SJA in This Afternoon on Lunch Now. In nineteen seventy five, one movie forever changed how we saw sharks and indeed how we saw movies. Now, fifty years later, Jaws is still sending ripples through pop culture and also the conservation world. This July National Geographic honors the blockbuster that redefined summer
with Jaws at fifty The Definitive Inside Story. It's a brand new authorized documentary featuring never before seen footage, personal home videos, and exclusive interviews from everyone from Steven Spielberg to James Cameron, Emily Blunt, Guillermo del Toro, and shark scientists like Felippe Gusto. It's part of this year's Shark Fest lineup, and it's more than just movie nostalgia. It's
a celebration of storytelling, of science and the sea. One of the voices featured in the documentary is that of Gibbs Gurguru, a Kenyan shark scientist whose work explores the a of these incredible animals, and he joins us now to talk at sharks and science and also what it means to undo decades of myth and misunderstanding. Gibb's good to have you with us on Cape Talk this afternoon.
That's a pleasure listen.
You've you've worked with with some of the most the ocean's most or inspiring sharks. What what first drew you to study sharks?
You know, I my passion for studying sharks was actually bequeathed to me from my study advisor. During my bachelor's I was studying medicine and with you, I wasn't good at it. And if you know, if I ended up becoming a medical doctor, it's like a malpractice suit waiting to happen. So he's like, maybe you better dive with sharks instead, And I was like, all right, you know, I might as well. You know what I got to lose.
And I mean, it's they are. They are such fascinating creatures. Did you have any idea when you first essentially kind of got into the water, just how your love and fascination of them would develop.
Honestly, no, because truth be told, I just sort of went there almost just to see what was going to happen. And every day I just tried something different. I practiced my skills. And after it's been like what like almost fifteen years that I've been working with these animals. I actually think I'm getting kind of good at it at
this stage. So and the passion also follows with you know, just showing up every day, and I think that's I mean, that can be said for anything you do in life, whether it be art or science, or music or business. You know, to show up.
You focus on shark DNA, won't you just tell us a little bit about what that research involves and how it helps us understand sharks shark species in their behavior.
You know, the thing I love the most about DNA is that it sort of tells you the hidden stories that you're never going to be able to tell just
by looking at the animal. You know, everything that that animal has experienced from generation to generation is imprinted into their DNA, and all it takes is just a tiny piece of tissue and some technology, and we can read what that code says generation after generation and then sort of understand what these animals are living like, what they're going through, where they like to live, who they mat with.
All of these are the things that we can we can understand just by learning about the tiny molecules hidden in every cell.
You are one of the voices featured in Jewels at fifty. Just tell us how it came to be. Gives that you were involved in the documentary and what does it mean to be part of this tribute to such an iconic film.
Yeah, So Laurent Bozzrow, I hope I'm saying his name properly. He's a director of the film. He was clearly he was approved by Steven Spielberg himself, and he was, you know, looking for some voices, and I guess he found me as a sort of an alternative voice and just said, you know, would you like to share some of the the impacts that you've seen from the Jaws film? And I heard you say earlier that it was the first
horror movie that you watched. I mean, it was also one of the first that I watched as a kid growing up in Kenya. But there's so many firsts with regard to Jaws. You know, it is a mass piece. It was the the first summer blockbuster ever, So I mean, we have like summer blockbuster season and it was literally Jaws that started them. I mean, what how can we have,
you know, our current existence without Jaws. It almost feels like there's there's plenty plenty to be said, for how it's impacted many cultures, many lives around the world.
It's also impacted, it's fair to say, how we view sharks, and an awful lot of people might credit Jaws with really sparking a kind of global shark fear. Do you think that the film, I guess, unfairly demonized sharks or maybe conversely helped raise awareness of them in its own way.
Yeah, I kind of feel like we were always afraid of sharks in some way, or at least afraid of the ocean, and then Jaws came along, which, by the way, excellent filmmaking. I mean, if you saw what Spielberg and the team was able to do in nineteen seventy five with the technology they had of the day, absolute masterful
artistic filmmaking. However, you know, when people watched it, they became afraid of sharks because now the fear of the ocean had a face and it had a name, and the same was Jaws, the Great White Shark, you know, whereas Bruce we like to call it, and I have to just say this, why is it that we can't just enjoy the film without having that film inform how
we feel about real world issues. You know, it would be like if I watched Jurassic Park and you know, the next time I stepped into the jungle, I was like, you know, just just waiting for a t rex to creep up on me. It's you know, it's a film, but it's not a scientific documentary. And I think that that's for me as a scientist. I have seen Jaws
a lot of times. I appreciate the the artistic presentation for the people that actually studied sharks and you know, tried to understand what a shark looked like, how it moved. But I don't see that as as any way as like as a real world portrayal, a true portrayal of great white sharks. And if you have any question for how sharks actually live or how they exist, get on social media. Find sharks. Scientists like Jasmine Graham, like Melissa Marquez,
like Jessica Kramp. These are people that are you know, exposing the true nature of sharks in such a beautiful way that it's like you don't need to get on the news, just just get on social media. It's free. You know, the news has been democratized. We have the freedom to see the truth from our peers, if.
You're just joining us this afternoon on lunch, I'm chatting to Gibbs Kuguru, who's one of the voices featured in a new national geographic documentary it's called It's called Jaws at fifty The Definitive Story. It's fifty years since that movie really forever change not only how we saw sharks, but, as Gibs just said, how we saw movies. And it forms part of this year's Shark Fest line up more than just movie nostalgia, really a celebration of storytelling, of science.
It's featuring brand new, never be seen or never seen before footage, some personal home videos, and exclusive interviews with people like Gibbs and Steven Spielberg James Cameron. In terms of how this documentary reframes the legacy of Jaws, Gibbs, is it helping to kind of shift the story from that fear that we just spoke of to respect and curiosity and then in turn towards conservation.
Oh, one hundred percent. And that's actually one of the main reasons why I feel comfortable sitting on the panel, of course with absolute giants like Spielberg and Jordan Peel and Glmore Gaielmore de tour. I can't say that name, g del Toro, but you know, for me it was such an honor because you know, we're actually understanding the behind the scenes of what actually happened behind the making of Jaws, and also what can be said about how we can use this ex pose on sharks to protect sharks.
And you know, no message could be any more important to me as a shark scientist and understanding how best to exist and coexist with the wildlife that inhabits our environment.
You are doing really kind of cutting edge work in marine science. So what's it like being a shark researcher on the African consonant and how how are our waters shaping shark research not just here on the continent but globally.
That is the best compliment anyone has ever given me. Like, honestly, I'm floating on cloud nine, Sarah Jane, So thank you for that. What I can say as an African shark scientist and just well just a shark scientist in general, is that there are so many frontiers yet to be explored, so many voices yet to be heard, and you know,
so many mysteries yet to be uncovered. Because sharks are you know, as much as we know about sharks, and I think shark science, you know, I want to say it's you know, close to thirty or forty years old, as like as like a cohesive field. We still know very little about these animals. And what I would love to see is more young folks getting out there and pushing the edges of what we understand with regards to sharks and marine conservation. I am just, you know, just
just a cog in the in the gigantic machine. That's that's going to continue for generations. So if there's any shark scientists or or versioning shark scientists that are listening, you know, don't ask for permission, get in the water, start exploring. We need we need you.
Gibbs. It's been wonderful to speak to you. I'm so looking forward to catching this this documentary. Thanks very much, indeed for making time for us at this Sarteny and Gibbs. Gaguru is a Kenyan shark scientist whose work explores the DNA of these remarkable animals, and he's also one of the people featured in this documentary on National Geographic honoring that block blockbuster movie from nineteen seventy five that redefined summer its Jaws at fifty, the definitive inside story,