A film about Bermuda’s famed ocean explorer Teddy Tucker opens with his sage advice “love what you do and don’t go against nature”.

Shark Country, a mini-documentary on his life, shows that while he loved what he did, Mr Tucker did not believe Bermuda’s marine environment had been taken care of and he voiced grave concerns about the decline of fish stocks he’d observed over his lifetime.

A three-year collaboration between Ben Watson of Wildside Media and Wendy Tucker, Mr Tucker’s daughter, the film takes a deep dive into this avid fisherman’s rarely documented views on the need to sustain ocean resources for future generations.

The film unearths an on-camera interview from 1994 by Greg Stone, an advocate for ocean conservation, offering a unique insight into the legendary ship wreck hunter.

The title of the film was chosen as the decline in sharks, observed by Mr Tucker and others interviewed, is one of the most obvious indicators of declining ocean health.

While sharks are relatively elusive today, making news headlines for a single appearance, they are filmed congregating around Mr Tucker’s boat and crew in rare underwater footage from the mid-Fifties.

In one incredible scene, Mr Tucker effortlessly scoops a small shark out of the water with his bare hands.

“The sharks would follow you,” he said. “As long as they just swam along, eating wasn’t on their mind, but as soon as they started swimming all around like that, you put yourself closer to the boat with the ladder hanging over, and then you got out.”

By the time he was interviewed by Dr Stone, Mr Tucker says: “Fish stocks are still diminishing and when you start to get small fish, small animals, it is definitely a sign of over fishing.”

He said within three years of the United Nations issuing advice to local fishermen to drop multiple lines with up to 30 hooks on them “the fisheries were gone”.

Fish pots, contraptions that were banned in 1990, were also noted for their contribution to the decline.

Shark Country, which has a running time of 30 minutes, does not profess to be a scientific assessment of the declining fish stocks, but it does include the first-hand observations of people who have spent most of their time on or in the water.

Divers, spear fishers, ship wreck experts all weigh in on the issue and share the common understanding that fish numbers have diminished.

Their views accompany footage showing the sites from decades past, teeming with life that lay barren today.

It’s impactful and calls for answers.

There is has been much discussion about the potential marine protected area for Bermuda.

Mr Tucker, who died in 2014, said his suggestions for protecting certain areas of Bermuda’s waters from any fishing activity had fallen on deaf ears over the years.

As Bermuda grapples with the creation of a sustainable fisheries that balances with economic stimulus, this film is certainly worth a watch as it provides another perspective.

The full series can be seen on a dedicated YouTube channel.