November 12, 2007

32 years after Jaws showed a defenseless woman being dragged underwater and devoured by an insatiable monster, three women are coming together to debunk that largely fictitious image.

The three women are shark enthusiasts Julie Andersen, Kim McCoy, and Alison Kock, and their vehicle, besides a boat, is short feature documentary called Shark Angels. Shark Angels begins production on November 14, 2007 in the Bahamas. 

Once the domain of daring male divers, often relying on the safety of cages, Andersen, McCoy, and Kock will be challenging their own fears by swimming in open water with large sharks.  Aboard Jim Abernethy’s vessel, the Shear Water, their mission is to get as close to as many large predators as possible in the most shark-inhabited waters of the Caribbean. Abernethy is the perfect captain, with more time than anyone else in the world diving with these sharks. Rob Stewart, director of the award winning documentary Sharkwater, will be joining the expedition to support the threesome as they intentionally surround themselves with what are considered some of the largest, most dangerous sharks in the world. All this to prove that society has been fed mis-truths about sharks, amazing creatures that are being ruthlessly chased toward extinction. 

“We are leading a movement to save the sharks, our oceans, and ourselves," said Stewart. "Shark populations are being wiped out and nobody knows or cares about it, because what's out of sight is largely out of mind… we have to change that."

The public interest in sharks seems inexhaustible. This summer, shark attacks again made headlines across the globe and, not surprisingly, the attack reports far out-paced the number of actual attacks. In reality, there are relatively few shark attacks worldwide, with an average of 4 people per year who die from a shark bite.

In contrast, sharks are one of the most hunted animals on the planet. Desired for their fins, up to 100 million sharks are killed each year with a growing number of shark species approaching extinction. “Just this summer, Sea Shepherd exposed a major shark fin operation in the Galapagos, leading to arrests and the confiscation of tens of thousands of illegally obtained shark fins,” said McCoy. “This sort of thing is happening around the world.  Sharkfinning is brutal, unsustainable, and it must be stopped.”

The three Shark Angels are engaging, attractive, and professional young women who are passionate about sharks and horrified by the rate at which man is destroying them. Like Stewart, they represent the next generation of shark conservationists – young, hip, educated, and capable. Kim McCoy, executive director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Julie Andersen, director of Shark Savers, and Alison Kock, lead field researcher for Save Our Seas, have brought their organizations together for the first time to combat these myths, expose the truth, and continue the grass roots movement begun with Stewart’s Sharkwater.

“After seeing Sharkwater, we realized that we need to do more to combat shark myths and build awareness. The public needs to know that sharks are in danger.  Sharks need and deserve our help. We also want to experience sharks first hand in the way Rob did in Sharkwater.  In Shark Angels, we want to give the sharks a way to ‘tell’ their own story - capturing on film the fact that they are not our enemies, but vitally important and amazing ocean creatures,” said Andersen. 

The entire experience will be captured in high definition film and in still photos. The production will be released to broadcast, print, and online media outlets around the world. Shawn Heinrichs of Blue Sphere Media, an underwater and conservation filmmaker, will be producing and directing the film.

“Having worked directly with various conservation groups over the years to expose and combat shark finning, I am incredibly excited and honored to be asked to direct this project that for the first time brings together some of the leading shark conservation organizations in a unified effort to end sharkfinning,” said Heinrichs.

Eric Cheng will serve as the photographer. Cheng, the publisher and editor of Wetpixel.com and Wetpixel Quarterly Magazine, is a premier underwater still photographer whose work has been featured in publications around the world.  Christopher Chin, executive director of the Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education, rounds out the production team as a cinematographer.     

Oceanic Worldwide, a global leader in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of leading-edge, high-quality SCUBA diving equipment, has joined Shark Angels as the equipment sponsor for the film team. Ocean Technology Systems, the leader in state-of-the-art underwater communication systems, is providing communications equipment and support.

The Shark Angels believe that society’s irrational fear of sharks explains the general lack of desire to protect and conserve them. Through awareness and understanding, they aim to change that and ensure that sharks survive to play their important role in maintaining the oceans – and ultimately, in humankind’s own survival.

Shark Savers (www.sharksavers.org) is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to saving the sharks through building awareness, education, and grassroots action.  Shark Savers is enabling people to learn, take action, share information, and find each other around the mission of saving sharks.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international non-profit organization specializing in marine wildlife conservation. Sea Shepherd directly intervenes against the illegal slaughter of marine animals worldwide and operates under the UN World Charter for Nature to uphold international conservation laws.

Save Our Seas Foundation is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. SOS Foundation's mission is to increase awareness, protection, preservation, and conservation of the global marine environment, the world's greatest shared natural resource. SOS implements and supports diverse programs of education, protection, and conservation of the seas all around the world.

Sharkwater  opened in theaters throughout the US on November 2nd and has already won 22 awards. This documentary, filmed in visually-stunning high definition, takes you into the most shark-rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world’s shark populations.

Blue Sphere Media founded by Shawn Heinrichs, is an independent film company that produces adventure, underwater and conservation documentaries and footage.

Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures Jim Abernethy, a pioneer in cageless diving with large predatory sharks, will host the Shark Angels aboard his vessel the Shear Water. An avid shark diver for over 30 years, since 1999 Jim has spent 50 weeks each year with tiger, great hammerhead, oceanic white tip, bull, and lemon sharks while running his shark expeditions with a perfect safety record.