#004 - The making of our ocean film 'The Map to Paradise'

BLOG ARTICLE 04

After the dive accident, I thought that it would be easy to get back into the water. I thought I was immune to post-traumatic stress, as I have always had a deep connection to the ocean. When I was a child, I got myself into trouble whilst bodyboarding and was swept away in a rip. Eventually, I was rescued about a kilometre away, but this experience never had an impact on me.

However, this time, I knew something wasn't quite right, so I didn't go diving straight away. Instead, I spent a lot of time swimming and snorkelling at a very special little place called Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve. This little sanctuary zone is right beside Manly Beach in Sydney and it’s where our journey into marine protected areas had began a few years prior.

This beautiful protected corner is a popular place with both locals and tourists for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving. Below the surface the bay is rich in biodiversity with common sightings of eastern blue groper, Port Jackson sharks and giant cuttlefish amongst others.

The bay was first protected in 1990 and then officially made an aquatic reserve in 2002 and as a result large schools of fish can commonly be seen. In fact, a recent study (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-23/call-for-more-no-fishing-zones-at-sydney-harbour/6718008) demonstrated that Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve had a biomass of seven times more than other unprotected areas around Sydney, indicating why these sanctuary zones are so critical for local fish populations.

Swimming and snorkelling helped my mind to ease it’s way back into the underwater world, which only a month before had come so close to claiming my life. The familiarity of the Port Jackson sharks and the big blue gropers definitely helped me overcome my fears. I also spent a lot of time swimming the Bold and the beautiful, a daily swim from Manly Beach to Shelly Beach and back, to get the confidence back up, which over time worked very well.

It was at Shelly Beach that Danielle and I first saw the great outcome of long term protection and the benefits that it provided to a local Sydney community: we were overjoyed to be asked by the Wilderness Society to create a film about local people’s connection to the ocean across the New South Wales Coast. We didn’t realise it at the time, but this film would kick-off our journey in marine protected areas and ultimately lead us to where we are today, creating a full length feature film about the birth and history of the marine protected area movement, ‘The Map to Paradise’.

Considering my familiarity with Shelly Beach, it just made sense that I also began my journey of rehabilitation here too.

To be continued...