Marine & Wildlife Filming

Here is how this works in practice. Our marine wildlife filming teams across Australia work the country's most major marine ecosystems: the Great Barrier Reef (UNESCO 1981 — the world's largest coral reef system), Ningaloo Coast (UNESCO 2011 — whale shark migration April-July), Shark Bay (UNESCO 1991. Monkey Mia dolphin encounters, dugong, and Hamelin Pool stromatolites), Lord Howe Island (UNESCO 1982 — subtropical Pacific), Heron and Lady Elliot Islands at the southern GBR (turtle/manta ray), the Southern Right Whale grounds at the Head of Bight South Australia and the Great Australian Bight, and Bruny Island Tasmania for cooler southern marine work.

Here is the short of it. Standard kit pairs ARRI Alexa Mini LF and RED V-Raptor in SeaTec/Gates/SPL housings, Sony FX9 and FX3 in Nauticam, and DJI Inspire 3 with Hasselblad X9 for tower-level aerial. We set up dive support through Mike Ball Dive Expeditions and Pro Dive Cairns, Quicksilver Cruises out of Port Douglas, and Heron Island pro operators.

Here is the breakdown. The Australian marine-wildlife heritage runs deep. David Attenborough's BBC Great Barrier Reef and Blue Planet shoots, ABC natural history strands, and a generation of independent wildlife producers anchored in Cairns, Port Douglas, and Tasmania have built a deep operator pool. James Wan's Aquaman (Village Roadshow Gold Coast) and Aquaman. The Lost Kingdom brought big-budget underwater dramatic work back to Australian stages.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. We file GBRMPA (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) permits for any reef-environment shoot, DBCA approvals for Shark Bay and Ningaloo, Lord Howe Island Marine Park clearances, Parks and Wildlife Tasmania permits for Bruny Island, and Aboriginal Sea Country consultation through Classic Owner groups across the GBR catchment. Cyclone season Nov-April limits Queensland coastal marine work. We plan all reef shoots tightly to the April-October Queensland dry window.