GOLD JACKET - THE MOMENT
FOR THIS PROJECT WE PARTNERED WITH MUSICAL DUO, GOLD JACKET, TO BRING THIS SHORT STORY TO LIFE. WHILST THIS COULD HAVE EASILY BECOME A MUCH LARGER DOCUMENTARY PROJECT WE DECIDED TO KEEP IT SIMPLE, ALLOWING THE COMBINATION OF MUSIC & IMAGE TO TELL THE NARRATIVE IN A SLIGHTLY UNCONVENTIONAL FORMAT.
THE CONCEPT WAS BORN AFTER A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH A SEA EAGLE WHILST CAMPING IN ARDNAMURCHAN, WEST SCOTLAND. WE WERE RELAXING BY CAMP WITH AN ENTIRE BAY TO OURSELVES, WHEN SUDDENLY AN ENORMOUS PREHISTORIC LOOKING BIRD SOARED OVERHEAD. WE WATCHED IN AWE AS IT SWOOPED DOWN, PLUCKED A FISH FROM THE SHALLOWS & BATTLED WITH PESTERING SEAGULLS TO KEEP ITS CATCH. IT WAS A TRULY BREATHTAKING SIGHT.
A FASCINATION WITH THIS TREMENDOUS CREATURE FOLLOWED. WE HAD TO WITNESS IT AGAIN & THIS TIME WE WOULD CAPTURE IT ON CAMERA. A FEW MONTHS LATER WE HEADED BACK UP NORTH WITH OUR KIT, THIS TIME TO THE ISLE OF SKYE. WE HAD ONE SINGLE GOAL IN MIND - TO FIND & FILM BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BIRD OF PREY.
DURING OUR TRIP WE PROBED INTO THE HISTORY OF SEA EAGLES & DISCOVERED A FASCINATING CONSERVATION STORY. AS A RESULT OF POISONING, EGG COLLECTING & HUNTING OF BOTH EAGLES & THEIR PREY, THE WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE BECAME EXTINCT IN THE BRITISH ISLES BY THE EARLY 1900s. IN 1975 SCOTTISH NATIONAL HERITAGE & THE RSPB REINTRODUCED 82 YOUNG SEA EAGLES FROM NORWAY, RELEASING THEM ON THE ISLE OF RUM OVER A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS. THE REINTRODUCTION HAS BEEN A RESOUNDING SUCCESS WITH NOW OVER 140 BREEDING PAIRS ACROSS SCOTLAND.
HOWEVER, NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY WITH THEIR RETURN. DURING OUR TRIP WE TALKED TO A NUMBER OF CROFTERS WHO HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPACT THAT EAGLES HAVE HAD ON THEIR LIVELIHOODS. AS APEX PREDATORS, THEY SIT AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN & THE THREAT THEY POSE TO LIVESTOCK IS A CONCERN FOR MANY INDIVIDUALS. WITH REPORTS OF LAMBS BEING CARRIED OFF, FULLY GROWN SHEEP ATTACKED & RUMOURS OF SMALL PETS DISAPPEARING, SOME LOCALS WOULD RATHER THE EAGLES HAD NEVER BEEN BROUGHT BACK. ON THE OTHER HAND, CONSERVATIONISTS CLAIM THAT EAGLES PREDOMINANTLY SURVIVE BY FISHING OR PICKING UP CARRION & DISPUTE THAT THEY REGULARLY ATTACK LIVE SHEEP. SCHEMES ARE IN PLACE TO COMPENSATE FOR MISSING LIVESTOCK & SOME MAY ARGUE THAT LIMITED AGRICULTURAL LOSSES ARE A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR INCREASED BIODIVERSITY & ECO TOURISM.
RECENTLY, ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO REINTRODUCE SEA EAGLES TO ENGLAND. HAVING BEEN ABSENT FROM SOUTHERN SHORES FOR 240 YEARS, 13 BIRDS WERE RELEASED ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT DURING 2019 & 2020. THIS WAS WHERE THE LAST KNOWN ENGLISH PAIR BRED ON CULVER CLIFF IN 1780. WILD KEN HILL & THE ROY DENNIS WILDLIFE FOUNDATION HAD PLANNED TO EXPAND THE REINTRODUCTION TO NORFOLK WITH THE SUPPORT OF NATURAL ENGLAND. DESPITE LOCAL BACKING, THE PLANS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO OBJECTIONS FROM LANDOWNERS IN THE AREA WHO HAVE SIMILAR FEARS OF ATTACKS ON FARMS & SHOOTING ESTATES.
WHILST CLEARLY A CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC, ONGOING REWILDING ATTEMPTS ARE STILL BEING MADE ACROSS BRITAIN, BRINGING TO LIGHT THE HUMAN IMPACT ON OUR NATURAL WORLD & THE DILEMMAS WE FACE.
READ MORE ABOUT THE REINTRODUCTION OF SEA EAGLES HERE.
