Follow the "Power of Pearl" Film Crew into the outback!

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Hi all,

It is year three now and we are in our last stage of production. We will be deep in the outback of Australia Following the path of the White South Sea pearl. Our documentary crew will be filming the stories of Paspaley, Clipper, and James Brown of Cygnet Bay pearls. This month will be an epic adventure where we will dive down deep in the ocean, to show you what is happening below the surface, and fly high in the Australian skies, to give you a look over pearl farms that have never been seen before. These farms combined histories have more than 200+ years between them. This unprecedented look into Australian Pearling will be something you won't want to miss!

We will be posting on pearl-guide and facebook for an entire month of our journey, EVERY DAY.

If you have not visited our website please go to www.PowerofPearlmovie.com.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PowerOfPearl

We hope to see you there!

 

[GemGeek]

You are both so talented -- and lucky to have found a passion that takes you to the most amazing places on earth. Best wishes!

 

[whicker]

I'm looking forward to your daily posts! Love the work you've done

 

[LitGeek]

I too am looking forward to your posts

 

[pattye]

I too am looking forward to your posts

Me too! And We'll forgive you if you miss a day now and then!

 

[Caitlin]

Thanks for posting here! We all wait to see more whenever you can do it. Big hugs and smooches to you two talented people!

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Day 2

Day 2

On our first day headed out to the Trident Aurora, one of the motherships for Clipper and Autore pearls, we were fortunate enough to spot a group of humpback whales in the distance. Naturally, I wanted to get as close as possible, but we were packed with all of our film gear and the crew in a 12ft dingy making the 2 mile trek out to sea. The skipper slowed down and cut the motor as we watched the whales from a "safe distance." Taylor was at the front of the boat setting up the camera when a baby humpback reared its head and splashed it's tail at bow covering the entire boat in glorious watery wakeup call! The curious baby, who was still twice as big as our boat, played with us swimming back and forth and side to side around the boat. Thankfully mama whale stayed a bit of a distance.
Thank you humpbacks for an amazing welcome to the Australian seas.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

 

[pattye]

Wow! That gave me goosebumps! What a great adventure!!

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Day 3

Day 3

The next day we did some filming of the season's first harvest, which you'll see soon, but here is a photo of Taylor setting up to film some sorting of that harvest. Patrick, a manager of Clipper, had just washed the pearls off and was getting ready to lay them out in the bright afternoon light streaming into the wheelhouse.

 

[GemGeek]

Ah yes, pouring over freshly harvested South Sea pearls in the wheelhouse. That and a glass of wine would be about perfect!

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Day 4

Day 4

Today check out some photos of the dive operations on the pearling boats. In Australia the diving is different from other countries because they are collecting wild shell to nucleate. The divers are all on a hookah system, a single air compressing unit located on the deck of the boat. They hold on to "drag lines" and are towed along the ocean floor as they look for and collect wild shell. They dive up to eight times a day in conditions I would call anything but calm. You will also see that these divers have every inch of their skin covered, not because of the water temperature, but because of the deadly irukandji jellyfish.

 

[pattye]

Loving your check ins!

 

[whicker]

I'm so glad you are doing this! I'm learning new things.. What other hazards and critters do they have to worry about?
How do they keep from being tangled up in the hoses and lines in the water?
The shot of the baby whale is awesome!

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Thank you all for voicing your opinions, questions, and of course all the love! It is always a pleasure to post here on PG. To answer your question whicker, present day Australian pearl divers deal with many different hazards with their daily operations. They include dangerous sea life like sea snakes, tiger sharks, and rockfish.

Another hazard are the tides that exist in north Western Australia. The tides range from 20-30 ft and are the second largest tides in the world. The amount of water that is moving at any given time can make it very difficult for a diver to swim against. Rip-tides and currents that exist in the Kimberly region can clock in at speeds of 40-50 knots. They can create massive whirlpools and make it extremely dangerous for small boats to navigate through the islands. On the other hand, these extreme currents and tides are also what make the Kimberly region so unique and important to pearling. These tides create a rapid circulation of nutrients enabling the marine life in this region to thrive.

 

[whicker]

Those big motors on the mothership are to just keep position? How do they both small boats and the larger craft handle the tides? Is there somewhere safe they go? The Bay of Fundy comes to mind, but that's a singular location. My son is an astro-biologist, working with extremophile microbes as a representative of life on Mars and Venus. He is whistling over the poisonous sea snakes as well. Aussies are a brave lot!

 

[GemGeek]

I agree - Aussies are totally fearless!

 

[LitGeek]

Love the photo and story of the baby whale. Wow! Those pearl shell divers give new meaning to leading an exciting life! Thank you so much for sharing

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Yes they certainly are! Today I thought I would post a photo of one of the wild shells underwater, but it took me a while to find a good image that would put it in perspective. Identifying wild shell on the ocean floor takes highly trained eyes and really clear goggles .
You can see in this photo how difficult it would be to spot shell quickly while your moving along the bottom, trying to maintain buoyancy, and watching out for other predators.

 

[whicker]

Are you taking the photos and film? Is the camera, that we saw in the pic of Taylor and the whale, the same one as the under water one? Please would you tell us what it is like to film underwater? Do you have anyone watching out for you, while you are concentrating on filming?

 

[Taylor and Ahbra]

Whicker,

Yes we take photos and film but not underwater. We only shoot video underwater. The camera is fastened into an underwater housing as you saw before in the picture of Taylor and the whale. Filming underwater is like being on a alien planet. Gravity is non exsistent and sea life is abundent. It is somewhat like a dreamworld. While diving we always have someone watching out for the safety of the camera operator.