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Ken Bondy
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Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Same one David, thanks.
PS it's also my avatar 
[Edited on 12-1-2008 by Ken Bondy] |
Yes, I thought so... This is what had me asking: "The image was made last September"
I presume you meant 2007?
Keep up the great photo shooting! |
Sorry, you're right. It wasn't LAST September, it was September 2007. Time goes by too fast now 
carpe diem!
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Crusoe
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Congradulations Ken!!!... A very nice honnor and reward for your skills. Simply put, The Best. ++C++
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tripledigitken
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Ken,
Congratulations on the award. That is one of my favorites of yours. Well done.
Ken
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stimbo
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Nicely done Mr. Bondy! Congratulations!
jim
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Bob H
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Ken, what an honor - I really love the reflection you caught. You deserve it!
Bob H
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DianaT
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That is just fantastic---Congrats.
I just love all of your underwater work---and you really deserve the award.
Diane
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BAJACAT
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Only in Baja, congrats ken, That is a great shot, Underwater baja is a totally different world all togeher...
BAJA IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE, FUN,DANGEROUS,INCREDIBLE, REMOTE, EXOTIC..JUST GO AND HAVE FUN.....
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Lauriboats
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Posts: 563
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Location: Mulege/Bahia Asuncion
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Mood: Loving life in Baja
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Wow Ken,
Great photo, good job, congratulations. Lauri
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
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EMAM
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Of all the photographers on here, I think I enjoy your photos the most Ken! Congrats!
I've always loved the underwater stuff, and having a wife that is too claustrophobic to scuba, I'm stuck on the surface in a kayak Not that I'm complaining, just a tad jealous
Awesome picture
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bill erhardt
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Congratulations, Ken! An award well deserved.
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Bajagypsy
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Well done, when I win the lottery, I will so have you as my underwater photography teacher!
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marv sherrill
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Fantastic - I always look forward to your photos - absolutly amazing!!!
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Ken Bondy
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I sincerely appreciate all the kind words.
++Ken++
carpe diem!
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marv sherrill
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Ken - i got lots of compliments on that calendar picture! One of my favorites of all time! Did the Mexican govt cancel the Guadalupe shark safaries
because of the latest mishap on the news about a tour using "Joes Discount Bargain Shark Cages" where a great white almost dined on a few divers after
crashing through the bars?
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Keri
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Location: La Mision, Baja Norte
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Mood: muy contento
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Congrats, Fantastic as always. Still waiting for the book you know k
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Ken Bondy
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Thanks marv and Keri. Marv that incident at Guadalupe, where the shark shared the cage with the divers, certainly focused attention on the Guadalupe
trips, and caged shark viewing trips in general. It is my understanding, probably as a result of that incident, that the Mexican government now
prohibits chumming and/or baiting on those trips. I think that is kind of silly, just a knee-jerk bureaucratic reaction. Doesn't solve anything,
more importantly, it doesn't address the bigger issue of whether anything needs to be solved. Personally I doubt that the operators are conforming to
the new regulations.
carpe diem!
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Ken Bondy
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Speaking of the Guadalupe shark trips, here's something I wrote about them after my trip. This has some timely relevance because of the "Planet in
Peril" series now running on CNN:
___________________________________
These caged and baited shark trips are surprisingly controversial. The criticisms usually take two forms, 1) the chumming and baiting changes the
shark’s behavior and makes them dependent on humans for food, increasing the danger for swimmers and surfers; and 2) the artificial atmosphere in
which the sharks are seen.
The first criticism, made long and loud by a group of San Francisco area surfers, actually shut down a white shark operation at the Farallon Islands
just west of San Francisco Bay a few years ago. I believe the first criticism is false and is driven by the general hysterical fear of sharks which
has been created by our media, starting with the old “Jaws” syndrome. Sharks, particularly those species which have been around for as long as great
whites, are opportunistic feeders and eat what they can, when they can. If the baited trips were to stop, the sharks would no doubt figure out some
way to eat, probably in the same way they have eaten for the last 400 million years or so.
Based on what I saw on my Guadalupe trip, it is my personal, non-scientific opinion that these caged encounters are not really feeding experiences for
the sharks. They actually consume very little food in the process. The baits are rarely eaten; rather they are toyed with by the sharks. In my opinion
the baiting is a diversion for the sharks, like a cat playing with a toy. I think they simply enjoy the experience. When they are really hungry, they
take care of that elsewhere.
The argument that caged shark trips create a danger for surfers and swimmers is, I believe, unsupportable. There is no evidence that baiting great
white sharks, at significant distances from beaches where people swim and surf, increases the danger of shark attack for swimmers and surfers. Isla
Guadalupe is 170 miles from any North American beach. It is difficult to imagine how baiting sharks at Guadalupe could have any effect on a North
American swimmer or surfer, based on its remote location alone.
A more valid and thoughtful criticism, in my opinion, is the “zoo-like” artificial condition created by attracting the sharks with chum and bait.
Clearly this does not present the shark in its natural condition, or represent its natural behavior. Nobody denies that, but compared with not ever
seeing one alive and/or outside of an aquarium, I will gladly accept the opportunity to see one from the cage. I thought it was a thrilling, electric
experience.
Baited shark trips, targeting several different species, have become very popular among divers on several continents. The images that have been made
on those trips have, I believe, positively impacted the perception of sharks among the non-diving population. Like aquariums, baited shark trips, on
balance, have benefited sharks. I believe one thing about these trips is undeniably true. The white shark population at Guadalupe would not exist but
for the small fleet of shark-watching boats that operate there, and the publicity (and protection) that these trips have generated. The entire
Guadalupe population of white sharks, estimated at about 50 individuals, could be completely wiped out by one fishing boat in about a week.
Other than a small group of nomadic Mexican fishermen who work the island, no-one knew that great whites were there until a lot of long-range
Guadalupe fishermen on the San Diego boats started landing only the severed heads of their big yellowfin tunas. The knowledge of the existence of
great white sharks in clean water at Isla Guadalupe quickly spread to shark-watching outfits like San Diego Shark Diving, the one I was with on my
trip. Soon several shark-watching boats were operating there, and great images of the sharks were being seen all over the world. This led to
protection of the sharks by the Mexican government.
If the shark-watching industry had not “gotten there first”, I have little doubt that the sharkfinning industry would have found them and done them
great damage, potentially wiping them out. If that had happened, many people would have lost the chance, first-hand and in images, to see these
magnificent, timeless animals in their natural habitat, for the benefit of the relative few who like to eat soup made from their fins.
carpe diem!
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Skipjack Joe
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I tend to agree with your thoughts about the banning of bait induced encounters with great whites. My thinking is that divers visit these locations
with bait because the sharks are there. Not the reverse. The sharks aren't there because the water is chummed for the divers.
What's going on is,
divers -> sharks -> sea lions
not
sharks -> divers
So if you accept that the former is occuring then removing divers from the relationship leaves the surfers in the same danger as before.
I'm not a big fan of Jaws either. It seems to me it was a turning point in moviedom. That was a film written for young adults but made for adults. It
was a great money maker followed by more Spielberg works. And now it's hard to find films with adult content. Moviegoers just don't want to to go any
longer unless there's flying cats or colliding 'death stars'. Films like 'The African Queen' wouldn't even be made today. Got off track - a bit.
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