When’s seeing’s not believing:

A new documentary series starting on Prime this week focuses on the beauty of the Pacific, but it doesn’t necessarily tell the true story, says producer Quinn Berentson. Cass Marrett reports.

Documentary maker gives insights on the real Pacific.

If you remember the Saturday morning children’s show Squirt, you might remember an animated Scottish fish named Gordon whose job was to educate Kiwi kids about the wonders of science.

Gordon is still doing that today and recent endeavours have even shown him surviving feeding time for manta rays in Micronesia.

But the reason we haven’t seen him around is that he’s working under a new job description and has been going by his real name – Quinn Berentson.

Berentson, who lives in Dunedin, has produced documentary series Big Pacific which comes to Prime this week.

The series is divided into five parts and what Berentson believes sets it apart from other documentaries is its categorisation of stories by emotion.

“Science is obviously very important, but if you want to make people care about stuff then you’ve got to make people feel something,” he says.

The first episode zeroes in on brawling saltwater crocodiles, nuclear assaults on Bikini Atoll, and the ‘heated’ migration of giant humpback whales.

“Those whales are magnificent,” says Berentson. “But what I guess you don’t see is how hard it can be just to track down that pod of whales.”

That’s because of the number of wider threats that have caused the population to diminish.

“You can’t help but read and learn about these issues as you’re researching these documentary series,” says Berentson.

And while viewers of Big Pacific are treated to luscious landscapes and clean blue waters, Berentson says that’s not always the case.

“The best of the best ends up on screen,” he says.

But, in reality, there could be a plastic bag drifting about nearby.

“You know that there is pollution everywhere, even in New Zealand, so it’s not like you gloss over it, but from a camera

“You know that there is pollution everywhere, even in New Zealand, so it’s not like you gloss over it, but from a camera point of view, you are looking for good, clear water.” – Quinn Berentson

point of view, you are looking for good, clear water.”

By bringing out the beauty of the Pacific, the documentary aims to show people that the Pacific is worth protecting.

“It’s not a conservation series per se but hopefully it will inspire people to want to try to protect what we’ve got left.”

Berentson recalls one moment while shooting in Micronesia that was devastating for him.

“On Pohnpei Island, which is incredibly isolated, we took a boat trip out to a little island off the shore of that which was even more isolated, that had no one living on it,” he says.

“I’ll never forget. I went for a walk through the jungle and popped out on another beach. There wasn’t another human being probably within 100km of me and the beach was covered in plastic bottles.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking – to be somewhere that should be absolutely pristine ...

“And it wasn’t just a couple that I could pick up. It was like looking at this vast sea of plastic.”

It’s a demonstration of just how far waste travels – often out of sight and out of mind.

“Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about it.”