Human Impact on Marine Mammal Strandings: The Joining of Worlds Through Documentary Film

Abstract

The title of this thesis is “Human Impact on Marine Mammal Strandings: The Joining of Worlds Through Documentary Film”. The “worlds” referred to here are science, conservation agendas, aesthetics and psychology all in the context of whale strandings and the impact humans have on them. These are all explored briefly in the chapters of this thesis to support the documentary film produced as the major creative component of this thesis. The film, “Once a Pod of Whales”, aims to join these seemingly disparate worlds in a balanced way to communicate both social and scientific concepts more effectively. In separate chapters the science behind cetacean strandings is reviewed at a global level (though with strong focus on New Zealand research because of the locality of the documentary film), exploring the many different theories surrounding indirect and direct causes. Biological and physical factors and specific anthropogenic effects are investigated as causes. Conservation agendas in contemporary New Zealand relating to whales and stranding events are then described, as well as aspects of the aesthetics and psychology of human response to strandings. Throughout, I refer to observations of my practical experience during the making of the documentary film.