Luis Pedron: Blood thirsty Man Eater is the common perception for what a shark is - through your documentary, how did you persuade the audience, in why they should change their misconception about sharks? Do you blame the film Jaws for all these wrong ideas about the SHARK!
Rob Stewart: Sharks have been portrayed as monsters for as long as the media has referred to them. The word Shark comes from the Anglo Saxon words "villain" and "cut", demonstrating how poorly sharks have been set up in our minds. A fraction of the planet has the opportunity to go underwater and experience the ocean, so a public that largely fears sharks is wholly logical considering the media's portrayal of them. A dangerous "man eater" sells more "shark attack" headlines than the reality.... usually that a shark bit a human, realized its mistake, and let go. Films like Jaws united the public even further with a wholly false view of sharks - that they're out there hunting man.
In Sharkwater, we use simple facts - that a mere 5 people are killed by sharks each year for example, that flesh is very rarely removed in shark bites, and that if sharks were predators of people, the oceans would be a very very dangerous place. We also show a totally new relationship with sharks, portraying the reality of sharks as beautiful creatures that are pinnacles in the evolution of the seas. You have to see Sharkwater to truly understand it.
Luis Pedron: What have you found out regarding why are sharks being killed left and right?
Rob Stewart: Sharks are being killed largely to fuel the growing demand for shark fin soup in Asia. Shark fin soup is a status symbol, served as a sign of respect and a symbol of wealth. When China began wide scale trade with the rest of the world in the late 80's, the opportunity to consume shark fin soup opened up to hundreds of millions of people, resulting in the price of fins skyrocketing to between $200-400 USD per pound. The word is now out that shark fins mean money, and humans now kill 100 million sharks a year to fuel the demand for fins. Many of these sharks are finned - where their fins are cut off the dying shark and its body is discarded, wasting over 95% of the animal. It's like killing an elephant for ivory or a rhinoceros for its horn, and because of this, shark populations have dropped 90% in the last 30 years.
Luis Pedron: Sharks have become prey to shark poachers. It looks awful and sad. I'm sure this has caused some sort of imbalance of the ecology?
Rob Stewart: Sharks sit atop oceanic food chains, controlling the populations of animals below them as they have for over 400 million years. Life on earth depends on life in the sea, which sits below sharks in the food chain. Phytoplankton (tiny plants) are the greatest consumer of carbon dioxide (global warming gas) on earth, turning it into oxygen, providing us with 70% of the oxygen we breathe. Removing sharks is cutting off the head of the most important ecosystem for our own survival on earth. The biggest issue in any global warming debate is life in the oceans that allows life on land to exist, yet it's never spoken of... all we hear about is industry and carbon footprints.
Luis Pedron: Your film has shown yourself and organizations that have started to help protect the shark population. Please explain what are the different efforts being done?
Rob Stewart: There are organizations protecting sharks on every front. Organizations like Sea Shepherd enforce conservation law on the high seas, and draw attention to the issues. Wildaid is working in Asia with celebrities such as Yao Ming, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh to promote shark fin soup becoming a tacky dish. The Ocean Conservancy and Ocean are working to garner new regulations for shark fisheries, and international protection. The Shark Research Institute is conducting and supporting research proving the importance of sharks to ecosystems, and gaining knowledge necessary for protection. Our company, Diatribe Pictures is using the most powerful media forms in the world to bring these issues to light. If 10-15% of the world knew that shark populations have dropped 90% in the last 30 years, that we waste 54 billion pounds of fish each year while 8 million people die of starvation, that every single fishery will be gone by 2048, and that we need 6 planet earths to sustain life, everything could be turned around just as it has for whales and holes in the ozone layer. Bringing people these messages is difficult, that's why we're making intelligent, engaging, funny and moving films and series, so people would watch them for entertainment even if they weren't learning something in the process. We're trying to make conservation cool.
Luis Pedron: You, as a filmmaker, have put yourself on the line, as filming under is a dangerous endeavor. What precautionary measures did you and your crew to ensure that an accident like what happened to Steve Irwin could not happen to you guys?
Rob Stewart: Filming underwater was actually the safest part of making Sharkwater. We filmed underwater 200 days a year for 4 years while making Sharkwater without incident. I've spent thousands of hours underwater without issue.... I've been stung by all sorts of things underwater, but they're all pretty mild. I'm a scuba instructor trainer, so I teach all of our crew how to use rebreathers, diving with mixed gasses, and diving deeper and longer than recreational divers can.
On land while making Sharkwater though, we were shot at, charged with attempted murder, chased by the coast guard, the mafia... and I was hospitalized a couple times. One for flesh eating disease, and another for Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus and Tuberculosis all at the same time.
Luis Pedron: Can you describe to us the technical aspects of how you shot this film? Are there special equipments that you employ to finish this project?
Rob Stewart: We shot Sharkwater in High Definition, starting very early on in HD. We used many different housings to take the cameras underwater, some we built, and others built by companies specializing in underwater housings. We also used rebreathers, which are apparatuses that recirculate the air that you breathe so you don't make bubbles underwater. Many animals, especially sharks, are afraid of bubbles.
Luis Pedron: I know that sharks have been killed as medicine or as delicacy or as a promising homeopathic cancer treatment... what has been done around the world in not overharvesting sharks to extinction?
Rob Stewart: People have erroneously believed sharks to hold some magical properties because they are large powerful and resilient animals. The consumption of sharks has never been proven to do anything beneficial. These beliefs are just like the idea that if you eat rhino horn, you'll grow a horn. Sharks have been over-harvested in every ocean, and very little has been done to protect them.
