sharkwater
shark-fin soup for greedy jaws
Called the Architects of our world by marine filmaker Rob Stewart, sharks are essential to the delicate balance
of all life. Yet, as Juliet Benning reports, these completely misunderstood creatures are nearing extinction.
S
harks have been gliding through the oceans for over four
hundred million years, since before the dinosaurs, and have
survived five major extinctions. The way we see them now is
more or less how they would have looked millions of years ago, as
they have barely needed to evolve in that time. However, their
existence is coming to an abrupt end due to human intervention.
As is frequently the case, man has become greedy and exhausted
his resources. The desire for shark fins has reached such a
frenzied height that in a few short years we have decimated the
shark population by approximately 90%. Their extinction would
have grave implications and their absence could rock our world
in a very unwelcome way.
Underwater photographer Rob Stewart has illustrated the issues
threatening the survival of sharks in a new film called Sharkwater.
As a child, Stewart was afraid and compelled by sharks in equal
measure, but he conquered his fear by swimming with them.
The more he swam with them, the more he realised that they
were afraid of him and that he had to gain their trust. These
were not the fierce man eaters we have all been led to believe
lurked beneath the waves, but instead elegant and cautious
creatures. The sensationalism of 20th-Century media surrounding
sharks had tarred them so thoroughly that the reality seemed
almost implausible.
Although Stewart started by making what he called a pretty
underwater film, once he had set out on his journey it began to
take on a very different and somewhat grittier tone, morphing into
an anti-Jaws that aims to educate the world about the true nature
of sharks and their plight. Stewart wanted to give the public a
different relationship with sharks so that they would care about the
creatures annihilation. In campaigning, he stresses that because
people cant see what is going on underwater they care less and
let the destruction continue in ignorance.
Since the beginning of the last century, sharks have been cast
as the rogues of the seas. The media in all forms, having reached
world-dominating power, exploited several events in the 20th
Century that spelled bad news for sharks. First were the events
of the summer of 1916, when four bathers were killed in shark
attacks in New Jersey. Consequently, President Woodrow Wilson
declared a war on sharks and a shark was caught two days
later. Partial human remains were found when the sharks
stomach was cut, serving to promote the sharks status as a
man-eating fiend.
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 Press coverage continued the theme with the famous shark
meal during the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. Official
statistics reported that when the ship went down there were
initially 1,200 survivors, but by the time help came numbers had
dwindled to 317. Survivors accounts tell us that while some died
of exposure and dehydration, many others were savagely attacked
and eaten by opportunistic sharks. Shark experts dont deny that
sharks are scavengers, but say that the US Navy played up the
attacks due to the failure of the rescue operation to arrive earlier.

Of course, no one could forget the other shark legend of recent

years: Jaws. Based on the 1916 attacks, Peter Benchley, who
wrote the novel, and Steven Spielberg, the director, together
ingrained sharks in the minds of the populous as the fiercest
predators a human could possibly encounter. Benchley has
since admitted he would never write the same story today and
that, having been enlightened, he would have to portray the
shark as the victim.

Sharks are used to being at the top of the food chain and their
numbers cannot survive being vigorously preyed upon. In addition
to having long life spans, sharks mate late and produce very few
young. They cannot simply breed to replace those that are lost.
Stewart tells us that by the time we have watched his film,
15,000 sharks will have been killed. Such statistics give Stewarts
campaign an urgency that defies its viewers not to get involved.

Sharkwater covers the implications of extinction with testimonies

from respected marine biologists. The theory outlined is that
without sharks, creatures lower down the food chain would
over-populate and eat all the microscopic plankton and other
organisms that contribute a massive force in depleting carbon
dioxide, thus making the air breathable. Stewart claims that
sharks are the architects of our world and play a massive role
in maintaining its delicate ecology. Additionally, the film reveals
that the perception of humans as victims of sharks could not be
further from the truth, as the traditional hunter and hunted roles
are turned on their head. Even though a close encounter with a
shark may seem frightening to the uninitiated, statistics indicate
that for every human killed by a shark, up to 10 million sharks
are killed by man.
No one who has seen the Jaws film and its sequals could forget
the scenes in which the main protagonist eats various victims
whole. The falsehood of sharks regularly munching entire
humans is revealed as Stewart brings the fact to our attention that
sharks mistake humans, especially in murky waters, for seals. As
soon as they have taken the first exploratory bite, realising that the
human is a foreign object, they release them not to return. Fatalities,
which are extremely rare, occur because of blood loss. There are
approximately five deaths per year from shark attacks. The film
utilises the screen as a billboard that flashes up statistics to enlighten
and educate. Apparently, you are more likely to be killed in an
accident involving a SodaStream maker than you are by shark attack!
Stewarts message is especially relevant to those who make their
living on the ocean. He encourages crew to raise awareness on their
travels and to source fish for guests from ethical fishermen. The
crew you meet in the film are those from the Sea Shepherd ship.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (www.seashepherd.org)
was established by Captain Paul Watson, who was also a founding
member of Greenpeace. His ships patrol the oceans looking for
fishermen who employ illegal fishing techniques in protected areas.

Crewing on any of the Sea Shepherd vessels represents totally

different challenges to working on a superyacht. The ships are
given a completely new paint job and renamed for each new mission,
and also keep a low profile in order not to cause too much of a stir
among fishing communities. Apart from their constantly changing
identities, these are no ordinary vessels. They are equipped with a
blade that can extend while alongside fishing boats and cut them
like a tin opener. There are also huge water cannons on the bows
that are used to flood rogue fishing boats in the hope of choking
their engines. Watsons methods are unorthodox he even flies the
Jolly Roger but he believes that using force is often the only way to
get the fishermen to cooperate. Skirmishes between Sea Shepherd
vessels and fishing boats often result in violence. It is not unknown
for firearms to be brandished or hostages taken. Life is unsettled for
the plucky vegan crew, but they care passionately about the cause
and will go to any length to stop illegal fishing and whaling.

Sharkwater uncovers some of the problems faced by the Sea Shepherd

crew, with footage of them exerting force over a fishing vessel poaching
sharks in Guatemalan waters. Despite having been invited to patrol

58 THE CREW REPORT THE CREW REPORT 59

 these waters by the Costa Rican President, the incident
with the fishing boat led to the arrests of the crew, who
were charged with seven counts of attempted murder. The
film goes on to reveal that the arrests were called for by the
Taiwanese mafia. A murky link between the Costa Rican
government and various crime syndicates is exposed when
Stewart breaks house arrest to uncover private docks
where thousands of shark fins are drying out on the roofs.

Crime syndicates have a vested interest in the billion-

dollar finning industry, which now rivals drug and arms
trafficking in value. Large trophy fins can now fetch up
to $20,000 each and no species is excluded from the
hunting. Even the giant, harmless, plankton-eating whale
shark is preyed upon. The fins are primarily harvested for
shark fin soup, which is considered a delicacy and is
hugely popular in Far Eastern countries. In this region it
is believe that sharks have medicinal properties due to
their own long and apparently healthy lifespans, although
there is no scientific evidence behind such claims.

Stewart goes to great lengths to highlight the harsh

butchery of the trade. One frame captures a de-finned
shark falling to the seabed, where it lies, its moving eyes
the only sign of the life left. When sharks are de-finned they
are tossed roughly over the side of the boat still alive, only
to suffocate, bleed to death or be eaten by smaller fish.

The film is at once compelling and heart-breaking.

Although it carries a PG rating, some of the scenes of
shark butchery are unbearable. This film is guaranteed
to stay with audiences and to provoke strong reactions,
as it changes peoples perceptions of sharks forever. If
there is one thing crew can do, it is to see the film and to
talk about it, thereby raising awareness. In a forthcoming
edition of The Crew Report we will be offering our readers
the opportunity to win copies of Sharkwater, but in the
meantime you can visit www.savingsharks.com or
www.sharktrust.org for more information.

60 THE CREW REPORT