SHARKS’ BEST PAL
They’re cool, not cruel, sez famed ‘Jaws’ diver in new film
Fear isn’t in Valerie Taylor’s vocabulary.
The spearfisher-turned-conservationist and diving hall-of-famer doesn’t “get afraid like some people,” she told the Daily News while promoting a new documentary about her life that’s streaming on Disney+.
“Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story,” directed by Sally Aitken, explores the legacy of the 85-year-old Australian and the stunning waters and marine life that obsess her.
The film’s title comes from the 1962 documentary “Playing with Sharks,” made by the “An Adventurous Life” author and her late husband, shark expert Ron Taylor, with whom she shot footage for the mega-hit movie “Jaws.”
While outsiders might be in awe of Taylor or presume her swimming alongside sharks constitutes a death wish, she disagrees, dispelling myths about the so-called “man-eaters.”
Rather than experience fear, Taylor says, “I get angry.”
“You push me, I’m going to push you back harder,” she told The News, saying she’s “always been like that,” unless it comes to her Achilles’ heel: heights.
“So I do have a fear, but it’s got nothing to do with sharks,” Taylor said, adding that she finds swimming into jellyfish to be a “pretty horrible” experience and is more concerned about facing heavy currents than creatures below the surface.
Reframing the way people view sharks is a large part of Taylor’s personal mission and the film’s message.
Footage of Taylor “swimming around with what [people] would consider man-eaters, killers” should reinforce for viewers that sharks are not nearly as dangerous as they’re made out to be, the diver says.
“I mean, ‘Jaws’ had the opposite effect, unfortunately,” she said of the 1975 classic, which she and husband Ron assumed would be a B-movie seen by hardly anyone.
The fact that Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster helped to redefine the cinematic experience and the audience’s view of sharks, “was a surprise to my husband and myself, because we never expected it,” said Taylor.
“It was a fictitious story about a fictitious shark,” Taylor added. “But, the general public took it very seriously and it caused a great deal of trouble for sharks in the ocean. Men went out killing them and saying, ‘I’ve just killed a man-eater. Aah, I’m good. I’m big. I’m strong.’ And we spent a lot of time trying to educate the public that this is not what sharks are really like. There’s only about six or seven that are potentially dangerous. The rest of them aren’t.”
But Taylor doesn’t blame Spielberg for the outcome.
“He did a good job, as we did a good job,” she said. “None of us had any idea of the end result, regarding the general public. They loved it. It seems the average person likes to be afraid about something. They want a monster. … There’s always been a monster, all through history, in every country. So, suddenly, it was a poor old great white shark.”
Of course, Taylor acknowledged, there are exceptions to any rule. And she realizes attacks can happen if a “very curious” shark sees “something thrashing around on the surface” and, not having hands to feel with, could try to “feel with their teeth.” But she wants people to realize that the feared ocean dwellers shouldn’t be demonized any more than other animals.
“There’s the shy fish, the friendly fish, the scared fish and the bully. It’s just the same as a bunch of dogs, really, on land . ... They all have different personalities,” she explained. “I guess that’s been the secret of my success, not being afraid and handing out treats like lollies. Sharks are no different to a land animal, they like a treat and they will hang around you for one.”
Nowadays, says Taylor, who’s “been battling governments, societies, and fishermen” since the early 1960s, “People seem to be suddenly very keen on having a better understanding about [the] marine world. And I find that encouraging.”