Unique Experiences

Item Description

Scott Curatolo-Wagemann — Marine Biologist, Shark Attack Survivor

Meet for lunch or dinner in Ridge, Long Island, New York

“Jaws” had a profound impact on Scott. Like most people who saw the movie in the early 70’s, Scott developed a fear of what might be lurking in the water-sharks were the things of nightmares and were mindless killing machines. As Scott grew up, more research was coming to light about the true nature of sharks, and he began to develop a fascination, replacing the fear. That fascination made him decide to pursue a degree in marine biology.

Scott went to college on the east end of Long Island, coincidentally the setting for the novel “Jaws”. In 1994, Scott spent his last semester at sea before graduating with his undergraduate degree. The special program took place on board a 125-foot schooner sailboat, traveling from the Caribbean and up the Atlantic Coast to the eastern end of Long Island. However, while wading in three feet of water off a small island in the Bahamas, he encountered a lemon shark, which bit his leg, slicing into the muscles and tendons that control ankle movement. The incident happened on such a remote island that he lost a large amount of blood before he could reach the mainland for surgery. Although doctors predicted he would be unable to walk without a leg brace, he relies on it only to play sports.

Scott has maintained his fascination with sharks and his incident has only intensified that fascination. He recently completed his master’s degree with a thesis on shark fishing regulations and the health of shark populations along the U.S. East Coast. For the past 18 years, he has been working as a marine biologist on eastern Long Island.  He has kept busy as a stormwater specialist and fisheries specialist, as well as conducting shark education classes.

Concerned about the declining populations of sharks worldwide, he has worked with the Pew Environment Group’s Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation. He is also the creator and host of an internet podcast dedicated to all things sharks, and enabled SRI, while at CITES in 2013, to disseminate information to listeners of the proceedings. Currently, he is on the Advisory Panel for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) Workshops. These panel members provide the data and analyses and advise NOAA Fisheries on the scientific information, data, and models used in stock assessments for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. He is also a field investigator in New York for the Global Shark Attack File.

Item Special Note

The objective of this auction is to spotlight individuals and organizations working effectively for ocean conservation, and raise funds for field research, education and conservation projects.

How this auction works:

• Bid on a shark celebrity that lives or works in your area, unless you are able to drive or fly to meet them in their area.
• The winning bidder pays for the lunch or dinner and may bring guests. We introduce the winning bidder to the shark celebrity. You two then arrange a mutually agreeable date, time and place  to meet within one year of the close of the auction.

All winning bids are deductible from 2017 US federal income taxes as charitable contributions