So this week, I got a notice from Alina Machado (
@AlinaCNN) and Javier de Deigo (
@JaviCNN) from CNN that they were about to go live with a piece on me for CNN's "
@NewDay."
This was huge news since I've gotten smatterings of coverage across the U.S. (A LOT IN FLORIDA) about my journey since the Ocearch tagging.
So I make sure I get on CNN as soon as possible to see the piece. AND it was #Jawsome...
Click here to see for yourself...
But then the segm
ent ended and was tossed back to New Day cohosts Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) and Chris Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo). Kate turns to Chris and says "You know I'm really interested in how they give them their names. What would you nickname a shark?" and Chris responds with "I don't know, dangerous? toothy? landshark?"
I stopped watching at that point. And the twitter feud began....
And I may have gone over the top when I posted...
There was a lot of back and forth and the conversation ended with Cuomo thinking I was out to eat him or something. Not the case at all.
See, Chris unknowingly struck a nerve.
Since Jaws came out 39 years ago, you human folks have feared us, hunted us, thought of us only as mindless killing machines. But we're not mindless. And statistically, when it comes to humans, we aren't killing machines either. And when the adjectives dangerous and toothy rolled off Cuomo's lips, it was like watching the fictional Bruce tear into the kid on the raft. Brutally painful.
My primary mission is scientific, but long term, my role is educating people. And in my first moment in the spotlight, my first moment of national media coverage I thought "yes, here's my chance to say I'm not evil. I'm not going to eat your babies as soon as they stick a toe in the water." Humans and GWS can finally live in harmony... but I may have been a little too hopeful, too soon.
I mean Cuomo could have chosen 1,000 other words - majestic, sleek, awesome, powerful, beautiful, lovely, hot, sexy beast - all very true and accurate descriptions of me. #wink
But truth be told... we have A LOT to learn about each other and dangerous is a really good adjective to describe both of our species.
See, my vision isn't always that great. And you lot don't always swim in the clearest water. So if I'm chasing a fish or a turtle or a seal and it swims into murky water, you can guarantee I'm going to follow it. If you're leg is hanging off a surfboard or in my path, it's likely that I could ...er... bump into you.
But those times are the exception.
Since I started my twitter feed, I've maintained, humans are
#NotMyFlavor. I did say in my dispute with Cuomo that I would make an exception for him. That was wrong. I wouldn't, and no self-respecting great white shark for that matter, wants to eat people.
I do like to play a good game of "Let's Freak Out the Humans" which usually just means me popping my dorsal fin out of the water for a minute or two and then sit back and watch everyone run out of the surf.
Anyway, the dispute ended:
But as I was explaining to my buddy, Chris Fischer, I may have gone a bit over the top.
So Cuomo, if you read this, I apologize for my over reaction. Maybe one day we can sit down, slice up some seal and have a good laugh.
