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Friday, March 12, 2010
Bounty of the Sea
By Aurelio Sanchez
Journal Staff Writer
Eat or be eaten — nature's stark reality is presented in "Wild Ocean," a stunning nature documentary about a remote South African marine wildlife preserve relatively untouched by man.
The 40-minute IMAX giant-screen film depicting an epic struggle for survival also is a powerful reminder that you don't know what you've got until you lose it.
The film in breathtaking large-screen detail describes an annual spectacle created by giant schools of sardines pushed by cold water up the African eastern coast, then pushed by warm water toward the shore.
Responding to the annual migratory cornucopia, huge numbers of predators wait with the ocean's equivalent of fork, napkin and plate in the coastal waters of the KwaZulu Natal Wild Coast.
Billions of sardines swimming in giant bait balls in an attempt to confuse predators are swarmed upon by frenzied sharks, dive-bombing gannets or large sea birds, torpedo-fast dolphins, breaching whales and bullet-speeding seals, all diving into the fray.
The underwater spectacle demonstrates an amazing singleness of purpose, the predators ignoring one another as they partake of the sardine smorgasbord.
"Wild Ocean," which premiered in 2008 at the Giant Screen Cinema Association's Film Expo in London, will begin an extended run Saturday, March 13, at the Lockheed Martin DynaTheater inside the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
Filmed off the Wild Coast of South Africa and set to rhythmic South African music, the movie touts the marine wildlife area as a place where man can view what oceans once were like, and what they can be again.
Spellbinding aerial photography captures scenic, forbidding coastal cliffs, vast sweeping African plains and giant free-falling waterfalls. Beneath the ocean's surface, the scenes are even more amazing, fish and predator alike swimming among epic underwater sculptures and seascapes.
"What will it take to bring the world's oceans back to life?" narrator and native South African John Kani asks near the end of the film.
One thing, the film suggests, is for the world to follow South Africa's lead by creating more marine preserves like the Wild Coast.
Man's voracious mass fishing combined with global warming have decimated fish stocks around the world, the film says. But there's still hope, it adds, as shown where Africa meets the sea.
" 'Wild Ocean' is a timely and uplifting film that celebrates the life in our oceans, the animals that now depend on us to survive," a release said.
Interwoven throughout the film are fascinating glimpses into the local culture, Zulu women collecting shells from tide pools or dancing in a generations-old ritual celebrating and blessing the ocean's bounty, alongside Zulu fisherman with nets and poles, waiting to collect their portion of the annual feast.
"Wild Ocean"
WHEN: Begins an extended showing Saturday, March 13. Call Lockheed Martin DynaTheater at 841-2800 for showtimes
WHERE: Lockheed Martin DynaTheater inside New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain NW
HOW MUCH: Tickets are $7 adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for children 3-12. Ticket sales close 10 minutes before showtime. No late seating
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