Day 18: 7/13/2013: A Perfect Day for Leopard Sharks

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My first thought when I saw the sea floor off La Jolla is how much it resembled the rocks, sand and waving grasses in the opening of “Jaws.” I half expected to see title credits materializing in the water. But I didn’t feel afraid. I loved the otherworldly silence, the muted sense of the undersea world, the endlessly waving kelp and eelgrass, that newfound awareness of my own breathing.

I’d come to La Jolla to see the annual gathering of leopard sharks.  Altogether I encountered about 20 of them–lovely, shy and graceful creatures. At one point I feel like I interrupted some sort of shark conference—about six leopard sharks hovered together in the water, but when I came almost close enough to touch them,  they suddenly split apart disappearing into the silt.

Sometimes it’s nice to be new at something—to have that Zen beginner’s mind “full of possibilities.” What to a seasoned diver would be a roster of common fish, to me were utterly exotic creatures. I saw at least a dozen Guitar fish, a couple Bat rays, Rockfish, Garibaldi, Sheephead, Perch and Sand bass.

I loved the canyons and the rocks, getting swept up in the magnetic push of the tides, sometimes bumping into my patient friend Renee who gladly volunteered to drive to San Diego and even loaned me some extra fins and a diving hood.

At certain particularly silent moments, the name Robert Pamperin would pop into my head, but thoughts of doom were as fleeting as the nameless silver fish darting at the surface.  I admit “action-wise” that I only came back from this trip with 5 new signatures, but I also returned with a kind of slack-jawed-born again-awe for the ocean and its creatures. I can’t wait to go back.

Day 17: 7/12/2013: SHRK LUVR

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Today’s action is small. Humble. Barely anything.

But it gave me such a weird sense of satisfaction.

I attached a SAVE THE SHARKS license plate holder to my car. The end.

Since I live in Los Angeles, I drive A LOT. Out of all of the many cars stuck behind me in some interminable traffic jam, I wonder if one or two or maybe even three people might see my license plate frame and meditate on it. Although we all get compassion fatigue, SAVE THE SHARKS is certainly better than staring at some inane vanity plate that reads CAST ME or PMS 247.

Maybe one of these random motorists will go home and read up on sharks and see how dire things are and sign a petition or send a check to a shark charity or have a complete life-altering epiphany, and ditch their suffocating job and join the crew of Sea Shepherd and defend the seas from a-holes.

I know it’s probably unlikely, but it’s not completely impossible either.

I guess that’s the whole point of taking little actions every day.

Day 16: 7/11/2013: Fear

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Today I started refining the central idea of this shark project.

I also studied my diving manual.

As I memorized facts about water pressure, I realized that my fear of encountering sharks in the water had been eclipsed by a terror of my lungs collapsing like a pair of dispirited accordions as fountains of shiny blood burst from my ears.

Then I realized the whole book I am writing is about fear. Beyond the fear of sharks, beyond drowning, beyond fear of my lack of athleticism or lung capacity, is the fear I feel that this book won’t sell or that while I am still grieving my father’s death, my mother, who is in frail health, will die and leave me incapacitated with grief, unable to continue.

When descending into the depths, the diver learns techniques to “equalize” the pressure of the sea, to survive in an alien place. It’s a powerful metaphor for our own daily descents, our singular journeys into the unknown. I thought of these lines from  Adrienne Rich’s famous poem “Diving into the Wreck”:

the sea is another story

the sea is not a question of power

I have to learn alone to turn my body without force

in the deep element.

Diver on the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, Bonaire.

Diver on the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, Bonaire. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Day 15: 7/10/2013: Stickin’ it to the Man…Sort of….

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Last year I read Will Potter’s excellent book “Green is the New Red.”  As Potter reveals, in post 9/11 America even the most casual supporter of animal or green issues can be labeled a domestic terrorist. So it’s neither paranoid or self-aggrandizing to say that even though I intend to break no laws and do no physical harm to persons or property, I also don’t feel entirely comfortable writing about every single shark-related thing I do, even if it seems only mildly subversive, such as organizing shark unions, etc.

Day 14: 7/9/2013: Sharks in Your Lipstick

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Today I hopped around the internet trying to figure out what cosmetic companies still use shark-based squalene in their cosmetics. Squalene comes from the livers of deep water species like the strangely beautiful green-eyed gulper shark (above) and is used as an emollient in lipsticks and lotions.  Squalene also occurs naturally in olives. But since the shark-based version requires a shorter processing time and produces a higher yield than theplant-based version, many companies prefer shark liver ingredients to the less brutal alternative.

Back in 2008, L’Oreal and Unilever, and Estee Lauder vowed to ditch the shark liver oil and use plant-based substitutes. Forgive me for doubting the word of large corporations that also conduct animal testing, but I wonder if the squalene in Kiehl’s #1 Lip Balm is shark or not. (Kiehl’s was bought by L’Oreal in 2000).

These morally murky corporate takeovers are a good reason to stick to cosmetic and personal care products made by companies like Lush who recently partnered with SharkSavers even selling a limited edition Shark Fin Soap.

Chantecaille will donate  5% of sales of their Save the Sharks Palette of Eye & Cheek shades to the BLOOM Association which fights the  unregulated shark fin trade.

Today’s action: I signed a petition to ban gill nets, arranged a guest lecture featuring legendary shark expert Ralph Collier at Glendale College, and designed an assignment that asks students to track down shark ingredients in cosmetics, and even (???) energy drinks.

Day 13: 7/8/2013: Diving Lessons

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English: A great white shark approaches divers...

English: A great white shark approaches divers in a cage off Dyer Island, Western Cape, South Africa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I told Greg at Aqua Adventures that I wanted to learn to dive because of sharks, he popped in a film he’d made on one of his annual great white excursions to Guadalupe Island.

Great whites with names like Lucy and Cal Rip Fin (whose dorsal had been nearly shredded—probably from a boat propeller) darted, swerved and snatched bait. One shark leapt over the cage and actually landed on top of it. A thrilling and rare accident, I assured myself, as was the story of the great white that caught his snout in the opening between the cage bars and thrashed around so much that the front panel of the cage collapsed.

Greg and I talked for two hours mostly about sharks and shark conservation. He told me Cal Rip Fin, once a reliable figure at Guadalupe, hadn’t been seen since 2011. He also told me some crazy shark breaching stories, and all the many beautiful and dangerous places he’d gone diving. People that lead such adventurous lives always floor me. I feel privileged to hear their stories.

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Day 12 7/7/2013: 994 Names

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Today my friend Jennifer and I discussed effective ways to get people to sign a petition.

We ruled out gimmicks like coconut shell or other “theme” bras, free hugs, offering liquor, money, etc.

How then to overcome the dread evoked in by a well-meaning person with a clipboard?

I know that my liberal guilt goes through the roof every time I am greeted with a question like, “Do you have time to help feral, blind children who live at the bottom of abandoned wells?”

“Not today,” I often demur, my tight-lipped resentment seasoned with a dash of remorse.

Since I only have 994 signatures left to gather on my Shark Defenders petition, Jen offered to help me. We’re going to find some cool shark t-shirts to wear and then celebrate our signature gathering with a few well-deserved cocktails. (Shark Defenders in no way endorses these methods).

If this sounds too frivolous for a day of shark action, I also put in one hour of work designing my shark book proposal.

P.S. In a complete non-sequitur, I’d like to wish Ringo Starr a happy 73rd birthday.

Day 11 7/6/2013: Diary of a Slacktivist

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Last night I saw “Jaws” at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood. This movie feels like part of my DNA. The print was old and beautiful with a color true to 1974. Other than a woman behind me who emitted a series of  ”Ahhs!” “Ooohs” and “Aww” for every potential shark sighting or lost child on the beach and who actually asked her friend the meaning of Quint’s famous quip, “Here’s to swimmin’ with bowlegged women,” I had a great time. Part of the benefit of Los Angeles is to be able to watch movies with people who stay to see the name of the key grip and explode in cultish appreciative applause at key moments, and I have zero tolerance for people who can’t keep their mouths shut. ANYWAY,  Since l’ll actually be going on a great white dive in South Africa next year, the shark’s destruction of the cage really scared the hell out of me, no matter how rubbery and awkward the whole thing looked. My friend Dan and I took public transportation to the theatre, which was nice since global warming hurts the ocean…! Seeing Peter Benchley’s cameo as the TV reporter made me excited for the 40th Anniversary JAWS benefit I’ll be hosting in February.

I  want to do as much creative stuff like that this year as possible. I don’t want all my work for sharks to be signing petitions. But sometimes so-called “slacktivism” is the best I can manage with the demands of my glamorous lifestyle.

Anyhow, here’s what I did today:

1. Signed a petition to ban the sale of shark fins in Canada

2. Sent a letter to the Secretary General of the U.N. asking for a worldwide ban on shark finning and the selling of shark products.

3. Volunteered at savingsharks.com offering my services as a writer, teacher, etc. to organize a benefit, coordinate volunteers or whatever else they might need.