The MytBusters reveal how they stay safe while swimming with sharks AND flming a TV show.

G'day guys,

I can't say how stoked I am that I got to work with such professional guys. The Mythbusters Adam and Jamie are absolute gentlemen and the crew of the Gulf Stream Eagle were fantastic support. Thanks guys.


Look out for my article on the Shark Week shoot with the Mythbusters in th

As the Discovery Channel gets set to air its ever popular Shark Week I've been flat out working with my management and sponsors on a few show ideas. I feel honoured that our ideas are good enough to be offered a production contract with an incredible production studio in Los Angeles. It's definitely been a busy couple of months but I'm absolutely stoked.

So why did I mention Shark Week? Well at the beginning of this year Patric Douglas of SharkDiver.com offered to put me in line for the DSO (dive safety officer) on an upcoming shoot. It sounded like fun especially as it was in the Bahamas and I was itching to get back over there and revisit the Tiger Sharks of Grand Bahama Island. It turned out the shoot was with the Mythbusters, a show I've been a fan of since it's inception. Actually I remember having an argument just a couple of years ago with a friend who didn't particularly like the show, however their problems with it were exactly what I loved about the concept… quite simply they take a scientific approach to a problem, apply out-of-the-box thinking and come up with a replicable solution or proof. So yeah, I'm a bit of a science geek, no apologies here!

After meeting the Mythbuster crew and setting the guidelines for the shoot I joined them in the Bahamas aboard the Gulf Stream Eagle to film their Shark Week special. I was simply there for their safety but as I inevitably had to be in some of the same scenes they allowed me to work on camera and we had a lot of fun doing it! As I enter the work of television and film production I only hope that the crews I will work with are as professional as those guys. So it looks like I'm set to get a couple of minutes of airtime on Shark Week. I can't tell you how excited I am about it, quite honestly if I make a couple of scenes or even get a glimpse in the background I'll be stoked.

So I guess my enthusiasm must be contagious because a couple of my friends and sponsors have decided to help me celebrate. In all honesty it started out with my proposal that we get together and have a drink for each time a myth gets busted or we see one of our friends on TV, but they came up with a better idea… letting you guys score some free gear! I'm overwhelmed by their generosity as they've donated about $5000 in prizes, check out my website for details.

I'm having a lot of fun with this promotion but I'm really excited to see what else is on this coming week. Last years host Les Stroud has a special that will definitely be worth a watch. Apparently they went to South Africa to work with Great White Sharks. I got a bit of an inside scoop about the shoot from Jeremiah Sullivan of Neptunic Sharksuits … I won't provide any details but I look forward to seeing the show as the action he described to me sounds pretty incredible! Jeremiah is the man and has been in the shark industry for over 30 years, his shark suits are used in at least three shows on Shark Week this year (the same suits he so generously let me use to further enhance the safety of Adam and Jamie) and he appears on at least two, awesome stuff from J.  Taking it back to my homeland there is a special on Australias North East coast which I hope will make me a little homesick! Marine Biologist Richard Fitzpatrick is profiled in this show which is awesome, he was a role model for me at college, he's an amazing film maker and his work with Tiger Sharks is just incredible and definitely worth a watch.

Shark Week is an opportunity to have a bit of fun with a subject that we all love but there is a serious side to it as well. As most intelligent people know sharks are villainized and targeted worldwide by fisherman and the unfortunate effects of environmental degradation. While you are watching bear in mind that a lot of money is put into these productions not just for entertainment value but for education. Yes some of the shows might have some scary music and a deep throated announcer going for a bit of shock value, but the fact remains that it is the only week devoted to potentially endangered species on any network worldwide. I only hope that an objective viewer can watch these shows and see the people who are really making a difference in educating people about the true nature and plight of these amazing animals. Also take note of the scientists and divers working on the shows. I've looked up many of them for years and hope that in my future career (details to follow sometime soon ;) I get to work with them and shine a further spotlight on some amazing work that seldom gets recognized…

Until then I'm stoked to have worked with some of my heros and if I do make the cut with the Mythbusters show I'll be ecstatic. I'd specifically like to thank Patric Douglas of Sharkdiver.com for the hookup and a rad trip to give away, John from Bathys Hawaii and Aaron from Ocean Reef for the other prizes and their continued support.

Cheers guys,

Happy Shark Week

-Luke Tipple

Recently the "Wildside Encounters: Shark Attack" video hit 1.3 million views and I'm absolutely stoked. So many people have asked about the story behind this unique piece of footage so here's what really happened.

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Isla Guadalupe is one of the few untouched places in the world where a traveler can truly visit an extreme environment. Out here we have no real contact with the outside world except for satellite phones and long range radio. There are no flights, choppers or fast boats to get out there but making the 24 hour sea voyage is well worth it when you consider it is the single greatest place to dive with Great White Sharks in the world.

Typical dive conditions are 100ft of visibility, deep blue water (seriously, you can't see the bottom which is 200-300 feet below you!) and beautiful sunny skies. The typically pleasant conditions can be deceptive however and I have seen seemingly perfect weather turn into gale force winds and water spouts within hours!! That day in October was one of the perfect days where the water is calm, the sharks are plentiful and the conditions just 'feel' right. I was working on the back deck of the Islander (in my somewhat biased opinion the best boat to dive Guadalupe from) with SharkDiver clients when I watched a 14 ft shark jump 6 feet out of the water followed by what looked like a water fountain of blood on the surface. Great White sharks are known to jump out of the water in a display called a 'breach' which can be used for territorial displays or for feeding… this breach was definitely the later.

Luckily Maurico Hoyas, a local researcher that I've had the pleasure of working with for three years, had his boat nearby so I yelled for him to come over and we sent one of our lucky divers out to film the action. Credit has to go to Kevin Dean for the footage he brought back, he's not a pro cameraman but the shots were great. Over the next 15 minutes we witnessed a Great White shark tear apart a 400 pound Northern Elephant seal. This was the first time that a feeding event such as this had been filmed at Isla Guadalupe which is extremely significant. Prior to this day prominent researchers were still arguing whether the sharks are predating on the huge elephant seals, well guys, they certainly are and Mauricio was right!

There was a certain amount of controversy surrounding the filming of this event. During the feeding there were three boats around the shark; ours, a fishermans (local) and another tour operators. The aforementioned operator was there in an inflatable dingy and was asked to leave the area as the shark was acting quite aggressively towards the boats (read: biting them), however they did have a nice camera trained on the shark so I hope one day that footage also comes out. In any case reports of the tenders 'running over a feeding shark' were absolutely incorrect, nothing of the kind happened and the scientific value of such footage is undeniable.

So anyway we rushed home (taking 24 hours of course) with the footage and I immediately drove to Long Beach to film the intro with the 689 Design film crew so we could share this footage with everyone. Obviously you enjoyed it and I hope you were not only entertained but educated by this Wildside episode.

Cheers
Luke