Playing With Sharks
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General
Wendy Benchley is an ocean lover and conservationist and wife of the late Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws. She is President of the Board of Directors of Shark Savers. She has a long career as an environmental activist and elected government office-holder. Wendy met Valerie through film producer Stan Waterman and is a close friend and peer of Valerieís. She and her husband accompanied the Taylors on many expeditions as well as working tirelessly together to reverse the devastating effect the release of Jaws had on shark populations around the world. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Stan Waterman is a five-time Emmy winning cinematographer, underwater film producer and ocean lover. Ron and Stan first worked together in 1967, when Ron wrote the script for Golden Reef. Stan, Peter Gimbal, Ron and Valerie Tayor went on to star in and shoot seminal shark film Blue Water, White Death. They went on to work together on numerous underwater films. Stan was also the catalyst for Valerieís career as a National Geographic underwater photographer. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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In 1963, while spearfishing Rodney Fox, was almost bitten in half by a great white shark and remarkably survived. Fox went on to design and build the first underwater observation cage to dive with the great white shark, and for over 40 years has led major expeditions to film and study Great White sharks in the Great Australian Bight. Today he is a shark conservationist and shark advocate and is regarded as a world authority on the great white shark. He has a stellar reputation as an expedition leader and producer of shark documentaries. He has been involved in some way with most great white shark films made in the 20th century, including Jaws, which he worked with Ron and Valerie Taylor as a consultant. He was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in 2007. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Michelle Hall met the Taylors in 1978 on a shark tagging expedition and soon after accompanied them on an expedition to the Coral Sea. The Taylors were early role models for the Halls, with Blue Water, White Death providing an inspiration for their later adventures in underwater filmmaking. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Jeremiah Sullivan is a marine biologist, marine adventurer and inventor of shark proof chainmail suit. He first met Ron and Valerie on the Lindblad Expedition where he claims Ron agreed to help test the suit if the Taylorís got the TV rights to the story. This became a source of controversy and dispute, as Valerie believes the mesh suit was their idea appropriated by Sullivan. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Jean-Michel Cousteau is a French oceanographic explorer, environmentalist, educator, and film producer and oldest son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. Jean-Michel and the Taylors were both competitors and peers, first working together on 1976 film People of The Sea. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Jayne Jenkins is a prize-winning, underwater photographer whose passion for the ocean brought her from Wales, UK to Australia. She recalls seeing Valerie at dive shows and when she first met her, thought she was the rudest person she had even met. Valerie and Jayne have since become the best of friends, with a relationship spanning several decades. Jayne has been a bystander and confidante for many of Valerieís key private and public moments in life. Jayne has always been a generous member of the diving industry and she currently devotes much of her time to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society (OWUSS) - a scholarship sponsored by Rolex for young underwater enthusiasts. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Howard Hall met the Taylors in 1978 on a shark tagging expedition and soon after accompanied them on an expedition to the Coral Sea. The Taylors were early role models for the Halls, with Blue Water, White Death providing an inspiration for their later adventures in underwater filmmaking. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Dr. Sylvia Earle is a renowned marine biologist, explorer, author, pioneer and role model. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998; was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. NOAA and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998. She is also part of the group Ocean Elders, which is dedicated to protecting the ocean and its wildlife. Sylvia and Valerieís shared passion for ocean conservation and sharks, has resulted in mutual admiration and friendship. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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For the past twenty years, Douglas Seifert has worked professionally as a writer and award- winning photographer specializing in marine life. He is a life-long friend of Valerie and Ron Taylor, accompanying them on many of their expeditions including their 1983 trip to Carribean to test the mesh suit. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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Carl Roessler is an international dive travel pioneer, photographer and associate of the Taylors. He frequently worked with Rodney Fox on his great white shark expeditions and was part of the Jaws shark dive team. (WildBear Entertainment)
Posted 12/29/23
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