First project due out in spring 2012
Artist, researcher and marine conservationist Guy Harvey, who has fascinated audiences with the award-winning “Portraits from the Deep” documentary series and recently received a lifetime achievement award celebrating his environmental advocacy, is launching two new film projects this year.
The first documentary, titled “Panama Paradise: Edge of Conservation”, is due out this spring.
The second documentary, due out later this year, will deal with the migration patterns of tiger sharks, a threatened species.
In “Panama Paradise: Edge of Conservation”, Mr. Harvey and two-time Emmy Award winning producer George C. Schellenger take an expedition to where the jungle meets the sea in Panama, capturing unforgettable imagery of the surrounding waters. The film chronicles how scientists are working against the clock to protect a land and sea paradise popular with visitors from around the world.
“A critical part of the mission of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation is education and film is a superb way to deliver the messages of science and conservation,” Mr. Harvey said. “Only through understanding the issues can we hope to save our seas for future generations.
“The film will feature massive storms, majestic marlins and even protective dolphins – all part of an adventure that takes place above and below the water,” he said.
Mr. Harvey, born in West Germany and raised in Jamaica, has done extensive underwater photography work in the Cayman Islands and is a leading advocate for preserving the area’s endemic Nassau grouper population. The renowned painter, author, underwater photographer and angler also owns Guy Harvey’s Restaurant on the waterfront in George Town, Grand Cayman, and has spent decades promoting marine conservation through his books, paintings and photography.
In November, Mr. Harvey received the Simon Combes Conservation Award from the Artists for Conservation Foundation, an international organisation dedicated to celebrating and preserving the natural world by supporting wildlife and habitat conservation, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental education through art.
Mr. Harvey’s latest documentary, “The Mystery of the Grouper Moon”, played a role in protecting one of the last known spawning areas of the Nassau grouper in the waters off Little Cayman, the smallest of the three islands in the Cayman Islands chain. An updated version of the documentary is in production.
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Schellenger have collaborated on several projects, including “This is Your Ocean: Sharks”, a 44-minute documentary depicting sharks in their natural environment.
The second documentary scheduled for release this year will reveal breakthroughs in the study of migration patterns of satellite-tagged tiger sharks in the Caribbean. This film captures the adventure of shark diving and evokes a call for conservation as tiger sharks are considered a near threatened species due to finning and over-fishing.
The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation funds inspired scientific research and innovative educational programs to encourage conservation and best management practices for sustainable marine environments.
Mr. Harvey and Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center in Florida collaborated to create the Guy Harvey Research Institute in 1999. The institute is devoted to providing scientific research and information to conserve and manage fish and marine ecosystems around the world.
To see a preview of Panama Paradise: Edge of Conservation, please go to http://vimeo.com/34422929
Related Videos
