Underwater cinematographer Dan Beecham has spent more than two decades documenting marine life across all seven continents and five oceans, capturing everything from microscopic sea creatures to massive whales. With a career that includes contributions to Blue Planet II, Planet Earth III, and numerous National Geographic and Disney+ productions, Beecham brings a deep understanding of both the ocean’s beauty and its fragility. In Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory, which kicks off NatGeo’s two-week Sharkfest coverage. he joins the intrepid presenter in South Africa to film great white sharks without a cage—an ambitious and risky shoot that highlights the rapidly changing conditions in our oceans. In this interview, Beecham discusses the challenges of underwater filmmaking, working with apex predators, and the urgent environmental story behind the spectacle.
How did you first get involved with this project?
I’d worked in the same location we filmed this episode for a big BBC production a few years back—Planet Earth III. I filmed sharks there for that series. I’d also worked with Bertie on two of his previous shows; we’ve done a few wildlife shoots together. So this came together pretty naturally through those connections—and Bertie’s also a friend. We’ve collaborated a bunch of times now.
You’ve filmed all over the world in different parts of the ocean. How do the waters off South Africa compare to somewhere like the Caribbean?
Sure. I actually live in Cape Town, and I think we’ve got some of the best diving in the world. Diving in the kelp forests here is incredible—they’re as diverse as coral reefs, but also fully three-dimensional environments. The kelp surrounds you: above, below, and on all sides.
That said, the downside to diving here is the conditions—they’re much less favorable for much of the year. For example, today it’s blowing 30 knots, pouring rain, and the sea is a green mess. You don’t get those long stretches of flat, calm seas like in other parts of the world. But what you do get are these golden moments—when everything aligns and you get absolutely world-class diving and events that don’t happen anywhere else. Each one feels like a gift, sometimes a rare one. You never know if you’ll experience it again.
So from a logistical and shooting standpoint, when things aren’t ideal—like if it’s rainy or rough—does that automatically kill the shoot for the day?
No, you always persist. We’re out there pretty much sunrise to sunset. There’s always something you can be doing. If it’s a total write-off weather-wise, we might shoot interviews on land or drone scenes. And while the weather forecasts are often right, they’re not always. Some of the shots that made the final film were captured on days when we were close to throwing in the towel. Then, suddenly, you see the clouds part, a bit of visibility opens up, and all you need are some animals. Next thing you know, you’ve got a great shot. One of the essential things in this job is persistence—you’ve got to believe that in the next five minutes, the thing you’ve been waiting for might finally happen. So you’re always in a state of readiness.
Shooting above ground, light is notoriously tricky. What’s it like underwater?
Light definitely makes a big difference. Everything looks more beautiful underwater when the sun is shining. On a lot of shoots, you’re craning your neck, always looking up and hoping the clouds will clear.
But in reality, you don’t always have perfect light—especially when you’re deeper. Past 10 or 15 meters, you’re not getting those pretty, dappled light rays. For one dive in the show, we were filming pajama sharks and cat sharks at around 50 meters, so we were shooting through dark, green water. In those cases, you can shoot pretty much any time of day. But when you’re filming shallow, dynamic scenes, you really hope for that golden light.
What were some of the more unexpected moments you experienced while shooting the show?
The closing sequence—when Bertie and I were in the water with Southern right whales and dolphins—that was completely unexpected. It was one of those rare, golden moments South Africa can deliver. You can go weeks without anything, and then you get something like that. If you’d told me on day one that we’d be frolicking in the water with four Southern right whales and a dozen dolphins, I wouldn’t have believed it. But it happened—and on the very last day too, in true wildlife documentary fashion.
You mentioned filming whales, but also smaller sharks. How do you approach shooting different-sized animals? Is the process the same or totally different?
It’s different—starting with the lenses. For the Southern right whales, we had decent visibility—maybe 10 meters—but I wasn’t just trying to capture the animal. I needed to frame both the whale and Bertie, so I used very wide-angle lenses to show the full scale of what was unfolding.
That kind of encounter is very opportunistic—the animals write the script. We have to be ready to go when they say it’s time. For the smaller sharks, like pajama sharks, we know their location, and we wait for the right conditions. We can plan more: choose the right lenses, take the right gear, and go in specifically to get that shot.
You’ve worked on huge productions like Blue Planet II and Planet Earth. What’s it like working with Bertie?
On traditional wildlife shoots, you’re often pigeonholed into capturing a very specific behavior or animal. You might be there to film a tiny creature doing one particular thing, even if amazing things are happening nearby—you usually can’t film them, because they’re not part of the story you were assigned to tell.
With Bertie’s shows, we’re much more reactive. If we see something amazing happening, we can pivot and film it. That’s rare in wildlife filmmaking, and really refreshing. It lets us respond to the environment and capture more spontaneous moments.
One thing people say about nature filmmaking is that animals rarely cooperate. That definitely seemed true with the great whites. What was it like trying to find and film them?
It definitely caught us off guard. The location we went to had a reliable shark presence during that time of year for the past five years. But we got unlucky. Luckily, the production had backup plans—we went to another spot, Aliwal Shoal, where we had some amazing dives. That kind of contingency planning is critical.
You’ve got to be ready to leave when the weather turns bad and go somewhere you can work. So yes, it looks like luck, but it’s also preparation. You need both. And you need to know when to make the call to pivot.
I thought it was great that the film didn’t tie everything up with a bow. That felt honest. So many nature docs wrap up like sitcoms, with everything resolved.
Yeah, I’m glad to hear that. Some viewers might be disappointed—you know, expecting that dramatic great white moment right before the credits roll. But that’s not always how it works out. That’s the reality of nature.
You were potentially going to shoot with great whites and other large predators. How do you prepare for something like that?
You talk about it a lot beforehand, and you plan in detail. We had clear rules: only dive with visibility over 10 meters, only in calm conditions, never more than 30 minutes underwater, always with a safety diver. We never got to implement those plans, but we were ready.
The real danger is the shark you don’t see. But in the conditions we were aiming for—shallow water with our backs to the rocks—we could limit the angles they could approach from. It might look risky, but with the right conditions and precautions, it would’ve been safe.
You kind of answered this next one already, but I’ll ask anyway. How do you balance getting the shot with staying safe? Are there best practices you always follow?
Yeah, it’s definitely a balance. At the end of the day, we all want to do the next job—we want to come home safe. It’s easy to let mission creep set in, especially when time is running out. But that’s why you set strict rules at the start: minimum visibility, sea conditions, dive time, etc. You stick to those rules. Even when the pressure is on, you don’t break them just to get the shot. Sometimes you don’t come home with it. That’s part of the job.
You’ve spoken about your time at the Save Our Seas Foundation, and it’s clear how deeply you care about the ocean. What do you hope viewers take from this show?
What’s great about this show is that it highlights how the ocean is changing. Warming seas, increased fishing pressure, all these shifting factors—they have a huge impact on species distribution. That’s exactly what we saw in South Africa.
In the town where we worked, changes in shark populations had a real effect on people’s lives. But the community adapted—they created systems that allow sharks and humans to coexist. I hope this show helps people understand that change is happening, and that adapting—respectfully and responsibly—is key. We’re going to see more of that in the near future.
IMAGE CREDIT: National Geographic/Dan Beecham