Asia's first whale shark documentary, "The Rest of Our Lives: Swimming Together," premieres today on PTS
The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean, yet its gentle, people-friendly nature has made it a target for slaughter. Public Television Service documentary director Ko Chin-yuan spent more than 10 years filming Asia's first whale shark documentary, "Swimming Together", following whale sharks to the Philippines, Japan and Australia, documenting how various countries have developed whale shark ecotourism, as well as Taiwan's 20-year history of moving from slaughter toward conservation. It airs tonight and tomorrow night at 10 p.m. on PTS. A special screening was held yesterday, drawing a packed audience of more than 200 people. Ko Chin-yuan hopes that by looking back at history and looking ahead to other countries' experience, we can rethink the relationship between people and the ocean and find a way to coexist.
10 years chasing sharks, capturing many of Taiwan's firsts
Because the whale shark does not know how to avoid humans, it is called the "big silly shark". Most Taiwanese know it from the shark fin delicacy "tian jiu chi" served at the dinner table, or from the three whale sharks kept in captivity at the aquarium, but this gentle giant of the sea has a relationship with Taiwan that goes far beyond that.
In the two hours of "Swimming Together", many precious "firsts" are documented, including: in 1995, residents of Taitung caught a female whale shark pregnant with 300 pups, which led the academic world to establish that the whale shark is ovoviviparous; in 2013, the Pingtung aquarium achieved a global first by releasing "Whale Shark No. 2" back into the wild after 8 years in captivity, which ultimately ended in a failed stranding; and in 2013, in the Philippines, a whale shark that had been tagged and released by a marine university was found, marking the first time in the Asia-Pacific region that photo identification was successfully used to clarify the whale shark's migratory route.
Ko Chin-yuan has spent 30 years filming Taiwan's coastal changes, air pollution and water pollution, and can be called a veteran of domestic environmental documentation. "Swimming Together" is his 5th documentary on the theme of the ocean. Normally low-key, he has made 21 documentaries and never held a press conference, yet yesterday he went against his usual practice and held a special screening and press conference at Eslite Xinyi. Keeping his humble and humorous character, he joked that he was "just having a chat with everyone", yet more than 200 seats were fully occupied, with many people even willing to sit on the steps.
10 years chasing sharks: the documentary "Swimming Together" even wins over scholars
"Swimming Together" documentary - Public Television Service premiere times:
5/5 (Mon) 22:00 Part 1 - How Taiwanese have used whale sharks over the past nearly 20 years and the story of the whale shark's "remaining life".
5/6 (Tue) 22:00 Part 2 - A discussion of the experience and values of humans and whale sharks "swimming together" on islands of the Northwest Pacific.
You can watch the live stream at the PTS PNN News Center
https://www.facebook.com/pnnpts.fanpage
"Swimming Together" documentary
Trailer 1 http://youtu.be/tz3hIfoEbnM
Trailer 2 http://youtu.be/KqhIMs9RG8g
Trailer 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwiz2bpBUWk
Official site http://viewpoint.pts.org.tw/whaleshark/
(This article was funded by the Jian Zhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel costs, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring news independence.)