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In 2021, Mr. Thomas kindly set aside time for an online meeting with Supreme Master Television team members. He described how the interests of ranchers in Northern California’s Point Reyes National Seashore were at odds with native species’ well-being. In the second half of the interview, the discussion turned to the making of “Great White Lies,” Mr. Thomas’ documentary about shark-people, and the director’s transition to a vegan diet.Great white shark-people have been assessed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1996. Why did the government believe the species was so dangerous that it disregarded its own protection policy? “That’s really how these policies are made, by uneducated people with no concept of how nature works or how ecology works. And in fact, the scientific community was completely opposed to it. And there was an international cooperation of scientists signing a letter pleading with the government not to do this. And [it] just didn’t matter, as is often the case when an agenda is already put on the table.”About three years before he spoke with us, Mr. Thomas realized it was hypocritical to be making films about protecting wildlife while he continued eating meat. So, he upgraded his diet and became a vegan. We asked him to talk about the benefits of making such a change.“Even though I didn’t become a vegan for health purposes, those who have watched my films have come up to me and said, ’You know what? I used to have this problem, or I used to have that problem. And I went vegan, and it solved it. I couldn’t figure out how to solve it, but when I changed my diet, suddenly all these problems went away.’ That’s pretty powerful. So, we personally can benefit from it; the animals can benefit from it; the planet can benefit from it. All these good things can happen from it.”
