Wildlife filmmaker says fighting for sharks can help Philippine tourism

MANILA, Philippines – Wildlife filmmaker Jeff Kurr, the creative force behind Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, said that conservation efforts for thresher sharks will boost Philippine tourism.

“Thousands and thousands of people around the world go on dives and pay a lot of money to go on boats just to see these animals up close,” Kurr told The STAR in a phone interview last week. “So, I think that a smart government that’s interested in improving their economy is going to want to preserve these animals and take advantage of the shark tourism factor.”

Conservationists like Save Sharks Networks and Greenpeace have called for the protection of these thresher sharks. These marine creatures are often sighted in Malapascua Island in Cebu, which has banned the capture, killing and sale of threshers. Despite existence of legislation to protect them, thresher sharks are still regularly caught, said Greenpeace in a recent media release.

“A lot of scientists have done studies about the value of sharks. I don’t know the exact numbers... but I know, for example, if you go out and kill a thresher shark for the meat, it might be worth $50,” Kurr said. 

“But if you keep that thresher shark alive and you bring tourists out on a boat to see it, it creates an entire industry and it might be worth thousands of dollars to have that shark in the water. So, it behoves governments and regulatory agencies to keep their sharks alive for shark tourism because it is a fast-growing business.”

Meanwhile, Shark Week, the annual, week-long shark-based programming, is back on the Discovery Channel starting today until July 1. Kurr has served as executive producer, director, underwater cinematographer, editor and writer in about 30 shark-related shows and documentaries. He has employed innovative technology such as thermal imaging, remote-operated submersibles, robotic seals and high-speed cameras to document shark behavior.

According to Kurr, sharks around the world face a lot of threats created by humans. For one, they are heavily overfished. “I’ve heard estimates of 75 to 100 million sharks being pulled from the water every single year,” he said, adding that this has decimated shark populations everywhere because sharks don’t reproduce as fast as other fish.

“I know Discovery has worked very hard to not only entertain people and have people appreciate the beauty and majesty of sharks, but also to inform them that sharks are definitely in trouble and we should do everything we can to support conservation groups that want to save sharks.”

Even though Shark Week has been shedding light on sharks for the past 28 years, Kurr said these creatures remain misunderstood. “A lot of people still believe that sharks are these dangerous, bloodthirsty killers. And I think everybody around the world should understand that sharks aren’t really like that at all. In fact, if we didn’t have bait in the water with us, the sharks wouldn’t even come close to us,” he related. “I realize that people are occasionally bitten by sharks, and those are circumstances where it’s mistaken identity. Sharks mistake a person for their regular prey. But what I’ve found in my experiences in all these years of filming sharks is that they’re actually quite shy, they’re very cautious and for the most part, they want nothing to do with people unless we have some food in our hands.”

In the course of getting shots that no one has seen before, Kurr has had nerve-wracking experiences filming sharks. He recalls trying to capture a great white shark flying out of the water then “it landed just a few feet away, completely soaked me, but it was an incredible shot. It was probably one of the scariest moments I’ve ever had because I couldn’t see the shark coming.”

Kurr’s interest in marine wildlife began when he was a young boy watching the undersea world presented through the Jacques Cousteau specials. “I’m just lucky because I’m one of the few people who can say that his childhood dreams of becoming a wildlife filmmaker came true,” said the California native and father of two.

Kurr hopes his shark adventures will eventually lead him to the Philippines. “I have not been to the Philippines. I have not done a lot in the Far East, unfortunately. I’ve mainly specialized in white sharks over my 26 years, and they seem to hang out a lot in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, so that’s really where I’ve spent the bulk of my time,” he said.

“But I know you guys have a nice whale shark population over there, which I would love to go film over there, and the threshers. Hopefully, we can get Discovery interested in doing a show in the Philippines someday soon.”