Joe Herber in his shark museum
standing in front of the replica jaws of Mrs. Big, a 19' 6" great white
shark, while holding the jaws of Tiny Tim, a 6' juvenile great white shark.
This may be the moment to introduce myself:
My name is actually Jean-Pierre Herber, but I am usually called Joe. I'm a
forty-four-years-old amateur naturalist from Luxembourg (Europe) with a
special interest in sharks.
Though I'm a chief inspector at the
Luxembourg State Attorney General's office, my real interest has always
been directed towards natural history and I am a long-time member and supporter of the
Shark Trust and the American Elasmobranch Society.
Sharks have fascinated me since I
was about twelve and read Cousteau's (awful) book about sharks. Seeing
"Jaws" (in my opinion still one
of Steven Spielberg's best works) on the movie screen two years later
ignited my passion for shark jaws. Finally, in 1981,
I happened upon the first edition of Richard Elllis' "The Book of
Sharks", a true revelation and still one of my favourite shark books. Things
just went worse from then on... ;-)))
Since 1988 I've
travelled ten
times to the USA and Canada (alone or with my wife) in order to study the
collections of major Natural History
museums and aquaria. In the few years I haven't gone overseas, I've visited
similar European sites. I've also attended shark conferences on both sides of
the Atlantic and met lots of other
interesting shark people. When our eight-years-old daughter is a little older, I hope
to be finally able to visit South Africa and Australia, the main two shark countries
I haven't yet gotten around to visiting.
Multilingualism being a necessity
in Luxembourg, I can speak Lėtzebuergesch, German, French,
English and Spanish fluently. I can also read Italian, Dutch and Portuguese too. This has proven most
useful for my research and I have occasionally translated scientific
articles for other shark researchers.
At the moment I'm busy giving presentations
about sharks and writing articles about shark biology
for diving and wildlife magazines (often in collaboration).
My shark library contains more
than 700 books about fossil and recent sharks, while my shark
collection (+500 specimens), which at
first consisted mainly of jaws and teeth, now also has skin samples, vertebrae
and dried or stuffed specimens and includes shark products and items
relating to the cultural significance of sharks (unfortunately also tools for
catching and killing them).
Some of my specimens were on loan to the Plymouth (UK)
National Marine Aquarium
where they were part of the excellent shark exhibition J.A.W.S. (Journey Around the World of Sharks) from Easter
to October 2000. My collection is open to an interested
public and to scientists and
fellow amateur naturalists on an appointments base only. Thus I have begun
converting our spare bedroom into a "shark museum",
which even before being fully completed has already turned out to be too small.
I'm still working on a new database similar to my book
database cataloguing all of my specimens and not just the jaws.
Ultimately I want to put the whole catalogue on my website with pictures
of the most interesting specimens.
I'm currently founding the
Luxembourg Elasmobranch Organization, that like the Shark Trust (with
whom there
will hopefully be a fruitful collaboration) aims to educate people about sharks and
the need for their protection. I will apply for its membership in the
European Elasmobranch Association
in
due time.
I dedicate as much time as I can to
getting my museum completed, despite having other
interests than sharks too (somehow I still have a life).
Sharkily,
Joe
JoeHerber@elasmo.lu
Founder and director:
Member:
(in alphabetical order)
