Cornwall marine filming and photographyShark Bay Films

Cornish Nautical Filming Specialists

Almost certainly we are by far the leading Cornish Nautical Filming Specialists . Indeed we started our filming career trading as Shark Bay Films – marine documentary specialists. And we continue to produce documentaries for worldwide television distribution under that persona. We are currently finalising the edit of a 3 part series about WW2 shipwrecks throughout the Pacific. And we are particularly skilled in drone filming of all sorts of boats and marine events.

Marine filming Cornwall

Pilot Boat LK Mitchell

Our latest project was for our friends Falmouth Harbour Commissioners saying farewell to the long serving pilot boat L.K.Mitchell – see featured image.

Marine filming background.

Because we produced our first marine documentary over 30 years ago. We filmed “Caymania” in the Cayman Islands. and National Geographic bought the film. Encouraged by that, we shot our next film at Cocos Island, Costa Rica and Discovery Channel bought that. Since then we have produced over 30 underwater documentaries and won over 60 international awards.

Marine filming UK

Marine filming Norwegian fjords

Somali Pirates

One particularly intriguing marine project was our film about Somali Pirates . We signed a distribution deal with National Geographic. And the spin off book commissioned by Bloomsbury was in the non-fiction best sellers list for many weeks.

Cornwall marine photography

Blood Ransom paperback edition

Work with national boating magazines

We have done extensive work with both Motor Boats Monthly and more recently Motor Boats and Yachting magazines plus Princess Owners magazine, both producing feature articles and series of videos. We have taken our princess V39 from North Africa through Biscay and to St. Petersburg in Russia and Norway’s Arctic Circle among other adventures. This is not the greatest picture as photography was forbidden so I snuck the shot from inside the cabin…

Marine filming specialists

Marine Border checkpoint St. Petersburg Russia

Promotional filming for boat manufacturers.

We have done promotional filming for a number of high profile UK based boat builders, including Princess and Rustler. Among other projects for them we have filmed a number of Princess cross-Channel events.

Cornish marine filming specialists

Filming for Rustler Yachts

Promotional filming for charter boats both UK and abroad

Indeed we have a niche expertise producing promotional films for all sorts of holiday charter companies. Among many, we have produced promo films for Silhouette Cruises in Seychelles, MV Febrina in Papua New Guinea, and  Atlantic Azores in Philippines.

Marine filming for charter boats

Filming for Silhouette Cruises, Seychelles

Filming for marine insurance companies

In this field we have done extensive promotional filming for Haven Know Johnson, now known as MS Amlin, and even been sponsored by them on one of our voyages.

Marine events filming

Finally we are very experienced in filming marine related events. These include filming power boat racing for IPRC, Tall Ships in Falmouth, and other marine festivals including the Shanty festival. Falmouth Harbour Commissioners are among our regular clientele. And a very unusual special event -filming a group of top Cornish surfers doing a sponsored SUP paddle from Cornwall to Scilly for the campaign Against Plastic Pollution.

Filming Cornish Marine Events

Filming sponsored paddle to Scilly

Marine filming for news channels

We have also filmed Cornish marine subjects for a number of national news channels and newspapers. One of those was filming Boka Vanguard for Channel 4 News.

Marine filming Cornwall

Filming Boka Vanguard for Channel 4

So I think it’s fair to say that we are indeed the foremost Cornish Nautical Filming Specialists .

Cornwall marine filmingCrow Creative ltd.

An Irish Adventure – the videos

Being Cornwall’s Marine Filming Specialists leads to some amazing adventures and assignments. So as promised in a previous blog, here are the videos of our 2022 Irish boating adventure.

We produced this series for Motor Boats and Yachting magazine. You can find the accompanying articles on their website. We were

Episode 1 – From Cornwall to Kilmore Quay

 

 

We were blessed with perfect conditions for our crossing to south eastern Ireland. As soon as we lost sight of Cornwall behind us, no other vessel in sight, and the first dolphins playing off the bow,  the pure joy of being alone in the Celtic Sea overwhelmed me. 

Episode 2 – To Kinsale and West Cork

 

I first discovered the ocean when I was 17 when I spent the whole glorious summer at a schoolfriend’s holiday home on Derrynane Harbour. It was the start of a love affair with the sea that has lasted over 50 years. It was a summer that changed my life. And I dreamt that one day I’d spend a night in Derrynane Harbour on my own boat. 50 years later that dream came true.

Episode 3 – The awesome coast of County Kerry plus the Skellig and Blasket Islands

 

During that amazing summer, I got occasional work on a boat taking tourists out to the Skellig Islands. On the summit of Skellig Michael early Christian monks built beehive stone huts and dedicated their lives to God in this wild and lonely outpost. They believed they were on the very edge of the world. Some 640 steep steps hewn from the rock climb from the only possible landing on the island up to their settlement – the Stairway to Heaven.

Little Skellig although smaller is far more visible from a distance, shining white on the horizon due to the guano accumulated over millennia of around 35,000 pairs of gannets – the second biggest colony on the planet. Both islands plunge sheer and deep into the Atlantic. Both are incredibly inspiring, atmospheric and emotive places.

So a visit on Cecienne was a must. And we finished the trip in Dingle and with an exploration of the stunningly wild and beautiful Blasket Islands.

It’s a tough life being Marine Filming Specialists!

Enjoy the videos…

 

Marine filming specialistsCrow Creative Ltd.

An Irish Adventure – Marine filming specialists Cornwall

As marine filming specialists Cornwall, every year we try and have a marine adventure. And our friends at Motor Boat and Yachting magazine are always keen to take a series of magazine articles and videos from us.

Past adventures have included a voyage to Russia. 

And to Norway’s Arctic Circle.

But the 2022 adventure was a lot closer to home. though just as exciting. We set out across the Celtic Sea to explore the south west coast of Ireland.

And it is an incredibly beautiful place. Here are some shots from the trip.

Marine filming specialists Cornwall

An Irish Adventure

Not only is south west Ireland crammed with stunning scenery. It’s also full of larger than life characters. Like Sneem’s goat man!

Marine filming specialists

The goat man of Sneem

Stunning scenery

I guess that everyone has a special place. For me it is Derrynane Harbour, County Kerry. I spent the summers of my youth here.

Marine magazine and video features

Derrynane Harbour, County Kerry

Spectacular wildlife

As well as whales seals and dolphins at sea, the birdlife is rich and varied. huge gannet colonies. And iconic puffins.

wildlife filming specialists Cornwall

Puffin Blasket Islands

Fantastic cruising grounds

Unlike the marina infested south coast of England, it’s rare to see another pleasure boat. And usually you have the ocean to yourself.

Marine drone filming Cornwall

Cecienne passing the Blaskets

Colourful villages

Castletownbere may be one of Ireland’s busiest fishing ports, but that doesn’t detract from its beauty.

Fishing fleet Castletownbere

Magazine commission.

So from our trip we produced a series of magazine articles and accompanying videos for the magazine. Search Motor Boat and Yachting You Tube an Irish Adventure. And share our trip!

An Irish Adventure

The awesome scenery of the Blaskets

Just another project for Marine filming specialists Cornwall. Videos to follow soon.

Cornish based marine filming expertsShark Bay Films
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Cornish marine filming specialists – in Palau

A different project for we Cornish marine filming specialists. Just back from an amazing filming trip to Palau.

Marine filming experts Cornwall

Rock Islands, Palau

While most divers go there for the great corals and fish life – plus the sharks – we went on a very different mission. Because our aim was to film the remains of the Second World War – both underwater and above. Although many people overlook them, there is a true fleet of sunken and virtually intact ships – and plane wrecks too.

Cornish marine filming

Plane wreck under the ocean

The new documentary

We had planned the expedition carefully. As this was a shoot for our next television documentary. We had our own dedicated dive boat, driver, and two very experienced underwater guides with an intimate knowledge of the wrecks.

Penetrating the wreck

Penetrating the wreck

Palau was a crucial pivot in the Pacific War. Because not only was it a vital naval base. But it also had an airfield on Peleliu controlling vast tracts of the region. Whoever controlled the airfield had control of thousands of square miles of ocean.

WW2 tank Peleliu

WW2 tank Peleliu

Peleliu

Peleliu was one of the bloodiest and costliest battles of WW” in the pacific. Although a tiny island just 5 miles square, it took almost 3 months for the US Marines to take. The Japanese fought to the last man – virtually the entire Japanese garrison of 11,000 was wiped out.

Today the remains of that battle litter the island – from tanks and field guns to a huge Japanese tunnel system.

Cornish marine filming specialists

Wartime tunnel system Peleliu

Ghost Fleet

Underwater the shipwrecks are fascinating. A huge ghost fleet of intact ships. We dived deep into many of these, exploring engine rooms, cargo holds and bridges. Sometimes we found it scary – so deep inside these undersea graves that daylight never penetrated.

Marine filming Cornwall

Deep into the wreck…

We have already produced one film on the remains of war in the Pacific. We have made many successful sales of our film from Truk Lagoon to television stations around the world. So we are hoping to cash in on that success with this follow-up.

Just another day’s work for the leading Cornish marine filming specialists.

Marine filming Cornwall and DevonShark Bay Films

Our Boating Videos

Marine Filming Cornwall and Beyond

I was flattered and amazed to find a YouTube page dedicated to all our boating videos   They have created a whole catalogue of our history of marine filming in Cornwall and beyond.

Motor Boat and Yachting Magazine have collated them all as a special collection. And seeing them together brought back some great memories.

The Great Motorboat Tour

Our first big adventure was a circumnavigation of the British Isles in 2010 on my Sealine 34 Shark Bay. That series of articles and videos was published by now defunct Motor Boats Monthly magazine.

The Great Motorboat Tour Biscay

How to follow that up? Having gone round Britain, our eyes turned South, and we headed down through Biscay on Shark Bay to the north of Spain.

Celtic Crusade

After that, on our next adventure we explored the Irish Sea and some of the Scottish Islands – the regions we had missed on our Round Britain trip. The magazine titled this “Celtic Crusade”.

A new boat – Cecienne

 

Marine filming Cornwall and Beyond

Cecienne and Shark Bay together for the last time

The Med

Because with the arrival of our new boat Cecienne we had bigger challenges. I’d seen a Princess 39 in a marina in Southampton and it was love at first sight. So I eventually found one for sale in Majorca. With low engine hours and immaculate condition she was perfect. So we flew out and brought her home. Plus we included a stopover in Morocco, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, and heading north. So the magazine called resulting series “The Long Way Home.”

Arctic Circle

On our next adventure we reached Norway’s Lofoten Islands, taking Cecienne north of the Arctic Circle.

Secret Devon and Cornwall

Because of covid we spent a summer closer to home, exploring our local seas. And as a result we produced our “Secret Cornwall” and Secret Devon” suite of videos.

 

And to Russia

Perhaps the most ambitious trip was our voyage to St. Petersburg in Russia, heading through the Baltic just after the winter pack ice had melted. For this reason MBY’s creative team called this series “To Russia With Love”.

Our latest project

Our 3 part “Irish Adventure” has just been released. This documents our exploration of Ireland’s south west coast. And we were blessed with amazing weather throughout our trip to this amazing location.

And next?

So in conclusion – we have already planned the destination and route. Plus the articles and videos are already commissioned. So watch this space!

Underwater stock footage - turtlesShark Bay Films
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The Last Turtles?

So here it is. Our latest film. It’s called The Last Turtles? Check out this promo clip…

Locations

Fionn and I have filmed this over the last 12 months in some incredible locations around the planet. And had some incredible experiences. Sharing a beach with tens of thousands of turtles in Central America. Watching tiny hatchlings emerging from the nest. Living on the beach of one of Africa’s most remote and uninhabited islands for a week. Seeing the planet’s hugest turtle – the weight of a small car – laying its eggs on a beach shared with jungle elephants and hippos.

Remote African Island

Poilao Island, Guinea Bissau

The Initial Concept

The original film concept was brought to us by a young film maker Dan Marsh. Dan had learnt of the story while working in Raratonga, deep in the South Pacific. And we used some of Dan’s footage in the film.

True Wildlife Mystery

Researchers have discovered that in recent years less and less turtle hatchlings are males – in some locations the ratio is over 100 females to every male hatched. If this trend continues there will be no males to fertilise the females. And turtles will disappear forever from our oceans. What is the cause? And is there hope for the species?

Scientific Adviser

We also had the good fortune to work with Professor Brendan Godley  Brendan is based on Exeter University’s Penryn Campus, just a few miles from our studio. Brendan opened many doors for us. He introduced us to many researchers working in the field in different countries. And his involvement as our scientific adviser ensured access to strictly controlled locations where we would otherwise never have been able to travel and film. Plus he ensured that we got our facts right!

Distributor

Andrew Jackson of Plimsoll Productions provided invaluable help and advice in structuring the film. Plimsoll own Magnify Media who will be selling the film for us. Hopefully to television broadcasters worldwide…

On Location Help And Support

And the film couldn’t have been made without the amazing support we received from so many people in the countries where we filmed. Thanks to every single one of you…

Baby Loggerheads

Baby Loggerheads

The biggest turtle on the planetBrendan Godley
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Leatherback Turtles in Gabon

Leatherback Turtles – Final shoot of the documentary

And this is the very last location and the last adventure of our latest documentary project – Filming Leatherback Turtles in Gabon. Check our previous blogs for our trips to Guinea Bissau and Costa Rica…

Tagging a leatherback

Tagging a leatherback

Planet’s greatest turtles

Leatherback turtles are the giants of the turtle world. The biggest ever recorded was nearly 3 metres long and weighed in at just under 1000 kilos. That’s almost the same weight as a Nissan Micra! Some turtle…

These leviathans are known to cross oceans in search of food. They exist on a diet of jellyfish. Tagged leatherbacks have crossed the Pacific from Japan to California.

Leatherbacks are also the champion divers of the turtle world – they can dive for as long as one hour to depths of as much as 1000 m!

But when it’s time to lay their eggs powerful primaeval forces drive them back to the beaches where they themselves hatched.

Fionn selfie with leatherback

Fionn selfie with leatherback

Gabon hosts the biggest nesting population of leatherback turtles in the world.  Almost all leatherbacks in the south Atlantic will have hatched on these beaches. So that is where Fionn headed along with Dr. Brendan Godley , one of the planet’s leading experts in turtles.

Brendan is based on Exeter University‘s Penryn Campus, just down the road from our studio, and is the scientific adviser for our documentary.

Dangerous beaches…

The shoot was – interesting… Because the beaches where the turtles nest backs onto deep jungle, and the turtles share the beach with buffaloes, forest elephants, and even a pair of hippos with a calf. Not really the place to be wandering at night! And yet that is what the crew had to do, as that is when the turtle action takes place!

It may look docile here, but when this buffalo charged the team scattered very quickly!

With filming now complete, lock down couldn’t have come at a better time for us. We are now deep into the edit and hope to have something to show you very soon…

Much appreciation to Dan Marsh for the original concept for this film. Dan didn’t get to come along on any of the filming trips with us but I hope we will get to work with him in the future…

A lot of turtles!John Boyle
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Wildlife Filming – Costa Rica

Wildlife Filming…

Wildlife Filming is never predictable. They said we’d never get the shots! They said that it took the BBC a year to get their footage. We allowed ourselves a window of 10 days and didn’t really hold out any hope. But on the very first day the turtles started arriving… We had an ARRIBADA!!!

Arribada from the air...

Arribada from the air…

No drone filming…

We could not fly our drone on the beach. It’s too close to the local airfield. And as we were working under a permit and receiving great help from Yeimy the reserve administrator we didn’t break the rules. But I just saw this image on FB and had to share it.

And yes, these are all turtles. Olive Ridley turtles to be precise – on a beach on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

The Arribada

Their arrival is totally unpredictable. Scientists still can’t fully explain it. It doesn’t seem to be linked to the tides nor to any specific phase of the moon. Sometimes there are tens of thousands of turtles. Sometimes as many as half a million come ashore during the 3 or 4 days that the wildlife phenomenon lasts. Then as quickly as they arrived the turtles all disappear and the beach is empty, save for a few scavenging vultures.

Two Olive Ridley Turtles

Two Olive Ridley Turtles

And this was a big arribada. Fishermen had been reporting increasingly large numbers of turtles offshore. But while arribadas usually take place between dusk and dawn, this was such a big one that the turtles started coming ashore at midday. Maybe the overcast skies encouraged them into thinking evening was coming early.

Our contact in Costa Rica was Vanessa Bezy   A scientist who has studied the turtles for many years, Vanessa had suggested that our best chances were in late September / early October. But when she called us on the morning it we arrived to tell us the arribada was starting, it was the best we could have dreamt of. Our room at the Ostional Turtle Lodge  was just five minutes from the beach, so five minutes later we were there. Capturing some awesome footage for our upcoming documentary…

Sunset on turtle beach...

Sunset on turtle beach…

Green TurtleJohn Boyle
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Filming Turtles in Guinea Bissau

Filming turtles on Poilão Island

Fionn and I have just got back from filming turtles in Guinea Bissau. It’s probably the remotest place I’ve ever been – Poilau Island, way out in the Atlantic – 2 days on small open boats – it doesn’t even feature on a Google search. Here’s a photo.
Poilau Island

Poilau Island

Turtle Island…

Totally uninhabited – and it’s a sacred island so we weren’t allowed anywhere but the beach. You can walk round it in 30 minutes. No water, a tiny generator for us to charge our cameras. They didn’t even have a radio to contact the mainland should anything go wrong.

We accompanied 2 scientists and 2 local rangers and slept in tents on the beach. The rangers caught fish every day for us to eat with rice. It’s so far out into the Atlantic we didn’t see another boat large or small all week. But every night 1000+ green turtles come ashore to nest. Awesome. They grow up to around 160kg so they are huge. This shot is of a turtle laying its eggs in the nest it has excavated

Turtle laying eggs

Turtle laying eggs

And this shot of a turtle heading back into the sea shows how many turtles have left their tracks in the sand overnight

Guinea Bissau

And Guinea Bissau is interesting – one of the world’s poorest countries and according to the US State Department a no go area and a narco state. Despite those State Department warnings we found the people very friendly and the country intriguing.
So we are going back there soon to film the nests that we saw being laid now hatching. And we also plan to film salt water hippos on another island – the only salt water ones in the world.
Plus more destinations, more species of turtles, and more fascinating science.
This promises to be a great documentary…
Setting Off...John Boyle

PADDLE AGAINST PLASTIC POLLUTION – THE CROSSING!

Well a year in the planning and the Paddle Against Plastic Pollution finally happened. At dawn on a perfect July Monday morning the team set off from Porthcurno Beach at the very west of Cornwall to head for Scilly. We mentioned the plan in a blog over a year ago. And at last conditions favoured us…

The Mission

The purpose of the mission was twofold. Firstly to highlight the increasing issue of plastic pollution in our seas. And secondly to raise sponsorship monies for Surfers Against Sewage.

Check the piece about the crossing here in Cornwall Live

The Hazards

I have nothing but respect for all the paddlers who took part. And apart from having to battle against strong northerly currents that plagued us most of the way, and the hazard of crossing two busy shipping lanes.

Shipping Lanes between Lands End and Scilly

Shipping Lanes between Lands End and Scilly

There was even a close encounter with The Scillonian, the ferry from Penzance to the Isles.

Scillonian passing Kelvin Batt en route to Scilly

Scillonian passing Kelvin Batt en route to Scilly

One of the unanticipated issues that more than one paddler had to deal with afterwards was sunburnt feet!

We even had visits from a pod of dolphins during the crossing. Plus a visit from a big lone bull seal, who was a very long way from the nearest land.

It was an extremely long 13 hour day at sea. Long for us on the support boat and excruciatingly longer for the paddlers. So we spent the following day relaxing and enjoying Scilly at its very best. And in the late afternoon we headed back to the mainland, passing on the way back the iconic Wolf Rock lighthouse, with its ever present seal colony.

A day to remember for all of us!