Director's Statement

By Leighton De Barros

Over the last 20 years as a Cinematographer I have spent a great deal of time filming wildlife and in particular whales & dolphins, most of which has been along the Western Australian coast. Over the years I have developed a real passion for the region and its amazing, unique marine wildlife. I have been avidly following the resurgence of the Humpback whale population in our waters and in my spare time, I have been filming aspects of the whale migration in our southern waters.

Through my work as a wildlife Cinematographer, I met Doug Coughran and learned about the incredible work he and his team were doing to save entangled whales. I thought it was an amazing story and one that I wanted to tell the world. With no funding I was able to scrounge some money together to accompany Doug and film some whale rescues. From that footage I edited a promotional reel to take to an international wildlife television market in Bristol, England.

Within 6 months, with backing from my own company, ABC TV, ScreenWest & National Geographic TV International I began following Doug and his team. This was the beginning of a great adventure as I traveled up and down our magnificent coastline filming the documentary. At times I found myself in the midst of great ocean storms, clinging to the rails of a boat, filming the Humpbacks as they pounded their way through the ocean. On other occasions, I found myself balanced precariously on a small inflatable zodiac documenting the triumph of Doug and his team as they saved the life of a whale entangled in marine debris. There were of course the more somber moments too, when I witnessed whale euthanasia for the first time.

The incredible journey of making this film over the last 2 years has highlighted many important issues that we face in regards to managing our precious marine wildlife.

Our track record is nothing to be proud of, our greed and self centeredness has been responsible for the horrendous wholesale slaughter of whales over the last two centuries, almost annihilating many species. Thankfully, most whale populations are making a comeback, but for those such as the Northern Right whale, of which there are only about 500 left in the world, the outlook is dire. Along with many other concerned global citizens, I strongly support anti-whaling practices and find it difficult to believe that even today, some nations are still actively whaling. There is no valid reason for whaling in current times and it must stop.

The ocean is not the world's rubbish dump. Tonnes and tonnes of lethal debris is still being dumped into our oceans, debris that is responsible for killing and maiming marine wildlife - whales, seabirds, dolphins, turtles and many other marine animals are suffering greatly. This has to stop.

With the increase in whale numbers there are also increasingly more baleen whales like Humpbacks or Southern Right whales that will wash up on our beaches sick or injured, and for most, they will be beyond hope of all rescue. In individual cases, after detailed examination and exhaustive tests, euthanasia may be the only option. Albeit with entirely good intentions, a lot of people have unrealistic ideas and expectations in regards to saving beached baleen whales. Whale Patrol deals with the confronting and sensitive issue of whale euthanasia and my hope is that the film conveys the reality that euthanasia is sometimes the only ethical option for ending the suffering of a sick, injured or dying whale.

The whales that were caught in entanglements at sea in the film were predominantly caught in lobster pot ropes. These pots and ropes are a major hazard to whales on the migratory path along the Western Australian coast. The lobster fishing industry isn't going anywhere - it's worth something like 500 million dollars to the economy and provides over fifteen thousand vital jobs. Thankfully the industry in Western Australia has recognized the problem and has reacted swiftly and positively. In conjunction with DEC, it has put many operating procedures into practice that have greatly reduced the number of whales being caught in lobster fishing equipment. In 2006 there were 5 whales caught in lobster fishing gear. In 2007 when the changes were implemented 1 whale became entangled and in 2008, there were no whales caught in lobster fishing equipment whatsoever.

This positive industry response to whale entanglements was a world first and to me, this represents an important shift, signaling that people are willing to make changes and these changes, however small they may appear to be on an individual basis, are collectively having an enormous, positive impact on the environment and I believe that this is something that we should all work towards.

Whale Patrol was filmed entirely in Western Australia under a special permit - Marine Mammal Interaction Licence MM000576, issued by the Department of Environment & Conservation, Western Australia.