A photographer’s pursuit redefines sharks

I wish I could meet a terrible “cannibal”, but when I saw it, I realized it was an unprepared animal, more afraid of me than I did. That moment aroused my curiosity and I decided to learn more about the sharks. I went to Guadalupe, near the Pacific coast of Mexico, saw the great white sharks, and then I carried a small point-and-shoot camera. When I managed to photograph a big shark, I realized that the camera was more than just a tool, it was a means to reach my goal of encountering a shark.

The sharks in these movies have reduced their descriptions of many people to one or two: they are frightening and dissatisfied. What did you learn from being with them? Why defend them?

I dreamed of becoming a diver since I was a kid because my parents were divers. When my mother died when I was only one year old, my dad once told me about his adventures with the sharks. He said they were terrible. When I was seven, I watched the movie jaw, I was attracted to the scientist’s character Matt Hooper. Finally, when the shark destroys the boat, Hooper enters the cage and the shark breaks it up, everyone thinks he must have been eaten, but in the end he survives. Shortly after watching the movie, we went to the beach in the tuxedo in Veracruz, eastern Mexico. My dad bought a dead shark from the fisherman and I played on the beach with my half-brother. Those moments led to my love for sharks. To me, living with animals is my safe space. At that time, when I was really myself, I felt calm. I’m very free and rest assured.

Wired covers how overfishing reaches the deep sea, threatening rays and sharks. Have you seen a change in population during your 20-year encounter with these creatures? What does it feel like to witness the impact on our oceans firsthand?

I have seen two phenomena. In the case of Cozumel Island near the coast of the Caribbean Riviera Maya, there is not too far away, and live another life than you do now. But I also saw places like Cabo Pulmo, in Baja Tim, California, where there were almost no sharks 20 years ago, and now it is with them. When sharks are naturally present and no one supports the crowd and feeds the shark, this suggests that the ecosystem is healthy. In Cabo Pulmo, they created a protected area that has become the point of hope. These areas are not enough, but you can find the entire food chain from sharks to the smallest plankton. When you take away the shark, the entire ecosystem becomes unbalanced.

Recently, I’ve seen more and more deaths and bleached corals, which is very sad.

What is that?