January 23, 2025 • 40 mins
- Chester Moore talks with a great white shark conservationist and about new technology to track their movements.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to More Outdoors on News Talk five sixty k LVII.
This is Chestermore. For my entire life, my favorite creature
in the ocean has been the great white shark, and
I recently had the incredible opportunity to visit the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy doing some media work up that direction
in Massachusetts, out on beautiful Cape Cod and I'm so
(00:24):
excited to have on the line. Cynthia Wigran. She is
the co founder, along with her husband, of the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy. In twenty ten, she had a life
change when she got in a shark cage in South Africa.
And that's where our story begins twenty ten. If I
got it correctly in South Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, that is so.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'm assuming you're like the rest of us. She just
wanted to go do a cool great white experience again.
And you went into a shark cage in South Africa,
And so what were your expectations before getting in the water,
and what if anything changed while you're in the water.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
So leading up to the trip, I was definitely anxious
about it. I wanted to do it, but I was nervous,
and I watched a number of YouTube videos where white
sharks were chomping on cages and it just looked fairly scary,
(01:26):
so that I think going into it, I went in
with you know, a lot of nerves, thinking that it
was going to be a somewhat terrifying experience, even though
I still wanted to do it. But when we were
on our way out, we were on our way out
to Seal Island and one of the Planet Earth that documentary,
(01:48):
that was something that really inspired me, I think, to
want to go to Seal Island see the sharks because
there were the famous you know, breaching sharks in that area.
So it was really surreal to be on a boat
heading out to Seal Island and our naturalist on the
boat was incredible talk to us about what the experience
(02:10):
was going to be like and really calmed I think
my nerves. Also learn a lot about responsible eco tourism
through that in finding out what cage dive operators might
be doing to lower the sharks to the cages and
grab the bait around out last minute so that they
(02:31):
are hitting the cage inviting it, which responsible operators are
not doing. So that was so it was very educational
as well. But once we got out to the area
and it was my turn to get into the water
in the cage and see a shark. It was just
the most spectacular experience.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was, you know, the first shark that I saw.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
It was just so majestic and incredible, and I had
absolutely no fear at all, and I was just mesmerized.
It was really really amazing. And I think because I
did go into it feeling like it would be a
kind of a terrifying experience, and I had that absolute
(03:20):
opposite experience with the sharks, that is what really drew
me to the species and wanting to learn more about it.
Because I realized someone like me, who did, you know,
go into something like that with a love of wildlife
but still had that fear, realized how little I knew
(03:41):
about great white sharks, and just really wanted to learn
more about them. So it was ultimately a life changing
experience for me.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So this was really an on ramp for you to
think about getting involved deeper in sharks, particularly with great
white What is the transition from there to uh getting
inspired to start the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So at the time I had interest in learning more
about great white sharks, and the first sharks off of
the off the coast of Cape Cod that had been tagged.
Happened about seven months before I had that experience in
South Africa, so the timing of it was really interesting.
And so I came back from my trip and recognized
(04:33):
that there were great white sharks right in our backyard,
that it was relatively a new occurrence that was happening,
that great white sharks were, you know, that we had
the presence of them off the coast, and that scientist,
one scientist and in particular, doctor Greg Schomel, had the
(04:54):
opportunity to tag great white shark sharks off the coast
of Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So I just started to follow the work that he
was doing.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And about two years after I had that experience in
South Africa, I had a conversation with Greg to learn
more about the work that he was doing, and in
that conversation I found out that he relied on outside
funding for his research.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So he works for the.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
State of Massachusetts and the Fisheries department that he's working for,
they covered his salary, but he had to raise the
funds to do conduct great white shark research. And it
just seemed like we, you know, people were traveling all
over the world to these remote places to see great
(05:44):
white sharks, and here we have them right off of
the coast of Cape Cod And what an incredible opportunity
to be able to learn about the species and to
find out that funding was needed to you to provide
sustainable research here off the coast. It was something that
(06:09):
I felt it needed kind of an advocate to help
those funds and get that going. So there was no
nonprofit at the time locally that was supporting great white
shark research, and I thought, how hard.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Can it be to start a nonprofit?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
So I just went online and I googled how to
start a nonprofit in Massachusetts and that was it. My
career at the time was very different. I worked for
an online trading platform in the energy energy industry, and
I asked my boss for a six month hiatus when
(06:51):
I decided this thing that I was going to do,
and it would take an initial effort to kind of
get it up and running. And within three months I
knew that six months was not going to be enough
and if I really wanted this to be successful and
to really support the work, then I needed to commit
(07:14):
full time to it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So so that was it.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It was a There wasn't a huge amount of thought
that went into it in advance.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I'm I'm definitely a just do it kind of person.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And me too, our nonprofit for children. We decided to
do it in the next morning, we file paperwork and boom,
you know, we're working on it, kind of figuring out
as we go.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, and you know what, I think, that's that's what.
It takes a lot and you do figure it out.
I was fortunate to have the you know, the passion
for the wildlife and then the business background, so that
I think the combination of those two were helpful in
the startup world. Nonprofit is you know, is a business
(08:00):
in all the different aspects that's got its own unique
characteristics as well. But that part of it I think
was helpful in getting it initially up and running. But
it was certainly and you can completely relate to this
and starting your own you know, just jumping into the
deep end and just getting it done. So, you know,
(08:21):
initially we really wanted to support the research because we
knew that that was critical here to learn about the species.
We are living in a tourist economy here, so there
are a lot of millions of people that are visiting
the beaches here every year and recognizing that connection between
(08:43):
the research and public safety and education to really inspire
the long term conservation of the species, that those things
were all tied together.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
So the mission of.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Our nonprofit hasn't changed since we launched in twenty twelve,
but we've just really grown in all of the different
areas and there's a tremendous amount of interest in the
species here and that's been really incredible, I think, you know,
(09:18):
just to see what we've been able to learn over
the years.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy does incredible work that impacts
what we know about great white sharks to out not
only the Atlantic but also in the Gulf of Mexico.
We might remember Leebeth, the great white shark that showed
up at South Padre, scooted down the coast or up
the coast over towards Sabine. That shark is now in
Canadian waters. Amazing stuff we're learning because of research from
(09:45):
the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. You can get more information
from them at Atlantic White Shark dot org. And when
we come back on More Outdoors here on News Talk
five sixty KILVA, we're talking more with Cynthia Wigran about
her vision for shark conservation. Welcome back to More out
Doors on News Talk five sixty klv. I follow me
at the Chester, more on Instagram, Higher Calling Wildlife on
(10:09):
Facebook and Higherclung dot net, my blog and also my
Great White Shark blog at Gulf Great Whites dot com.
Continue our conversation with Cynthia Wigran of the Atlantic White
Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
We started to talk about jaws and that's how a
lot of people were educated about the species with not
necessarily the correct information. So it's it's very cool to
see people learning as we learn because all of the
information that we're gathering, the data through the research, is
(10:43):
shared with the public and so we're all we're all
learning about these animals together.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah. I think it's it's such a great marriage of education,
awareness and research. You know, having been able to be
up there twice now and see what you guys are doing,
and you mentioned the public safety element of this, I
think that is so important to what you're doing because,
let's face it, sometimes sharks attack people and kill them.
It happens not often, but you know, don't tell that
(11:11):
to the person who got hit their family member lost
You know there's that human part, but you guys are
able to educate people and give people information that ten
or fifteen years ago wouldn't have been possible to get people.
I mean I literally, I like right before we got
on there was a stark at the Coastguard Beach. You know,
(11:33):
I got the update there. And so tell us about
that app, because if someone online listens, probably the first
way they're going to connect with you is via your app, Sharktivity.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So the Sharktivity app is something that we launched in
twenty sixteen and it was a collaborative effort with US,
the Division and Marine Fisheries in Massachusetts, the Cape Cod
National Seashore, and talents across Cape Cod who really wanted
to raise awareness about the presence of sharks, offer of
(12:05):
our post and to be able to provide the public
with information. And you know, everyone has their phone on
them all the time, and so it's really a wonderful
way to be able to share the data that we have,
our sightings that we have uh with the public in
a in a really quick and efficient way. So Sharktivity
(12:27):
has a number of different data points on it. People
can go and look at shark sightings. There is also
information about tag sharks. I'm sure your your listeners are
familiar with lee Beth and heard your.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Adopted text are adopted text in Great white Yes exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Uh, so you know, Lee Beth can be tracked on sharctivity.
And there's also a citizen science component to the app,
so if people have see their own have their own
sightings of great white sharks, they can add that to
the app. They do get vetted and credible sightings are
(13:09):
added to the the app as well. So it's a
really it's a great tool and resource for the public.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
It's incredible. I actually my blog up have to send
it to you. It's called Experiencing Sharktivity, and so I
talk about being on the water last week and uh
watching Sharktivity happen, and then watching the update on my
phone which I screenshot that it came up and put
it on there and it was in a real time,
you know, and it was in a real time. And
then there was a guy on the beach from the
(13:39):
local beach community with the purple flag you know, in
the truck and making letting people make informed decisions. And
then that is so important you're dealing with carnivores, you know,
when you're dealing with something that you know that could
be potentially dangerous or even ungulates like you know, a
moose in an area or something like that. But wildlife,
you know, human wildlife conflict. And you guys have found
(14:00):
a way to use this but also to allow the
public to truth to it, which I think is really
get some skin in the game.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Mm hmm. And I think you make a great point
to say, you know, making informed decisions because from a
public safety perspective, you can't guarantee someone's safety. They're going
out in the ocean is a wild environment and that's
something that people, you know, need to remember. But people
can have the information and decide what their own risk
(14:30):
tolerance is. And that's really important because without it, you're
you're a little bit you know, blindfolded in certain ways
in that kind of environment. So it's it's great to
be able to give get that information out in a
in a really efficient way.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Incredible, So you've you've been out there and the tagging
and watching this thing, the genesis of this thing, and
literally you were connected to warning to learn about it
right when the first ones were pretty close to being tagged,
and then early year or so of that. What is
what have you learned about great white sharks? What is
the thing that just blows you away that you didn't
(15:10):
know before this journey.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I think one of the big things is that they're
they're just all in, you know, their own individuals, So
we're seeing different personality types. I don't know if personality
there were to ease necessarily, but that they behave different
ways that I think it was kind of an AHA
(15:35):
moment for me being out on the water and seeing
different sharks. It makes the science a little bit more
challenging too, when you recognize that their their behavior is
not all the same where they're coming to this area
at different times. Some are here for a full season,
(15:56):
some just pass through. Some have their kind of favorite spots.
My favorite shark, his name was James, and he would
just set himself up each year in this particular area
and he was just this steady, this big fourteen foot
great white shark who would spend a lot of time
(16:16):
at the surface and he was just super chill around
the boat and it was amazing to watch him and
so cool to see the shark come back and spend
time in the same area each year, so that I
think is one of the biggest kind of surprises for
me for being fortunate enough to see so many great
(16:37):
white sharks on the water.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And of course a lot of this data has to
do with the tagging being able to not only put
these satellite tags now camera tags on certain ones it
lasts for like twenty four hours or so. Acoustic ones,
which actually the ones that interests me the most because
of there are a lot of acoustic setups, like in
places like the Flower Gardens Marine National Sanctuary, which I
(17:02):
being a journalist, pesky journalist, asking all these biologis, I'm like,
have you heard any great white signals anywhere? And they're
like great white showing up? Nobody knows about out there,
you know, except scientists. So there's a lot of ways
that data is collected here and it's fed into this app,
but also fed out to the different agencies that are
managing these species and these waterways and things like that.
(17:23):
And the first thing I noticed about you mentioned the
fact that they all have different personalities. Go back to Leebeth.
I mean, I mean this shark was surfacing like it
was going like she was going crazy. I mean this
thing because you know, if you know, if you're listening,
if they have the satellite tag, if I have this correct,
they have to affect their fin out of the water
(17:44):
for that to pick up. So this girl is like
bam bam, bam bam everywhere, and I thought that was
so that really was for for us in Texas. Was
such an interesting journey to watch happen. You know. So
I see someone and I hadn't heard of AWSC at
(18:07):
this point, I see someone on an instant, someone on
a shark group a pose at South Padre Island Great White,
and I'm like, boom, you know, went made a bunch
of phone calls, harassed a bunch of people. So I
eventually got Chip, Michael Love and Megan went in on
the line. But this journey, this shark took and it
got people excited about that the Great White's coming back
(18:29):
to the golf and it was it was in a thing.
So with that said, what has been your favorite part
of the public's reaction to all of this. Has there
been something that's really just made you go, man, we're
doing a pretty good job here. Is there something that
in the public that you've seen that's a real positive
that's come out of these this app and this tagging information.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I think for me, the most impactful thing that I've
seen publicly as the connection to particular sharks, sharks that
people name. So one of the most significant is we
have a shark that was named after a soldier that
(19:13):
was killed in Afghanistan. He was killed in on September fourth,
twenty fourteen, and on the same day that he was killed,
there was a shark that was tagged, so we caname
that shark after this soldier and we have remained very
(19:35):
close with his family, and it's just a really incredible thing.
You know, it's a shark, and to see how moved
people can be, and especially someone who's you know, lost
a loved one when they have a shark the name
(19:56):
of this individual and they're able to follow at shark
you know on our app. It's it's really powerful and
really incredible and not something when I still think for
the nonprofit that I would have thought about.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
And you know, there are people that we met who.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Are battling cancer and they use sharks, you know, just
keep swimming as their motto, kind of pushed through what
they're dealing with challenges in life, so I think there
are those surprises.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
You can connect with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy at
Atlantic White Shark dot org. Also download their Shark Activity
app lots of great information to learn more about these
amazing species and the cutting edge research done on great
white sharks. You can follow my Great White Shark blog
Golf Great Whites dot com. If you subscribe, send me
(20:48):
an email at Chester at chestermore dot com with your
mailing address and I'll get you Golf Great Whites decal.
When we come back, we'll continue our conversation about the
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Welcome back to More Outdoors on
Newstalk five sixty klv. I. This is Chester Moore continuing
our conversation with Cynthia Wigban of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
We're just seeing things like that, you know, over the years,
these incredible connections.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
So I think from.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
A public perspective, having that ability to tag sharks and
track sharks and provide information, how that touches people's lives
in really unique and special ways is really incredible.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Absolutely, And I said, our nonprofit, my listeners will know this.
We grant wildlife encounters for children who are going through
hell on Earth. The loss of a parent or a
sibling terminal illness. We work with the group that brings
sex trafficking victim kids to us. We have one coming today,
actually this afternoon. We do wildlife encounters. And you know,
I found out this summer how many shark couple of
(21:58):
years ago, actually, how many shark fans we had in
our in our midst you know. So I was able
to go out there with you guys, and I'm in
the center and I'm shooting videos on the phone in
front of your you know, your shark replicas for my kids,
you know, to send to their parents, you know, just
saying hey, these people are awesome, and you know, and
Meghan has been really kind to one of our kiddos
and sending a video and some merch. And so I think, Cynthia,
(22:22):
what I've seen on this, and I think you and
I have maybe seen this in a different way, because
nature can be so inspirational to people, you know, And
I think when something bad happens, it's almost like all
of us life will never get better than the day
before that happened. And then the idea that there's something
(22:43):
epic and awesome and untamed and wild and beautiful out
there that you're connected to. Maybe maybe that's something that
can give people hope that better things can still happen,
you know. And so I suys things that people I
know that makes it gigantic difference in lives. And who
to thunk a great white shark is going to be
(23:07):
inspiring people, you know, fifty years ago, forty, you know,
fifty one years whatever it was when Jaws, Gill and
Jaws came out, you know. But here we are and
people are happy and smiling and wanting to learn more
about these incredible creatures. And but there's something you do
that I find is so amazing. It's your Gills Club.
So tell us about the Gills Club.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
So our Gills Club is an education initiative that we
launched in twenty fourteen, actually very soon after starting the nonprofit.
And I was really inspired by these young girls. When
we would do presentations about the work, I'd have young
girls come up to me at the end of the
(23:52):
presentation and they would tell me how much they loved sharks,
and it was really really cool to meet these kids.
But then I recognize that, you know, as much as
people love Shark Week and the shows that are out
there about sharks.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
They're really.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Kind of dominated by male scientists and people that are
maybe not scientists but just talking.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
About big personalities.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
On team right, thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
That's but for these young girls, you know, where else
would they actually be able to see an example of
what they could do when they grow up for a
career with sharks. Weren't seeing that on television, which is
(24:50):
you know where a lot of kids are getting their information.
So anyway, it inspired me because after starting the nonprofit,
I was also meeting female scientists in the industry and
just wondered if there was a way that we could
connect the two, and so we created the Gills Club
(25:10):
that was focused on connecting young girls to female scientists
in the field of shark research so that they could
share information and essentially also jumpstart girls interest in STEM
subjects and inspire them, providing them with role models in
(25:34):
the fields to be inspired about what they could potentially
do in the future. And so we have over one
hundred scientists from around the world that are part of
the Gills Club program, and we do hands on.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Workshops with local kids.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
So we utilize the research that's taking place and our
education and team creates workshops, these hands on learning opportunities
where where these kids can learn about what is research
kind of in real time.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
In these workshop environments.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
And we also have a Gills Club podcast so people
can listen to what the background is and research of
a number of our science team members for the girls club.
So it's really been Yeah, I mean we I think
it's interesting. Our conversation today is using the word inspire
(26:40):
quite a bit and people being inspired by sharks, and
I think people inspiring each other.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
In really ways.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
So the Shark Network is is pretty amazing and I'm
incredibly grateful for all of the connections that I made
through running this nonprofit and then seeing these young kids
and being able to engage them, and it's been pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So yeah, we love What are the ages for that?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
So the ages are it's kind of a younger probably
eight to eleven for the workshops, and then the podcasts
are geared towards older girls to listen to, you know,
the career paths of scientists in the field. And then
(27:40):
kind of that the middle age group we look to
recruit for volunteer work for participating these workshops and also
able to learn as they as they go but but
participating in educating young girls who are who are joining
the workshops.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has many educational resources. You
can find them in Atlantic White Shark dot org. That is,
Atlantic White Shark dot Org. Now, most of the people listening,
if you've heard of this organization here from the Gulf coastreads,
you've probably heard about Leebeth, the great white that showed
(28:22):
up at South Padre Island, made her way all along
the coast, popped up out of Sabine Pass, and by
the way, that shark is now in Nova Scotia. At
the last time she sent a transmission to the satellite
up there. And this is why this research is important.
It's unveiling the mysteries of great white sharks and getting
(28:43):
people an upclose look at the most famous iconic creature
in the entire ocean. Wales get larger, much larger, but
there is nothing as iconic and popular as the great
white shark. And I wanted to have s theo Wigren
on to talk about this and to talk about her
(29:04):
outreach and the outreach a AWSC does and things like
the Gills Club and other aspects of it, and get
the heart for this great organization, because trust me, if
they have one thing other than just great science and scientists,
they have heart and they have miles and miles of it.
Like I said last week, I got to go up
there and have the privilege of being on the water
(29:25):
with a couple other scientists and it was a really
amazing thing to see a great white shark swimming under
the boat and watch them as they're doing a study
utilizing drone to observe great white sharks and truly amazing
seeing the drone, seeing the sharktivity app updated in person,
seeing that happen was a really incredible thing as a
(29:46):
journalist to see. If you would like to connect with
the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, go to Atlantic White Shark
dot org. It's Atlantic White Shark dot organ check out
my blog about the sharktivity experience seeing it in real
life happening at golf Great whites dot com. Welcome back
to More Outdoors on News Talk five sixty KLVI. This
(30:06):
is Chester Moore. What a great interview was Cynthia Wigman
of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. You need to go
back if you if you miss part of that, go
listen to the whole interview. Go to KLVI dot com
and click on the podcast link at the top of
the page and can go back and see archives and
more outdoors, including that program which is up right now.
Really proud to have her. She is a conservation visionary
(30:30):
and it's really cool to see the work they're doing
at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, and I had a
chance to go up there with my friend Paul Pazinsky.
We're working on a special project involving great white sharks
and a really amazing aspect of the great white shark.
I wouldn't have an interest in great white sharks if
it weren't for the movie Jaws. Now, there's a such
(30:53):
thing as the Jaws effect, where you know, there were
a lot of people interested in, you know, catching a
big great white hanging the jaw the wall, that kind
of stuff, and there was certainly negative impacts for a while.
But in my opinion, the net value of what Jaws
did to sharks globally is probably a net positive, because
(31:14):
I don't think as many people would be interested. As
a matter of fact, I know not as many people
be interested in sharks that weren't for Jaws. I had
the chance interviewed doctor Greg schollmol and he's just an
incredible shark researcher that you know, is a big part
of the origin story when he was doing his initial
shark tagging in Massachusetts for the state government there. That's
(31:35):
a big part of why Miss Wigran founded the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy. And I said, what was your shark story?
How did you want to become a shark scientist? He said, A.
My initial inspiration was a fictional character called Matt Hooper.
You might not know the name Matt Hooper right off,
but if you're a big Jaws fan, you probably do
because Matt Hooper in the movie was portrayed by Richard Dreyfus,
(31:58):
one of the iconic actors of America. I mean, what
a great cast. You had Roy Scheider, you had Robert Shaw,
you had Richard Dreyfus. I mean, just really an incredible
directed movie by Steven Spielberg, a score by John Williams,
who also did Star Wars et Raiders of the Lost Stark,
iconic movie, literally the first summer blockbuster movie back in
(32:21):
nineteen seventy five. And so I'm up in the Cape
Cod area and there was no way I was going
up that direction without seeing some of the sites where
Jaws was filmed. Jaws was filmed in Martha's Vineyard. It's
the island just across from Cape Cod, and so me
and Paul went over there and rode the forty five
(32:42):
minute ferry and it was really surreal because as we're leiaeving,
we look back and I see the Oceanographic Institute and
in Jaws, Matt Hooper played by Richard Dreyfus, says he
was from the Oceanographic Institute on the mainland. So literally,
I'm leaving the mainland of Cape Cod looking at the
ocean Graphic Institute, headed toward Cape Cod, which is Amity
(33:04):
in the Jaws movie. It was just one of those
cool connecting moments, you know. So that was a lot
of fun. And you know, I'll go over to the eeland.
I get see the Jaws Bridge, and that was really
surreal because that's one of my favorite scenes where the
kids are out and what they call the pond little
lagoon with their sailboats and here comes the big the
big fin under the bridge and that's a very iconic
(33:25):
moment in the movie. And the most chilling moment for
me in the movie is when a little boy is
attacked and it's such a sad scene. But we went
on at that beach as well. We did a couple
of things there, very cool. I'll be blogging about that
at Gulfgreat Whites dot com. But what I thought was
really interesting about this whole experience was looking at how
(33:46):
much Jaws impacted me and impacted doctor Skullmahl and other
people I've spoken with that like to work with sharks.
And you know, I'm not defending and saying like, you know,
nothing negative happened to sharks, but a lot of people
were inspired by it, and certainly Peter Benchley, the author
of the novel, he's also a reporter in the movie.
(34:08):
He had a great foundation later on became one of
the greatest shark conservationists of all time. And I just
wanted to just share this moment and talk a little
bit about Jaws for coming into the fiftieth anniversary next year,
but not really just about Jaws, about what I got
to do. You know, we have really challenging times upon
us right now. Financially, a lot of us are struggling
(34:31):
a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world,
a lot of unrest, but a dream of mine got
to come true. I got to go to a jaw
site and an even bigger dream of mine come true.
I got to go see a great white shark and
work with some scientists for a story in the Atlantic Ocean.
And I'm no one special. I'm just a regular guy,
(34:51):
but I get to do some special things because I
work hard, I believe, I have faith, and to see
that happen in this point in my life was just
really a fantastic thing. And I just want to inspire
a lot of you. I talk to a lot of
shark fans. I mean, my friend Fortune Ford and are
always trading messages. I have probably twenty people on my
(35:14):
social media who regularly message me about sharks, and I'm
talking about ranging from you know, teenagers to people in
their seventies. There's a universal love of sharks out there.
I mean, maybe not a universal love, a universal appreciation
for sharks. And then there's just a wide spread love
of sharks out there. And you can do great things
(35:34):
for sharks. You know. You can get involved with a
group like the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, support their actions,
their fundraisers and things they do, and you can find
ways to use your social media presence to raise awareness
to sharks, even right here in the Gulf of Mexico.
Through our Wild Wishes program, we got to take some
young people into the shark Cage at the Texas State Aquarium.
(35:57):
This year we had our Summer of the Sharks sponsored
by CC and it was a lot of fun. We
kicked it off by bringing my buddies Marina and Skyler
into the Shark Cage of the Texas State Aquarium. Got
to do this two other years with Olivia in twenty
twenty one, Eric Kasha in twenty twenty three, and now
(36:17):
Skyler and Marina. And Marina is going to school right now,
she graduated. She's going to school to work in marine conservation.
It couldn't be prouder of her. And Skyler's a big, fun,
awesome advocate of sharks, and so is Erica Sha so
awesome young people motivated by sharks right and motivated by that.
(36:38):
And Miss Wigram was telling me about, you know, people
who have cancer, saying that they kind of use that
the shark keeps on swimming as like, you know, a
place to inspire themselves to keep on fighting and keep
on living. So if you have a love of sharks,
you can help sharks and help the ocean by being
an advocate via social media, getting involved in the groups
(36:59):
like the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, or you know, other
groups are doing great things for the oceans. Groups like
CCA are just doing great advocacy for the Gulf Coast
and helping with habitat issues that impact sharks and things
like that. So if you would like to find a
way that you can use maybe social media to help sharks,
or you know, maybe you have an article you've written
(37:20):
about sharks you would like to publish somewhere, or you
know your love of sharks, some cool videos. I can
publish some of this stuff at my blog at Gulf
Great Whites dot com. I would love to help you
realize your dream of being a shark advocate here on
the Gulf Coast and lots of ways do that, and
you can email me at Chester at Chestermore dot com,
(37:41):
Chester at chestermore dot com. And more importantly, if you
know of a young person struggling, someone eighteen and under
struggling that's maybe lost a parent, have an illness, they
got some kind of major life challenge of depression, something
going on in their life, and they are big shark lovers,
(38:02):
please reach out to me. We would love to do
something special for them related to sharks. We would love
to give them a shark gift package and I can
mail that out real quickly if you contact me at
Chester at chestermore dot com with some info. But maybe
they want to get involved somehow, or maybe they want
to go see a cool aquarium or something like that
(38:22):
or whatever. We can make some cool things happen through
our Wild Wishes program. You know, Wild Wishes grants wildlife
encounters basically for hurting children and kids going through stuff.
And we just granted yesterday from recording this our two
hundred and fifty first Wild Wish in this program that's
been going on for ten years now. So maybe we
(38:43):
can do a shark Wish for a kid out there
that's struggling right now, let them know that life can
get better and use their love of sharks to inspire
them and maybe help them get some skin in the game.
I'm getting involved in conservation because what I've seen people
going through struggles. When they get in the skin in
the game, they can help something else that's been through
some persecution. They do amazing at it. So we believe
(39:06):
in the young people. We believe in shark conservation and
we love to tie kids into our Wild Wishes program
into things like conservation. So you can email me at
Chester at Chestermore dot com. Maybe we can help a
wild wish shark wish come true for a hurting kid
out there. And this doesn't matter where you're from. You
(39:26):
might be listening, you know in Oregon. Just send a
package of stuff to some kids that love sharks and Oregon.
So email me Chester at Chestermore dot com and thank
you so much for listening to the program. It's always
an honor and privilege to have people at Cynthia Wiggan
from the Atlanta White Shark Conservancy on the program. I
believe we have the best guests in All Outdoors Radio.
(39:47):
Follow me at the Chestermore on Instagram, Higher Calling Wildlife
on Facebook, Higher Calling dot net, my blog and my
newer blog, Golf Great Whites at Golf Great Whites dot com.
God bless and have a g rate outdoors Weekend.
Welcome to More Outdoors on News Talk five sixty k LVII.
This is Chestermore. For my entire life, my favorite creature
in the ocean has been the great white shark, and
I recently had the incredible opportunity to visit the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy doing some media work up that direction
in Massachusetts, out on beautiful Cape Cod and I'm so
(00:24):
excited to have on the line. Cynthia Wigran. She is
the co founder, along with her husband, of the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy. In twenty ten, she had a life
change when she got in a shark cage in South Africa.
And that's where our story begins twenty ten. If I
got it correctly in South Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, that is so.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'm assuming you're like the rest of us. She just
wanted to go do a cool great white experience again.
And you went into a shark cage in South Africa,
And so what were your expectations before getting in the water,
and what if anything changed while you're in the water.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
So leading up to the trip, I was definitely anxious
about it. I wanted to do it, but I was nervous,
and I watched a number of YouTube videos where white
sharks were chomping on cages and it just looked fairly scary,
(01:26):
so that I think going into it, I went in
with you know, a lot of nerves, thinking that it
was going to be a somewhat terrifying experience, even though
I still wanted to do it. But when we were
on our way out, we were on our way out
to Seal Island and one of the Planet Earth that documentary,
(01:48):
that was something that really inspired me, I think, to
want to go to Seal Island see the sharks because
there were the famous you know, breaching sharks in that area.
So it was really surreal to be on a boat
heading out to Seal Island and our naturalist on the
boat was incredible talk to us about what the experience
(02:10):
was going to be like and really calmed I think
my nerves. Also learn a lot about responsible eco tourism
through that in finding out what cage dive operators might
be doing to lower the sharks to the cages and
grab the bait around out last minute so that they
(02:31):
are hitting the cage inviting it, which responsible operators are
not doing. So that was so it was very educational
as well. But once we got out to the area
and it was my turn to get into the water
in the cage and see a shark. It was just
the most spectacular experience.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was, you know, the first shark that I saw.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
It was just so majestic and incredible, and I had
absolutely no fear at all, and I was just mesmerized.
It was really really amazing. And I think because I
did go into it feeling like it would be a
kind of a terrifying experience, and I had that absolute
(03:20):
opposite experience with the sharks, that is what really drew
me to the species and wanting to learn more about it.
Because I realized someone like me, who did, you know,
go into something like that with a love of wildlife
but still had that fear, realized how little I knew
(03:41):
about great white sharks, and just really wanted to learn
more about them. So it was ultimately a life changing
experience for me.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So this was really an on ramp for you to
think about getting involved deeper in sharks, particularly with great
white What is the transition from there to uh getting
inspired to start the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So at the time I had interest in learning more
about great white sharks, and the first sharks off of
the off the coast of Cape Cod that had been tagged.
Happened about seven months before I had that experience in
South Africa, so the timing of it was really interesting.
And so I came back from my trip and recognized
(04:33):
that there were great white sharks right in our backyard,
that it was relatively a new occurrence that was happening,
that great white sharks were, you know, that we had
the presence of them off the coast, and that scientist,
one scientist and in particular, doctor Greg Schomel, had the
(04:54):
opportunity to tag great white shark sharks off the coast
of Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So I just started to follow the work that he
was doing.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And about two years after I had that experience in
South Africa, I had a conversation with Greg to learn
more about the work that he was doing, and in
that conversation I found out that he relied on outside
funding for his research.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So he works for the.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
State of Massachusetts and the Fisheries department that he's working for,
they covered his salary, but he had to raise the
funds to do conduct great white shark research. And it
just seemed like we, you know, people were traveling all
over the world to these remote places to see great
(05:44):
white sharks, and here we have them right off of
the coast of Cape Cod And what an incredible opportunity
to be able to learn about the species and to
find out that funding was needed to you to provide
sustainable research here off the coast. It was something that
(06:09):
I felt it needed kind of an advocate to help
those funds and get that going. So there was no
nonprofit at the time locally that was supporting great white
shark research, and I thought, how hard.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Can it be to start a nonprofit?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
So I just went online and I googled how to
start a nonprofit in Massachusetts and that was it. My
career at the time was very different. I worked for
an online trading platform in the energy energy industry, and
I asked my boss for a six month hiatus when
(06:51):
I decided this thing that I was going to do,
and it would take an initial effort to kind of
get it up and running. And within three months I
knew that six months was not going to be enough
and if I really wanted this to be successful and
to really support the work, then I needed to commit
(07:14):
full time to it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So so that was it.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It was a There wasn't a huge amount of thought
that went into it in advance.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I'm I'm definitely a just do it kind of person.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And me too, our nonprofit for children. We decided to
do it in the next morning, we file paperwork and boom,
you know, we're working on it, kind of figuring out
as we go.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, and you know what, I think, that's that's what.
It takes a lot and you do figure it out.
I was fortunate to have the you know, the passion
for the wildlife and then the business background, so that
I think the combination of those two were helpful in
the startup world. Nonprofit is you know, is a business
(08:00):
in all the different aspects that's got its own unique
characteristics as well. But that part of it I think
was helpful in getting it initially up and running. But
it was certainly and you can completely relate to this
and starting your own you know, just jumping into the
deep end and just getting it done. So, you know,
(08:21):
initially we really wanted to support the research because we
knew that that was critical here to learn about the species.
We are living in a tourist economy here, so there
are a lot of millions of people that are visiting
the beaches here every year and recognizing that connection between
(08:43):
the research and public safety and education to really inspire
the long term conservation of the species, that those things
were all tied together.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
So the mission of.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Our nonprofit hasn't changed since we launched in twenty twelve,
but we've just really grown in all of the different
areas and there's a tremendous amount of interest in the
species here and that's been really incredible, I think, you know,
(09:18):
just to see what we've been able to learn over
the years.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy does incredible work that impacts
what we know about great white sharks to out not
only the Atlantic but also in the Gulf of Mexico.
We might remember Leebeth, the great white shark that showed
up at South Padre, scooted down the coast or up
the coast over towards Sabine. That shark is now in
Canadian waters. Amazing stuff we're learning because of research from
(09:45):
the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. You can get more information
from them at Atlantic White Shark dot org. And when
we come back on More Outdoors here on News Talk
five sixty KILVA, we're talking more with Cynthia Wigran about
her vision for shark conservation. Welcome back to More out
Doors on News Talk five sixty klv. I follow me
at the Chester, more on Instagram, Higher Calling Wildlife on
(10:09):
Facebook and Higherclung dot net, my blog and also my
Great White Shark blog at Gulf Great Whites dot com.
Continue our conversation with Cynthia Wigran of the Atlantic White
Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
We started to talk about jaws and that's how a
lot of people were educated about the species with not
necessarily the correct information. So it's it's very cool to
see people learning as we learn because all of the
information that we're gathering, the data through the research, is
(10:43):
shared with the public and so we're all we're all
learning about these animals together.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah. I think it's it's such a great marriage of education,
awareness and research. You know, having been able to be
up there twice now and see what you guys are doing,
and you mentioned the public safety element of this, I
think that is so important to what you're doing because,
let's face it, sometimes sharks attack people and kill them.
It happens not often, but you know, don't tell that
(11:11):
to the person who got hit their family member lost
You know there's that human part, but you guys are
able to educate people and give people information that ten
or fifteen years ago wouldn't have been possible to get people.
I mean I literally, I like right before we got
on there was a stark at the Coastguard Beach. You know,
(11:33):
I got the update there. And so tell us about
that app, because if someone online listens, probably the first
way they're going to connect with you is via your app, Sharktivity.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So the Sharktivity app is something that we launched in
twenty sixteen and it was a collaborative effort with US,
the Division and Marine Fisheries in Massachusetts, the Cape Cod
National Seashore, and talents across Cape Cod who really wanted
to raise awareness about the presence of sharks, offer of
(12:05):
our post and to be able to provide the public
with information. And you know, everyone has their phone on
them all the time, and so it's really a wonderful
way to be able to share the data that we have,
our sightings that we have uh with the public in
a in a really quick and efficient way. So Sharktivity
(12:27):
has a number of different data points on it. People
can go and look at shark sightings. There is also
information about tag sharks. I'm sure your your listeners are
familiar with lee Beth and heard your.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Adopted text are adopted text in Great white Yes exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Uh, so you know, Lee Beth can be tracked on sharctivity.
And there's also a citizen science component to the app,
so if people have see their own have their own
sightings of great white sharks, they can add that to
the app. They do get vetted and credible sightings are
(13:09):
added to the the app as well. So it's a
really it's a great tool and resource for the public.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
It's incredible. I actually my blog up have to send
it to you. It's called Experiencing Sharktivity, and so I
talk about being on the water last week and uh
watching Sharktivity happen, and then watching the update on my
phone which I screenshot that it came up and put
it on there and it was in a real time,
you know, and it was in a real time. And
then there was a guy on the beach from the
(13:39):
local beach community with the purple flag you know, in
the truck and making letting people make informed decisions. And
then that is so important you're dealing with carnivores, you know,
when you're dealing with something that you know that could
be potentially dangerous or even ungulates like you know, a
moose in an area or something like that. But wildlife,
you know, human wildlife conflict. And you guys have found
(14:00):
a way to use this but also to allow the
public to truth to it, which I think is really
get some skin in the game.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Mm hmm. And I think you make a great point
to say, you know, making informed decisions because from a
public safety perspective, you can't guarantee someone's safety. They're going
out in the ocean is a wild environment and that's
something that people, you know, need to remember. But people
can have the information and decide what their own risk
(14:30):
tolerance is. And that's really important because without it, you're
you're a little bit you know, blindfolded in certain ways
in that kind of environment. So it's it's great to
be able to give get that information out in a
in a really efficient way.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Incredible, So you've you've been out there and the tagging
and watching this thing, the genesis of this thing, and
literally you were connected to warning to learn about it
right when the first ones were pretty close to being tagged,
and then early year or so of that. What is
what have you learned about great white sharks? What is
the thing that just blows you away that you didn't
(15:10):
know before this journey.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I think one of the big things is that they're
they're just all in, you know, their own individuals, So
we're seeing different personality types. I don't know if personality
there were to ease necessarily, but that they behave different
ways that I think it was kind of an AHA
(15:35):
moment for me being out on the water and seeing
different sharks. It makes the science a little bit more
challenging too, when you recognize that their their behavior is
not all the same where they're coming to this area
at different times. Some are here for a full season,
(15:56):
some just pass through. Some have their kind of favorite spots.
My favorite shark, his name was James, and he would
just set himself up each year in this particular area
and he was just this steady, this big fourteen foot
great white shark who would spend a lot of time
(16:16):
at the surface and he was just super chill around
the boat and it was amazing to watch him and
so cool to see the shark come back and spend
time in the same area each year, so that I
think is one of the biggest kind of surprises for
me for being fortunate enough to see so many great
(16:37):
white sharks on the water.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And of course a lot of this data has to
do with the tagging being able to not only put
these satellite tags now camera tags on certain ones it
lasts for like twenty four hours or so. Acoustic ones,
which actually the ones that interests me the most because
of there are a lot of acoustic setups, like in
places like the Flower Gardens Marine National Sanctuary, which I
(17:02):
being a journalist, pesky journalist, asking all these biologis, I'm like,
have you heard any great white signals anywhere? And they're
like great white showing up? Nobody knows about out there,
you know, except scientists. So there's a lot of ways
that data is collected here and it's fed into this app,
but also fed out to the different agencies that are
managing these species and these waterways and things like that.
(17:23):
And the first thing I noticed about you mentioned the
fact that they all have different personalities. Go back to Leebeth.
I mean, I mean this shark was surfacing like it
was going like she was going crazy. I mean this
thing because you know, if you know, if you're listening,
if they have the satellite tag, if I have this correct,
they have to affect their fin out of the water
(17:44):
for that to pick up. So this girl is like
bam bam, bam bam everywhere, and I thought that was
so that really was for for us in Texas. Was
such an interesting journey to watch happen. You know. So
I see someone and I hadn't heard of AWSC at
(18:07):
this point, I see someone on an instant, someone on
a shark group a pose at South Padre Island Great White,
and I'm like, boom, you know, went made a bunch
of phone calls, harassed a bunch of people. So I
eventually got Chip, Michael Love and Megan went in on
the line. But this journey, this shark took and it
got people excited about that the Great White's coming back
(18:29):
to the golf and it was it was in a thing.
So with that said, what has been your favorite part
of the public's reaction to all of this. Has there
been something that's really just made you go, man, we're
doing a pretty good job here. Is there something that
in the public that you've seen that's a real positive
that's come out of these this app and this tagging information.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I think for me, the most impactful thing that I've
seen publicly as the connection to particular sharks, sharks that
people name. So one of the most significant is we
have a shark that was named after a soldier that
(19:13):
was killed in Afghanistan. He was killed in on September fourth,
twenty fourteen, and on the same day that he was killed,
there was a shark that was tagged, so we caname
that shark after this soldier and we have remained very
(19:35):
close with his family, and it's just a really incredible thing.
You know, it's a shark, and to see how moved
people can be, and especially someone who's you know, lost
a loved one when they have a shark the name
(19:56):
of this individual and they're able to follow at shark
you know on our app. It's it's really powerful and
really incredible and not something when I still think for
the nonprofit that I would have thought about.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
And you know, there are people that we met who.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Are battling cancer and they use sharks, you know, just
keep swimming as their motto, kind of pushed through what
they're dealing with challenges in life, so I think there
are those surprises.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
You can connect with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy at
Atlantic White Shark dot org. Also download their Shark Activity
app lots of great information to learn more about these
amazing species and the cutting edge research done on great
white sharks. You can follow my Great White Shark blog
Golf Great Whites dot com. If you subscribe, send me
(20:48):
an email at Chester at chestermore dot com with your
mailing address and I'll get you Golf Great Whites decal.
When we come back, we'll continue our conversation about the
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Welcome back to More Outdoors on
Newstalk five sixty klv. I. This is Chester Moore continuing
our conversation with Cynthia Wigban of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
We're just seeing things like that, you know, over the years,
these incredible connections.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
So I think from.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
A public perspective, having that ability to tag sharks and
track sharks and provide information, how that touches people's lives
in really unique and special ways is really incredible.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Absolutely, And I said, our nonprofit, my listeners will know this.
We grant wildlife encounters for children who are going through
hell on Earth. The loss of a parent or a
sibling terminal illness. We work with the group that brings
sex trafficking victim kids to us. We have one coming today,
actually this afternoon. We do wildlife encounters. And you know,
I found out this summer how many shark couple of
(21:58):
years ago, actually, how many shark fans we had in
our in our midst you know. So I was able
to go out there with you guys, and I'm in
the center and I'm shooting videos on the phone in
front of your you know, your shark replicas for my kids,
you know, to send to their parents, you know, just
saying hey, these people are awesome, and you know, and
Meghan has been really kind to one of our kiddos
and sending a video and some merch. And so I think, Cynthia,
(22:22):
what I've seen on this, and I think you and
I have maybe seen this in a different way, because
nature can be so inspirational to people, you know, And
I think when something bad happens, it's almost like all
of us life will never get better than the day
before that happened. And then the idea that there's something
(22:43):
epic and awesome and untamed and wild and beautiful out
there that you're connected to. Maybe maybe that's something that
can give people hope that better things can still happen,
you know. And so I suys things that people I
know that makes it gigantic difference in lives. And who
to thunk a great white shark is going to be
(23:07):
inspiring people, you know, fifty years ago, forty, you know,
fifty one years whatever it was when Jaws, Gill and
Jaws came out, you know. But here we are and
people are happy and smiling and wanting to learn more
about these incredible creatures. And but there's something you do
that I find is so amazing. It's your Gills Club.
So tell us about the Gills Club.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
So our Gills Club is an education initiative that we
launched in twenty fourteen, actually very soon after starting the nonprofit.
And I was really inspired by these young girls. When
we would do presentations about the work, I'd have young
girls come up to me at the end of the
(23:52):
presentation and they would tell me how much they loved sharks,
and it was really really cool to meet these kids.
But then I recognize that, you know, as much as
people love Shark Week and the shows that are out
there about sharks.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
They're really.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Kind of dominated by male scientists and people that are
maybe not scientists but just talking.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
About big personalities.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
On team right, thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
That's but for these young girls, you know, where else
would they actually be able to see an example of
what they could do when they grow up for a
career with sharks. Weren't seeing that on television, which is
(24:50):
you know where a lot of kids are getting their information.
So anyway, it inspired me because after starting the nonprofit,
I was also meeting female scientists in the industry and
just wondered if there was a way that we could
connect the two, and so we created the Gills Club
(25:10):
that was focused on connecting young girls to female scientists
in the field of shark research so that they could
share information and essentially also jumpstart girls interest in STEM
subjects and inspire them, providing them with role models in
(25:34):
the fields to be inspired about what they could potentially
do in the future. And so we have over one
hundred scientists from around the world that are part of
the Gills Club program, and we do hands on.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Workshops with local kids.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
So we utilize the research that's taking place and our
education and team creates workshops, these hands on learning opportunities
where where these kids can learn about what is research
kind of in real time.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
In these workshop environments.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
And we also have a Gills Club podcast so people
can listen to what the background is and research of
a number of our science team members for the girls club.
So it's really been Yeah, I mean we I think
it's interesting. Our conversation today is using the word inspire
(26:40):
quite a bit and people being inspired by sharks, and
I think people inspiring each other.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
In really ways.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
So the Shark Network is is pretty amazing and I'm
incredibly grateful for all of the connections that I made
through running this nonprofit and then seeing these young kids
and being able to engage them, and it's been pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So yeah, we love What are the ages for that?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
So the ages are it's kind of a younger probably
eight to eleven for the workshops, and then the podcasts
are geared towards older girls to listen to, you know,
the career paths of scientists in the field. And then
(27:40):
kind of that the middle age group we look to
recruit for volunteer work for participating these workshops and also
able to learn as they as they go but but
participating in educating young girls who are who are joining
the workshops.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has many educational resources. You
can find them in Atlantic White Shark dot org. That is,
Atlantic White Shark dot Org. Now, most of the people listening,
if you've heard of this organization here from the Gulf coastreads,
you've probably heard about Leebeth, the great white that showed
(28:22):
up at South Padre Island, made her way all along
the coast, popped up out of Sabine Pass, and by
the way, that shark is now in Nova Scotia. At
the last time she sent a transmission to the satellite
up there. And this is why this research is important.
It's unveiling the mysteries of great white sharks and getting
(28:43):
people an upclose look at the most famous iconic creature
in the entire ocean. Wales get larger, much larger, but
there is nothing as iconic and popular as the great
white shark. And I wanted to have s theo Wigren
on to talk about this and to talk about her
(29:04):
outreach and the outreach a AWSC does and things like
the Gills Club and other aspects of it, and get
the heart for this great organization, because trust me, if
they have one thing other than just great science and scientists,
they have heart and they have miles and miles of it.
Like I said last week, I got to go up
there and have the privilege of being on the water
(29:25):
with a couple other scientists and it was a really
amazing thing to see a great white shark swimming under
the boat and watch them as they're doing a study
utilizing drone to observe great white sharks and truly amazing
seeing the drone, seeing the sharktivity app updated in person,
seeing that happen was a really incredible thing as a
(29:46):
journalist to see. If you would like to connect with
the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, go to Atlantic White Shark
dot org. It's Atlantic White Shark dot organ check out
my blog about the sharktivity experience seeing it in real
life happening at golf Great whites dot com. Welcome back
to More Outdoors on News Talk five sixty KLVI. This
(30:06):
is Chester Moore. What a great interview was Cynthia Wigman
of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. You need to go
back if you if you miss part of that, go
listen to the whole interview. Go to KLVI dot com
and click on the podcast link at the top of
the page and can go back and see archives and
more outdoors, including that program which is up right now.
Really proud to have her. She is a conservation visionary
(30:30):
and it's really cool to see the work they're doing
at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, and I had a
chance to go up there with my friend Paul Pazinsky.
We're working on a special project involving great white sharks
and a really amazing aspect of the great white shark.
I wouldn't have an interest in great white sharks if
it weren't for the movie Jaws. Now, there's a such
(30:53):
thing as the Jaws effect, where you know, there were
a lot of people interested in, you know, catching a
big great white hanging the jaw the wall, that kind
of stuff, and there was certainly negative impacts for a while.
But in my opinion, the net value of what Jaws
did to sharks globally is probably a net positive, because
(31:14):
I don't think as many people would be interested. As
a matter of fact, I know not as many people
be interested in sharks that weren't for Jaws. I had
the chance interviewed doctor Greg schollmol and he's just an
incredible shark researcher that you know, is a big part
of the origin story when he was doing his initial
shark tagging in Massachusetts for the state government there. That's
(31:35):
a big part of why Miss Wigran founded the Atlantic
White Shark Conservancy. And I said, what was your shark story?
How did you want to become a shark scientist? He said, A.
My initial inspiration was a fictional character called Matt Hooper.
You might not know the name Matt Hooper right off,
but if you're a big Jaws fan, you probably do
because Matt Hooper in the movie was portrayed by Richard Dreyfus,
(31:58):
one of the iconic actors of America. I mean, what
a great cast. You had Roy Scheider, you had Robert Shaw,
you had Richard Dreyfus. I mean, just really an incredible
directed movie by Steven Spielberg, a score by John Williams,
who also did Star Wars et Raiders of the Lost Stark,
iconic movie, literally the first summer blockbuster movie back in
(32:21):
nineteen seventy five. And so I'm up in the Cape
Cod area and there was no way I was going
up that direction without seeing some of the sites where
Jaws was filmed. Jaws was filmed in Martha's Vineyard. It's
the island just across from Cape Cod, and so me
and Paul went over there and rode the forty five
(32:42):
minute ferry and it was really surreal because as we're leiaeving,
we look back and I see the Oceanographic Institute and
in Jaws, Matt Hooper played by Richard Dreyfus, says he
was from the Oceanographic Institute on the mainland. So literally,
I'm leaving the mainland of Cape Cod looking at the
ocean Graphic Institute, headed toward Cape Cod, which is Amity
(33:04):
in the Jaws movie. It was just one of those
cool connecting moments, you know. So that was a lot
of fun. And you know, I'll go over to the eeland.
I get see the Jaws Bridge, and that was really
surreal because that's one of my favorite scenes where the
kids are out and what they call the pond little
lagoon with their sailboats and here comes the big the
big fin under the bridge and that's a very iconic
(33:25):
moment in the movie. And the most chilling moment for
me in the movie is when a little boy is
attacked and it's such a sad scene. But we went
on at that beach as well. We did a couple
of things there, very cool. I'll be blogging about that
at Gulfgreat Whites dot com. But what I thought was
really interesting about this whole experience was looking at how
(33:46):
much Jaws impacted me and impacted doctor Skullmahl and other
people I've spoken with that like to work with sharks.
And you know, I'm not defending and saying like, you know,
nothing negative happened to sharks, but a lot of people
were inspired by it, and certainly Peter Benchley, the author
of the novel, he's also a reporter in the movie.
(34:08):
He had a great foundation later on became one of
the greatest shark conservationists of all time. And I just
wanted to just share this moment and talk a little
bit about Jaws for coming into the fiftieth anniversary next year,
but not really just about Jaws, about what I got
to do. You know, we have really challenging times upon
us right now. Financially, a lot of us are struggling
(34:31):
a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world,
a lot of unrest, but a dream of mine got
to come true. I got to go to a jaw
site and an even bigger dream of mine come true.
I got to go see a great white shark and
work with some scientists for a story in the Atlantic Ocean.
And I'm no one special. I'm just a regular guy,
(34:51):
but I get to do some special things because I
work hard, I believe, I have faith, and to see
that happen in this point in my life was just
really a fantastic thing. And I just want to inspire
a lot of you. I talk to a lot of
shark fans. I mean, my friend Fortune Ford and are
always trading messages. I have probably twenty people on my
(35:14):
social media who regularly message me about sharks, and I'm
talking about ranging from you know, teenagers to people in
their seventies. There's a universal love of sharks out there.
I mean, maybe not a universal love, a universal appreciation
for sharks. And then there's just a wide spread love
of sharks out there. And you can do great things
(35:34):
for sharks. You know. You can get involved with a
group like the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, support their actions,
their fundraisers and things they do, and you can find
ways to use your social media presence to raise awareness
to sharks, even right here in the Gulf of Mexico.
Through our Wild Wishes program, we got to take some
young people into the shark Cage at the Texas State Aquarium.
(35:57):
This year we had our Summer of the Sharks sponsored
by CC and it was a lot of fun. We
kicked it off by bringing my buddies Marina and Skyler
into the Shark Cage of the Texas State Aquarium. Got
to do this two other years with Olivia in twenty
twenty one, Eric Kasha in twenty twenty three, and now
(36:17):
Skyler and Marina. And Marina is going to school right now,
she graduated. She's going to school to work in marine conservation.
It couldn't be prouder of her. And Skyler's a big, fun,
awesome advocate of sharks, and so is Erica Sha so
awesome young people motivated by sharks right and motivated by that.
(36:38):
And Miss Wigram was telling me about, you know, people
who have cancer, saying that they kind of use that
the shark keeps on swimming as like, you know, a
place to inspire themselves to keep on fighting and keep
on living. So if you have a love of sharks,
you can help sharks and help the ocean by being
an advocate via social media, getting involved in the groups
(36:59):
like the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, or you know, other
groups are doing great things for the oceans. Groups like
CCA are just doing great advocacy for the Gulf Coast
and helping with habitat issues that impact sharks and things
like that. So if you would like to find a
way that you can use maybe social media to help sharks,
or you know, maybe you have an article you've written
(37:20):
about sharks you would like to publish somewhere, or you
know your love of sharks, some cool videos. I can
publish some of this stuff at my blog at Gulf
Great Whites dot com. I would love to help you
realize your dream of being a shark advocate here on
the Gulf Coast and lots of ways do that, and
you can email me at Chester at Chestermore dot com,
(37:41):
Chester at chestermore dot com. And more importantly, if you
know of a young person struggling, someone eighteen and under
struggling that's maybe lost a parent, have an illness, they
got some kind of major life challenge of depression, something
going on in their life, and they are big shark lovers,
(38:02):
please reach out to me. We would love to do
something special for them related to sharks. We would love
to give them a shark gift package and I can
mail that out real quickly if you contact me at
Chester at chestermore dot com with some info. But maybe
they want to get involved somehow, or maybe they want
to go see a cool aquarium or something like that
(38:22):
or whatever. We can make some cool things happen through
our Wild Wishes program. You know, Wild Wishes grants wildlife
encounters basically for hurting children and kids going through stuff.
And we just granted yesterday from recording this our two
hundred and fifty first Wild Wish in this program that's
been going on for ten years now. So maybe we
(38:43):
can do a shark Wish for a kid out there
that's struggling right now, let them know that life can
get better and use their love of sharks to inspire
them and maybe help them get some skin in the game.
I'm getting involved in conservation because what I've seen people
going through struggles. When they get in the skin in
the game, they can help something else that's been through
some persecution. They do amazing at it. So we believe
(39:06):
in the young people. We believe in shark conservation and
we love to tie kids into our Wild Wishes program
into things like conservation. So you can email me at
Chester at Chestermore dot com. Maybe we can help a
wild wish shark wish come true for a hurting kid
out there. And this doesn't matter where you're from. You
(39:26):
might be listening, you know in Oregon. Just send a
package of stuff to some kids that love sharks and Oregon.
So email me Chester at Chestermore dot com and thank
you so much for listening to the program. It's always
an honor and privilege to have people at Cynthia Wiggan
from the Atlanta White Shark Conservancy on the program. I
believe we have the best guests in All Outdoors Radio.
(39:47):
Follow me at the Chestermore on Instagram, Higher Calling Wildlife
on Facebook, Higher Calling dot net, my blog and my
newer blog, Golf Great Whites at Golf Great Whites dot com.
God bless and have a g rate outdoors Weekend.
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