The myth of the “man-eater” is a great white lie – The story behind the story.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-myth-of-the-man-eater-is-a-great-white-lie/

Yesterday morning, a friend was complaining on Facebook about the Western Australian government's decision to authorise a hunt-to-kill mission against a shark that had killed a diver off Rottnest Island. Now my friend is not known for his tolerance on many issues, so I was surprised to see him ranting about the killing of wildlife.

It struck a chord with me, so I decided to do something about it. Not being a person of influence in WA, I couldn't just give Colin Barnett (the Premier) a call and ask him to pull his head in. The best I could do was give voice to my thoughts, or at least put words on a page.

ThePunch.com.au call themselves, 'Australia's best conversation,' and is a forum where often robust opinions flow from a news-style article. I've had two articles published by them and figured this issue would fit right in. I emailed the editors with my idea for the article and they replied saying they loved the idea and wanted it this morning; giving me not much over 12 hours lead. I wasn't sure I would make the deadline but was told they liked the idea so much they would write it themselves. Holy crap! A tight deadline for an article I really wanted to write.

I needed background. I had some already (carried over from an article I wrote about shark deterrents) but needed more. I put a call for help onto a couple of Facebook groups with fishy affiliations. Not two and a half hours later my sources came good and I had the information I needed.

I went for a run and let my brain do its thing. It's becoming a favoured technique; it distracts me from the pain of the run.

I trawled the internet for a while, looking for something, not knowing what. I tripped over an article attributed to Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws. Now there was a man who could write. His closing paragraph is awesome:

"The mistake we make, then, either in seeking to destroy sharks or in not caring if we even inadvertently destroy them, is one of cosmic stupidity. If I have one hope, it is that we will come to appreciate and protect these wonderful animals before we manage, through ignorance, stupidity and greed, to wipe them out altogether."

It said everything I wanted to say, and more. I knew I wanted to work it into my article but wasn't sure where. As I was reading Benchley's biography, it started coming together. A reference to Quint, the shark-hunter in Jaws made me see the parallel between fiction and reality. The authorities in WA were hunting a shark, they were Quint, and he would be proud. There was my opening.

I wanted the article to be about the sharks, but shark attacks are understandably emotive. I am very sorry for the families and friends of the casualties and wanted to respect their feelings. I consciously avoided giving them my sympathies and then saying 'but'. There are no buts, for them.

The body of the article flowed. I basically wrote it top to bottom. It was a new sensation for me as I put my thoughts on the page. Getting towards the end I realised Benchley's conclusion was going to be mine – a nice way to bookend the article.

I sent the article to ThePunch and then worked all night. This morning, I was just about to go to bed when the email arrived saying they would run it. It's definitely the first time someone has referred to my writing as '... spectacularly good...'

The article went live on ThePunch.com.au at 1200 today. As I write, it's just clocked over 150 comments. Wow. That's a lot of responses. I'm also blown away by the number of people who complimented my work. It's very humbling.

My greatest hope is that this article influences the decision-making process and prevents the destruction of an already threatened species. But I'll settle for it changing the minds of just one or two people, or raising awareness of our oceans and the creatures in them.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-myth-of-the-man-eater-is-a-great-white-lie/