A filmmaker dived with hammerhead sharks in a bid to get a shot from inside one of their mouths and raise awareness for shark conservation.
Zimy Da Kid took his Insta360 camera beneath the waves in the Bahamas which he describes as the most “insane” dive and was blessed with perfect conditions for the shoot.
While underwater Zimy encountered “the biggest hammerhead shark” he had ever seen, as well as tiger sharks.
“When we’re in the water sharks are obviously attracted by the bait we’re using but they can also be attracted by shiny objects such as the domes of the cameras,” he explains.
“The reasons for that is that first of all the Sun is reflecting on the dome but it’s also believed that sharks can actually see their own reflections inside the domes so we’re going to try and use it to our advantage to try and get a unique perspective of the sharks.”
In the above video, Zimy explains how he will execute the shot from inside the shark’s mouth using the Insta360 X3 and the invisible selfie stick.
“Hopefully the sharks are going to get after the smaller dome of the 360 camera and hopefully try and eat the camera,” he says.
“With the 360 camera, we can reframe the shot in post-production meaning that once I’m inside the shark’s mouth I can choose while I’m editing if I want to aim at the back of the mouth, at the teeth, or wherever I want.”
“Also, we’re using a selfie stick on the camera because if we’re using the camera without the selfie stick there would be a big chance that the sharks could actually swallow the entire camera. With the selfie stick hopefully, the shark is going to spit it out and hopefully, we will get this unique footage,” he adds.
Shark Conservation
Apart from capturing breathtaking footage, Zimy also wants to draw attention to his ocean conservation and shark protection organization Deep Sea Guardians.
“For this film, I really want to show people and make them understand that sharks aren’t the deadly creatures that the media is always portraying,” he says.
“They are amazing animals that have evolved for millions of years to become the absolute top predators that they are today.”
“And the most amazing part of it is that despite being at the absolute top of the food chain, we can still get out there and safely dive and interact with them which is absolutely breathtaking,” he continues.
“Images are a key element when it comes to ocean and shark conservation because without images the oceans would be slowly dying without anyone noticing.”
While sharks have long been at the top of the food chain, overfishing, climate change and the deteriorating health of the oceans mean that 70% of shark and ray species have disappeared in the last 50 years.
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