Last month, while on a project in Fiji, I had the pleasure of doing 10 truly amazing shark dives out of Pacific Harbour (you can see my prior blog post on my website, www.FishTalesFilms.com, for more details). I was diving with Beqa Adventure Divers. They bill themselves as a conservation organization that runs a dive operation. I can say that they live up to that credo because they are all about protecting the area's shark population. They were instrumental in setting up the Shark Reef Marine Reserve where the dive takes place and securing full protection from fishing in the area. They set up the reserve in 2004 and have been actively protecting the area since then.
This short film is made with some of the footage from those 10 dives. Shot on RED. Hope you enjoy. I will definitely go back.
In addition to being available for viewing on www.FishTalesFilms.com in the "Shot on RED" section, you can also see it on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/78733380
This part of the description is an optional bit of shark evangelism which you may also want to read:
I know that some divers object to shark feeding because they think that it's "not natural", but here are a few reasons why it's a good idea when done correctly:
1. It increases awareness. Some people don't know how much they love sharks until they see one up close and personal. Remember, we only protect what we love, and we only love what we understand.
2. It gives the sharks some subtle incentive to remain in a protected region. These sharks are not dependent on the feeding. It's just a tasty little snack to them and they aren't getting it every day. An 8 ft Bull Shark can (and does) go anywhere it wants to. But the feeding is an encouragement to hang around in the general vicinity, which also happens to be the safest place for them.
3. Sharks REALLY need some advocates. The shark fin fleets are pillaging the world's shark populations. It is estimated that they are slaughtering over 100 million sharks a year, just for their fins, just to add some texture to a soup that has become a status symbol in Asia. If this doesn't stop really soon, the populations will crash to the point that they cannot recover. I'd hate to see these magnificent creatures that achieved evolutionary perfection 65 million years ago disappear from the seas in my lifetime.
Kudos to Beqa Adventure Divers for putting a dent in a really big problem. You guys ROCK!
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