His images of the depths of the Arctic world tour

Photo courtesy Jean-Benoît Cyr
Mario Cyr coming out of the icy waters off the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, in the gulf of St. Lawrence.

Vanessa Loignon

Tuesday, 5 September 2017, 06:30

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Tuesday, 5 September 2017, 06:30

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ÎLES-DE-LA-MADELEINE | quebec filmmaker has worked on over 150 films for producers as important as Discovery, National Geographic, BBC and Disney Productions.

The fame of Mario Cyr as a director submarine is more to do, which plunges over the last 41 years and has over 2000 dives in icy waters.

He started diving in 1976. It was then of the commercial diving industry for the construction of wharves and bridges.

Photo Mario Cyr

He took his first photos quite by accident, in 1984, when he was a guide for a team from California coming in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine to see the harp seals. Not being accustomed to cold water, the team was not able to stay under water for a long time. Mario Cyr was proposed to go under water and take pictures.

Attacked by a walrus

National Geographic has contacted Mario Cyr in 1991 to make it to the Arctic to film walrus. It was then the first to film these animals in their natural habitat, due to the dangers involved in such an operation.

Despite her apprehension, all went well this time.

Photo Mario Cyr

“The Inuit said that I do not get out from there alive, because for them, there are several myths and fears surrounding the walrus,” said Mr. Cyr.After many dives without incident to film the walrus, the director of the depths will always remember this time where he had a blue fear. While he was filming a mother walrus with her baby, “grandma morse” about a ton and a half went right on top of him and has dislocated the left shoulder.

“This is the dive where I had the most fear. After this incident, we have sought to understand, and the scientists have explained that, as in the dolphins, when a female walrus has a baby, “grandma” accompanies it for about two years, or the time of breastfeeding, ” he said.

Climate change

Mr. Cyr will perform this year in its 37th trip to the Arctic. In total, it has spent more than two years. Accustomed to the place, he was able to point out the impacts of climate change. Although he is not a scientist, he considers himself as a privileged witness.

Photo Mario Cyr

The filmmaker underwater Mario Cyr has photographed and filmed several landscapes and marine animals, including a harp, a symbol of the month of march in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

During his first voyages in the Arctic with the Inuit, he only had to probe the ice-very infrequently. Today, however, he must stop very frequently to check the thickness. Towards the beginning of the years 2000, Mario Cyr was in Igloolik, in the Nunavut territory, and he remembers that his guide told him that this was the first time he saw the rain on the 1st of April.

“It came completely change. I understood that there was actually something to worry about with climate change. “

Mario Cyr has also a bistro, family friendly, Diving, Alpha, located on a Large Input, in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and there he gives conferences during the summer. In October, he will begin his tour in The Eyes of the sea through the province of Quebec.

The prestigious award

Over the years, Mario Cyr has provided images for more than 150 films, which have won numerous awards. Here are a few :

• Cesar of best documentary for the film Oceans by Jacques Perrin
• Palme d’or at the world Festival of Antibes for the documentary Toothed Titans (National Geographic
• Nominated for Emmy Awards for Ice Bear 3D