Project Status: The BioSCape Field Campaign was a Success!

The Spectrum of Life

A short film about the Biodiversity Survey of the Cape

The Spectrum of Life
Remote Sensing at the Southern Tip of Africa

The Spectrum of Life is a short documentary about NASA’s first biodiversity airborne campaign in South Africa, BioSCape. The film is a celebration of local biodiversity, NASA’s role in conservation, and the potential of next-generation remote sensing to change how we measure and monitor ecosystems around the world.

The film will be available for online viewing later in 2025.

Fishwater Films

The Spectrum of life was directed, filmed and edited by Otto Whitehead & Jeremy Shelton at Fishwater Films with special appearances by Zolani Mahola, The One Who Sings.

Fishwater uses documentary film-making to inspire social and environmental change. Check them out at fishwaterfilms.com

Dr Jeremy Shelton

Jeremy grew up splashing in coastal rock pools and following crabs and tadpoles in a small stream behind his family home in Cape Town. A fascination with nature, encouraged by his dad - a marine biologist - led Jeremy to study conservation biology at the University of Cape Town.

In 2013, he completed a PhD in freshwater biology, and in 2014 he joined the Freshwater Research Centre (FRC) – a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation working as a freshwater biologist and conservationist.

After a decade of research, publishing 15 scientific papers and three book chapters, Jeremy picked up a camera and quickly realized the power of images and visual storytelling in communicating science and affecting conservation action.

Today, he works on a mix of freshwater science and photography assignments as a FRC researcher and National Geographic Explorer, adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to fulfilling South Africa’s need for freshwater awareness.

Dr Otto Whitehead

When the rock pools and coastal forests of his youth merged into the pursuit of a degree in marine ecology, Otto felt his eyes open even wider. Humbled by what he continued to learn about plants and animals, he gained an eternal admiration for the natural world.

Otto’s first major splash with freshwater life was in 2010 when he worked as a lab assistant sorting river invertebrates under the microscope. His savings helped him afford his first camera, which he took to the wild, sub-Antarctic Marion Island, where he spent a year researching - and filming - seabirds.

After completing a PhD at the Fitzpatrick Institute in 2017, he joined the South African National Biodiversity Institute and Nelson Mandela University to tell stories about the ocean. Throughout this time he assisted National Geographic photographer Thomas Peschak on six magazine assignments to some of the wildest corners of the planet. These experiences immensely deepened his love of ecology and storytelling.

Otto is passionate about telling meaningful stories, and freshwater ecosystems need storytellers.