Sunday, August 5, 2018

Shepherding the sharks



"Sharkwater" is a fascinating Canadian documentary featuring the scuba diver Rob Stewart and the controversial environmentalist activist Paul Watson, the leader of the Sea Shepherd organization. Together, Stewart and Watson want to save - wait for it - the sharks!

I've heard of people who want to save whales or dolphins, but this is the first time I encounter people who actually want to save sharks. I didn't even know sharks were particularly threatened. Shark the hunter, man the hunted, right?

Not so, according to "Sharkwater". 90% of the shark population is already gone, and several species are threatened with extinction, including the peaceful whale shark (the world's largest fish). The documentary even claims that the complete extinction of sharks might affect the global climate, since shark predation stops other fish from overconsuming plankton. And plankton is necessary to keep the climate in balance.

I'm not sure if I buy that particular argument, or the claim that most sharks are pretty harmless to humans, but it's pretty clear from the documentary that all sharks are threatened by overfishing from the absurd shark finning industry. Conservations efforts are hampered by a variety of factors: shark fin soup and other shark-derived products are part of East Asian culture, the oceans are difficult to control, and many people don't like sharks anyway!

The most interesting part of "Sharkwater" features Paul Watson and his notorious activist group Sea Shepherd. I've heard of Sea Shepherd already 25 years ago, when they were literally attacking whaling ships in Iceland and Norway. Sea Shepherd has always been considered a dangerous extremist group.

Or so I imagined.

In "Sharkwater", Sea Shepherd is actually invited by the president of Costa Rica to protect the Cocos Island from poachers. However, as Watson and his ship approaches Costa Rica, something goes dangerously wrong. The local authorities in the coastal town of Puntarenas suddenly turn coat and start prosecuting Sea Shepherd, placing the entire crew in house arrest! Stewart goes AWOL and soon discovers what's going on: the Taiwanese mafia controls large and illegal shark finning facilities in the town, complete with secret ports. Here we have another and more disturbing reason why conservation efforts fail: sheer corruption. The mobsters presumably bought off the courts in Puntarenas, making sure they turn against Sea Shepherd.

Watson, Stewart and the other activists see no other choice than to leave Costa Rica as fast as possible, which they also manage to do under dramatic circumstances, the Sea Shepherd ship being chased by the coast guard. Instead, they set sail to the Galapagos Islands, where they are on friendly terms with the local authorities (!). Undaunted, Stewart decides to go back to Costa Rica in secret, and even sneeks into Puntarenas where the people have started to protest against the Taiwanese mafia and their illegal activities. Taking advantage of the chaos, Stewart finally manages to visit the elusive Cocos Island, where he can be alone with his beloved sharks...

"Sharkwater" does get a bit too romantic for my taste at times, but it's nevertheless one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Indeed, it often comes close to being an adventure or action movie. To some extent, it's also a propaganda movie for the Sea Shepherd organization. Indeed, this is the film's weakest point, since Paul Watson turns out to be a misanthrope who apparently thinks sharks are better than primates (i.e. us). Perhaps when the sharks are safe and sound, we could feed this man to them? Still, I admit that these guys and their chases make great television!

Five stars.

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