When in peril on the sea, nobody is in any mood to be taking pictures, and certainly not movies. It would take hours, maybe days or weeks, to film even a few minutes of real panic on the water. And there’s always the personnel and paraphernalia involved.

This is why “Jaws” was such a great film. Maybe the mechanical shark was hokey, but the editing and cinematography really captured exactly what it is like to be in a small boat in trouble. Even the most experienced hands are right on the edge of panic. It takes extreme mental and physical discipline to accomplish even the most routine tasks.

PS. The first (and only) time I went on an extended solo sailing trip was on a long Thanksgiving weekend . My girlfriend was supposed to go camping with me on the island, but we had a big fight and I decided to go by myself. On the way to my house to get the boat, I stopped at the Mall and watched “Jaws”, it had just come out and I caught the first showing, at noon. That was not a good idea.

Although the sail was uneventful, even routine, I really can’t say I had a good time. And I certainly didn’t feel like taking any pictures.

It’s hard to overlook the fact that the terrified guy in mortal danger, from the environment or some disaster, is being calmly filmed by somebody right next to him.

On “Deadliest Catch,” the crab-fishing reality show, they devoted a special episode to this normally-unsung film team which had to deal with all the same dangers as the fishermen.

There are some exceptions: I’ve seen films where the guy is actually alone, and photographing or filming himself. At least one “lone sailor” record-seeker did this, but I don’t remember exactly who any more.

I know nothing about SCUBA diving, but that equipment they are wearing looks expensive.

I’m trying to figure out why they went through that hole to get there when their destination seems to have a large opening to daylight right above them. In fact, they seemed to leave by that way.