Hutchinson, Kan. – The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is pleased to bring another informative, educational documentary to the Carey Digital Dome Theater. Great White Shark, which opened May 23, 2014, unravels the mystery of the creature we love to fear and goes to the depths of human daring to tell the true story of its role atop the oceanic food chain.
“Our mission is to change people’s attitudes toward the great white,” said Steve McNicholas, co-director of the film. “It’s not the menacing, evil predator it’s made out to be. It’s simply performing its crucial role at the top of the ocean’s food chain. Great whites are not monsters any more than the polar bears or lions that we revere.”
Narrated by acclaimed stage and film actor Bill Nighy, Great White Shark takes viewers around the world to great white hotspots: the crystal clear waters of Mexico’s legendary Guadalupe Island; newly-discovered shark territory around Stewart Island off the southernmost tip of New Zealand; the bone-chilling waters of South Africa’s “flying” great whites; and finally to the California coast near heavily-populated Los Angeles. The film examines what we know about these incredible animals through the eyes of several people whose lives and work have become inextricably linked to the great white.
“Over one-third of all open-ocean shark species are endangered and up to 73 million sharks are killed by fishermen every year to make shark fin soup that is sold throughout Asia,” said Peter Knights, Executive Director of WildAid. “A shark is finned and 98% of the shark is dumped back into the ocean to die.”
Dr. Geoff Shester, California Program Director of Oceana, said that juvenile great whites are regularly caught as by-catch in gillnets in certain fisheries off California and Mexico, yet scientists estimate only a few hundred adult and juvenile great white sharks remain in the entire West Coast population. Oceana is working to protect this population of great whites by winning endangered species status for these sharks from the State of California and U.S. federal government.
“Their future is now in our hands,” said Shester. “Listing great white sharks as an endangered species is the best way to afford reasonable protections from fishing, while promoting research to ensure they remain part of the ocean ecosystem for another million years to come.”
Great White Shark shows daily at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. Showtimes and pricing are available at cosmo.org.
For more information about the film, visit: greatwhiteshark.org.
Giant Screen Films (GSF) is one of the world’s leading large-format/giant screen film production and distribution companies. GSF’s mission is to create and share films that push the boundaries of the large-format medium, challenging the imaginations of children and adults alike. At the core of this mission is a dedication to the partnerships that bring a diverse range of subjects to the screen and, through meaningful educational collaborations, extend each film’s impact beyond the theater.
Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, the group has protected millions of square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 550,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America and Europe. To learn more, please visit: www.oceana.org.
WildAid is the only organization to focus on reducing the demand for wildlife products with the strong and simple message: when the buying stops, the killing can too. WildAid works with Asian and Western celebrities and business leaders to dissuade people from purchasing wildlife products via public service announcements and educational initiatives, reaching up to one billion people per week in China alone. For more information: www.wildaid.org.
