By Canadian Press

“Warrior for this planet”: Friends remember Toronto filmmaker who died on dive

Feb 4, 2017 | 10:45 AM

A Toronto filmmaker who was found dead days after he went missing while diving off the coast of Florida is remembered by his sister as a community-builder who brought about global change.

Rob Stewart’s body was found in the Florida Keys Friday, 90 metres from where he disappeared during a dive on earlier in the week. His remains were found after an extensive search, for which nearly $200,000 was raised.

“He had so much passion for what he was doing, and that passion brought people in,” said his sister, Alexandra Stewart.

The 37-year-old was best known for his 2006 documentary “Sharkwater,” about the rapidly declining shark population at the hands of illegal and recreational fishing, climate change and pollution.

Stewart was in Florida filming a follow-up to the documentary, called “Sharkwater: Extinction,” his sister said.

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“Sharkwater” prompted people around the world to lobby their governments for bans on shark finning, the removal of the fins while tossing the rest of the carcass in the ocean.

Alexandra Stewart said her brother had an extraordinary way of working — with passion and commitment — and also an extraordinary lifestyle.

“My dad always called him a global citizen,” she said. “Whenever I picked up the phone to call him, I’d have no idea where he’d answer from. A boat off the coast of a small island, or L.A. for a movie premiere or even driving up North — even though he hated the cold.”

She said her family is trying to figure out a way to best honour his legacy.

“We’re very committed to making sure his mission is carried out,” she said.

In a video posted to Facebook, Tyler MacLeod, who was listed as an associate producer on Revolution, another of Stewart’s films, said the director was an inspiration.

“Rob literally never flinched. He never changed. He’s always been a warrior for this planet and a warrior for what’s right,” MacLeod said in a video posted to Facebook after Stewart’s body was found. “At least in my mind, he’s a massive hero.”

Stewart had been diving with friends on Tuesday when he was last seen. They were diving deep — about 70 metres down, which the coast guard said is deeper than many people are able to go — near Alligator Reef in the Florida Keys.

His diving partner lost consciousness as he got into the dive boat, Stewart’s sister previously told The Canadian Press. The U.S. Coast Guard said as others tended to the man and gave him oxygen, Stewart disappeared.

In the wake of his disappearance, support flooded in for the missing filmmaker. Nearly $200,000 had been donated to an online fundraising page for the search for Stewart by Saturday. MacLeod, who organized the page, said any leftover money would be given to Fin Free, a charitable organization that works for the protection of sharks.

Toronto mayor John Tory said on Twitter that Stewart’s death was not the news he was hoping and praying for.

“My heartfelt sympathies go out to family and friends of #RobStewart,” he wrote.

Others also took to social media to memorialize Stewart, including Paul Watson, president and CEO of conservation group Sea Shepherd.

On his Instagram account, Watson posted a statement offering condolences to the filmmaker’s family.

“He accomplished so much in his 37 years,” Watson wrote. “We will miss him and we intend to honour his life by working to protect and defend the sharks that he loved so much.”

“He knew the risks involved with his work and told me once that sharks were the least of those risks,” he added.

Stewart devoted his career to warning the world about threats facing sharks, other ocean life and humanity in general.

Stewart said he and his colleagues risked their lives to make the film: they visited a Costa Rican warehouse that trafficked in illegal shark fin and confronted poachers on the high seas.

“This century we’re facing some pretty catastrophic consequences of our actions,” he said in a 2012 interview with The Canadian Press.

“We’re facing a world by 2050 that has no fish, no reefs, no rainforest, and nine billion people on a planet that already can’t sustain seven billion people. So it’s going to be a really dramatic century unless we do something about it.”

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

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