The world's oceans are a major life source to us humans, and a new documentary about the marine world around South Africa aims to highlight how wonderful and vulnerable this ecosystem is. Produced by Off the Fence in partnership with WILDOCEANS, Our Oceans follows the explorations and scientific research of Angra Pequena, a conservation research vessel that works in South Africa's oceans and beyond.
Our most precious marine species take centre stage in the documentary, like the humpback whale, the rare coelacanth and the scalloped hammerhead shark.
From breaching whales to footage from remote cameras more than 100m below the surface, the viewer is treated to a rich variety of imagery that shows the magic of the ocean in a way very few will ever get to experience first-hand.
South Africa recently gazetted 20 new marine protected areas, increasing our coverage to protecting 5% of our country's oceans, and other countries are also starting to assess their own conservation status. “We must thank the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP), the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission and Off the Fence for making this film possible,” said producer of Our Oceans Lauren van Nijkerk.
“It would take an entire day to thank all the cast and crew involved – but a massive blanket thank you must go out to all of them for making a dream of sharing South Africa’s oceans with the world, come true.” The film will premiere on 14 July at at the Barnyard Theatre in Durban.
Image credit: Steve Benjamin
