The documentary is being filmed by the technical staff of the SOS using the latest ‘Hi-Definition’ video equipment on land, under the water and from the air, and aims to capture the whole rationale of the whale shark programme and the activities that comprise it. The projected length of the MCSS component is scheduled to last 24 minutes but as Chris Clarke, the Foundations Executive officer said, ‘the problem is going to be keeping the section this short, there is enough material on this project for a documentary on its own’. 

The filming team hopes to document the aerial survey to locate the sharks, the in water identification and tagging processes, the environmental monitoring that is necessary to correlate to the sharks activities and also the data analysis of the programmes results. The filming team’s recent visit was to capture the whale shark aerial monitoring and in-water identification and tagging components. Although strong winds and rough seas made both filming and in-water activities very difficult, they were able to film the operations from the micro-light survey aircraft. 

The Save Our Seas Foundation was formed in 2003 when the founder made a decision to use whatever facilities he had available to him to protect sharks and other threatened marine species. Now three years on, the foundation supports over 200 marine conservation and research programmes worldwide, many of them involving the study and conservation of sharks. Because sharks are essentially wary creatures this often means that research programmes have to rely on cutting edge technology to get the needed information and, as these technologies are not cheap, this has meant that much needed research has until now simply not been possible. With SOS Foundation assistance, detailed research is on going into Basking sharks in the UK, Great White and Ragged-Tooth sharks in South Africa and , Bull sharks in the Caribbean and conservation projects on Hammerhead sharks off Cocos Island and on Manta rays off Mexico.

The following is a brief summary of 2 of the SOS programmes:

Manta Ray Migrations off Mexico: 

Manta ray off Mexico.  Photo Save Our Seas Foundation

SOS is supporting research trips to satellite tag and collect DNA samples from the giant manta rays (Manta birostris) in a remote area off the coast of Mexico, with the aim of determine population size, migration patterns and hopefully reduce the impact of fishing on these unique animals. 

Raising awareness of the plight of the giant manta rays has encouraged the Mexican Navy to enforce a strict non-extraction policy around the islands, prohibiting all types of fishing, with sever penalties for infringement. 

Protecting hammerhead sharks in Costa Rica:  

Hammerhead sharks schooling off Cocos.  Photo Save Our Seas Foundation

SOS has provided a patrol boat for the Costa Rica Parks Authority ofCocos Island. This will allow park rangers to arrest illegal fishing boats which have caught thousands of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), threatening this fragile eco-system. 

The “Isla De Cocos”, the patrol boat , is already having a positive effect since the local fishing community became aware that there is now a vessel capable of enforcing the no fishing regulations around the islands. The high penalty for capture has sent a clear message to those who previously flouted the law.