CAST
MICK FANNING
Mick Fanning is a 3x Surfing World Champion, but in recent years, he's better known as 'the guy who punched a shark’. Mick Fanning started surfing from the age of 5. By 1996, Fanning emerged as one of the finest surfers in the whole of Australia. He went on to win his first world tour in 2007, before later winning in 2009 and 2013. The most shocking moment of his career was his close encounter with a great white shark at Jefferys Bay in 2015, and it led to his retirement in 2018. Since his retirement, he has focused his influence in wildlife conservation, mainly in supporting the organisation Wild Ark as an ambassador. He is still afraid of another shark encounter, but he is determined to conquer his fear and let experts take him on a journey to discover all there is to love about sharks.
DAVE WARD
Dave is an experienced Techno-Conservationist and was recently the Chief Architect at Cisco Systems. He was responsible for architectural governance, academic research, defining portfolio strategy, and developing new technology and use-inspired solutions. He also led co-development and co-innovation initiatives with customers and partners. He and his team have been developing a networking, IOT and AI conservation solution since 2015. It initially aimed to reduce illegal poaching of wildlife, focusing on rhinos, in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Dave and the team have expanded to thwart illegal poaching in Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique. His involvement in the design and development of that revolutionary new tech and solutions has led him to the ocean where he believes more can be done for marine endangered species and ecosystem conservation. Technological solutions have proven to be effective, and with the help of pioneers in shark research and the application of modern networking, IOT and data science, saving sharks from extinction is a possibility.
CAROLE GRIDLEY
As a senior director at Cisco, Carole is a business strategist who defines corporate impact and worthwhile areas for growth. A veteran at innovation strategy, she now actively mobilizes her teams to build solutions to problems facing our planet. Carole also aligns Cisco’s business priorities with the broader tech community and in so doing, aims to forge a robust and more uniform response to sustainable impact. This documentary challenged her team to apply the latest software and technology to one of the most awe inspiring environments there is. She embraced the chance to become a certified diver and get up close with sharks, and looks forward to effecting change through future such powerful and rewarding experiences.
DR. CHARLIE HUVENEERS
Charlie started his PhD at Macquarie University in 2003 on the biology and ecology of wobbegong sharks in relation to the commercial fishery in NSW. In 2007, he started running the Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System (AATAMS) part of the Integrated Marine Observing System program (IMOS) during which he deployed acoustic receivers around Australia and created a national network of acoustic telemetry users. He joined MISA through a joint position between SARDI - Aquatic Sciences and Flinders University where he acted as shark ecologist and Lecturer between 2009 and 2014. Since 2014, he has been at Flinders University full-time. Over the years, A/Prof Huveners has worked on a wide range of species including wobbegongs, Port Jackson sharks, grey reef sharks, bronze whalers, dusky sharks, blacktip reef sharks, nervous sharks, smooth rays, fiddler rays, manta rays, and white sharks.
PROFESSOR COLIN SIMPFENDORFER
Prof Colin Simpfendorfer is a Professor of Marine Biology in the College of Science and Engineering. He has more than 25 years of experience in researching sharks, and has published extensively in the scientific literature on shark biology, ecology, fisheries and conservation. His expertise on sharks has been recognised by his appointment as the Co-Chair of the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group. Colin is a graduate of James Cook University, having undertaken both his undergraduate and postgraduate training in Townsville. After completing his PhD he worked on shark fisheries at the Western Australian Fisheries Department before moving to Florida to work at the Centre for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory. He returned to JCU in 2007 to lead the Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, where he has helped build a research group focused on improving our understanding of sharks and how best to conserve and manage their populations.
DR. neil hammerschlag
Neil is a marine ecologist and Research Associate Professor at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science and Abess Centre for Ecosystem Science & Policy. He also serves as Director of the Shark Research & Conservation Program at the University of Miami. Neil’s research centres broadly on the behavioural ecology, conservation biology, and movement ecology of marine predators, particularly sharks. His current research has three core themes: (1) understanding the ecological and evolutionary effects of sharks; (2) determining the biological drivers and conservation consequences of shark movement patterns; and (3) examining how urbanisation affects the behaviour and health of coastal sharks. He has projects currently underway in Florida, Bahamas, and South Africa.
CRISTINA ZENATO
Cristina grew up in the African rain forest where she developed a passion for the outdoors and wilderness. Over twenty-five years ago she journeyed to the Bahamas to learn how to scuba dive and immediately made The Bahamas her home and diving her life. She has met and worked with different scientists, behaviourists and handlers in the Bahamas, South Africa, Fiji, Rhode Island, California, Florida, North Carolina, China, and Mexico. While she has worked with over a dozen different species in different locations, her primary work is with Caribbean Reef sharks in her home in The Bahamas. Cristina is one of the first in the world to have been able to induce a state of relaxation in the Caribbean Reef sharks through gentle touch. Cristina and her sharks have become ambassadors for many other species and animals in the world. Through her work, she helps her sharks by removing hooks from their mouths and parasites. She helps scientists collect data to support research and has developed a Caribbean Reef Shark Diver Distinctive Specialty. Cristina was the initiator of the movement that resulted in the full protection of sharks in the entire Bahamas.
NEAL WATSON II
Neal runs the Bimini Scuba Center in The Bahamas. After taking the business over from his father, Neal continues to wow tourists by taking them out diving with Bimini’s unique marine life. He and his team are famous for hosting dives with the island’s resident sharks.