is not a huge

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deal, but it's a pretty big deal,
but it's not like the biggest…

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It's not that we've never seen
them there before," right?

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But rare species often receive a lot of
attention only when there's footage.

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But, beyond the news cycle, like, probably
by the time you hear this, it's probably

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gonna be a little past this news cycle.

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But the fact that we've seen it, does
it now or should be spurring on studies

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to look more for these types of species,

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because I think that's
gonna be really important.

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So I'd love, like, what was the last
ocean animal that you were surprised

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or you learned that lives somewhere?

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I would love to hear that.

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Let me know.

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If you're on Spotify you can hit me up in
the comments, or if you wanna hit me up,

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just look at my socials in the show notes.

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But I think that's really important
'cause, like, how many people think

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great whites only live in South Africa
or in California or off Cape Cod.

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Even Cape Cod, If you go on Ocearch,
the organization that tags these sharks,

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you'll see where they go around the
world, and you see that they're in much

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more places where I think people realize.

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But because of the way media covers
it, not necessarily the fault of

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media in this case, but the fact is
we know there are great white sharks.

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Where there used to be a lot more great
white sharks in South Africa, but we

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now we know there's some in California.

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There's a bunch in California.

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There's a bunch on the Atlantic
coast, and we're gonna see probably

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more and more as we move along and
great whites can be seen in Hawaii.

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They can be seen all over the place.

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But there's still so much of the
ocean that remains unseen, and

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this video makes it exciting.

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And even if you look at organizations
like Ocean Census that go out

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and are looking for species,
they're looking for biodiversity.

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I think they just named a bamboo
shark, which we should cover on

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this on How to Protect the Ocean.

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I should have Dave on because he talked.

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David Ebert also was
part of that discovery.

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This is why video matters more than
scientific reports sometimes for public

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awareness is because we need to be able
to see what's out there as citizens, not

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just scientists and conservationists.

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We need to see what's out there so that
we can be like, "Oh yeah, there's proof."

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We can actually see that's happening.

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When you look at a video and you compare
it to, like, a scientific paper, the

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scientific paper may get read by hundreds
of people, but really the viral video

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will get seen by millions if not more.

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And I think that's where, when we
start to talk about communication,

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I said at the beginning of the show,
the fact that communication is such an

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important part of the ocean and of ocean
conservation messages, I think this

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is really important to me as a science
communicator because it's frustrating

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when you have a scientist who's like,
"Oh, I m- made this major discovery.

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I'm gonna publish on it, so let's
wait till we talk about it, like,

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publicly until we publish on it.

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But I wanna publish on it first, so we
can talk about it in public after." Which

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is great because they want more people
to see their paper, but let's be honest,

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other than people that live in the science
world, and maybe the conservation world.

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One, people don't have access to their
papers, but they also wanna hear about it

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because the discovery, the paper may not
come out for months or even years after

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the discovery's made, but the discovery
can make news right then and there.

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Maybe it's even in the news cycle if
it goes viral and maybe not very long.

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But then your paper can come out after and
be like, "Yeah, look forward to the paper

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for all the other scientists." Because
waiting for other scientists to read it is

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not the same as waiting for every people
to see it and people to understand it

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and people to actually allow it to either
go viral or even have a discussion on it.

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That's really important because most
likely, most of those people are not

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going to read the scientific paper.

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So I think it's as a scientist,
I get people… , it's

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important that people publish.

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It's important that scientists publish
because that's their incentive.

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That is how they are marked or
they are evaluated as a scientist.

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Are you published?

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I'm a published author.

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Well, not necessarily a book,
but, I'm a published author in

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the science journals, which is
important to contribute to science.

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But let's be honest, the message
needs to come out a lot faster.

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If you think about it, like imagine this.

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This project that's being done,
say it was part of a scientific

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paper, and this discovery happens.

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Well, you can have that go
out to the public with that

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video of the great white shark,

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and be like, "Hey, this is an ongoing
project, and let's learn what the

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scientists and the conservationists
were doing." And then people can start

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following along on their journey.

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That's an opportunity for
great communication strategy of

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like, "Hey, you saw that great
white shark video that we have.

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We may or may not get that again.

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We don't know.

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But we're working on this project.

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It'd be really cool for you
to follow us along on this

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journey." Imagine having that.

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You finish the project like years later.

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You publish on it.

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It does really well in
the science magazines.

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Plus you probably had press on it, so
you might get into a better paper or a

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better journal, like a higher standard
journal or whatever they call it.

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They have all these ratings for it.

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But that's something that's really cool.

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I feel like that's something that
you could really build upon and

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maybe help with funding, 'cause let's
be honest, funding is kinda crazy.

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You need to really build up the
publicity to get more funding.

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I think that's something
that's really important.

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So communication strategy
is something that is huge.

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And I just wanted to let you know,
like I am part of a consulting firm

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now called Pisces Oceans, and I'm
the ocean communications manager.

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And we are looking to partner and
collaborate with groups who want

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to build on their communication.

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They may not be able to pay us out of
their own pocket, but if you partner

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on proposals and include Pisces
Oceans as a collaborator to do their

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communications, help with their grant
management and project management,

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you can get your stuff done faster
and probably more efficiently and be

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able to get a bigger, no pun intended,
bigger bite so that we can actually get

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this out into the public a lot faster.

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So if you have any questions around
that, you can get ahold of me.

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Just reach out to me through my socials,
or you can go to piscesoceans.ca

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and you can sign up there and be
happy to help in any kind of way.

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Or you can just hit me up on
LinkedIn and just message me.

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But let's get back into the episode
because I think it's something really

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interesting, this story, because, like,

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What happens next?

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Now that this video went
viral, what happens next?

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Scientists will still have
major questions about this small

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population of great white sharks.

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Are, like, are there nursery areas
that remain poorly understood?

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Do we know if there are nursery areas?

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Do we know even the population size?

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Maybe this is a chance that
questions start to get asked.

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We saw one great white shark in video.

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Are there ways to get others?

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Can we start putting stations, like
these BRUVS, these baited, like, cameras

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where you can see if there's any sharks
that come around and maybe study more?

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This is a way to really understand
the population size because

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it does remain uncertain.

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And conservation depends on the
understanding of where these sharks

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spend their time every single day.

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And we got estimates of this
population, but it'd be a great

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opportunity to get more estimates.

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I think that's something that
could be done in the future.

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Because look, Conservation starts
with knowing a species exists.

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We know great white sharks exist.

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We don't know their full
extent to where they go.

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We have some historical sightings,
we have some historical papers.

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We don't know what's affecting…
We may know some things that are

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affecting the great white sharks
from living in this area, maybe a

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lack of fish, maybe fisheries getting
caught up in bycatch in some places.

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But there's a lot of
studies that can happen.

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You can do social science studies,
where you can talk to fishing

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communities in and around.

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Like, there's so many fishing communities
along the Mediterranean, have like a huge

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project that looks at sharks, and other
sharks that are around there too, not just

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great whites, but look at other sharks.

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Like, I am always surprised, and
people are surprised when I tell them,

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we know very little about sharks,
like very, very little, especially

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the coverage around the world.

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We know very little about
the ocean in general.

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I was just talking to people about
seagrasses and eelgrass , along

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the coast of Nova Scotia.

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We just don't even know where they are.

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And so mapping is important
just to know where they are.

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The baseline discovery system is so
disconnected and underfunded that just

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understanding habitats and species
is a huge thing, especially coastal

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ones, is a huge, huge need, and we
can build on that in the future.

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So I think that's something that's
really a great opportunity in the future.

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This is the best part
of why I love science.

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This is the best part of why I love
conservation, is because we can

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actually have these conversations,
we can actually have these

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discoveries, and then explore more.

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That's what I think is really important.

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And I think this, this is the reason I got
into marine biology is because the ocean

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still surprises us each and every day.

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There's so much that remains unknown.

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Exploration is really one part
of this whole conservation tool,

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00:14:43,831 --> 00:14:48,011
but curiosity is, like, the biggest
tool, is to say, "Hey, we need to

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conserve these species, but we need to
know what's out there so that we need

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to conserve and protect the ocean."
I think that's really important.

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And that's the most
important part of the story.

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It isn't that the great white shark
was found in the Mediterranean, because

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scientists already knew it was there.

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00:14:59,621 --> 00:15:04,081
The important part is that a critically
endangered population is still surviving

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in one of the busiest seas on the planet.

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And sometimes just a single video can
remind millions of people that the ocean

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still has mysteries worth protecting.

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00:15:14,085 --> 00:15:17,945
And I think that's really the message
here when we talk about this great white

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shark, this sighting in the Mediterranean.

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It's an opportunity to learn more.

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It's an opportunity to
satisfy our curiosity.

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00:15:25,025 --> 00:15:27,545
And it's an opportunity to
follow people on this journey.

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00:15:27,765 --> 00:15:31,085
Researchers out there communicate to the
people about what you're doing and why

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you're trying to find these sharks, and
maybe you'll see how this story develops

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00:15:34,975 --> 00:15:39,225
into a lot of different branches and
maybe having institutes where sharks

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are studied in the Mediterranean.

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That's it for today's episode.

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If you want to follow this podcast,
you just discovered it or you haven't

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00:15:46,675 --> 00:15:50,015
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00:15:50,171 --> 00:15:54,501
We are providing an ocean
weekday update, Monday to Friday.

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00:15:54,721 --> 00:15:56,471
And this week is all about ocean news.

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00:15:56,471 --> 00:15:58,311
I'm just back from a trip, so
I haven't done an interview.

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00:15:58,311 --> 00:16:01,041
I've got some interviews that I'm
working on right now lined up, and

348
00:16:01,041 --> 00:16:02,258
we're gonna get to go for that.

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00:16:02,398 --> 00:16:07,048
So stay tuned, but follow this
podcast so that we can help expose the

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00:16:07,048 --> 00:16:10,138
podcast to everybody else who wants
to learn about the ocean, and plus

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00:16:10,138 --> 00:16:11,918
you'll never miss another episode.

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00:16:12,128 --> 00:16:15,388
I wanna thank you so much for
joining me on today's episode

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00:16:15,458 --> 00:16:16,768
of the How to Protect the Ocean.

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00:16:16,948 --> 00:16:18,258
I am your host, Andrew Lewin.

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00:16:18,278 --> 00:16:19,068
Have a great day.

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00:16:19,068 --> 00:16:21,788
We'll talk to you tomorrow,
and happy conservation.