“Secret Ocean,” a new IMAX film by the son of famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, premieres Friday at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
Filmed over three years in vibrant marine environments from the Bahamas to Fiji, Jean-Michel Cousteau‘s film looks at a secret world within the ocean from giant creatures to the smallest life forms on which we all depend.
Viewers are introduced to more than 30 species — some no bigger than one inch — and will discover behaviors captured for the very first time thanks to the development of new filming technologies.
“Since the 1940s, the Cousteau family has been deeply connected to the water,” said Jean-Michel Cousteau. “Several generations have grown up with our Calypso adventures, which revealed to the public what was a totally unknown world at that time.
“Thanks to the new technology developed specifically for us, I immediately understood that this was a revolution in underwater filming that would allow us to capture a whole new range of behaviors I had never before witnessed in my 69 years of diving. Secret Ocean takes us one step further in the discovery of the ocean in a way my father, Jacques Cousteau, could have only imagined.”
Among the creatures featured in the film are the giant clam, which can weigh over 400 pounds and live for more than a hundred years, and the octopus, the smartest of the invertebrates. One of the strangest is the basket star. Looking like a tangled weed, it’s a creature of the night that unfurls its arms as much as three feet wide to grab food drifting through the currents for nourishment.
“This is a perfect summer film for San Diego,” said Dr. Steve Snyder, CEO of the Fleet Center. “This film takes us from the beaches we love into rare and wonderful corners of the ocean to discover creatures that are rarely seen. The film reinforces that each creature, big and small, is important to the food chain and the health of the entire ocean.”
The 40-minute, family-friendly film is narrated by acclaimed oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle. Schedules and tickets are available online.
