Al Jazeera English - Witness: Sharks of Kuwait (Clip)
The Arabian Gulf is one of the world's busiest waterways. Supertankers criss-cross the sea, carrying a quarter of the world's crude oil but polluting the water. Cranes mark yet another mega construction project invading the fragile coastal eco-system. It is a potential environmental disaster, but little is being done to preserve the diversity of its marine life.
Fifty years ago, the Arabian Gulf was full of sharks, but now no one knows how many are left. Kuwaitis who once lived off the Gulf's fish and pearls seem not to know or care. Only a few individual voices and small NGOs call for conservation.
Environmental filmmaker Zeina Aboul Hosn joined an expedition to search for the forgotten sharks of the Gulf. She and expedition leader Richard Peirce find sharks lying dead in Kuwait's fish market, their fins cut off for soup. Zeina had to dive into an aquarium in front of gawping tourists to film her first live shark before she finally got to swim with a small group of sharks in the wild waters, bringing us the full emotion of this story of devastation.
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About Al Jazeera - Witness
Ghida Fakhry and Rageh Omaar present Witness, a half-hour daily documentary series which features short, specially commissioned or acquired films gathered from independent filmmakers.
Each documentary reveals the unknown lives of ordinary people, following their lives, telling their stories and portraying the challenges that confront them. Our witnesses are people in a situation or those who have observed them first hand.
The films cover conflict, belief, the past and the future and as well as bringing new stories to light they showcase the talents of a new breed of multi-skilled, frontline journalist. In the studio, Rageh will further explore the issues raised in the films, with expert guests on the subject matter and the filmmakers themselves.
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