Ramón Bravo | |
|---|---|
 Ramón Bravo in 1960 | |
| Born | Ramón Bravo Prieto (1925-10-21)21 October 1925 |
| Died | 21 February 1998(1998-02-21) (aged 72) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist Swimmer Photographer Filmmaker Writer |
Ramón Bravo (21 October 1925 – 21 February 1998) was a Mexican diver, photographer and underwater filmmaker. Bravo was the person who made the phenomenon ofSleeping sharks known to the world.
Bravo was born inPiedras Negras, Coahuila in northern Mexico from his parents Juan Bravo, a railroader, and María del Rosario Prieto. Bravo was first known as a famous Mexican swimmer and competed in the1948 Summer Olympics.[1][2] Also played asWide receiver inUNAMfootball team. Thanks to his close friendApolonio Castillo in the late 50s, Bravo began to dedicate himself to diving and underwater photography– gaining him fame in both in the United States and Europe as anoceanographer. Bravo developed a fascination for sharks and devoted a large portion of his life to filming and studying sharks. He is widely known for the discovery, study, and photography of "sleeping sharks"[3] nearIsla Mujeres in the Caribbean where sharks were seen there to be "sleeping" on the ocean floor.Bravo was the first person to dive and film withorcas in their natural state without a protective cage in the frosty waters ofIslas San Benito inBaja California, Mexico orpolar bears swimming at the North Pole, where even one bit his left heel.
It was Ramón Bravo in the 1970s, who made known to the world howsharks sleep, after thelobster fisherman Carlos García, nicknamed "Válvula" (the "Valve" in English), discovered them in a place known as "Los Cuevones" (The big caves). At first Bravo did not believe "Válvula" because scientists said that sharks could not sleep, that they must be constantly moving because they lacked aswim bladder he initially thought that they were harmlessnurse shark crawling on the sand, but due to the insistence of "Vávula", finally Bravo went to verify the discovery of the fisherman then he verified and filmed thattiger,mako,whitetip orbull sharks rested peacefully on the white sands in caves of the Caribbean Sea and, later, shared the discovery with Dr.Eugenie Clark, a member of theScripps Institution of Oceanography ofLa Joya, California. Dr. Clark's scientific explanation was:
Due to their static position on the sand against the current, the sharks remained immobile and practically "drugged", because when the water ran, they took theoxygen necessary for their respiratory process through theirgills, without the need to move, the salty water mixed withfresh water from theYucatan Peninsula producing anelectromagnetic field in the water, in addition to helping to deworm the dormant sharks.
Bravo also served as guide andcameraman toJacques-Yves Cousteau, his sonPhilippe and his divers of theCalypso, into the cave of sleeping sharks and reefs surrounding Isla Mujeres resulted in a documentary called,The Sleeping Sharks of Yucatan where Ramón Bravo appears in the credits.[4] The investigations of Ramón Bravo were not without dangers, since on more than one occasion he was injured by the sharks he used to film. One of them (a bull shark) bit him, causing a serious injury to his left forearm, at the elbow, which required urgent surgery and intensive care for several weeks.
Also a well-known journalist and writer during the mid-1960s and 1970s, he wrote, among others, the following novels and works:
One of his novels later became a film calledTintorera (1977) directed by René Cardona Jr. The underwater photography was by Ramón Bravo. He also photographed and directed underwater scenes of theJames Bond movieLicence to Kill (1989) starringTimothy Dalton. Although uncredited, Bravo played the zombie that fought the tiger shark underwater inLucio Fulci'sZombi 2 afterRené Cardona Jr. stepped down. The shark was fed prior to filming as well as pumped with tranquilizers to keep it placid.[5]
Ramón Bravo died on 21 February 1998 by accident, because of an accidentalheart attack caused by an electric shock from his home in Isla Mujeres.[6]
On 28 February 1998, in the presence of the thenPresident of Mexico,Ernesto Zedillo,Jean-Michel Cousteau and many local and State authorities, at the entrance to the underwater cave of theSleeping Sharks, located betweenIsla Contoy and Isla Mujeres, inQuintana Roo, Mexico. Ramón's wife, María Vallejo and priest Eduardo Pérez deposited the ashes and, at the entrance, abronze plaque was placed in his honor at the wish of his dearest friends and many famous divers, which says:
Ramón Bravo, protector of the sea and the ocean, sleeps forever next to his sharks in this cave. Isla Mujeres 02–28–98.
