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For those of you who believe that sharks are man-eating monsters of the deep, there is a remarkable film that aims to change that perception and portray these animals as the vital creatures they truly are. ‘Sharkwater’ is the brainchild of director Rob Stewart and the result of a four-year long effort to educate people as to the importance of these top predators of the sea. When Rob set out to make his film, he had no idea of the drama he was about to enter into. A series of life and death situations including pirate boat rammings, attempted murder charges, arrests, espionage and corruption were the last things he expected on his journey.

“When I set out to make Sharkwater, I wanted people to see what I saw, an incredible undersea world that is so foreign to most of the planet. I had no idea that it would become a human drama that would take over 4 years, span 15 countries and nearly end my life,” Rob told me. Rob, who spent his childhood summers on Sanibel Island, has been diving around sharks since he was eight years old and could never understand why people are so afraid of them.

“I started making the film because I realized there was a discrepancy between the way the world viewed sharks and my experience with them,” he said. “I wanted to make a film that shows sharks as they really are, as beautiful and magnificent creatures that don’t want to hurt humans, and to show how our fear has blinded us to the fact that their populations have been reduced by 90 per cent over the last 50 years.”

Rob told me that, in fact, “More people are killed by pop machines than sharks. They’re actually afraid of us - they don’t eat people. Most shark attacks are mistakes and the shark takes one bite and leaves when it realizes its mistake. Then the media hypes it up and pushes people further from reality.”

Rob, who was working as a wildlife photographer prior to embarking on this epic journey, decided to make the film when he came to the conclusion that print media was not reaching enough people.

“There was a small group heavily involved in shark conservation at the time, and we all knew each other. So when I heard that Paul Watson of the Sea Shepard Conservation Society was going on an excursion to Costa Rica to patrol their waters, I asked to come along.” The Sand Paper interviewed Paul Watson in January 2006 as he was commanding the Sea Shepard boat the Farley Mowat, on patrol in the Antarctic Sea to seek out whaling ships in an effort to interfere with the killing of whales.

Rob thought he would be filming sharks underwater. After all, the Costa Rican government had invited the Sea Shepard’s boat Ocean Warrior to come. What he ended up getting involved with nearly cost him his life.

“On our way to Cocos Island we intercepted the Vandero, a fishing boat illegally long lining in Guatemalan waters.” This changed the focus of Rob’s film from underwater scenes to the human drama that revolves around the black market shark finning industry, which is illegal in Costa Rica.

Shark finning involves catching a shark and cutting off its fins, then throwing the often still-alive shark back in the water to die in agony. The fins are then used in soups and other recipes and are considered a delicacy in China. One pound of dried shark fin can sell for as much as $300 or more. The rest of the shark isn’t worth nearly as much money, so that is why they are discarded. As China’s economy grows, demand for this expensive dish has sky rocketed. It is estimated that over 100 million sharks were slaughtered for their fins last year, and many environmental groups blame the practice of shark finning for the decline in shark populations worldwide.

When Rob arrived in Costa Rica, he was charged with seven counts of attempted murder for interfering with the Vandero’s operations, despite the fact the Costa Rica’s president had invited them there. Once ashore, Rob discovered a lot about the shark finning industry.

“Even though shark finning is illegal in Costa Rica, Costa Rican fins were showing up all over Asia,” Rob said. “We uncovered a connection between the Taiwanese mafia and the shark fin supply.” With the help of an insider, Rob went undercover and found out that shark finning was rampant all up and down Costa Rican coasts.

“There were millions of dollars in fins in dozens of illegal shark finning operations that the authorities were ignoring,” Rob explained. “After being chased and threatened by operators with guns, our guide admitted that the ‘shark-fin mafia’ was on the lookout and it would not be a good idea to be seen in town.”

After spending weeks fighting the attempted murder charges, Rob and the rest of the Ocean Warrior crew fled Costa Rica to avoid arrest.

Rob later snuck back into Costa Rica and was happy to see that the local people had begun to rally against shark finning.

Returning home to Canada, Rob spent nearly a year recovering from the many illnesses he contracted while shooting – such as Dengue Fever, West Nile virus and TB – all at the same time! Rob says he used that internal time to develop the theories and concepts that make up the body of the film.

Rob spent the next four years on Sharkwater, shooting over 400 hours of footage in 15 countries. The result is a film that has won 10 film festivals worldwide. It will be showing here locally very soon, go to the website www.sharkwater.com to find when and where. Rob had some final words on why the film is so important to see.

“What people don’t realize is that the sharks’ population decline is the biggest issue on the planet. Life in the oceans is the biggest player in the global warming debate. Sharks are at the top of a food chain that we are dependent on for survival.”

Keri Hendry