Goat Island Movie

Here's a short clip from the Goat Island movie that I've produced. It's playing down by the beach on a large outdoor screen over summer.

Goat Island was NZ's first ever marine reserve (actually the first no-take marine reserve in the world!). When I started filming underwater it made sense to practice somewhere that had lots of fish - Goat Island fitted this bill well, not only is it just down the road from where I live, but it's loaded with plenty of fish that are easy to film!

Historically it was not somewhere that I would spend much time, as I only wanted to get in the water to catch fish and not just look at them. But the more I came here to film the more I realised how special this place was...the fish life and crayfish were way more abundant compared to the rest of the surrounding coastline outside the Marine Reserve. It was glaringly obvious how different it is and what an incredible recovery it has made.

Spending lots of time here I also got to meet some of the older locals who would tell their fascinating stories of growing up around this beautiful coast. About how prolific fish life used to be and then the steady decline during the 60's and 70's. I heard stories of the incredible battle that took place for over ten years to finally make this area a total no take zone.

When Goat Island finally became a Marine Reserve in 1975 many predicted that no one would want to visit this beach - as apparently there was nothing left to do there anymore.... But now approximately     350 000 visit this tiny MArine reserve annually, bringing close to $20 million into the local economy each year.
Goat Island Marine Reserve not only holds a special place in NZ's history, but it's legacy is felt around the world.

I've fallen in love with this stunning slice of NZ's coastline and love bringing my kids here. It's a taste of what the marine life would have been like many decades ago and a place where many thousands of Kiwi kids get to enjoy seeing and swimming with fish for the first time.

The beach movie shows the different varieties of fish you could encounter, some of the history of the Marine Reserve, and also some snorkeling safety tips... there are a lot of people who come here that have very little water experience and get themselves into trouble!

It's great that the Department of Conservation and Water Safety NZ have endorsed what we are doing down at the beach.

The musical track was written and performed by my bro-in-law Andy Gibson
www.andygibson.co.nz/