Nat Geo puts SA beach on the map with latest film

Warnadoone Beach offered the perfect backdrop for a film company to get footage for the latest season of a Nat Geo Wild shark programme on Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 April, South Coast Sun reports.

To counter the effects of shark attacks over the years, the programme aims to raise awareness about the importance of sharks and help those who fear the sea creatures to understand them better.

“If you spend time walking or running through the Kruger National Park, you’re bound to have an unpleasant encounter with dangerous animals,” said Cape Town’s Wesley Volschenk of ‘Made in Africa Films’.

“The same goes for ocean-users. We don’t discourage people from using and enjoying the ocean, we just aim to clarify the myths about sharks.”

The footage was filmed for the Nat Geo Wild programme, ‘When Sharks Attack’. The fourth season’s date of release is unknown.

Following the numerous number of shark attacks at Transkei’s Port St Johns over the years, the ‘pro-sharks’ programme aims to clear misconceptions about the creatures, while educating viewers about the innocence of sharks in their home habitat, the ocean.

READ MORE: Sabie blood baboon killing fields upset wildlife activists

Warnadoone Beach is popular to lifesavers and beach-goers alike.

Wesley explains that the programme leaves it to scientists’ research to clarify the many theories about sharks and their tendency to attack humans, more so in some areas than others.

“There is no real tangible explanation for the Transkei shark attacks, but there are a lot of theories,” said Wesley.

“By many tag and release programmes, scientists are gathering information which is put forward to the viewers in the show.”

A cast from a Durban casting agency was used during the filming.

“We usually film in Cape Town, but over the cold, rainy winters we battle to get the settings we require,” said Wesley.

“The South Coast is an all-time favourite of mine, as the weather and beaches always relate to an area we’re trying to portray.”

Wesley admits that Durban’s film industry infrastructure is a setback. If issues could be corrected, Durban and its surroundings would be more frequently used by film companies.

READ MORE:

Sabie blood baboon killing fields upset wildlife activists

– Caxton News Service

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.