Simon Dubois

Ocean Souls Films and Wildlife Media unite 100+ filmmakers, scientists, and leading experts to shine a bright, new spotlight on humanity’s closest living relatives - cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). New footage and scientific discoveries reveal the extraordinary world beneath the ocean’s surface, where these majestic beings exhibit characteristics not unlike ours in terms of emotions, language, family, intelligence, and human interaction. Directed by Philip Hamilton, this multi-award-winning film inspires people to care and want to protect the oceans.

160 km southwest of Reunion Island, just a few dozen metres beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean, lies the peak of an underwater volcanic structure known as Mont La Pérouse. The base of this enigmatic geological formation lies 5000 meters below sea level, with a size comparable to that of Mont Blanc. Permanent currents and strong winds characterise this site in the open seas, culminating in complex diving conditions under which Laurent Ballesta, together with his Gombessa diving team and local researchers had to navigate in order to conduct the study in depth. Further techniques such as observation and photographic inventory, biological and geological sampling, and the use of cameras and sonars were employed in this challenging expedition.

Imagine diving into the ocean only to discover that you are surrounded by one of the largest shark frenzies on the planet. Well, that is exactly what these researchers did in the name of science. In Polynesia, the largest school of sharks — about 700 — patrols the waters en masse. Follow an international team of scientists as they study these magnificent creatures at night, when they are most aggressive, to discover their mysterious hunting strategies and social behaviours. The result: incredible new behaviours never seen before, or caught on camera.

In French Polynesia, there is a place where every year, thousands of groupers gather in secret followed by hundreds of sharks… The photographer, diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta, with his team, wanted to better understand what motivates these fish to wait until the exact day of the full moon to spawn all at once! With the help of researchers from the CNRS of Moorea, they dived and conducted numerous experiments to study and witness this unique phenomenon. Taking advantage of this period of incredible richness, Laurent Ballesta did a record dive of 24 hours at over 20 meters.

120 metres down off the wild coast of South Africa lives an animal once thought to have been extinct for 65 million years - the coelacanth, locally known as Gombessa. A dinosaur fish, a living fossil, that remains the only link connecting fish to terrestrial tetrapods: its fins contain the beginning of reptile and mammal leg bones! And what about the vestigial lung found at the back of its huge mouth?… A team of underwater explorers will film these legendary fish like never before.