Alex “The Sharkman” Buttigieg (Shark Advocate)

Alex is a Professional Scuba Diving Instructor with a great passion for sharks and marine conservation that started in the early 70’s. Since then he has been collecting as much data as possible about sharks. Having started scuba diving at a very young age, it is no surprise that he would make it his profession.

In 1997 he set up his web site “Sharkman’s World” dedicated to the education, conservation and protection of Sharks, and also initialized and spearheaded the campaign for the white shark protection in Malta, a campaign that lasted for two years until September 1999, when the Maltese Government published the Laws that gave protection to the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and also the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus).

“The Sharkman” has dived with and studied sharks in the Red Sea, South Africa, Fiji and in Malta. He has also taken an active part in many international campaigns for shark protection. In 2001 “Sharkman’s World” won the Best Personal Website Award in the Malta Web Awards and in 2003 founded Sharkman’s World Organization.

In 2007 Alex founded The Shark Group, an internet based forum and also in the same year, Sharkman’s World Organization became a member of the international Shark Alliance. In 2008, he was also the co-founder of the Let Sharks Live network, and along with Ila France Porcher, initiated the International “Year Of The Shark – 2009” campaign.

Alex Buttigieg is also a regional investigator for the Mediterranean Sea and collaborates with the Global Shark Attack File (Shark Research Institute, USA). He also collaborates with: Shark Research Committee (USA), The International Shark Attack File (USA), Australian Shark Attack File, and The Fishbase database.

Alex “The Sharkman” Buttigieg has written various articles and contributed data and information for T.V. documentaries, scientific publications and books. He also writes poetry and some of his works have also been published internationally.

TV Documentaries:

• Sharks Within Our System: South Africa - The Great White (Malta 2005)
• The Track of the Tuna (Germany 2007)

Books:

• DE MADDALENA, A. & A. BUTTIGIEG (Ireco 2008): “Hammerhead sharks”

Articles:

• A. BUTTIGIEG (2000):“Diving – An unforgettable experience for all.” Malta & Gozo:8-9.
• DE MADDALENA, A. & A. BUTTIGIEG (2005): “Hammerhead sharks: The functions of the cephalofoil or the 'hammer'”. Dive New Zealand / Dive Pacific, 87: 46-48.
• DE MADDALENA, A. & A. BUTTIGIEG (2006): “The social lives of hammerheads.” The World & I Online, June 2006.
• A. BUTTIGIEG & N. VELLA (2006): “Ancient inhabitants of our seas”. Boats & Yachting, 68: 50-54.
• A. BUTTIGIEG (2008): “Diving at Cirkewwa”. I Dive Malta. Issue 1, October 2008.

Book Contributions include:

• “Most Common Sharks Found Around The Maltese Islands & The Mediterranean Sea” by the Marine Life Care Group Malta (2000).
• “Sharks - An Imagination Library Series” by Victor Gentle & Janet Perry (2001).
• “Megalodon - Hunting The Hunter” by Mark Renz (2002).
• “Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century from the Pacific Coast of North America” by Ralph S. Collier (2003)
• "Shark Sense - getting in touch with your inner shark.” by Sharkie Zartman (2005).
• “Tuna – A Love Story” by Richard Ellis (2008).

Affiliations:

• Sharkman’s World Organization (Founder)
• The Shark Group (Founder)
• Let Shark Live Network (Founder)
• Year Of The Shark – 2009 (Founder)
• The Shark Alliance (Member)
• Global Shark Attack File (Collaborator)
• Shark Research Committee (Collaborator)
• The International Shark Attack File (Collaborator)
• Australian Shark Attack File (Collaborator)
• Fishbase (Collaborator)

Ila was always a nature lover, and passed a childhood surrounded by the wilderness, pencil and paper in hand, sketching.  Living in Canada, she evolved naturally into a wildlife artist and ethologist at an early age.

Working alone, for 19 years, she taught herself to heal the injured wild animals she found, and soon became an ardent  advocate for wildlife. Later she even founded the Protect Our World Institute in Canada.

When she moved to Polynesia, Ila found that sharks were the first wild animals she had known who approached her instead of fleeing, and she focused on an intensive ethological study of blackfin reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus).  Their responsiveness to her actions, willingness to accept her as a companion, and obvious intelligence were unexpected and engaging.  For 13 years, she dived and observed these sharks daily, sketching and collecting data on each individual animal.

Some years ago, Ila noticed that the sharks she loved so passionately were starting to disappear and was later shocked to discover that they began to be finned for shark fin soup. She understood with riveting clarity, that Polynesian sharks were caught in a vortex of death and that all sharks, all over the world, were in danger of being sucked into it. 

Ever since then, she has focused on countering the shark attack hysteria perpetuated by the media and fishermen, by writing about what sharks are really like, and trying to educate and convince others to help protect these awesome creatures.

Along with Alex “Sharkman” Buttigieg, Ila co-founded The Shark Group, and the Let Sharks Live think tank network, with which they established the International Year of the Shark with the aim of saving sharks from extinction.

Experience:

• 13 years of observation of reef sharks, including seven years of intensive study of reef blackfin sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus). Evidence of cognition was often apparent.
• Long-term observation of wild jungle fowl
• Observation of cognition in sea birds, wild birds, mammals, reptiles, and mollusks.
• Prior experience in Canada of 19 years working freelance as an ethologist, wildlife artist, and rehabilitator.

Published:

• Porcher IF (2005) On the gestation period of the blackfin reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus, in waters off Moorea, French Polynesia. (Mar Bio 146: 1207-1211) A description of the reproductive cycle of reef blackfin sharks in Marine Biology, which included the finding of their gestation period.
• A variety of human interest articles on wildlife behaviour, (sea turtles, sharks, freshwater eels, jungle fowl, and miscellaneous wild birds) in Canada and Polynesia

Accomplishments:

• Found the first evidence of cognition in sharks, which was presented by the late Professor Arthur A. Myrberg Jr. at the International conference on cognition in Tutzing, Germany, in October, 2003, sponsored by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
• Appeared in Thalassa, Shark Week's Size Matters, and on many local television programs on the subjects of shark protection, seabird rehabilitation, and the illegal widespread practice of cockfighting in Polynesia.
• The Shark Group (Founder)
• Let Shark Live Network (Founder)
• Year Of The Shark – 2009 (Founder)
• Protect Our World Institute, Canada (Founder)

Artistic Production:

• 1100 originals portraits, human and wildlife in pen and ink, watercolour, oil, airbrush, and acrylics.
• 16 etching editions of 80 hand made prints
  
• 40 limited editions of 500 prints
  
• 40 art card editions of 1000