New Scientist - USA (2021-02-13)

13 February 2021 | New Scientist | 33

Film

Playing With Sharks:
The Valerie Taylor story
Sally Aitken
Wildbear Entertainment

IN JANUARY 1992, Valerie and Ron
Taylor notched up an incredible
first when they filmed great white
sharks without a safety cage or any
other protection. Alongside two
other divers, they swam among the
animals off Dyer Island, South Africa.
Valerie Taylor, an icon and living
legend in the diving world, is now in
her 80s. She shares some of those
memories in Playing With Sharks,
a documentary about her life,
directed by Sally Aitken, which
premiered at this year’s online
Sundance Film Festival.
It shows her as a shark hunter in
the 1950s and early 1960s, then
as a world-renowned underwater
photographer and, above all, as
a passionate conservationist.
Taylor’s story is told through
archive footage taken over
50 years, recent interviews with
her and commentary on her efforts
to raise awareness that sharks
are endangered, coming from
luminaries such as explorer Jean-
Michel Cousteau (son of Jacques)
and Rodney Fox, a former film-
maker and spearfishing champion.
There is a significant narrative
shift as we hear how Valerie
and husband Ron experienced
their epiphany. They were both
spearfishing champions and they
loved the sea. But after killing
five sharks one day, the sight of
the carcasses saddened them. Ron
realised that killing had become an
obsession: he decided to shoot only
with his camera. Valerie agreed.

That was the beginning of a long,

intense journey, which led them

to make documentaries and swim

cageless among a school of oceanic

white-tip sharks in Peter Gimbel’s

1971 film Blue Water, White Death.

It is striking to observe how

their fear of the predators was

gradually replaced by curiosity,

mutual respect and admiration.

“We ended up being accepted

as other marine animals,” says

Taylor, while archive footage

shows her in a chain-mail suit,

swimming close by the sharks.

Blue Water, White Death caught

the eye of a young Steven Spielberg,

who tasked the Taylors with filming

the great white shark sequences for

his 1975 thriller Jaws. Aitken delves

into the emotional response to the

film, which, at the time, inspired

reckless shark-killing sprees and

increased public fear of sharks.

The director shows the couple’s

repeated attempts to make amends

and explain how their work on Jaws

was obviously contributing to a

work of pure fiction. Valerie Taylor’s

dismay at accidentally damaging

sharks’ reputation is plain in one

of the film’s most painful sections.

After Jaws, the couple focused

on celebrating sharks, working as

underwater photographers and

often making the front cover of

prestigious publications, including

National Geographic for that 1992

first with the great white sharks.

The rewarding final sequence

of Playing With Sharks, set in Fiji,

shows how the love for knowledge

knows no bounds or age limits.

Taylor’s life-affirming journey

becomes an effective narrative

tool for outlining the scientific story

of how we changed our view of

sharks – from marine monsters

to extraordinary, complex animals

that should be protected.

Enriched by a powerful score by

Caitlin Yeo and impeccably edited

by Adrian Rostirolla, Playing With

Sharks is a must-see for sea lovers

and documentary enthusiasts. ❚

Valerie Taylor, making
friends with an animal
she once hunted for sport

Davide Abbatescianni is a film critic

based in Cork, Ireland

CO

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Learning to love sharks

Valerie Taylor, a shark hunter turned shark lover who shot footage

for Jaws, is a colourful subject, says Davide Abbatescianni

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“ Taylor’s journey

outlines the scientific

story of how our

view of sharks

changed forever”