An eye-opening look at endangered sharks
Rob Stewart’s new documentary, “Sharkwater,” makes a powerful statement about the disastrous decline of the world’s shark population and why it should - and must - matter to us. With dazzling skill, the Toronto-born filmmaker captures an undersea world not of dread and menace but of beauty.
The film explains how sharks are vital to the food chain and marine ecosystem and offers fascinating insight into the creatures (Stewart has to keep his heart rate low around the shy hammerheads because they sense his excitement and flee). The film also effectively debunks all sorts of ridiculous myths - that they swallow humans whole, for example - which persist mostly in our imaginations (thanks, Steven Spielberg). Every year, the film assures us, soda machines kill more people than sharks do.
Stewart’s love for the ocean and what lives there fuels the first part of “Sharkwater,” which then dives into deeper, angrier territory when Stewart and his crew encounter a fishing boat illegally long-lining in an area where the practice is banned. Trying to save 60 miles of dying sharks galvanized the filmmaker, leading him to join forces with renegade environmentalist Paul Watson.
Their clashes with corrupt fishermen and government officials are riveting and terrifying - if you think swimming with sharks is frightening, try spying on the Taiwanese mafia’s illegal shark-fin export business.
“It’s not just about saving sharks,” the filmmaker says. “It’s about saving ourselves.” With “Sharkwater,” Stewart may have strong enough material to save both.