When I first started studying medicine, I was determined not to be caught up in the 'medicine bubble' and to focus on friends from outside of my university cohort. It's a demanding course and spending time with a whole bunch of 'Type As' surely couldn't be healthy.
But then I ran into some problems.
The people I study with are smart. They are funny. They are beautiful. They have lived. And worst of all, they have stories.
Yep, it turns out many of them are just curious misfits like me, trying to find their way in their world, asking endless questions, seeking copious amounts of adventure, and desperate to make some kind of positive contribution to the world around them.
So I thought I would kick off Easter with a small story about one of my favourites - the one James Paratore.
James is a Fremantle boy. Cray fisherman first. Sicilian second. Gardener third. Collector, restorer, displayer of family heirlooms fourth (including framing his grandmother's recipes). Chief cocktail maker and basil pesto crusher fifth. Dedicated uncle sixth. Garden waterer seventh (I know I mentioned gardening, but he really does spend a lot of time out there). Salsa dancer / Spanish student / Traveller eighth. Medical student ninth. Pharmacist 10th.
James loves the ocean. Even more than he loves his garden. Which is a lot. And for the past few months he has been doing what he does every Summer. Wrapped in ocean breeze, summer sunrise, and an air so fresh you could shower in it, James and his father Joe head out on their 48 foot cray vessel, the Vanessa James. Each day, they pull their traps out south of Rottnest Island.
This week, James had a particularly special moment when he captured some amazing footage of more than 30 sharks.
This is his story.
They can smell blood from kilometres away, circle their victims before they rip them to shreds, and are instinct driven machines. Right??
To cull or not to cull has been the
question shaking every drum line in Western Australia in the past couple of
years.
But a young Fremantle fisherman is saying
it is time we completely rethink the conversation.
In some lively footage taken out at sea
this week, medical student and second- generation cray fisherman James Paratore
shows the inquisitive and playful nature of these mysterious creatures.
“Perhaps that dialogue needs to shift to a
yearn for understanding, and for appreciation as to how these animals operate
and how we interact with them,” James says.
“There is still so much we do not
understand about the ocean, the animals it holds, and the broader ecosystem.
“They say space is the final frontier, but
I’d suggest that perhaps the true final frontier is understanding the ocean.”
James, 31, heads out on the Vanessa James with his father Joe
Paratore on weekends and between university classes. His family migrated to
Fremantle from Italy and his father has been fishing here since the 1960s.
He says seeing bronze and whaler sharks in
groups of more than 30 is now a daily occurrence at sea, whereas five years ago
you would be lucky to see sharks once every fishing season.
He is posting his footage on YouTube in
order to educate the community and all money raised from views of the footage
will go towards research into shark behaviour.
More recent studies have indicated sharks
have powerful problem-solving skills, possess social complexity and curiosity
and work together as teams.
They’ve also been known to engage in
playful activities and contrary to popular belief, only a handful of the 360
species of shark have been known to be involved in human attacks.
Research has also found shark activity and
feeding behaviour is heavily influenced by electrical signals, water
temperatures, full moons and the activities of fisherman.
“The purpose of the footage I took a few
days ago was not to shock and awe the public but more just to raise awareness
about the natural environment - about how we are pretty lucky to be immersed
basically in the arms of mother nature, especially as a fisherman,” James says.
Western Australia’s shark debate grabbed
international attention last year when Australia’s Federal Environment Minister
Greg Hunt granted the state government a temporary exemption from national
environment laws protecting Great White Sharks, to allow otherwise illegal acts
of harming or killing the species.
The policy was in response to seven fatal
shark attacks off the WA coast between 2010 and 2013.
It authorised and funded the deployment of
drum lines near popular beaches with baited mid-water hooks designed to catch
and kill. All sharks found hooked but still alive and measuring more than three
metres in length were to be shot and disposed of at sea.
More than 70 drum lines were in place from
January until April 30, 2014. During that time, 172 sharks were caught. Of
those, 50 were Tiger sharks greater than three metres in length, which were
then killed. According to the state government’s SharkSmart website, Tiger
Sharks may only have been response for one non-fatal shark bite in WA since
1980.
None of the sharks caught were Great White
Sharks. Eight other animals were also captured, including stingrays.
In September 2014 the Western Australian
Environment Protection Authority recommended against the setting of drum lines
in the following two summers. The government has retained the option to deploy
lines under certain circumstances under its ‘imminent threat’ policy.
Drum lines have been deployed in Western
Australia on at least three occasions since then, including at Esperance and
Albany.
For James, a qualified pharmacist who made
the switch to medicine in 2013 but who retains the ocean as his first love,
this is a nagging source of sadness.
“These streamlined prehistoric creatures
are absolutely fascinating. The way they move, the way they behave – they are a
sight to behold,” he says.
“We are truly privileged to be able to
interact with these awesome animals in their natural habitat. I’d hate to see
that change.”
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