What are they thinking?

[The Kraken]

I watched, to my utter amazement, a program last evening on the Animal Channel that showed divers doing all of the things which the majority of the diving community, from what I've observed, feel completely against the conduct of good diving.
The program to which I refer is "Extreme Encounters". The program features 3 free divers, two guys and a gal, who were purportedly studying the habits of the Greater Hammerhead shark.
The hypothesis of one of the divers, from what I could gather, is that the hammerhead is solely focused on one task and is oblivious to any other occurrences about him.
To make a long story short, the divers bait the hammerheads in and then end up taking joy rides along with the sharks while holding onto either the dorsal or pectoral fins.
The second segment showed them "studying" the comeback of the Giant Grouper in the Florida Keys.
In one of the scenes the diver, while attempting to encourage a grouper to vacate his lair, is "bitten" by the grouper. Needless to say, imminent fatality is hovering about with the grim reaper eagerly watching with bated breath.
To me it looked as if the poor grouper was doing everything possible to dislodge the diver's arm from his throat while the diver was holding onto one of his gills.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen these productions and what, if anything, can the diving community do to discourage such "research" farces.

 

[MikeC]

Does one of the guys have long hair, and a beard? Looks like a hippie reject? The female is good looking? If so, the shows are old and you are very correct TV at it's worst.

 

[mempilot]

Does one of the guys have long hair, and a beard? Looks like a hippie reject? The female is good looking? If so, the shows are old and you are very correct TV at it's worst.

Manny eh? You should see the one where they are diving in the Gulf of Mexico being pursued by a Mako. He pulls out his 11" dive knife to defend the good looking female as she tries to swim back to the boat which is probably driving away from her. I lauged my butt off and wished the Mako would win the battle.

 

[jbd]

That would be Manny, Mark and Meghan showing us what not to try at home---or anywhere else.

 

[jagfish]

Illustrates everything that seems wrong with these "me versus nature" staged adventure shows recently. Irresponsable...

Like you, I wish the wildlife would win more often.

JAG

 

[The Kraken]

Ah yes, those are the culprits.
I amazed me, too, that while both male divers always wore what appeared to be 3mm wet suits, the diving diva was always shown in a thong bikini . . . go figure.

 

[jagfish]

The way I would want to see her, basically...

 

[cyklon_300]

footage from an older show called 'The Aquanauts'...

A pathetic attempt at showcasing 'humans exploring the marine environment'...but actually it was just a hybrid version of Baywatch and Crocodile Hunter.

Watch me be hot, watch me be macho, watch me harass wildlife for no reason...

 

[MikeFerrara]

footage from an older show called 'The Aquanauts'...

A pathetic attempt at showcasing 'humans exploring the marine environment'...but actually it was just a hybrid version of Baywatch and Crocodile Hunter.

Watch me be hot, watch me be macho, watch me harass wildlife for no reason...

The Aquanauts was that PADI sponsored/pushed show. One of the gals from the show is all over the PADI texts and videos.

The "extreme encoutsers" Stuff with the gut being eaten by the grouper is pretty old.

 

[The Kraken]

With the philosophies that the show promotes, it's a sad thing that it's still in syndication.