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Raggie Sanctuary by Chano Montelongo and Jorge Keller
Raggie Sanctuary by Chano Montelongo and Jorge Keller
Joining the written word with moving pictures is a good idea. If only the execution had matched the concept.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The book Raggie Sanctuary was originally produced in Spanish, I assume, as it is published in Madrid. Sadly, the translation is so poor that it reads like Fawlty Towers' Manuel speaking English.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Also, there is confusion over the name of the shark - accurately called 'raggie' in the title, an abbreviation of the local name 'raggedtoothed shark'. These fearsome-looking, yet docile, animals are also commonly called grey nurse or sand tiger sharks.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Science knows them as Carcharias taurus and they come to Aliwal Shoal close to Durban every year in the South African summer.
Â?Â?Â?Â? I don't know if it's a translation error, or whether in Spanish they are called bull sharks, but this book swaps between calling them raggies and bulls. Bull sharks are completely different and also called Zambezi sharks in South Africa, but to call the raggedtooth by the common name of another is misleading.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Many of the images in the book are fairly poor, too. They appear to be video grabs, so lack colour, contrast or detail.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The title means little, anyway. This is a book about a holiday to South Africa and includes general dives (such as the wreck of the Produce) as well as the raggie dives and even white shark cage-diving and land-based activities.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The accompanying DVD is far from professional. Footage is jerky and poorly lit and directed. It looks like the raw result of someone taking a video camera under water with no idea of what they would be filming. The musical score is predictable African souvenir music. Raggies deserve better.
Gavin Parsons
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Raggie Sanctuary by Chano Montelongo and Jorge Keller (Deep Blue Video, ISBN 8493364517). Hardback, 112pp (DVD 40min), £26
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