For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth. Driven by passion fed from a life-long fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations. Stewart's remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world's sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

We had the honor of sitting down with Rob Stewart to talk about the film, his experience making it, and what people can do to help save the sharks.



How would you describe Sharkwater to someone who hasn't heard about the film?

Sharkwater is a film about man's relationship with sharks. It interweaves a crazy story of corruption and espionage, attempted murder, hospitalization, machine guns, and mafia rings all into a true life adventure about how sharks are being exploited to the point of extinction and nobody knows and nobody cares, because everyone is afraid of them.

Why was it so important to you to make this film?

It was really important to me because sharks are being killed all over the world and nobody knew and nobody cared largely, because everyone was afraid of them. I realized that the shark population has dropped 90% in the last 30 years. It's going to be a huge problem for people if sharks do get wiped out, because sharks control the population of animals in the ocean that give us 70% of the oxygen that we breathe. So we're killing our own source for survival. It's not just about saving sharks any longer, it's about saving people.

Are you scared of sharks at all?

No, I was scared of sharks as a kid though. I met my first shark when I was 9, and it was afraid of me. Every other shark was afraid of me too, so it sparked my fascination and made me want to know more. I ended up starting to dive with sharks quite a bit. I took my parents and a lot of my friends diving with sharks as well. We spent 200 days a year underwater shooting Sharkwater, and we never had a problem with sharks. As you see in the film, people are way crazier than sharks are.