Whale sharks have been coming to this place for millions of years. Their recent migration patterns to certain areas have been documented down to the hour. How do they do that? Do they have some kind of ancient but advanced navigation system? Why do they do that? Is there something special about this place that makes them return year after year, century after century? Shark advocates have managed to protect them in these waters and we are here with some of them to try to answer some of these questions by tagging them with GPS devices so we can study their behaviors. Tomorrow is a first for us. Looking forward to it! Over and out.

October 17, 2009: Trial and Error

Today we ventured out onto the Sea of Cortez with the Dokument Films crew, underwater cinematographer Luke Inman and pro surfer, Holly Beck. Our goal was to swim with the sharks. Literally. Big ones. Whale sharks! The weather and waves were unforgiving. High winds and rough seas made for a bumpy ride and murky water but at the end of the day, can you really have a bad time with amazing people in a natural wonderland adventuring after a 60 foot fish?

We ended up swimming with three of them. They were everything I hoped they would be and more and ambassadors of good behavior. A message to anyone or anything powerful in size and stature: you have nothing to prove. Just be nice. Tomorrow we set the tags. More to come. Over and out.

October 18, 2009: Surrounded

Golden mornings usually lend themselves to being amazing days. Today was no exception. We loaded the boats at dawn and headed out onto a glassy sea. The light danced and the water broke out in front of us like lines of communication intended for an animal we all came to see.

Within minutes we were on top of a a 20 ft. juvenile whale shark. Scientists and Dokument Films underwater DP slid into the water and swam along top until they saw their opportunity to dive and set the tag on the dorsal fin. One pinch from the tagging spear and the shark dove like a submarine into the deep.

After we got through our shot list, I got into the water when we spotted one. I kicked with my fins and found myself surrounded in a school of sardines. As I came through the other side there was a whale shark coming straight at me. I kicked left and swam along side the length of its body until the tail kicked out underneath me. These investigative practices continued for 15 minutes and then it swam away. I surfaced and felt elated and as the boat returned to shore there was this sense of satisfaction, a calm that only comes from those experiences that make you feel as small as you really are. The evening ended with us staring up at the Milky Way with the Dokument Films and Body Glove teams standing in a sea of phosphorescence. Amazing footage. One more day. Over and out.

October 19, 2009: The Perfect Ending
by Alison Watson

We woke up this morning before the sunrise and set out for our last shooting day. We captured the sun peaking out over the mountains in this magnificent place. The town of Bahia De Los Angeles is small and yet has an enormous amount of character. We walked through the old cemetery scattered with flowers and statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe.. an old truck sat in the distance burnt orange with rust and surrounded by more mountain views, the Sea of Cortez sitting glassy and inviting, and a pack of very friendly dogs to greet us. This, may I mention again, is just the beginning of the day.

We ventured out after filming some great interviews with our marine biologists and new found friends. The sky was clear and our boat took us speeding through sea spray and schools of fish to a rock island covered in sea lions barking at us with welcome. Our underwater cinematographer, Luke Inman, dove deep and quickly became surrounded by close to 20+ pups wanting their first cameo.

Read the rest of the entry here….

October 19, 2009: Reflections

The spots on a whale shark look like a reflection of the night sky. Four hundred million years of swimming in the ocean and they have taken on the likeness of the universe as a whole.
Today the Dokument Films crew’s last encounter was with the most mellow of whale sharks I have experienced on my trip. It kept swimming toward me as I tried to maneuver my way away from bumping into it. We swam together as it stared into my eyes. I get it now. I really do. We must protect the vulnerable. We all know that. It is one of the most basic principals of humanity. These incredible creatures could become extinct in our lifetime if we do not do something about it.

Find out how you can help by visiting the website for Iemanya Oceanica. Protect our oceans. Take a piece of trash off the beach every time you visit. I thank you and so do the whale sharks. This was the last transmission. Home tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Over and out.

October 20, 2009: Why It All Matters
by Alison Watson

I am reminiscing about our amazing trip to Bahia De Los Angeles. We had a great time with creatures from the sea, good people and a place that is just spectacular in landscape. It is easy to get caught up in the beauty, but we have to remember the reason why we were there in the first place.

Whale sharks are a mysterious animal and we have so much to learn about them. They are not currently endangered – likely due to the conservation efforts made in the last decade to protect them. Sharks are the top of the food chain in the ocean and predators are doing us all a favor by balancing our ocean.

Brady said in our last interview with him, something that is very true.. “A balanced ocean is a balanced planet.”

A healthy ocean is essential to a healthy terrestrial environment. The ocean is literally driving the world’s climate, storing a massive amount of solar energy. It grabs and stores carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. We simply cannot afford to ignore how important it is to protect the ocean.

Without sharks, we unbalance everything tied to the sea.. including a large part of the population’s food supply. While exploring the Sea of Cortez, we spent some time with sea lions as well. Many of these beautiful pups were covered in trash and some strangled or cut by plastic and other debris dumped by humans. This trash is coming from all of us (just dumped by someone else).

This film will look at whale sharks, but it is imperative we realize there is a whole world view here. In order to protect these creatures and our own species, try a few of these tips:

-Stop buying plastic water bottles at the store (use a filter at home and reusable containers – it’s cheaper too long term!)

-Eat off of the “safe list” at sushi restaurants

-Adopt a Shark today! This is a great gift for someone and will help us track and protect these important animals.

And remember you can make a difference just by making a small change or contribution in your life today. Dokument Films has seen this first hand and is inspired to do the same! Get out there and do something! And have fun!