Journal of the fortyeighth day on board

19th June, 1999

So Marco, would you also go to the areas where all the fishermen go?

"Yes. Their experience drives them to the right spot. These could be places where either adult sharks come together to mate, or perhaps migration routes where individuals move through the Mediterranean basins. Besides which, intelligence and past experience, born of trial and error and knowledge handed down from father to son, allow fishermen to develop the most suitable equipment and the right bait to catch them.
Except on rare occasions Italian fishermen are not interested in catching sharks Most of their catches are due to chance encounters and are made up of 'bycatch'. Observing 'bycatch' can be useful both for people interested in getting footage of sharks as well as for those who want to study their biology and their conservation.

See you tomorrow for the next part.

By the way, now we are by the reef of Filfa, south-east of Malta, one of the most dangerous reefs in the Mediterranean.

11:00a.m. For a few hours, after many days of bad weather we have been chumming again and…..filming.

Marco Costantini on set