Several years ago when living in the Marshall Islands I photographed a shark finning operation and a grey reef on a longline (which we rescued) and subsequently wrote about it for the local newspaper. The images were also published and used worldwide by the BBC, Sharks Trust and various other international organisations.The Asian finning operation were eventually kicked out of the Marshalls (not necessarily on the response from my articles but I like to think maybe I planted a seed there!)

So to see this film all about the evils of this type of fishing and the larger environmental impact it has on the planet as a whole was great.

Although the film uses some “creative editing” to tell its story and in some areas over dramatises certain scenes (if you’re a professional diver you’ll know what i’m talking about) to the layman this a GREAT movie about this worldwide problem, its great to see someone really taking a stand (Lucy and I actually wrote to the Sea Shepherd years ago about working for them so its fascinating to see them in action) and I haven’t shouted at the TV in a long time so that has to be a good thing….

Also the end-credits are brilliant - the filmmaker being dragged behind a boat underwater and flipping upside down with the After Effects credits flying in and out work absolutely perfectly, all to a Moby soundtrack…its almost worth it for the end titles alone…it’s great to see a really creative underwater documentary, not just great filming but really clever use of footage and music.

5 stars…(if you just ignore the glaring dramatisations, which thankfully aren’t too distracting).

sharkwater