To Erich Ritter: Repent and be humble...Brian - Open Water/Restaurant Owner-SailorJanuary 20, 2005 at 11:53:53Very interesting to read the comments both positive and negative on Erich Ritter and shark feeding. I lived on a sailboat
for 7 years and the ocean has been a large part of my life. I had the pleasure of visiting Walker's Cay in 1998 and 1999. I did the shark dive both times, but chose to free dive instead of SCUBA. In 1999 was when I met Erich, I didn't see him the first time. I learned of his missing leg through a friend who was with me in 99 who saw Erich on TV sans leg. I found your site and have read about this partly because I just watched "Open Water." I don't
know if I have a lot of light to shed on the subject of shark feeding and Erich's leg, but here is a little of what I think. I find it sad that we primarily live so far from nature in our modern lives, but that is the case. For most people the closest they will ever get to nature is through their TV, and sadly much of that now is in the realm of entertainment rather than education.
The popularity of these outrageous TV personalities interacting with wild animals in completely unrealistic ways is absurd. These images serve more to promote the TV personality than wild animal's habits and their need of our care. Whatever Erich's feelings are about sharks, I can say that I found he and Gary Adkison from Walker's Cay in the Bahamas to be arrogant and basking in their "fame". They tended to play up to people's perceptions of their bravery in a way I
found strange and insincere. When I attended a lecture by Erich I felt it was more about him than sharks. To blow my own horn a little, I even dectected a sense of resentment from him that I was more skilled than he at free diving. The scarey part for me is that I was also in the water off the beach at Walker's during a bull shark feeding. The water was a bit murky and there was quite a bit of seaweed floating around.
The water was about chest deep and I was laying on the bottom next to a large bull shark while it dined on fish thrown by Erich. I was close enough to touch the shark, but I didn't. I found this interesting and felt reasonably secure (after all I was reassured by an "expert") for a little while. Then for some reason I had a sense that I should leave the water, I don't know what gave me this sense, but I felt it.
I looked up and said to Erich, "I feel like I should get out of the water." I could tell he had a concerned look on his face and he said, "I think you're right." Ironic that he was to lose his leg there himself one day. I have been in the water with sharks in many areas of the world, but never through feeding (except for Walker's) and as far as I know, not with such large animals.
I enjoyed it, but now feel I was foolish to get in the water at the beach feed. Whether Erich admits it or not, I would guess he feels the same. I think it's in nature's best interest that we don't make it into a circus show.
We should interact with it yes, but in a careful way that doesn't alter the animals habits. And people who produce films of nature should try to be as true to it as possible....it's so much more beautiful and captivating in that way....but of course it will take a lot more time and dedication than showcasing a wild human personality. I think it's in bad taste to say, "he got what he deserved".
He played with fire and got burned, and of course it's hard not to chuckle at the irony. I'm curious what he's doing now. My advice to him would be to repent and become a more humble "shark expert". Admit his mistakes fully and move on to become a better advocate for the sharks. Who knows, he might even get more famous....oh-oh. | 
