Local shark enthusiast publishes children’s book

DRIPPING SPRINGS —  Dripping Springs resident Matt Marchant has been infatuated with sharks for as long as he can remember. His childhood was often spent immersed in a nonfiction book detailing shark facts or recording Shark Week on VHS to enjoy throughout the year. As a shark lover turned photographer, conservationist and now- author, he spends his days highlighting the same creatures he grew up loving to other children in hopes of breaking the stigma that the world has created.

“Sharks exist at the same level as dinosaurs, if you think about it from a kid’s perspective,” said Marchant. “These are some of the coolest creatures to ever exist on the planet. My goal is to bring that to these kiddos and bring sharks to them because most folks don’t ever see them, except maybe in between a giant, thick pane glass.”

Prior to his presentations to classrooms, Marchant became a shark photographer and has spent more than 1,000 hours in the water with sharks — many of which occurred in the Bahamas where ecotourism has made headway. According to the conservationist, a single tiger shark in the Bahamas can garner approximately $35 million in its lifetime, as opposed to a fisherman hunting and killing it for $300 profit. The economic boost has allowed for countries to maintain and uplift conservation efforts for the decreasing population of tiger sharks.

Wanting to spread his love of sharks and to eradicate the common misconceptions, he began presentations of sharks more than a decade ago when he presented in front of his friend’s kindergarten class. Since then, he has continued to share the information he collected over the years to children and adults alike.

One misconception he is attempting to dissolve is that sharks purposely attack people. According to Marchant, he receives the following question a lot: “Have you ever been eaten before?” Although he loves the phrasing that the children use, he uses this opportunity to describe that, yes, a shark has almost bitten him, but it’s because sharks are a lot like puppies and use their mouth to discover things. The young shark that almost bit him was curious. This is why most shark attacks are one bite because the shark realizes that “they don’t want to mess with us. They know what they like to eat.”

The importance of teaching children that a shark knows what it wants to eat, but is accidentally eating the wrong things sometimes, is what his new book, “A Shark Named Pickles” is about.

Pickles is a real shark living in the Bahamas and is Marchant’s muse: “She is the most chill shark and I refer to her as a sweetheart, from a shark standpoint. Now, sweetheart and shark is a very weird statement to make for most people, but she is on island time. She swims super slow, super smooth. From a photographer standpoint, she’s awesome.”

But Pickles isn’t only the star of the book due to her relaxed personality, according to Marchant, her name also works to deconstruct a barrier between children and her species.

“The thought of sharks [is] just intense, scary [and] all of these other connotations we’ve got out there for the word shark. Then, when you say her name is Pickles, it just drops all of those bad words that we use to describe sharks because it’s silly; it’s funny,” Marchant said.

In the book, Pickles is very hungry and frequently eats trash from the ocean floor and her pilot fish friend has to help clean her stomach. Together, when they realize why Pickle’s stomach hurts, they travel together, cleaning the ocean to prevent other sea creatures from getting sick. The trash featured in the book is all based on facts, Marchant confirmed. Items like tires, license plates, cans and even an entire chicken coop have been found inside the stomach of a shark.

“This five-year-old … reached out to me and I think the mom or dad must have been typing as the child was explaining it, but it was the sweetest thing ever. They go, ‘I love your book. I love pickles. I love sharks. I love fish’ … ‘Pickles are delicious, but trash is not delicious,’” recalls Marchant. “They wanted to know why did Pickles eat the trash? I loved it. I was like, ‘Yes, this is exactly why I wrote that book … I got goosebumps just thinking about this little kid because I was that little kid.”

Although this isn’t Marchant’s first book, which was titled “Learn About Sharks: The Great White Shark” and released in 2018, this is his first experience working with a company. Fedd Books, a local Austin publisher, worked as a consultant for the author and guided him throughout the process. Marchant funded all costs himself and hopes that he is able to continue Pickles’ story in the future.

In the meantime, Marchant encourages individuals to do what they can to salvage the shark species, even in Central Texas. Multiple makeup brands use oil from shark liver in their makeup products, he said. By avoiding these, “[brands] will go do something else that makes money and they’ll leave sharks alone.”

“This has absolutely been my life’s passion and it is culminated into this book … [Sharks] are an amazing part of the fragile ecosystem and it is absolutely necessary to keep them in our oceans.” Marchant said. “I am hopeful to become more full-time with author visits at schools … Getting on stage in front of 500 plus kids that are just so excited to learn about sharks, it’s the coolest freaking thing in the world and I love it.”

“A Shark Named Pickles” is available for purchase on Amazon or parents can order a customized book to be picked up at shark presentations at www.learnaboutsharks.com.