WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.040 Virgin Media broadband is smooth. How smooth do you ask? Well, 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:07.240 imagine you're a big old war Russ. 3 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.160 And rather than lumbering around a glacier avoiding polar bears, 4 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:16.440 you're on a lake, driving a speedboat three thousand kilos 5 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.640 of mollusk, munching magnificence, feeling the wind in your whiskers 6 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.000 and the sun and your big blubbery face. That's the 7 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.879 kind of smoothness you feel. With ninety nine point nine 8 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:35.600 percent broadband reliability available nationwide Virgin Media, it's playtime subject. 9 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.280 To location availability tacinc. He's apply for broadband reliability see 10 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:40.039 Virgin Media dot I forward slash proof. 11 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.240 So you want to go up this road here and 12 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.079 get to a roundabit. You take a left and then 13 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:45.960 you go past the Murphy's house, you know, to Murphy's 14 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.960 their young lad, Sean. 15 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.640 I think he's over in London. Now, oh yeah. 16 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:56.039 FBD doesn't stand for frustratingly bad directions. FBD stands for support. 17 00:00:56.439 --> 00:00:59.119 We support van drivers in Ireland with up to seventy 18 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:00.960 five percent of new van policies. 19 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:04.680 FBD insurance support. It's what we do. Can't miss it. 20 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:06.959 Once you pass there a little terrier was starting to 21 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.519 chase yet and once he gives up, you should be there. 22 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.680 Seventy five percent off based on five years No claims discount, 23 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:13.640 terms and conditions apply. 24 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.519 Underwritten by FBD Insurance Plc. 25 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.680 FBD Insurance Group Limited, trading as FBD Insurance, is regulated 26 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.840 by the Central Bank of Ireland. 27 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:23.239 Oh hey, it's your wife. As of three days ago 28 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.319 this year, Ali Ward is a married lady. Things have 29 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:30.719 been a little bananas this week. My husband, Jarrett, and 30 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.359 I had changed our wedding venue less than a week 31 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.959 before the ceremony to something outdoors, ordered a bunch of 32 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.159 COVID tests ahead of time for extra safety. So this 33 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:43.959 week I am going to continue my semi time off 34 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:47.439 to deliver a fan favorite episode on this the annual 35 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.799 Shark Week. Love this episode, Pass it far and wide. 36 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:56.079 There's a few extra tidbits. Also, I just might be 37 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:58.920 trying to make a bonus minieso this week as well. 38 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.159 I know I'm supposed to be off, but I can't resist. 39 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:02.879 I think you're gonna like it anyway. Make sure you're 40 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:09.719 subscribed and check your podcast app. Okay Onward. Oh hey, 41 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:14.080 it's your two talkative petticab driver who you really guessed 42 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:18.840 your astrological sign. It's Ali Ward back with another fresh 43 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.479 as hell episode of Ologies. This is the quickest turnaround 44 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.319 ever in the history of the show ever, and I 45 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:28.080 guess given its oceanic vibe, I like to think of 46 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.280 it as some treasure that washed up on the beach, 47 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:35.039 delivered to your senses while it's still shimmering with sea 48 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.560 froth before it starts to stink. Now, I have been 49 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:43.159 tracking this ologist for months and he was always off 50 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.919 on expeditions in remote corners of the Earth being awesome. 51 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:52.520 And we had an appointment to talk sharks last Friday, 52 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:56.599 and then I realized, boy howdy, this week is Shark week. 53 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.199 This is perfect timing. I don't mean shark week like 54 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:03.639 anything uterine, It's actually Shark week on Discovery and nat 55 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.120 Gio has a Shark week. And then he had to 56 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.680 cancel because of work stuff. It's fair enough. But then 57 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.599 he said he could record just hours before I got 58 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:14.039 on a plane. So I drove my ass Giddaly down 59 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.159 to Long Beach and I hung out in his lab 60 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.879 and I'm now back home. I'm turning around asides. I'm 61 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:23.400 having the amazing Stephen Ray Morris edit this in probably 62 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.800 a red Bull induced mania. Honestly, we couldn't be happier 63 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.280 about it. It's very exciting. But before we get to 64 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:33.960 the episode, some thanks, and some please and some thanks again. 65 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.599 So first off, thanks to the patrons for making this 66 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:41.560 whole show happen pretty much. At patreon dot com slash Ologies, 67 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.120 you can be a member of the club that knows 68 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.479 what episodes are coming up next and submits questions to 69 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.520 the ologists and sees behind the scenes photos from their labs. 70 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.280 And also you help keep the pod free and available 71 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:59.240 to all. You can also support by putting Ologies on 72 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:03.680 your human body. You can go to ologiesmerch dot com. 73 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.759 You can also support with no coin at all, just 74 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.960 by subscribing. You can review or rate, you can tweet 75 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.759 about it, you tell your dentist, whatever. Also, as you know, 76 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.639 I creepily read your reviews and then I prove it 77 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.000 each week by reading you on this week, Fantasy Football 78 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.600 Gal says, help, now I have an Ologies addiction. Guys, 79 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:27.480 I can't stop with this podcast. Send help or don't, 80 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.399 actually please don't and leave me to keep bathing my 81 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:34.399 mind in Ologies. So nice, So, she says she got 82 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.240 hooked after listening to the two parter on fearology, which 83 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:41.240 resulted in a four hour long post episode discussion on 84 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.560 the topic with my mom, herself a psychologist, So thank 85 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:49.079 you for that. Okay, now back to silacka mophrology. I 86 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:51.360 know it sounds like your drunk cousin add a bunch 87 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.839 of scrabble letters and is doing her best to convince 88 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:56.480 everyone that it's a triple word score, but really it's 89 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:59.079 a term. It's a rare one, but it exists. So 90 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.199 it comes from the ancient Greek four having the appearance 91 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.519 of cartilaginous fish. And what does it mean to me 92 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.839 is we've got a shark spurt in the house. What 93 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.800 a shark expert he is. So he's been studying sharks 94 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:15.399 for decades. He's appeared on so many TV shows about 95 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.560 sharks it's absurd. And he's been a marine biology professor 96 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:25.399 at cal State University Long Beach for twenty years. He's tall, slim, 97 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.360 with close cropped hair and what I imagine is a 98 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:32.639 perennial tan. He greeted me this past Sunday today, the 99 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.839 day I'm recording this, and he showed me around the 100 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:39.920 shark lab. This is a facility of these gurgling seawater 101 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:45.240 tanks and high tech telemetry devices cameras, and suspended in 102 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.439 the rafters as a nod to the past, was a 103 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:53.920 vintage shark shaped submersible. It was amazing. So we sat 104 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.120 down in his tidy office and I asked him all 105 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:59.560 kinds of stupid shit, and he answered with affable wisdom. 106 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.199 So get ready to deep dive into a world of 107 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:09.279 ancient badasses, eye lasers, behind the scenes, movie trivia, inside 108 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:17.120 out butts, cannibal twins, seeming immortality, They're sea kink, surfer intuition, 109 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:22.920 lottery odds, and your aquatic many toothed new role models 110 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:41.040 during this their week, Shark Week with selackimorphologist doctor Chris Lowe. 111 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.519 It's actually the worst week. It's great in that we 112 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:55.959 celebrate charts. Yeah, just we celebrate them this sometimes. 113 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:00.639 So here's your mic and these are stage mics. So yep, 114 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.279 just got it talking to it, and yeah, thank you 115 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.720 for doing this this week of all weeks, is this 116 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.480 your Is this week your nightmare? It's Shark week, your nightmare. 117 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:15.160 So I was quoted in an article recently saying shark 118 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.160 we is like my Christmas. Actually, it's more like my 119 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:24.680 Halloween so so, so it's great in one way, and 120 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.519 that people are celebrating sharks and they're very excited about sharks, 121 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:33.680 and that's something that I find great. However, the Halloween 122 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:37.800 part comes from the horror that's also partly created in 123 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:41.399 that same kind of tone. So, you know, it makes 124 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.680 it really difficult to educate people about sharks and to 125 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.199 help dispel some of the myths about them when we 126 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.839 still do a lot of fear mongering in some of 127 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:53.800 the media. So it's it's it's really challenging. I'll give 128 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.839 you an example. So here I am on a Discovery 129 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.800 Channel show talking about why shark conservation is so important, 130 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.759 sharks are vital to the ecosystem and why people need 131 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:06.480 to protect them, and in the background here did it? 132 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:07.879 Did it? Did? 133 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:08.000 It? 134 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.839 Just doesn't match right? So it comes very frustrating and 135 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.519 a little conflicting for the public to understand. Well, wait 136 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.680 a minute, is it about conservation or are we supposed 137 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.120 to be scared? 138 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.759 And so what made you love sharks so much? What 139 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.160 was the moment where you're like, sharks, I'm on your team. 140 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:26.800 So, you know, as a person who grew up fishing 141 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.519 and loving to fish and I caught thousands of fish. 142 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.799 The first one I caught, the first shark I caught, 143 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.200 I was like, this is different. There's something about this, 144 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.320 This is very different from all the other fish I'd catch. 145 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.960 And it actually forced me to go to the library. 146 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.039 I was not a good student, I hear to school. 147 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.679 Really, how old were you when you went and started 148 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:47.159 looking into it? 149 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.240 Probably about nine, really, nine or ten. And then I 150 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:52.120 went to the library and I remember finding a book 151 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:53.960 about sharks and trying to figure out what kind of 152 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:55.840 shark this was. And then I was looking through this 153 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:57.720 book and I'm like, oh my god, there's all these 154 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:01.200 cool things about these animals, like fish, but they're a 155 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:04.440 different type of fish, and there was just something about 156 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:06.360 that that just sucked me in. 157 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:08.879 Is it crazy to you that you get to do 158 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:10.720 this for a living? Like you're one of the leading 159 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.440 shark experts in the world, Like do you drop your 160 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.320 name and people are like, oh, oh, doctor Christen, Yeah 161 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.879 he's legit. Like is it crazy to you that you're 162 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:19.759 that dude? 163 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:19.960 Now? 164 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.080 Yes, I have to pinch myself every day. But part 165 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.279 of it is I am so lucky to have the 166 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:29.759 job that I have. I really am. I absolutely love 167 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.080 what I do, and it's not just about the sharks. 168 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:35.440 It's about teaching other people about sharks and teaching other 169 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:37.440 people about science and why we do it. 170 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.159 So doctor Lowe grew up off the coast in New 171 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:44.559 England in a family of working class, honest, cool fishermen. 172 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:48.600 He told me his favorite day was Wednesday because it 173 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.679 was a hamburger night. All other nights were seafood nights, 174 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:53.759 because that's just what his family did, and that's what 175 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:56.240 they expected him to do, just be a commercial fisherman 176 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:59.919 or a carpenter. But he really wanted to study marine biology, 177 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:01.679 and he became the first person in his family to 178 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:05.159 graduate college, getting a bachelor's in marine bio in Rhode Island, 179 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:09.240 a master's in biology in Long Beach, and then his 180 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:14.840 PhD studying hammerhead sharks in Hawaii, which sounds like something 181 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:17.879 only the guy in those Dozeki's commercials to do, but 182 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:21.159 it's a real life and he lived it hammerhead sharks 183 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.759 in Hawaii, Okay. And so when it comes to shark outreach, 184 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.000 what do you think is the most important thing that 185 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.399 you do? Because that is one thing I feel like 186 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.759 humanity can get behind. It's like if there is a villain. 187 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:37.279 We can all be scared of and pissed at. It's 188 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:39.320 gonna be sharks. Like, we can't even be mad at 189 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.639 bees anymore. We're like, ohside of the breeze. But no 190 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.799 one's like, say the sharks. Everyone's like, let's kill all 191 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:45.240 of them. 192 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:48.039 Well, I think it's getting better. Okay, that's the exciting part. 193 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.159 I think things are starting to change. It's just taken 194 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.360 longer than I think many of us would have liked 195 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:57.159 to see happen. And my best example are whales. Okay, 196 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:59.240 so one hundred and fifty years ago, if we walked 197 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:02.039 down like Sam Pedro, or we walked down New Bedford 198 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:05.039 and you ask people what kind of animal they thought 199 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.879 a whale was, they would say horrible things. Whales were. 200 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.600 There are demons there, you know, all they're horrible animals. 201 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.840 They killed people. Moby Dick. Right, So you think of 202 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:16.519 the image portrayed in Mobi Dick. 203 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:19.919 So, if like me, you have not yet gotten around 204 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:25.000 to reading Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick, it's about this 205 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.840 whale who was real angry, just a son of a bitch, 206 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:32.559 And it was based on a real, actual albino whale 207 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:37.159 by the name of Mocha Dick, who, despite sounding like 208 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.919 your friend's barista ex boyfriend, was in fact a sperm 209 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.399 whale and is said to have been a renown monster 210 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:49.919 who evaded pursuers, was white as wool and just cruised 211 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.480 the seas with nineteen harpoons hanging off of him like 212 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.960 grass clippings on a sticky thigh. Didn't even notice. Now, 213 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.000 for a long time people were like, get bent whales 214 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:03.840 and their populations declined. 215 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:07.960 Okay, so around the seventies, when whale populations were really 216 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.440 in the tank, they got the perfect pr makeover. Whales 217 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.200 went from being these demon evil animals to oh my god, 218 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.120 they're like humans. They have babies, they nurse them, they're intelligent, 219 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:23.240 social animals. And I thought, if we can do it 220 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.080 for whales, why can't we do that for sharks. So 221 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.600 I think that we're in that motion, we're heading in 222 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:33.600 that direction, but it's really difficult when the a lot 223 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.480 of the programming still pushes the fear factor. 224 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.440 So Discoveries Shark Week, who is in no way sponsoring 225 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:44.240 the show, has been this cable mainstay for like thirty years. 226 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:49.039 They have shows like Bloodline, The Spawn of Jaws, and 227 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.759 even a few years ago Ransom docu fiction aka fake 228 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:59.279 news about the extinct Megalodon shark resurfacing, and later they 229 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.519 were like, oh yeah, that was like not real, we thought, 230 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:04.440 you know. Natt Geo has also joined the blood fun 231 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.919 with two weeks of shark Fest. They have shows like 232 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:14.679 Shark kill Zone and my personal favorite, Sharkatrez about the 233 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:19.200 sharks near Alcatraz. Now, the point is whales cute and smart. 234 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:23.360 Sharks are scary, steely eyed murderers. They're branded is like 235 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.480 the sociopaths of the sea. Do you think that if 236 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.120 sharks had eyelids their whole story would be better? 237 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:32.200 Well, they do have islids, they do, yeah, of course 238 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:32.519 some do. 239 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:33.000 Some do. 240 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:35.519 They're called little nick detating membranes, and they'll fold them 241 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:38.360 up to protect their eyes. They just fold the wrong way. 242 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.840 So maybe that's it. Maybe they look too alien to us. 243 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:45.519 But I think that's only part of it, you know, 244 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:47.799 Like dolphins have the cute little smile. Yeah, you know, 245 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:49.799 if we can only get some sharks with cute little 246 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:54.360 upturned jaws, maybe that would help. Don't say jaws, don't 247 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:57.600 say joss. Yes, But I think, you know, part of 248 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:01.279 it is being slowly demystified. People are starting to see 249 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.240 sharks as being, you know, just like any other fish 250 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:06.600 in the ocean, although they have a very different role 251 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:07.600 than many other fish. 252 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:11.000 So quick question, is a shark of fish? It is, 253 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:15.320 but about four hundred million years ago they split off 254 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.399 from bony fish and sharks. Instead of bone, they have 255 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.879 a skeleton made of lightweight and springy cartilage. They also 256 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.200 don't have swim bladders for buoyancy, but they use their 257 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.399 fins kind of like airplane wings, and they have these 258 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.720 real fatty, oily livers to keep them afloat. And they 259 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.320 range in size from great white sharks more on that 260 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.440 name later, which are like twenty feet in length, to 261 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:43.960 these eighty bitty eight nine inch dwarf lantern sharks and 262 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:48.200 Panama ghost cat sharks, which kind of both sound like 263 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:50.879 D and D characters, But the point is they're not 264 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.399 all the stuff of cinematic nightmares. 265 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:56.639 So it's getting people to think along those lines. 266 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.840 And do you think this all started with the franchise 267 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.080 or have people been kind of demonizing sharks for you know, 268 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.200 before the seventies. 269 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:12.919 Well, actually, I think that our perception of sharks and 270 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:17.399 that fear goes way back. It goes back to the 271 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.519 way humans portray all predators. So you know, imagine back 272 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:25.000 in the early cave days and the men would go 273 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.399 out and hunt some wild animals and they would come 274 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.679 back and tell these stories about these crazy, vicious animals 275 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:34.039 they saw, and of course the families are sitting around 276 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.360 listening to these stories are going, wow, that's so scaring. 277 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.919 They're describing this animal, and the reality of it is 278 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:44.879 people listen when people talk about that, because your brain 279 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.440 gives you a little squirt of happy juice when you're scared. 280 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:54.360 Happy juice aka adrenaline aka nor epinephrine is a hormone. 281 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.399 It's gleaked out from your adrenal glands during fight or flight. 282 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.159 So for more on this and why why fear is 283 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.080 a very lucrative business, you can listen to the two 284 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:08.240 part Ferology episode with Mary poffin Roth, who is a 285 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.279 life changer. Okay, back to adrenaline. 286 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.639 And it tells you to pay attention to characters that 287 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:17.559 may be important for your survival. So, now what happens 288 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.639 is if people don't encounter that animal, they can embellish 289 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:23.519 the stories, right because the chances of that person ever 290 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.720 seeing the animal themselves may be very low, and now 291 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.799 the storytellers are getting rewarded because people are listening to them. 292 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:32.519 So now they can embellish the stories. They can go 293 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:36.120 on and on about the gnashing jaws and think about 294 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.840 whalers and fishermen that were out to see for years, 295 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:40.639 and they would come back and they would be telling 296 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:42.759 these stories to their families, and their families are like, 297 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.559 oh my god, these sharks sound horrible. But now as 298 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:48.960 people began to see those animals more, as they begin 299 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:53.159 to encounter them more, those things don't match. So you know, 300 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:56.159 television's played off that, Jaws played off that. I mean, 301 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.960 when you think about the book and the movie, you know, 302 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.519 they're describing something that people were envisioning in their head right, 303 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.200 and you only had to show a few pictures to 304 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.480 help seal that deal. So the problem was is we 305 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:12.720 knew very little about sharks at the time Jobs was written, 306 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.400 and we've learned a lot more about sharks since then, 307 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.799 so now it's getting a little harder to embellish the stories. Nonetheless, 308 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:22.960 our brain is programmed to get a little squared happy 309 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:27.079 juice when we're scared, so I think that's what makes 310 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:30.079 it so hard to move away from sharks being these 311 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:33.640 scary animals and convincing people that they're important and they're 312 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:35.519 actually not as dangerous as they're made out to be. 313 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:38.599 Hit me with some stats. We always hear that vending 314 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.640 machines collect three hundred and eighty five people a year 315 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:41.920 and sharks kill five. 316 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.839 Yeah. Yeah, so that those stats, there's tons of them 317 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:50.359 out there. You know, you're more likely to dive in 318 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:52.680 a car accident driving on the four or five going 319 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:55.680 to the beach. Obviously in the parking lot, you're more 320 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.799 likely to be run over by another driver than you 321 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.440 would by encountering shark. So the thing is is it's 322 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.920 an irrational fear, right, because the stats clearly tell us 323 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.240 that the probability is crazy, crazy low. You have a 324 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:13.039 better chance of winning the lottery than you do of 325 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.279 being bitten by a shark. 326 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.799 So side note, your odds of getting struck by lightning 327 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:21.759 are just one in three thousand, getting injured by a 328 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.480 toilet about one in ten thousand, now, death by sharks 329 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:32.519 one in three point seven million, and well one in fifteen. 330 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:36.200 Lottery tickets will win something. The odds for winning the 331 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.960 good stuff like the Mega Million's jackpots you ready for 332 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.480 this one in three hundred and two million, So way 333 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.519 less likely than a shark attack, because like, winning actual 334 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:48.839 money in the lottery is like nah, pretty much like 335 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:50.640 kind of never. 336 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.480 And that's with millions of people going to the beach 337 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:57.720 and shark populations coming back in some places. So you know, 338 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:01.000 it's kind of frustrating sometimes to put out those stats 339 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:03.400 and then still have people go, I'm afraid to go 340 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.799 with my pool. Really really I get that. 341 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:09.359 Are people are afraid to go in their pool? 342 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:10.079 Absolutely? 343 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:11.960 Do they know there's no sharks in their pool? Or 344 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.000 are those people who have sharks in their pool? 345 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:15.839 No, I don't think they are sharks in their pool. 346 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:18.759 It's that fear of water. It's the fear of being 347 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.880 in water. And you know that adds another layer. We're 348 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:25.160 a terrestrial animal, right, so when we go in the ocean, 349 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.039 we're in a form place for many of us. And 350 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.279 you know, it's interesting because many of the people water people, 351 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:35.160 I call them these are surfers, divers, swimmers. They spend 352 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:37.240 huge amounts of time in the ocean and they feel 353 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.920 very comfortable in the ocean. You know, very few of 354 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.000 them ever tell me they're afraid of sharks. 355 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:44.720 Do you think that the people who are innately or 356 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:48.079 feel innately afraid of sharks just are like scuba diving, 357 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:51.079 not for me miniature golf? Sure, do you know what 358 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:52.160 I mean? Do they self select? 359 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:55.000 I think so, okay, But I think we can change that. 360 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.759 Those are aspects of our behavior that we kind of 361 00:19:58.039 --> 00:19:58.960 put on ourselves. 362 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.599 So is part of your role as a sharks burt 363 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:04.759 if you will to give out enough facts so it 364 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.359 counterbalances the fear. 365 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.880 Well, I think that's an important part of it. So 366 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.559 the more we learn about sharks and the more people 367 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:15.799 begin to see them in a different way like they 368 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.799 would see any other animal, like maybe a dog or 369 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:21.440 a cat, or a mountain lion or anything like that. 370 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:24.000 The more they know, the less they're going to fear. 371 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:26.839 And we see that. I see it particularly in kids. 372 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.440 I talk to thousands of kids every year because they're 373 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.559 actually the best, so they quite often haven't developed that 374 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:38.240 fear yet. And sharks and the new dinosaurs, so kids 375 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.359 are really into sharks. Really. 376 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:43.960 Oh yeah, I just know that sharks of the new dinosaurs, 377 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:45.880 that's a new dinosaurs. 378 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:50.079 And they're still here. Twenty years ago. I was really 379 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:53.279 worried at the track we were taking that this there 380 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.880 would be a generation of Americans that would enter our 381 00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.480 coastal ocean and never get to see a shark. And 382 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:02.640 now I'm of excited that things are changing. There's a 383 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.359 really good chance that this generation will be able to 384 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.359 go in the ocean and actually see a shark in 385 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:07.759 the wild. 386 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.680 I love it. For you, that's like amazing good news. 387 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:11.480 But that's true. 388 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:12.319 But that's exciting. 389 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:16.119 It really is. It really is because imagine here's well, 390 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.400 we'll think of it like you know, coming to La 391 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:21.440 and going down Hollywood and seeing a movie star, Right, 392 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.880 that's what it will be like. People will be like 393 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:26.319 I was in the ocean. I saw dolphin ho hum, 394 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.039 But I also saw a white chart that was freaking awesome. 395 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.519 I love that because if you go in Hollywood Boulevard, 396 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.119 chances are you are not going to see your favorite celebrity. 397 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:36.839 You're gonna see a lot of other shit, but you're 398 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:41.880 not gonna see anyone fair that rue. But when you 399 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:44.920 think of sharks, what kind of place do they hold 400 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.519 in your heart? Like, when you think of a shark, 401 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.160