Tom Mustill
We ask Tom about his latest wildlife film, Humpback Whales: A Detective Story.
What’s the documentary about?
A humpback whale breached onto me when I was kayaking with my friend Charlotte in Monterey Bay three years ago – it was filmed by someone nearby and went viral. I became fascinated by whales and the people who study and protect them. The film is about what I discovered when I went to try and figure out what happened to us and why. I saw first-hand the challenges that these animals face, and I wanted to tell their story, so we can do something about it.
Was filming at sea difficult?
We filmed a rescue team cutting free a trapped humpback. It is a dangerous thing to do, and there’s no space on the small boats for film crews getting in the way. It took over six months of phone calls to get a plan in place where we’d be allowed to follow the team and make sure we weren’t adding extra, unnecessary risk.
Can wildlife documentaries help conservation efforts?
I make these films because I think they do. The battle to save the natural world is playing out right now, I feel this is the defining and most exciting story of our time. We are trusted by the public to share with them the variety and beauty of life on Earth, but our viewers also depend on us to show them what is happening to their planet. My hope is that through wildlife documentaries people can learn and care, as conservation cannot succeed without public support.
What’s the impact of whale watching?
I’ve made films about many animals and the people who love and study them but few of those people have an obsession as deep and powerful as whale-lovers. People who cry when they see them, and who re-arrange their whole lives around where the whales will be. It was often the whale watchers who reported whales injured by boats or entangled in nets. I would like us to find a way to share the sea where we can take wonder in whales and protect them and reduce our disruption to their lives.
What were your filming highlights?
Ever since our collision with the whale, people ask me what it was like, and I found I didn’t have the words to explain the image of a whale fixed in mid-air above me, which is all I really remember. So, I found a prototype super-high-speed camera, capable of filming 40 seconds of footage for each second of reality, and just hoped I got the chance to film a big breach. Fortunately, right at the end of the shoot, a whale gave me that chance. I still find myself transfixed watching the footage.