For five years, filmmaker Dean Spraakman pursued something no one had ever captured on camera. What began as a chance discovery at a familiar dive site became an obsession that would test his patience, dedication, and commitment in ways he never anticipated.
“My best moment shooting this film was when…” Spraakman pauses, careful not to give too much away. Let’s just say that five years of waiting culminated in a single moment that made it all worthwhile—a world first that scientists and filmmakers have been trying to document for decades.
The journey began when Spraakman found a male leafy sea dragon carrying a batch of eggs so fresh they must have been transferred within the previous day. For a species shrouded in mystery, with behaviours still largely unknown to science, it was an opportunity too significant to pass up.
“This sparked a lot of interest from me as there was and still is a lot of unknowns about these animals and their behaviours,” Spraakman explains. “At this point I decided to commit to studying them and filming them to see what I could discover.”
What followed would demand everything he had.
The Challenge of Chasing Phantoms
Leafy sea dragons are masters of disguise. Their elaborate leaf-like appendages make them nearly invisible amongst kelp and seaweed, and their shy nature means they’re rarely found reliably in the same location. For a filmmaker trying to document intimate behaviours over an extended period, this presented an immense challenge.
“I spent many, many hours underwater with the particular couple featured in my film, monitoring their behaviours and trying to understand them better,” Spraakman says. “This was over a 4-5 year period which had some very challenging moments testing my dedication to capturing something never before seen.”
The reality of wildlife filmmaking is that nature follows no script, no schedule, no human expectations. “Numerous times I would put in huge time, effort and resources only to be left disappointed as the animals do not follow any agenda or expectations.”
But Spraakman persisted. Living in Adelaide, South Australia—home to these extraordinary creatures—he returned again and again to the same dive site, slowly building an understanding of the individual dragons he was following. That dedication, that willingness to invest years in studying a single animal and its life cycle, is what ultimately allowed him to witness and film moments no one had captured before.
The Reality Behind the Film
Dragon’s Dance represents not just five years of filming, but the careful balance of passion and practicality. With a young family and two businesses to run, Spraakman faced difficult decisions about how much more time he could dedicate to the project.
“Along this journey I had hoped to be able to make it into a film, but was still missing a lot of the pieces to make it as good as I would have hoped,” he admits. “But with a young family and 2 businesses to run, I made the decision to make the film with what I had, and A Dragon’s Dance is the end result.”
That honesty speaks to the reality many wildlife filmmakers face: the tension between the perfect film imagined and the film that’s actually possible within the constraints of life, time, and resources. What Spraakman has created is a rare glimpse into the life cycle of one of the ocean’s most enigmatic creatures—including footage that reveals behaviours previously unknown to science.
A Species Under Threat
Beyond documenting these ethereal creatures, Dragon’s Dance carries an urgent message. Leafy sea dragon populations are declining, pressured from multiple directions.
“Leafy sea dragon populations continue to decline due to the increase in winter storms driven by climate change, along with the current algal bloom in South Australia and black market poaching for the aquarium trade,” Spraakman explains. “Leafy sea dragons have never been more at threat.”
This film represents more than years of dedication to capturing beautiful imagery. It’s a document of creatures increasingly at risk, a record of behaviours we’re only beginning to understand, and a call to protect what remains.
“This film hopes to play a small part in raising awareness and protection for these beautiful, delicate animals,” Spraakman says.
In South Australian waters, amongst the swaying kelp forests where leafy sea dragons drift like living art, one filmmaker spent five years waiting. What he witnessed in those depths—what he managed to capture on camera—will change how we understand these ancient creatures.
Join us at the Ocean Film Festival this March! Tickets now on sale at OceanFilmFestivalAustralia.com.au
All images are stills taken from the film, all credit to the filmmaker Dean Spraakman
