Jen, Bryce and reluctant Judy meet the basking shark.

In a rare event last week, a giant basking shark was spotted several miles inland on the Big Island of Hawaii. Upon closer inspection, onlookers found this 23’ specimen to be made of fabric and air and accompanying screenings of our newest film, The Shark Riddle.

We’d like to thank the Waimea Ocean Film Festival and The Save Our Seas Foundation for making it possible for us to share our shark presentation with the people of Hawaii. Through a combination of film, breakfast talks, Q&As, receptions, art exhibits and activities, the festival is designed to inspire, educate and engage participants in a celebration of the ocean and island culture, and an increased awareness of the same. Throughout the week, we shared The Shark Riddle at three public screenings, as well as a school presentation for students at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy. The students were so great to meet – in fact, two kindergarten students (with help from their Principal) presented us with beautiful leis when we arrived. After our program, we loved talking with the students, and we especially loved that there was a ukelele music class practicing while we were packing up our gear. Their Principal later said “We found both Laura and Rob to be highly engaging, fun, animated and well spoken presenters for our kindergarteners through fifth graders. It is no small feat to keep such a range of learners at rapt attention for almost an hour and they did exactly that. The smiles on the children’s faces as they left with their packet of fun educational activities AND their fabulous temporary tattoos were priceless.”

Rob & Laura with HPA students, all holding "shark fins" on their heads

We participated in the festival as part of our “Shark Days” grant from the Save Our Seas Foundation. The grant funded this custom inflatable shark, which we take with us as a way for people feel what it’s like to stand next to a true giant of the ocean, and to open minds to the true diversity of sharks.  The basking shark is the second largest fish in the ocean, growing to 33 feet, and is completely harmless to humans as it only eats plankton.

People investigate the basking shark after our interactive presentation

Sisbro at the Kahilu Theater

And as an added bonus, the Waimea Ocean Film Festival awarded us with the Overall Best Creative Work!

Wild Shorts is a new series of wildlife shorts by us at Sisbro Studios.  Basically we just thought it would be fun to post a short animal-related clip each week, along with some facts about that animal. In our first installment, The Snowman Thief, a very clever pine marten (a member of the weasel family) shows its skills as a thief after meeting a snowman.  This footage was shot by Carl Sams while filming for the wildlife movie First Snow in the Woods.  Pine martens live mostly in the northern regions of North America, and are usually active when the sun is low or after dark. Pine martens are very good hunters and are so curious that you can lure one out of its den by making a series of mouse-like squeaks.

Well folks, what do toasters have to do with gardening? And what do toasters have to do with sharks? And where can you get a shark microphone? If you are wondering about any of these questions, I suggest you watch this short, shark-related piece. When I was visiting the Sanibel Sea School to film children at a shark camp for The Riddle Solvers shark episode, I conducted some behind-the-scenes interviews for fun, in the blazing hot Florida sun, and this is what happened. And I should mention that you’ll see some stunning HD footage of sharks, from the Save Our Seas Foundation’s amazing library of footage.

Robert sleeps in a bed on the beach during the shark lullaby, on the Oregon coast

I am going to state the obvious here – cameras don’t like water.  Water and electronics hardly ever mix in a good way.  Cameras also don’t like sand.  Sand is very tiny and very good at finding all of the tiny crevices on a camera.  Knowing this, then why on earth did we decide to make a movie on the beach?  Because it looked awesome – that’s  why!

Riddle Solvers Take 7

We just finished filming for eight days out on the beautiful and rugged Oregon coast.  We chose places with wicked names, like The Devil’s Punchbowl and Heceta Head, which I think translates to “even worse than The Devil’s Punchbowl.”  Every day, we had to know exactly what the tide was doing, because at high tide our filming locations were quite literally underwater…several feet underwater.  We also had to know what the weather was doing, because late October and early November is when Mother Nature turns her weather machine from “good” to “bad.”

Robert chisels a megalodon tooth out of rock

So after eight days, our crew of ten returned home soggy and sandy and exhausted from hauling our riddle solving stand up and down a flight of 102 stairs.  But it was all worth it to solve a mysterious riddle found inside an ancient shark journal.  Stay tuned for our newest Riddle Solvers episode: The Shark Riddle.

Spanish Moss on Ossabaw Island

The forests are dripping with Spanish moss, almost as if the trees have all sprouted a thousand long, grey beards.  The salt mashes and beaches are literally overflowing with life and constantly dancing with the ever-changing tides.  I saw things with scales, things with claws, things with fins, things with enormous wings, and things with long, pointed teeth. Oh what a playground for a photographer or wildlife filmmaker!  And funny enough, none of the locals seemed to be paying attention to how amazing the world was right in their own backyards.

Isn’t that almost always the case?  People are always dreaming about someplace new or exotic and they completely take for granted how truly unique their own surroundings are.  I was thinking about this at the film festival when a man asked me about my favorite place to travel while filming The Riddle in a Bottle.  It would have been easy to pick Hawaii because of the stunning spectacle of life on the reefs.  Or I could have easily picked Florida where I had the chance to watch the miracle that is a sea turtle’s life.  But I told him that my favorite place was the tiny, duckweed-covered pond near my backyard where I filmed muskrats and frogs.  I often sat silently, dressed in camouflage by that pond and heard the passing people make comments like “gross” and “disgusting.”  But those people had never really looked at a pond.  They only saw a slimy, green stagnant pool of water.  But they never stopped to notice the orchestra of life that plays out every year in that pond.  And it really is an orchestra, with the harmonies of calling frogs and birds and insects and many other creatures whose lives depend on that pond.  What an amazing place right in my own backyard!

Dragonly on Ossabaw Island

So now I’m home from my little Savannah adventure, and I hope I can keep that message in mind.  I hope that I won’t forget to open my eyes and really look at the wonderful world around me.

By the way, The Riddle in a Bottle took home Best Children’s Program at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival!

Cover of EJ Magazine

Over the last ten years, I have become increasingly more sensitive to the effects that “doom and gloom” stories can have on young people, as well as adults.  While filming a recent project about the ocean, I asked a third grade student what he liked about the ocean.  He said, “The dolphins are being killed and the coral are dying.  We need to save them.”  I paused and said, “That is what is wrong with the ocean.  Now what do you like?”  He looked at me with a slightly furrowed brow, when suddenly his face lit up with a smile.  “I think octopus are really cool because they can fit their bodies into a tiny soda bottle.”

I believe that we do a great injustice to the next generation when we make them think about all the things “wrong” with the world before they get to experience what is “right.” My current work is focused on creating beautiful, clever, funny and family-friendly stories about the natural world.  These are serious times, with current media focused on disasters from the financial crisis to global warming.  I hope we can give adults and children more reasons to celebrate the world around us.

I encourage you to read the other ideas about environmental journalism featured in the article Guiding Grads, as featured in EJ Magazine.

– Laura Sams