Background of Film Title
Mark Sowerby (52, Australia, MSF bio here) had previously finished a tough crossing of the English Channel in 2015. But dial forward to 2022 and he was thinking about the Oceans Seven.
He trained and planned. His second Oceans Seven crossing would be across the Molokai Channel in Hawaii in April 2022.
In the process of his due diligence, he landed in Oahu and made it a top priority to consult with the well-known box jellyfish researcher and biochemist, Dr. Angel Yanagihara. In what only be described as the most incredible car garage in her quiet neighborhood located behind the University of Hawaii in the lush Manoa Valley, Dr. Yanagihara had a host of fascinating tools and technology that helped her explore the marine world.
During that first meeting, Dr. Yanagihara explained the purpose and mechanism of her StingNoMore, a live-saving topical treatment for jellyfish stings. Her patented innovation is used by governments and militaries to help everyone from children wading in near-shore waters to soldiers on the high seas to avoid death due to box jellyfish venom. StingNoMore inhibits the lytic activity (breakdown, destruction, or bursting of red blood cells in a human) of box jellyfish venom that causes, at a minimum, intense pain to cardiac arrest at worse.
But the world-renowned biochemist offered additional advice regarding all the different marine creatures found in the waters off the Hawaiian island: “Don’t be prey.”
Her advice – and those specific instructions – had a profound impact on Sowerby.
Don’t be prey.
He remembered Dr. Yanagihara’s simple warning as he crossed the Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, North Channel, Cook Strait, and Tsugaru Channel over the next two years followed by his wife Heidi Sowerby, filmmaker Jeff Tseng, and Red Top Swimming coach Tim Denyer (@redtopperformance).
Her words ultimately became the title of his 94-minute film, Don’t Be Prey (@dontbeprey.film, IMDb here). The film tells his come-back story of how he rose from a business collapse and depression to achieve the Oceans Seven.
But the film is not exclusively about Sowerby. Throughout the film, Tseng follows and showcases a varied cast of channel crossing characters and others from the open water community: from Bengisu Avci of Turkey and The Chunky Dunkers from Northern Ireland, from Joanne Norman of Australia to Jen Schumacher from California.
The film features scenes that unveil the raw vulnerabilities faced by every channel swimmer, the physical difficulties and emotional challenges that Sowerby and other Oceans Seven swimmers have all faced.
Coming To America
The film has long been available from Australia to Ireland and the UK.
Now the film is launching its U.S. film festival journey. After its next screening on September 14th at Sounds Like Movies in Picton, New Zealand, the screenings will head to the Breck Film Fest on September 19th in Breckenridge, Colorado, the Richmond International Film Festival on September 27th in Richmond, Virginia, the Chagrin Documentary Film Fest on October 7th and 9th in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and the Dana Point Film Festival on October 31st in Dana Point, California – with several other film screenings planned.
For additional screening details and tickets, visit www.dontbeprey.film/screenings.
Don’t Be Prey on IMDb is here.
Mark Sowerby’s Oceans Seven Journey
From his farm in the Gold Coast of Australia, the 52-year-old Sowerby became the 29th person in history to completed the Oceans Seven in June 2024.
- English Channel, August 2015 in 14 hours 24 minutes
- Molokai Channel, April 2022 in 14 hours 23 minutes
- Catalina Channel, October 2022 in 10 hours 43 minutes
- Strait of Gibraltar, April 2023 in 3 hours 24 minutes
- North Channel, September 2023 in 12 hours 12 minutes
- Cook Strait, February 2024 in 8 hours 3 minutes
- Tsugaru Channel, June 2024 in 10 hours 6 minutes
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