Pearl Country 🦈
Kimberley, Australia Expedition Day 8 of 14
Written by Scott David Martin | May 6, 2023
The Dash [ - ] goes behind the scenes of a WABU filmmaking expedition in the remote Northwest region of Australia, The Kimberley. In this 14-part series, we’ll share the highs and lows, from marathon shoots aboard luxurious yachts to heart-stopping encounters with nature's fiercest creatures.
An old Grumman Mallard, Seaplane royalty
©SEABOURN | 📷 C. Trantina
I’ll be honest,
I didn’t think Kuri Bay should make the cut.
During pre-pro,
we debated every location like it was a Senate hearing.
Time.
Budget.
Logistics.
Creative payoff.
In production, every minute matters.
Every movement has a cost.
Michael Cioni, one of the industry’s sharpest minds, says
“Every frame has a cost.”
Kuri Bay, Australia 15.4819° S, 124.5228° E
WABU HQ: The centralized command center onboard Akiko
I never forget that.
CPF (cost-per-frame) isn’t just dollars.
It’s energy, risk, time, people.
And back then,
Kuri Bay didn’t seem to justify the spend.
BUT I was wrong.
So wrong.
Kuri Bay wasn’t just another stop.
It was another world.
Sharks.
Pearls.
Mallards.
Countless untold stories waiting to be uncovered.
The Akiko Bridge at dawn
Pearls or Sharks
We had the latest call time of the expedition, 8:30 AM.
BUT my body still woke me at nautical twilight.
I climb to the bow of the Akiko alone.
Like I had every morning.
The Kimberley sunrise always found a way to reach me.
No soundtrack.
Just wind and water.
Kimberley mornings, pure magic.
Capturing sunrise on the bow, part of the morning routine
Mallard Discovery
Sailing in, we spot her.
An old Grumman Mallard.
Seaplane royalty.
As a young filmmaker in Alaska,
I obsessed over these machines.
Bush pilots taught me that aircraft weren’t just transport…
they are lifelines.
Otters. Beavers.
Cessnas.
Piper Cubs.
One plane.
A thousand uses.
So seeing a Mallard in the wild?
Like spotting an aviation celebrity.
By 9:00 AM, we’re in in the water.
And greeted almost immediately by nurse sharks.
First three.
Then Four.
Then dozens.
Calm but confident.
They’re not hunting.
Just showing us who rules the bay.
We immediately change the plan.
Our clients need this shot.
WABU mode, activated.
The day’s original schedule…
Mallards, pearls, interviews?
Now sharing space with the stars of the bay.
Nurse Sharks.
We split our crew.
One crew heads to film the Pearl Farm,
the other out on shark patrol.
Making some new friends in Kuri Bay
A Symphony in the Bay
The pearl farm was more than tourism,
it is craftsmanship.
We watch skilled hands harvest pearls
with surgical precision.
A pearl isn’t born, it’s made.
Rarity is the story here.
The Australian South Sea pearl oyster:
Called (Pinctada maxima)…
Is the largest and rarest of all pearl oysters.
It produces the largest and most valuable of all pearls.
The pearling process at Kuri Bay
©SEABOURN | 📷 S. Martin
The Australian South Sea pearl oyster, the largest and rarest of all pearl oysters.
©SEABOURN | 📷 S. Martin
But we had one more story to capture on land.
That afternoon, we interview Peter Tucker,
a local legend.
Soft-spoken.
Deeply connected to this place.
He told stories like a man who had saltwater in his blood.
A kindred spirit.
Have you heard the quote,
"the ones craziest to think they can change the world actually do."
It resonates with our team when we meet individuals like Tuck.
His passion and dedication mirrors WABUs.
Tuna Time
As we wrapped,
a nearby boat pulled alongside our zodiac.
Tuck’s friends had just returned from fishing.
“Here ya go, Tuck,”
tossing him a fresh, glistening tuna.
It was massive.
Peter laughs and turns to us:
“Guess we’re eating well tonight.”
We rush it to Akiko’s galley.
And Chef Seb goes to work.
No recipe. Just instinct.
He turned that fish into magic, again.
I wish I had taken more photos of Seb’s creations.
The man was a culinary poet.
The Catch
The Prep
The Result
The Shark Enc0unter
But the day wasn’t over.
Above us, drone pilot Chris launches.
Tracking the Zodiac as talent and sharks move in sync,
just feet apart.
And then…boom.
The shot.
Surrounded by raw nature, totally unscripted.
It wasn’t in the storyboard,
but the second we saw it, we knew:
This is making the final cut.
A cornerstone moment for the expedition brand.
I’m thrilled for the client.
Still, we weren’t done.
The strongest stories don’t stop at the surface.
They go deeper.
The scraps
Get the GoPros!
Adrenaline starts pumping.
Nurse sharks.
Reef sharks.
So many sharks.
What could possibly go wrong?
Hmmm…
A feeding frenzy starts.
One of them mistakes a GoPro for food and
bites down hard.
We almost lost a camera, but not the shot.
Reflections in Gold
The sun starts to fall behind the cliffs,
and the sky lights up in color.
We’re exhausted.
Salty. Grateful.
Kuri Bay was a gamble.
BUT it paid off tenfold.
Flying boats.
Hidden pearls.
Shark ballets.
Stories we hadn’t expected to tell.
We film late into the golden hour.
And finally…Tuna time.
Mid-dinner, someone yells.
“Look at the moon!”
My head turns like a swivel.
And there she is, rising over the horizon.
I don’t hesitate.
I bolt for the long lens,
probably looking like a man possessed.
Didn’t matter.
Every second counts.
Moments later, I’m flat on the ground.
Breath steady.
Finger on the shutter.
She’s glowing.
Pure white, in the last light of magic hour.
The moonrise departing Kuri Bay
©SEABOURN | 📷 S. Martin
Up next on The Dash ( — ):
Our Zodiac breaks down.
And a curious croc starts to circle...