Blue Water, White Death
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Peter Gimbel
Wally King
Peter Gimbel
Stanton A. Waterman
Valerie May Taylor
Ron Taylor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
The documentary follows a diving crew on a six-month expedition as they search for rarely seen great white sharks, considered the most dangerous predators in the world. The group includes lead diver Peter Gimbel, underwater photographer Stanton A. Waterman, Australian spear fishing champions Valerie May Taylor and her husband Ron Taylor, diving coordinator Phil Clarkson, still photographer Peter A. Lake and folk singer Tom Chapin, a member of the surface team, among others. Traveling on the 158-foot-long steam ship called the Terrier VIII , the expedition follows several whaling ships one hundred miles off the coast of Durban, South Africa. Once a whale is harpooned, sharks, attracted by the whale's death throes, swim from miles away to feed on the carcass. The divers then suit up and are lowered into the water in special diving elevator cages specifically built to protect them from the sharks. Under water, they shoot footage of huge dusky sharks, great blue sharks and whitetip oceanics, but do not see any great whites. Using controls in the cages, the divers ascend after several hours and follow the whalers back to Durban, where the whale carcasses are loaded onto trains and transported to processing plants to be skinned and quartered. After a rest, the crew returns to sea but whitecaps prevent spotting any whales for two weeks. However, a break in the weather allows the whalers to make a kill, attracting dozens of sharks. The divers descend that night using lights to watch the sharks feed. Later back on the ship, the divers discuss whether they will leave their cages to get better views of the sharks. While some worry about the risk, Peter reminds them that the sharks bump into their prey to assure that it is dead before attacking. As Peter has observed, the sharks' pattern is to leave a human alone if he reacts assertively when bumped. Additionally, each diver is equipped with a stick loaded with ammunition to wound the shark in case of an emergency. The next day, with dozens of sharks still feeding, the divers leave their cages to film at a closer range, but the great white does not appear. Returning to the ship, the divers discuss how to keep calm while so close to the predator. Ron notes that to avoid paralyzing fear he must convince himself that there is no danger. The group then travel to islands off the coast of Mozambique, where they dive for fun in shallow waters. After three weeks without spotting a great white, they sail to Vailheu Shoal where they are joined by French divers. After a strong current almost drowns one diver, the group head east to dive over the HMS Hermes I wreck, a British aircraft carrier which sank in 1942 near Ceylon. However, the wreck's extreme depth causes problems for the divers as they try to secure lines which to attach the cages. Soon after, Peter attempts to surface too quickly and gets the bends. After Peter is forced to stop to decompress every ten feet on his ascent to the surface, the crew becomes discouraged. Ron then suggests that they make the long journey to Dangerous Reef in South Australia, where fishermen and divers have spotted great whites before. Arriving months later, the crew is joined by Rodney Fox, an Australian diver and one of the only people to have survived a shark attack. Using dead livestock, whale blubber and whale oil, the crew then "construct" a whale carcass to attract the sharks, "chumming" the water with the bloody bait. After days of waiting, they spot a sixteen-foot-long, 2,000-pound great white which breaches the water's surface to attack the bait ferociously. Thrilled by the sighting, the divers suit up and descend in their cages to watch the spectacle. As two divers leave their cages for a better view, the shark severs a line thus disconnecting a cage, but the divers manage to avoid the shark's bite and save the cage. Valerie and Lake descend later to take the last glimpses of the great white as it gnashes at its prey and buckles the cage bars. That night the divers and surface crew celebrate the successful trip.
Cast
Wally King
Peter Gimbel
Stanton A. Waterman
Valerie May Taylor
Ron Taylor
Phil Clarkson
Peter A. Lake
Tom Chapin
Rodney Fox
Rodney Jonklas
John Moen
Officers And Crew Of The Terrier Viii
Crew
Priscilla Bowden
Valerie E. Bowyer
K. Michael Burke
John M. Carey
Harry Chapin
Tom Chapin
Elyn Clarkson
Phil Clarkson
Stuart R. Cody
David Cohen
Roland Condon
Barry Cullen
Rodney Fox
Peter Gimbel
Peter Gimbel
Peter Gimbel
Rodney Jonklaas
Dennis L. Judd Ii
Peter A. Lake
James Lipscomb
John Maddox
John Maddox
Peter Matthiessen
Ian Mckechnie
Michael Mcmanus
Arthur O'connor
Roger Payne
Mark Rappaport
Lucille R. Rhodes
Randy Roseman
Walter E. Sear
Sol Tabachnick
Ron Taylor
Valerie May Taylor
Stanton A. Waterman
Stanton A. Waterman
Frank Watlington
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening credits include a brief description of the great white shark, its Latin name, Carcharodon carchar, and remarks about its predatory nature. Wally King provides voice-over narration throughout the film, describing the expedition, the weather conditions and details about the sharks and other animals found on the trip. Musician Tom Chapin plays songs on the expedition during evenings and diving breaks. Chapin in the younger brother of singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, who wrote the song "Someone Keeps Calling My Name" that is heard on the film's soundtrack. In the closing credits, the filmmakers gave special thanks to: The officers and crew of the Terrier VIII, the Union Whaling Company of Durban, South Africa, The Lerner Marine Laboratory of the American Museum of Natural History, Dr. and Mrs. G. D. Campbell, Dr. and Mrs. G. G. Campbell and the Clevite Corporation.
According to a July 22, 1967 New York Times news item, accomplished diver and department store heir Peter Gimbel was soon to receive a patent for the buoyancy control anti-shark diving cage or elevator which was later used to make Blue Water, White Death. According to a August 1, 1971 Los Angeles Times article, Gimbel presented the idea for the film in 1967 to then CBS vice president Jack Schneider, who handed the film to the CBS motion picture division, Cinema Center Films, which then produced Blue Water, White Death.
The 1971 Filmfacts noted that Gimbel set out on the expedition in March 1969 in South Africa, Mozambique and Ceylon. When the crew had failed to spot a great white shark by August 1969, Gimbel suspended the voyage until January 1970, when they traveled to Dangerous Reef off the coast of South Australia, where great whites had recently been spotted.
According to a May 12, 1971 New York Times review, the voyage documented in Blue Water, White Death was the basis for the book Blue Meridian, written by the expedition historian, Peter Matthiessen. Several reviews noted that, unlike the films of the significant oceanographic explorations of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Blue Water, White Death was a more adventure-seeking thriller, stylistically similar to the 1966 surfing film Endless Summer (see below). Many reviews also noted Blue Water, White Death's box office success and lauded the divers for capturing the dangerous footage.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1971
Released in United States 1971
