The memory of late film maker Rob Stewart, whose under-water work illustrates sharks in a positive light, has been honoured by his peers.
During last month’s Toronto International Film Festival the documentary film community and scuba diving groups presented a mural of a huge hammerhead shark, along with a fearless free diver. The painting, by Toronto artists Birdo and GETSO is on the back wall of the Opus restaurant near the Royal Ontario Museum. The painting, which is three storeys high, salutes Stewart, who died this year in a diving accident in Florida while filming his third documentary.
His earlier films were Sharkwater and Revolution. They supported ocean conservation and protecting sharks. Toronto Mayor John Tory, who joined the Stewart family in cutting a ribbon in front of the mural, said he would see the painting every day because his condo had a view of the shark wall.