THE HUNTERS SON

Taking the worlds most infamous and hated shark hunter’s children diving with sharks for the first time.
Film by Madison Stewart
Made possible by Florida Shark diving floridasharkdiving.com
Footage by: Perrin James, Joseph A. Yerkovich, Marcos Berumen
Many years ago I approached infamous shark hunter 'Mark the Shark' our of Miami, Florida for an interview. He invited me on the boat where I witnessed him running charters where customers could catch their own sharks. Mark and I have remained friends ever since. He's meant to be my enemy, he's proud of removing hundreds of thousands of sharks out of the oceans, tigers, hammer heads, threshers and many of the species I haven't even seen yet. Yet I took a different approach to Mark because I wanted to know more, I wanted to be involved in his recreation and his customers.
This friendship allowed me to only a few years later, take the next generation of shark hunters, Marks children, swimming with sharks for the first time. It was an idea I had all along but my friendship with mark built the trust that allowed it to happen. Mark will never change his ways or come see sharks in the wild with me, but his amazing children, Maverick and Savannah, who already have a lot of experience hunting sharks, were thrilled to come see sharks with me.
The process leading up to this project was long and important to me, many people were hostile to my choice to be Marks friend and said I did it for my own agenda, but they are also people who have not achieved any influence on these kinds of people. It took me a long time to realise that hatred wasn't going to be a tactical advantage in changing the world, and when I did, I started to change the world. Many people only know mark and his kids through online arguments and hatred, I didn't do what I did to convert them or to turn them against their dad, I just wanted them to have a friend on our side willing to show them that hunting isn't the only way to get close to sharks, and i'm honoured to be a part of their life.
You can help my project by donating:
patreon.com/sharkgirl