INTERVIEW: Sara Casareto on Sharkfest’s factual entertainment
Photo: Sara Casareto films multiple sharks to see how they react to an electronic pulse. Photo courtesy of National Geographic / Mike Heithaus / Provided by press site with permission.
Sara Casareto, a graduate student at Florida International University who studies shark behavior and shark biology, has a special love for science communication and public outreach. She has enjoyed her time talking about sharks and science with people who may not have the opportunity to swim in the ocean or see one of these marine species up close. That’s why she was an immediate yes when Nat Geo’s Sharkfest came knocking and asked her to contribute her expertise to the TV special Jaws vs. Boats.
The documentary, which has already premiered on Nat Geo and airs tonight, July 23 at 9 p.m. on Disney XD, asks why some great white sharks are prone to attacking boats, a scenario very much like the classic Steven Spielberg film, Jaws. On the special, Casareto is joined by Dr. Mike Heithaus, and they both investigate what draws this species to crashing against the sides of a boat in the open ocean. For those who can’t catch the special on Disney XD or Nat Geo, Nat Geo WILD will also premiere Jaws vs. Boats Aug. 5 at 9 p.m.
“For me, personally, I really enjoy sharing my love for the ocean and sharing things I’ve learned by being a marine biologist with those who aren’t marine biologists or aren’t in this community,” Casareto said in a recent Zoom interview. “I was very lucky in that my entire family loves to travel and to explore. That meant that by the time I was 11 years old, I was already scuba-certified, and then my entire childhood, every family trip outside of visiting family members was a scuba trip.”
Those scuba trips meant that Casareto had the opportunity to go on dives with her parents, and she watched her little brother become certified, too. She dove with sharks, and she’s even been in the water with a pod of dolphins. All those reef critters? Yep, she’s seen them diving as well.
“By the time I was in high school, I started interning at the National Aquarium in Baltimore,” she said. “That’s where my love for sharing my knowledge and what I know about the ocean really sparked because then I started to interact with adults and young kids who had never been underwater. The closest they ever were was going to the aquarium and seeing these animals in these tanks. And getting to talk to them and be like, ‘Did you know this? Do you have questions?’ — getting to share that was really, really rewarding. And it definitely helped further my passion, especially because when you’re out there first-hand at a young age, you start to see the effects of us humans on the ocean. I think by the time I was 13, I was already picking up trash when I was on dives. I’d find plastic and fishing line. I would see sharks with hooks in their mouths, and that definitely spurred in me this [idea] — OK, I want to understand these animals so we can better protect them and better cohabitate and coexist with them.”
Fear of sharks was never a deterrent for Casareto. She has a friend who is scared of every single bug, even butterflies. That has never happened to the marine biologist. Instead, she tries to have a healthy dose of respect for these animals. “They are predators,” Casareto said. “A lot of sharks are very large predators, and they’re very well-designed to exist in the oceans. But it’s much like if you were to go for a walk in the woods, and you saw a wolf. You have to have a healthy respect for them because they are predators, and they know that they are predators.”
Casareto, who is a graduate of the University of Tampa, finds that Nat Geo’s Sharkfest does a solid job of coupling entertainment with facts. The documentaries, in her mind, are based in science but also can be enjoyable as TV entertainment.
“They bring in people who have first-hand experience working on these animals in a scientific way, not just in a commercial or recreational way,” she said. “There are many individuals who may not have the financial means to ever see the ocean or ever go to the coast and be able to snorkel or scuba dive, and these shows do a really good job at opening the world for those individuals. … You get to realize how diverse and how unique every single shark species is. You get the stereotypical shark-shape body in a lot of species, but most sharks are under 4 feet long. … Then you get other sharks that are more chasers, and you get sharks that really feed on squid. And you get sharks that feed more on crabs, and they’re very, very diverse fish. And most people wouldn’t know that without the benefit of these shows getting to share that with the world.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sharkfest continues on Nat Geo, Nat Geo WILD and Disney XD. Jaws vs. Boats, featuring Sara Casareto, has premiered on Nat Geo; airs tonight, July 23 at 9 p.m. on Disney XD; and Aug. 5 at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo WILD. Click here for more information.
