Curious about one of the world’s most efficient predators, many Australian’s tune in to ‘Shark Week’ (now airing on the Discovery Channel). But, there are many facets to this ancient fish that misguided and fear-driven perceptions have distorted or devalued. So, on a quest to learn the truth about sharks, I caught-up with freediving legend and underwater filmmaker William Winram, who helped shed light on the Great White…
Filming the ‘Great White Shark 3D’ (released this January in IMAX theatres), William used his skill as a world champion freediver to get up close to the deeps deadliest—tagging and following subjects for unprecedented access into their world.
What do you feel are the greatest misconceptions about sharks?
William: That they’re psychopathic killing machines or voracious man-eaters. On the other hand dolphins are viewed as loving creatures. I don’t know how much you know about dolphins, but certain species of dolphins gang rape the females. That’s not particularly loving or a quality that we’d like to see perpetrated by humans, but we tend to overlook those things because they’re cute. Panda bears are cute too, but just try to run up and hug one—I’m sure your life will end quite quickly.
I also think contributing to the stigma surrounding sharks is an inherent fear of the deep dark sea. Most people are not comfortable in the water like they are on land so there’s that added fear. Then films like Jaws and the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week have done a really good job of perpetrating the myth of the psychotic predator.
Where do you feel this stigma surrounding sharks stems from?
William: If we go back in history, you’ve got the mariners’ reports of all of these different sea monsters. Take for instance manatees, they’re quite cute and goofy creatures but they were branded as some form of sea monster. It was ignorance of our environment. And then there was the film Jaws—one of the big turning points.
When did you start loving sharks?
William: My mother tells me as children my brother and I were always getting into everything, and one day she heard a crash. We’d managed to knock over a book case without hurting ourselves, but some books with underwater photographs had fallen upon us and we were immediately enraptured. As for my first encounter with a shark, that occurred in my early 20’s. I was spear fishing alone in Mexico almost a kilometre from shore when I came across a 4-1/2 meter, 500-kilo tiger shark and I was petrified beyond belief because I had also seen the film Jaws. I was certain I was going to die. I couldn’t think clearly. I was panicked. But the experience changed my life because the shark was not at all aggressive, instead it was curious and very shy.
What should we understand about the predatory nature of sharks?
William: Sharks are designed to keep the ecosystem in balance. It’s like wolves in the wild. They thin out the weak or physically challenged, ensuring that the gene pool continues to function optimally. Sharks are highly sensitive to small amounts of blood in the water because what does blood indicate? It indicates something that’s injured so there’s an easy meal. They’re highly sensitive to our electrical charges, the electrical charge of their prey. Meditation was the tool I used to avoid attracting the sharks—simply counting my breathe was enough to calm any electrical charges that spike under stress.
When we’re in the water with great whites, it’s vital to maintain 100% attention at all times, the kind of focus where you don’t lose track of anything. However, at a certain point fatigue sets in and you begin to space out. Immediately, they know it and all of a sudden, you’ve got sharks coming in from our blind spots. Not aggressively, not attacking us. They’re coming in because they’re seizing the opportunity to get closer to us to try and figure out what we are.
This is a finely tuned animal. What people forget is they don’t have supermarkets. There’s no labels to indicate sea lion vs human—they have to hunt. So if you dump enough blood in the water, or tease them for long enough with a piece of fish on a line and pretty soon, you’ve got an animal that’s over-sensitized, and in this frenzied predatory state. As with many shows about sharks, this is when they start filming and viewers think they’re crazy. Of course they are because you made them that way!
How was your approach to filming different?
William: The two principals in the film, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, never swam outside the cage with the animal, yet they had this intuitive understanding of it—that it was different than how it had been portrayed. Their goal in the film was to create, to educate, to bring factual information, but they’re not documentary filmmakers. This is what’s so wonderful about this. These guys were street musicians who created the highly successful Broadway show Stomp which allowed them to pursue their love of the sea and to make these films.
Straight out of the gate the film asks: “It’s the animal we love to fear, but is it worthy of that?” So right away, they’re questioning our perception of sharks and they’re showing you the power of the animal. Viewers learn sharks haven’t a single bone in their bodies. They’re highly agile. It takes you on a journey swimming side by side harmoniously with this creature. I’ve been involved in a lot of different productions, it’s the most beautiful film I’ve seen about great white sharks. It is the closest that you will get to what we experience face to face with a great white shark in the water without getting wet.
Experience the film: https://www.imax.com.au/films/great-white-shark-3d/
Follow freediving legend William Winram: http://williamwinram.com
