“The Heavy Metal Shark Whisperer: Tom ‘The Blowfish’ Hird Hits Netflix''
From wrangling Great Whites to fronting the wildest shark show on Earth, Britain’s loudest marine biologist is about to make some serious waves
You’re billed as the world’s only heavy metal marine biologist — what came first: the sharks or the Slayer?
Sharks were first, they always have been (after all, been around 450 million years!). I was terrified and entranced by sharks at 8 or 9yrs. But, I didn’t really get into metal properly until I was about 15 or so.
In All The Sharks, you’re both host and expert. Between the free divers, tech nerds, and wildcard contestants, who surprised you the most underwater — and who scared the hell out of you?
A Fish never kisses and tells…. But, I think the divers who most impressed me was The Shark Docs, as they never stopped diving, and if they wren’t diving, they were swimming, and if they weren’t swimming, they were wading in the water! They never stopped. As for the rest it was a bit of a mixed bag, the poor Gills Gone Wild weren’t used to colder water and so got hammered in South Africa. The Land Sharks had to find their own rhythm together, as they didn’t know each other that well. Then Great British Bait Off…. Well..... Sometimes I was just happy to see them surface again after a dive.
This isn’t just a travel show — it's a full-blown underwater chess match. How do you train someone to outwit a shark on camera without losing a limb or their nerve?
Good Question, I think the answer is experience. Experience with diving, the conditions, and the animals. We had just a great range of shark FINatics on the show that each person brought their own bit of experience to the puzzle. Rosie (Land Sharks) for example, doesn’t have much hands on experience with sharks, but is an expert of low visibility water AND dealing with large predators (she’s the queen of Alligators!) so that gave her a huge advantage in Japan and South Africa. Sarah (Great British Bait Off) had spent some time in Bimini doing research earlier in her career, so knew the topography super well, and knew exactly where the high value sharks were to be found. Somewhere along the way, each contestant got to apply their unique skills to both familiar and brand new conditions, which just gave the most amazing dynamics when it came to the contest. As for holding their nerve, well, there were some moments in South Africa, where the conditions were poor, that started to play on the minds of one of the teams, but there was never any real chance of someone getting hurt from the sharks. We had very strict rules about contact with the sharks, and none of the teams would have thought to be so invasive as trying to physically grab one of the sharks. From my point of view, it was really interesting to see what decision they made about their dive sites and tactics, and at times, it was hard to keep my mouth shut and not offer some “helpful advice” on the latest plans.
From South Africa to New Zealand to the deep blue unknown — which shark hotspot left you genuinely speechless, even with all your experience?
Galapagos. Hands down. Totally bonkers diving! I was lucky enough to be in the water numerous times when we were at Darwin and Wolf and each dive was just stuuuuuuupid! I was diving with my mates on the crew, Devon Massyn and Tom Park. Both seriously impressive underwater operators, and well traveled too. Regardless, we would all come out and just be speechless, each time. That’s the good stuff
You once summoned sharks live on The One Show. No pressure. What’s the most surreal moment you've had doing live TV with a predator swimming beneath you?
I’ve had a few that’s for sure…. Trying to swab a sharks arse, opening a barrel of chum and it exploding around me in the cage, I’ve been in the centre of Caribbean reef shark mosh pit, and tried to entice a shark while wearing a “naked” wetsuit… so picking out just one thing isn’t easy, but wearing a shark cage, with the bottom removed to allow me to travel “Flintstones” style around the sea floor… that was weird.
You’ve worked with Great Whites, Bull Sharks, and even the oddly named ‘Cocaine Shark’. Out of all your finned encounters, which species gives you the deepest respect — or the worst nightmares?
You don’t take your eyes off Bull Sharks. They deserve your full attention at all times. But I respect All The Sharks! ;)
You have too, even a small hound shark or ray has the ability to give you a nasty bite, but it’s more than that. Sharks and rays are the custodians of the ocean, we are entering their house, that should be enough for anyone (expert of not) to offer these creatures every inch of courtesy.
You said hosting All The Sharks was a “hell of a dive trip.” Were there any moments where you genuinely thought, “Yeah, this might be my last dive”?
Not on All The Sharks no. While the conditions were challenging at times for some, I’ve been very lucky to have trained extensively in cold water conditions, so low temperatures, poor visibility and currents are just the basics of 90% of my diving history. Plus, when I was in the water, I was always partnered by an extremely capable camera operator, so we had all the bases covered. However, when you’ve been diving as long as me, you do get the occasional “Ah, Spot of Bother” moment. But those moments count in the low single figures, and when you think this is my 28th year as a scuba diver, that’s not a bad return.
From CBBC to Shark Week, you’ve presented for kids and hardcore marine biologists alike. Do you switch gears — or is “The Blowfish” always full blast, full volume, full throttle?
You definitely pick your levels, and your output. No point spouting off extremely technical terms to kids, when just the mention of poo or snot will get you an ear splitting cheer. Equally so, I try never to talk down to any audience, regardless of their age. Everyone deserves to be given the full story, and I think what makes the difference is to expand on the facts, so that the audience has a chance to engage with it through something that they themselves connect with. Regardless, it’s always got to be genuine, what you see is me, maybe me turned up to 11, but still me.
Let’s talk Shark Week’s Surviving Jaws — 50 years after the original film, how much has public perception of sharks improved… or has Hollywood still got us paranoid?
I think Hollywood has got to a point where we know it’s all just movie madness. I mean, some of the films which have come out recently are just hilarious in their concept, and I reckon people do enjoy watching them for the sheer enjoyment of it. I think the biggest culprit right now, the ones which are keeping the myths going, are the daily broadsheets and click bait new sites. These are the place where shark stories are purposely told to scare us. You never get a shark story in the newspaper in the UK without some foolish mention of "Jaws off Cornwall” or “Man eating Sharks in Minehead”. That’s where the biggest problem lies in my opinion.
You were the frontman for Marks & Spencer’s marine conservation programme, getting 300,000 kids involved. How do you make something as urgent as ocean collapse exciting enough to compete with TikTok?
It all comes down to engagement. People, big or small, need to feel connected and involved to really want to make a difference. For me, getting that connection, that engagement, comes with telling stories about the amazing things in the seas! Opening the door on the underwater world and just sharing the incredible and totally true stories that are born from it. You can only really do that if you are yourself, deeply passionate about the subject. That passion cannot but flow across to others, and from there, you’re laughing! You get people loving the subject and then let them know it could use some help and support, and boom! They are ready and willing. Never start the other way round!!! If you begin with the doom and gloom of climate change and environmental collapse, people, especially kids, will have long since mentally given up, way before you start talking about how to help.
As someone who’s free dived with sharks and wrangled snakes, what’s the closest you’ve ever come to saying, “Nope. Not today.”?
Ooooffffh. I’ve had some close ones that for sure. As of yet, I’ve never had the “Not Today” moment, but I’ve certainly done some things which afterwards I know I won’t be doing again! Oddly enough, the things which put me off the most are heights! I’ll happily jump into the water with a feeding bull shark!! But jump off a 10m diving board for a stunt??!! Fffh, No Way! (Expect I’ll probably just end up doing it anyway)
Heavy metal and shark conservation isn’t a combo most people expect. Ever had a death metal crowd start asking you about coral bleaching after a gig?
Regularly! Metal heads in general are switched on people and well aware of the world around us. Plenty of metal heads will be keeping reptiles, spiders or other exotics and so wildlife and conservation are very much on their mind.
In your book Blowfish’s Oceanopedia, you get into the weird and wonderful side of marine life. What’s the most mind-blowing fact about sharks that would make our readers do a double take?
I always like the fact that sharks evolved before trees. That pleases me! It really highlights just how important and ancient they are. But for other facts, well… there are species of sharks which will give birth to “live” young via a process called Ovoviviparity, this means the eggs are retained within the female and hatch internally. There, they are fed secretions, infertile eggs, or, in some cases, they feed on each other. This uterine cannibalism ensure that, although only two pups are born (one from each side of the uterus), they are well developed and ready to take on the world. That itself is cool, but their is a story of an In Utero shark attack, when a scientist was performing a post mortem on a female Sand Tiger shark and got bit by one of the pups still in the womb!
You’ve done the science festivals, the school talks, the TV circuits — and you still look like you’d rather be waist-deep in a wetsuit than in a boardroom. What keeps your energy so dialled up after 20+ years in the field?
You think this is dialled up???? Dude! This is calm!! ;)
The thing is, I LOVE the oceans, I love sharks, fish, corals, jellyfish, squid, seaweed, snails, I love it all. So doing this job means I get paid to dive, to see these incredible creatures AND get to talk about them as well. How could you not be amped up when that’s what the 9-5 is?!
But yeah, never put me in a suit… unless its wet
You’ve danced with scorpions, dived with sharks, and made conservation cool. What’s next? Hammerheads with flamethrowers? Metal gig in a submersible? Or something even madder?
I would love to get a metal gig happening underwater! That would be so damn cool! I’d also like to be in a giant hamster ball, in the middle of the sardine run, and just mark out at all the chaos occurring around me! But I don’t think they class as mad? That’s just normal cool stuff right?
