THE HANS HASS FIFTY FATHOMS AWARD
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5. Stan Waterman,
photographed in 2012
Image courtesy
Bret Gilliam
6. The Blue Water,
White Death crew off
South Africa, 1969
Image courtesy
Bret Gilliam
SDOP
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Geographic television special. This brought
Stan to the attention of Hollywood and the
international film community, and he was
recruited by his friend Peter Gimbel to be
associate producer and underwater cameraman
on the groundbreaking 1970 film Blue Water,
White Death, the hunt for the great white shark.
Stan was joined by Australian divers Ron and
Valerie Taylor, and along with Gimbel, they took
underwater filming to a whole new level.
The film now has legendary status for showing,
in a location off South Africa, the first time divers
had exited shark cages to film in open water
among feeding sharks. The film’s climax is their
encounter with a great white shark at Dangerous
Reef, Australia. The film enhanced the careers
of all involved and was an early step towards
greater understanding of sharks and their role in
the oceans.
During the 1970s, Stan got to meet Hans and
Lotte Hass and struck up a quick friendship,
which endured throughout their careers. Their
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Stan is the recipient of five
Emmys plus numerous
diving industry awards
shared interest in filming the oceans bonded
them together.
As Stan’s career progressed, he was hired
for the ABC show The American Sportsman and
struck up a friendship with his neighbour Peter
Benchley, who had seen his book Jaws become
a blockbuster movie. Peter’s book The Deep
was also headed for Hollywood and Stan was
contracted to do the underwater camerawork for
the movie. Like Jaws, the movie featured the harddrinking Robert Shaw in a lead role, and the plot
entailed plenty of underwater filming.
Television remained a large part of Stan’s
career, and he is the recipient of five Emmys plus
numerous diving industry awards. In recognition
of his lengthy and distinguished career he
received the 2006 Hans Hass Fifty Fathoms
Award, which was presented to him at the
Beneath the Sea show by the first recipient, Ernie
Brooks, accompanied by Rodney Fox, and Ron
and Valerie Taylor, who were Stan’s colleagues
on Blue Water, White Death. SDOP