News / Industry News & Events / Reef tribute doco has eco message (Bayside Bulletin) (02/01/10)
Reef tribute doco has eco message (Bayside Bulletin)
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Reef tribute doco has eco message
Coral Sea Dreaming - Awaken is a sequel to the documentary of the same name, released in 1992, produced with partner Lucy Trippett. It is the product of eight years' filming from more than 1000 dives by the pair when they returned to the Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea's reefs and Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia to film.
The world premiere of the documentary will be screened at Redlands Performing Arts Centre as part of a worldwide climate change awareness campaign to reduce carbon emissions, and the resultant ocean acidification.
"I didn't think it was possible to be scared any more after some of the damage I'd seen when filming the first Coral Sea Dreaming, but when we returned to do Awaken, I saw damage done to hard coral so that it couldn't produce limestone any more, so it hasn't got the capacity to re-form and recover," Dave said.
"Turtles, shrimp, krill - all those lifeforms that rely on limestone or calcium for their shells or exo-skeletons will be affected. There's no genetic history of survival for something like this."
Coral is made of limestone, or calcium carbonate, a basic compound that is degraded by acids. As increasing amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere, more is absorbed by the ocean, reducing its pH and making it more acidic, thus disintegrating the coral.
RPAC is set to be decked out with 'virtual marine d?cor' to prepare the audience for entering a world of ancient turtles, feeding sharks, pygmy seahorses, savage sea slugs, a manta ray ballet and courting octopi, as well as mating, feeding, night-time predation, cannibalism and chemical warfare, all set to a soundtrack written by Adelaide composer Tanya Rose.
"This film is not only a celebration, but a tribute to the reefs. It's a musical journey but also a full scale message: we don't want the audience to switch off," Dave said.
"We know they're used to hearing this message when it comes to saving animals, but we need to pour the same effort into marine research as we do for land animals. We need to have research and breeding programs in aquariums like we do for zoos."
The film is also in the final stages of release on Blu-Ray disc, which Dave said will allow not only for a range of different soundtracks, including trance and dance music, but information portals, educational resources and links to environmental websites and campaigns.
"We also try to challenge some of the stereotypes people assume about fish, like that groups of fish don't bond with one another, and playing lighter music behind the scenes of sharks," Dave said.
"It got to the stage that both the male and the female jellyfish got so used to me hanging around filming them that I became like the alpha male jellyfish chasing them around!"
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