Shark Week, Discovery Channel 2021
Saving the Blue Crew: Dr. Tristan and Annie Guttridge, Captain Cole McVay, Khrysdovãn Carroll and Sorantaa Bain
Shark Week Production Teams: Hazmat Productions, Atlantic Edge Films, Big Wave, and Ping Pong Productions.
Special Thanks To: Neal Watson’s SCUBA Center team and Discovery Channel
Our objective
To create educational, fun and imaginative shows that mix science with entertainment. We always seek to further our knowledge, generate light humor and to create shows that offer exciting interactions while being safe, responsible and respectful. We pride ourselves on being inclusive while supporting the local economy in all that we do.
Monster Sharks of Andros
Description
“Shark researchers travel to Andros Island in The Bahamas to determine if it's a new great hammerhead hotspot, and they're using reports of a half-octopus, half-shark creature known as the Lusca to help them locate massive sharks for their study.” - Discovery Channel
Annie and Khrys really did witness a great hammerhead hunting what they believed was a Caribbean reef shark, and it really did happen how it was shown, CRAZY! Next, Tristan and Alannah really did dive Shark Hole and predator channel at night and yes Tristan really did tag those two hammerheads while freediving!
Team
Saving the Blue’s President Annie Guttridge, Vice President Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Boat Captain and Communications Cole McVay, Community Outreach and Education Khrysdovãn Carroll and Field Technician Sorantaa Bain all came together for this incredible shoot! In addition, the team were joined by coral ecologist Alannah Velacott, an extensive team from Neal Watson’s SCUBA Center and a team of videographers, including Mark Rackley and Fo Zayed, technical support, medics, and producers from Hazmat Productions. Gratitude must go to all mentioned, in addition to those unnamed, that assisted and made this shoot possible.
WATCH THE SHOW
Please enjoy a few behind the scene, and in-moment shots below or catch the full show on Discovery+ HERE or YouTube HERE. You can also watch a show teaser HERE.
Safety notes
Blue holes can be extremely dangerous. Annie and Khrys aborted a freediving session after Annie and the videographers felt an incredibly strong down current at over 25ft. Tristan and Alannah were also told to terminate a dive at a blue hole due to strong downward currents confirmed by Neal Watson’s safety divers.
The full face masks worn by Annie and Khyrs during the silky shark snorkel were for voice communications only. Full face masks can be dangerous and, in our opinion, should be avoided.
The Great Hammerhead Stakeout
Description
“Dr. Tristan Guttridge and James Glancy travel to Andros Island to investigate reports of an exclusive population of giant hammerheads. To get answers, they attempt one of the longest shark dives ever – upwards of 10 hours – using an underwater habitat.” - Discovery Channel
Tristan and James did indeed spend 10 hours underwater and of course they enjoyed two cups of tea whilst relaxing at 20ft! It was extremely exciting for our team diving the drop-off, wall to the tongue of the ocean with huge black and Nassau groupers, schooling jacks and other reef fishes. There is no better way to learn about a system than to spend time in it and the underwater tent offered a unique opportunity for our team to experience Andros in a way no others have ever done before!
Team
Saving the Blue’s Vice President Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Boat Captain and Communications Cole McVay and Field Technician Sorantaa Bain united to work on this daring shoot! They were joined by former British Marine commando James Glancy and commercial diver and underwater tent designer extraordinaire Michael Lombardi. In addition, Neal Watson’s SCUBA Center team supported this ambitious diving challenge along with UK dive safety officer Neil Brock, technical support, medic, videographers from Atlantic Edge Films and producers from Big Wave. Gratitude must go to all mentioned, in addition to those unnamed, that assisted and made this shoot possible.
WATCH THE SHOW
Please enjoy a few behind the scene, and in-moment shots below or catch the full show on Amazon HERE or Discovery+. You can also watch a show teaser HERE.
Safety Notes
The longest dive was attempted with an extremely experienced team with vast knowledge of underwater breathing apparatus design, safety and engineering. Tristan and James were able to dive safely throughout the film shoot in exciting habitats during the night taking rest breaks between dives in their underwater bubble.
All the equipment used to anchor the tent were removed.
The Real Sharknado
Description
“We have all seen the movies, sharks jumping into boats, circling in tornados and risking their lives to attack humans. Could these shark feasts happen? Ian Ziering and Tara Reid pick up their chainsaws once again to see if a real Sharknado could happen.” - Discovery Channel
Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Ian Ziering and Tara Reid united for this Shark Week special to discus the scientific evidence for how sharks really respond to storms. They dispelled some of the outrageous behaviors the sharks exhibited in the Sharknado films and most importantly, they were able to prove that sharks do not get swept up in tornados and become crazed high flying and swimming man eating machines!
Ian and Tara both enjoyed surreal encounters with Caribbean reef, lemon and tiger sharks. Ian was particularly surprised with the calmness of his dives, exclaiming on many occasions how he was not fearful and was enthralled by the shark’s beauty, particularly the large female tiger sharks with their huge blunt heads and mesmerizing body stripes. Ian and Tara throughout the film shoot were a pleasure to work with, both fascinated by the sharks and willing to try anything once!
Team
Saving the Blue’s Vice President Dr. Tristan Guttridge joined Sharknado SciFi series stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid. They teamed up with Neal Watson’s SCUBA Center with technical support, medic, videographers Mark Rackley and Fo Zayed, and producers from Ping Pong Productions. Gratitude must go to all mentioned, in addition to those unnamed, that assisted and made this shoot possible.
WATCH THE SHOW
Please enjoy a few behind the scene, and in-moment shots below or catch the full show on Discovery+ HERE or YouTube HERE. You can also watch a show teaser HERE.
Safety notes
No Tristan, Ian and Tara did not get eaten by a flying white shark at the end of the show, despite it being incredibly realistic! And yes, although a storm did actually brew during the show they did not witness any Sharknados.
Expedition Unknown Special - Shark Trek
Description
“Josh Gates links up with his childhood hero, William Shatner, to boldly go where Shark Week has never gone before. The mission: enter shark-infested waters to understand the nature of fear and come face to face with an apex predator. This is Shark Trek.” - Discovery Channel
Dr. Tristan Guttridge joined Discovery Channel Expedition Unknown’s host Josh Gates and STAR TREK legend William Shatner in a shark week special exploring people’s fear of sharks. Tristan met Josh and Bill at Atlantis Paradise Island, The Bahamas where he was able to speak with them and interact with two of the worlds most iconic shark and ray species – The Great hammerhead and the Smalltooth sawfish! The bizarre head weaponry of both species was highlighted with discussions on how such unique features evolved, and how the first humans seeing them would have likely feared them (for obvious reasons!). Interestingly, both species in recent human history are known to have been revered as spiritual, mystical creatures with special powers used in ancient rituals, warrior dances to ward off evil spirits. Thus, despite first impressions, it is clear many of our ancestors also recognized these species were not ‘man eaters’, instead iconic creatures that deserved our respect and admiration.
Team
Saving the Blue’s Vice President Dr. Tristan Guttridge joined Discovery Channel Expedition Unknown’s host Josh Gates and STAR TREK legend William Shatner . We must acknowledge and thank videographers Mark Rackley and Fo Zayed, and the producers from Ping Pong Productions. Gratitude must go to all mentioned, in addition to those unnamed, that assisted and made this shoot possible.
WATCH THE SHOW
Please enjoy a few behind the scene, and in-moment shots below or catch the full show on Discovery+ HERE or YouTube HERE. You can also watch a show teaser HERE.
Safety notes
Atlantis were the first to successfully breed smallooth sawfish in captivity which has contributed to our understanding of their reproductive biology and early growth rates of this critically endangered species. Interestingly, estimates of growth from the wild suggests that sawfish grow quite quickly for elasmobranch fishes reaching maturity around 8 years of age. This matches perfectly with the sawfish born in Atlantis, which not only corroborates the wild estimates but also shows that the young sawfish were fed on a healthy diet matching their wild counterpart’s growth rates. The lead aquarist indicated that Atlantis were expecting to release some of the sawfish which would help bolster wild populations that are struggling to recover globally.
