Blog Number 100 - A Miraculous Conservation Success Story

 

Thanks!

Would you believe it? 100 blog posts and unique hits creeping up to 100,000 in the two years since I started "From the Office..." from a completely standing start, two years ago. There's been highs and lows, celebration and controversy, delight and despair and without exception, as we move forward, the popularity of this project and everything that goes with it is increasing at a fantastic rate and even though you might not agree with everything you read here, you certainly keep reading so thank you. As the curator of the world's greatest online blog about someone from Manchester who makes films about sharks, I would like to let you all know I appreciate all your support.

Since I realised this would be blog 100, I wanted to make it a good one and asked on the Facebook group for suggestions as to what it could be about and I had quite a few come through various channels with a "highlights so far" piece being suggested by a few people.

I had actually decided on that but as it turns out, through a gloriously happy twist of fate, blog 100 will be me delivering some incredible news about an amazing achievement which is, in turn, one of the highlights of the last two years

A Ray of Light from Scarlet View Media on Vimeo.

Remember Brad? My antipodean partner in crime who, like me, believes in actually doing things!

Since Brad first contacted me towards the back end of 2010, we have shared many great moments together, some great ideas and epic highs and lows, all of which emanating from our desire to actually go out there into the wild and try to contribute, in our own ways, to making the world a better place.

If you haven't seen the video above, A Ray of Light, watch it, then come back and continue reading because everything will all make so much more sense.

What seems like forever ago, Brad and I talked about a project he had come up with, a survey to find out more about the yearly appearance in the Bay of Palma, of big numbers of Stingrays, many of which we have since discovered, were heavily pregnant. The concept being that he could set up a Stingray survey, utilising volunteers from the yachting community alongside divers and try to understand this annual aggregation more, how big the numbers are, why they're there and maybe even where are they coming from and going to after they leave?

 

This was a monumental undertaking from the get go because there was no money, no real support from government except from our ever-present and always super cool friend, Gabriel Morey. We talked about how, in order to get people interested in protecting the Stingrays, we would first need to know a lot more about them and their yearly visits to the Bay of Palma. Anyway, long story short, a few months later, Brad emailed to tell me it was up and running and he was conducting surveys with a small handful of divers.

I had been working like a dog for two years solid and had just taken the first order for Behind Blue Glass DVDs and figured I needed a holiday. I had been planning on going over to stay with Brad and Bea anyway and then one night, in bed, I had the idea of shooting a short film about the project but not the usual "... this is bad, look at these horrible images of dead things, we're all gonna die" type PSA, more of an engaging story about the very, very rare breed of people who sacrifice, sacrifice and sacrifice all for a cause they believe is worth fighting for. So, my "holiday" turned into a film shoot and the rest, as they say, is history. Read the full story here.

 

Good to be back in my "room" at Brad's

In real world conservation, that is, outside in the sun, wind, rain, snow etc, where hopes, dreams and self belief are crushed on a daily basis and where the world seemingly tries its utmost to destroy you, the single biggest problem is lack of funding, followed by apathy, everything else is merely a mild annoyance.

Brad was spending all his own money on the surveys, losing working days, burning through fuel like there was no tomorrow, using all his own gear and surviving on about three hours sleep a night, I paid for the production of the film entirely out of my own pocket and battles with beurocracy were a daily occurrance. We needed to inspire people to care about an animal which just isn't as inspiring as sharks or tigers or as easily marketable as whales and dolphins. The issue here was that we had what was a complete oddity in the Med, a healthy population of a marine creature, so we figured we should do what we can to maintain those healthy numbers and use it as a reason as to why marine protected areas in the Mediterranean, especially those around the Balearics, are so important.

Three weeks in Mallorca and three weeks at home and I had the finished film, releasing it to an entirely poistive response, interest in the project increased overnight, we even bit the bullet with the obligatory Facebook page and launched an Indiegogo campaign with the approach being a requested single donation of $5 from everyone interested enough in marine conservation to help with the running costs of the project but social media based animal awareness pages and groups just don't work like that unfortunately and despite only asking for donations of $5, Brad who was by now becoming quite the overnight sensation, found fundraising desperately slow and immensely frustrating.

And herein comes our amazing news...

 

Stefan and Irena Lawrence

 Just when things seemed at their most desperate, I am absolutely overjoyed to announce that one individual, the fantabulous Stefan A Lawrence, has pledged a donation of €35,000!!

Stefan's family has lived on Mallorca since the 60's after moving from New York, all of whom share a passion for the sea and all its creatures. In Stefan's on words;

"What gets us up in the morning (apart from our rambunctious two year old) are people like Brad and Bea. These are the doers not the talkers or worse yet the takers in life. As such it is our pleasure to work with and give back to the Med by supporting ONDINE's stingray survey."

This is a testament to Brad's tireless hard work and passion and the whole thing makes me beam with pride for a few reasons but primarily that this has all come from a small group of friends wanting to do what they felt was the right thing to do, to start a project from scratch with zero support, to build that project and make it totally inclusive and to achieve what looked like almost impossible goals. This funding is not borne from a desire to gain plaudits, to benefit financially and nor does it come with a long list of restrictive demands for things in return, it's just someone else doing what they think is the right thing to do.

This is a sign that very real conservation projects can be established by ordinary people in the face of what seem insurmountable obstacles, that there are people out there who believe in action over endless talk and deliberation and that you can just get out there and inspire people to help our marine environments. There are great conservation opportunities on your doorstep, wherever that may be. Whilst people may be railing against dolphin slaughter in Taiji, shark finning in Costa Rica, or the unsustainable harvest of Bluefin Tuna, signing petitions, sending emails and creating Facebook pages, there are projects in your area which need your help and involvement so go find them and get involved! By all means do the other stuff too but don't ignore local issues simply because they may not seem as glamorous at first.

This money means that Brad can get the materials needed for the surveys, cover fuel costs, the hiring of boats and maintenance of equipment. This means that more ground can be covered, proper study can be undertaken and most importantly, that we are now no longer hampered from simply not being able to afford doing even some of the most basic things that are required to run a long lasting conservation initiative. This doesn't mean that opportunities to help the project have now closed of course, to keep the initiative running for years to come will mean that financial support will always be gratefully received and you can get involved by contacting brad direct at brad@ondineescape.com

 

Brad's ultimate goal has always been to make the project self sufficient, so it can be grown and passed on for as many people to take part in as possible, he has always said that this isn't his project, it's Mallorca's project and I absolutely love that, it's a sign of the man and his approach to conservation, he doesn't want people kissing his arse or getting his face on the TV, he just wants the project to achieve its goals. The man is a genuine hero.

This also bodes well for future projects, one in particular I have had in mind for many, many years and which will hopefully be our next project. Obviously I won't be saying anything until Brad and I have the wheels in motion but what I will say, is that if we get it off the ground and it is successful, it will be one of the most amazing and important things you will ever see. Yes really.

In the meantime, to our hugely generous donor, we love you and cannot thank you enough, I am over the moon to see that Brad, who keeps this project running 365 days a year, is getting the support he deserves, the man is a genuine conservationist and Balearic marine life has a brighter future because of him and Bea.

This is conservation with a focus on social issues as well given the partnership with Joves Navegants and which is geared towards encouraging as many people as possible to join in and this incredibly kind gesture by an ocean lover means that it can only get bigger and inspire more people. Good things do happen to good people and sometimes, the nice guys get the rewards they deserve and if that doesn't make you feel good, nothing will!

If this does make you feel good, send Brad a message of support, he deserves a bit of love  for all his effort.

"A Ray of Light" - New Short Film

Here it is, as promised, my new short, a film about the human aspect behind grassroots conservation, in particular, Brad Robertson and his project in Mallorca to help protect the visiting, breeding Stingray population.

Watch on Vimeo

Read more about the production here, there will be some more info in the coming days relating to how this film was shot on pretty much zero money with only one camera and some additional footage provided by Brad and his trusty Canon G9, if anyone is interested enough to get some behind the scenes info.

This is also the first project to be launched by my brand new production company Scarlet View Media through which everything I do will be released meaning I can ensure it is of the quality each project deserves and also that I can have complete control of the output which, to a control freak like me, is nothing short of essential. Website and more details coming soon.

As I say in the linked article, if you enjoy this, share it and don't be shy with it. The more people aware of Brad's brilliant project the better and it also might serve to open the eyes of people who think merely clicking "like" on a Facebook page is conservation. If more people start taking steps to protect what is on their own doorsteps, the world will be a better place, find out what projects are local to you or even start your own!

The Mallorca Stingray Survey Facebook group is here
The From the Office to the Ocean page is here
The Ondine Escape page is here

The film has been downscaled to 720p for faster loading and for you Windows folk, if you have the option to watch in HTML5 (Chrome, Safari) do so for a higher quality viewing experience.

I want to hear your feedback, if you enjoy the film, please tell me and tell me why, ditto if you don't like it, I'm a big boy, I can take it :)

Anyway, less talk more watch...Enjoy.

A Ray of hope for Mallorca's Stingrays?

 

Pic by Gonzo

If you weren't already aware, I'm currently in Mallorca for what was intended to be a holiday with friends where I could recharge my batteries in the sun and get away from the laptop and editing duties for a bit.

What started with that intention however quickly morphed into me coming over to shoot a little short film about a brilliant grassroots conservation project being led by my very good friends and partners in crime, Brad and Bea, well, I say "crime" but by that I mean coming up with hugely ambitious projects we don't have any money to do and which take up all our time but which we somehow manage to get off the ground anyway.

The current project being developed by Brad is the Mallorquin Stingray Survey, a brilliantly simple concept which encourages ordinary people to volunteer to take part in twice monthly dives in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in which they count the Stingrays encountered on that dive in that specific area and where possible, take photographs and videos to help create an idea of how many are there and if possible, why they are there.

The target species is the Common Stingray and once again we can count on the involvement of our friend and expert on Mediterranean Elasmobranchs, Gabriel Morey, to help with all the science behind the data we collect.

 

I am of course here to capture footage, not just of the dives, but of the people and not to simply tell people what we are doing, but to give an honest portrayal of conservation in action, actual conservation, where people leave their homes and go outside and commit to spending months, maybe even years, grinding through the sun, wind, rain and all other obstacles that life throws at you just to try and do something good. I am not getting paid (it's actually costing me money to do this) and this project currently has zero financial support (something we hope to change) with Brad and Bea and everyone else involved digging into their own pockets to try and make it work. That means early mornings, late nights, trips around the island and the constant putting out of fires (metaphoric, not real, at least not yet anyway.)

Long time readers of this blog will know I am a cynic regarding many things, not least people's ideals of what constitutes action and involvement in environmental causes and during a two hour filmed interview with Brad yesterday (remember those Mike?!) we spoke a lot about the frustrations that "doers" encounter when faced with the overwhelming majority of "talkers" who inadvertently, sometimes even intentionally, get in their way and place barriers in their path, despite claiming to be on the same side. We discussed what motivates the tiny handful of people like Brad and Bea who sacrifice their time, finances and quite often sanity, just to try and do something in which they passionately believe and also the goals for the future we have in regards to trying to have at least a tiny, but positive effect, upon marine conservation in the Mediterranean. Not only are they my friends, they are also two of my ultimate conservation heroes, I don't have many, and they are in elite company.

 

So what about the actual dives we've done so far? Ray-wise, pretty incredible, over three dives we've seen about a hundred, including some very big, fat, pregnant ladies which is great! Aside from the Rays and considering this is a protected area, there is nothing, of course there are a few fish here and there but an area like this should be utterly teeming with life and it really is not.

The Mediterranean is in severely dire straits and without the Rays, El Delta, the area in which we are doing the surveys, would not be worth diving despite being a beautiful location with crystal clear water, it's no good having great viz but nothing to see.

That is why projects like this and people like Brad and Bea are absolutely vital to the Med standing any chance of not becoming completely desolate, bereft of any life, in ours or our children's lifetimes. If you want to learn more or see how you can help then contact Brad at brad@ondineescape.com and if you're coming to Mallorca this Summer and fancy a dive with these Rays, you can do exactly that with the island's best dive operation.

Here I am then, on "holiday" and editing two hours worth of interview with a bad back from lugging gear around in the hot sun and sleeping on the floor under Brad's stairs but it's more than worth it and fingers crossed, you enjoy the little film when it's done.

speaking of little films, I actually will be able to tell you when "Behind Blue Glass" is actually available to purchase on DVD but as is often the case, I am waiting on that info to reach me, hopefully in the next week or so so keep an eye out for that. As for big films, "Of Shark and Man" remains at the same stage as last you heard from me, I return to the UK early June to do a little more filming for the intro which will allow me to complete that then progress ill really pick up. It's a long, frustrating and tough journey but you won't hear me complaining.

To finish off, as we are all now on Facebook, if you are a "Shark and Marine Life Saver" or you like Rays, Mallorca or even just have a thing for long haired, Aussie dive instructor hippies, please let Brad know that you appreciate what it is he is doing and ask how you can put your "shark and marine life saving" expertise to good use in helping with this very worthy project.

If you're one of the many NGOs who has corresponded with Brad on this and other projects in the last two or three years and who still hasn't actually done anything to help, a) why? and b) sort it out please because we simply cannot afford to do it on our own using our own money, this is local conservation done by local people with real, tangible benefits to the local community here and that is what you market yourselves as supporting so contact Brad and he'll tell you how to help.

There might be a short little video with some stuff shot by Gonzo and Brad on the dives but that depends on whether we have the time to do it so if we do, it will be going out here.

Hasta La Vista

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