Sonic Sea - SF International Ocean Film Festival Environmental Awardee Movie

The 60-minute film tells the story of how sound in the ocean (often coming from naval sonar and from commercial ships) is impacting whales and other marine life. Whales depend on sound to mate, to find food, to raise their young, and to defend themselves from predators. Increasing ocean noise is threatening these daily tasks of survival. The ocean has quite literally been transformed by human-made sound in the last century--and the film shows us how. The film features oceans protection luminaries including Sylvia Earle and Jean-Michel Cousteau; experts on ocean noise (such as Chris Clark of Cornell, Leila Hatch of NOAA, and Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research); and the performer and activist Sting, who speaks as a musician to the importance of sound. The film is co-produced by NRDC and Imaginary Forces, in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Diamond Docs. It was written by Mark Monroe (“The Cove,” “Racing Extinction”) and has a haunting score, by Grammy award-winning film composer Heitor Pereira (“Minions,” “It’s Complicated”), and a powerful soundtrack representing both ocean noise and the sounds of the sea. In the darkness of the sea, whales depend on sound to mate, find food, migrate, raise their young, and defend against predators. Over the last century, however, human activity has transformed the ocean’s delicate acoustic habitat, challenging the ability of whales and other marine life to prosper, and ultimately to survive. SONIC SEA offers solutions and hope for a quieter ocean, and underscores that the ocean’s destiny is inextricably bound with our own. The film is narrated by Rachel McAdams and features the musician Sting, in addition to the renowned ocean experts Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Paul Spong, Dr. Christopher Clark, and Jean-Michel Cousteau.

2016 American Cetacean Society Presentations
$5 Donation goes toward Student Research Grants