TEDxYouth@Toronto 2011 – Rob Stewart

Rob Stewart is an award-winning biologist, photographer and documentary filmmaker, and avid conservationist. Rob spent four years traveling the world as the chief photographer for the Canadian Wildlife Federation magazines and his work has appeared in media outlets worldwide. At 22, while on assignment to photograph hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos he discovered miles of illegal long lines. The fishermen fled, leaving hundreds of dead and dying sharks, which Rob tried to rescue. He believed that if people could see the beauty in sharks, and learn about the vital role they play in our ecosystem, people would want to fight to protect them.

His debut film, Sharkwater, documents his unbelievable adventure of a beautiful underwater film that turns into real life drama with pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges. Through it all, he discovered these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey, and how they could easily be wiped out due to human greed. Stewart’s remarkable journey of courage and determination exposed the shark finning industry to audiences and spawned conservation movements worldwide. He continues to promote ocean conservation and is currently working on his next film currently titled “Revolution”, a how-to guide to start the revolution necessary to save the planet, and ultimately, humanity.

In his talk, Rob Stewart speaks about the need for a revolution to challenge the status quos of our political and economic systems to save our environment and ultimately our world. “We are going to make it as a civilization, or break it.”

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