IN DEFENCE OF SEA MONSTERS

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We tend to judge animals according to how appealing we find their appearance. Dolphins, sea otters, blue whales and turtles fill us with warm feelings, and we intuitively understand that they play a fundamental role in our seas. They are the lucky ones of the ocean—the animals that are easy to protect because we all want to do so.

But those we do not like, those we find unpleasant or, more often, those that frighten us, are just as important.

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In the previous edition, we highlighted the essential role of those animals that remain unseen because of their size, the places where they live, or their nocturnal habits. This year, we are raising the difficulty of the challenge and drawing attention to the vital importance of species that have a bad reputation among us. They are the “sea monsters”, the “bad guys of the ocean”, yet without them all our seas would run a serious risk of losing their fragile balance. Championing the role of sharks, jellyfish, sperm whales, sea snakes, giant squid, orcas—so beautiful, yet so controversial lately in our country—salps, scorpionfish and the other members of the “monster club” is the theme of this fifth edition of WOFF.

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Sharks are the best example. We kill more than 100 million every year, equivalent to 274,000 sharks a day, 11,400 an hour, 190 a minute, three every second. To put this into more tangible terms, the catch from a single year could fill 2,000 football stadiums. The legendary image of the killer shark remains deeply embedded in our subconscious, even though every year ten thousand times more people die from lightning strikes and one hundred thousand times more from road accidents than from shark attacks.

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Overcoming the popular image of these “monsters”, imprinted on our collective imagination by centuries of ignorance, is a difficult task. And without changing that image, conserving all these stigmatized species is almost impossible. That is why we want them to be our emblem for this fifth edition. Because initiatives such as WOFF can open the eyes and minds of people who still fail to appreciate the role these animals play in our oceans, as well as their beauty, their history and their evolution.

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Come to WOFF and enjoy the company of filmmakers, scientists, artists, explorers and athletes who will share their experiences with the ocean. Then go out and tell others about it; spread the message about the beauty, fragility, threats and solutions facing our oceans. And remember that your attitude, your message and your example will also reveal the reality behind these so-called “sea monsters”.