Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
The Living Sea celebrates the beauty and power of the ocean as it explores our relationship with this complex and fragile environment. Using beautiful images of unspoiled healthy waters, The Living Sea offers hope for recovery engendered by productive scientific efforts. Oceanographers studying humpback whales, jellyfish, and deep-sea life show us that the more we understand the ocean and its inhabitants, the more we will know how to protect them. The film also highlights the Central Pacific islands of Palau, one of the most spectacular underwater habitats in the world, to show the beauty and potential of a healthy ocean.
Produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films in association with Nauticus: the National Maritime Center, The Ocean Film Network, White Oak Associates, Inc.
Narrated by Meryl Streep
Featuring songs and music by Sting
Runtime: 39 minutes
Format: filmed in 15 perforation/70 mm
For Educators
Download the Educator Guide that includes six hands-on activities with modifications for preschool to eight grade that teach ocean literacy principles while covering biology and ecology science standards.
Explore the Virtual Field Trip package.
Stream educational screenings through Kanopy
Where to Watch
Stream the full film on Movies For Families
Buy the The Living Sea Blu-ray & DVD from Amazon
Listen to the The Living Sea CD Featuring the music of Sting, on A&M Records
Honors and Reviews
“No movie released this year is likely to contain more spectacular or astonishing images than The Living Sea…a truly ravishing experience …like the best documentaries, it’s a potent plea for preserving the environment.”
– Chicago Tribune
“…a mesmerizing dip into the lower depths of marine life. Captivatingly shot with all the towering power of the IMAX process…educational and entertaining.”
– Hollywood Reporter
“…a glowing gem reminding us of the crucial role of ongoing ocean research and conservation in the life of the planet.”
– Los Angeles Times
- Inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame – Voted in by members of the Giant Screen Cinema Association, September 2007
- Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject, 1995
- Gold Award – Worldfest – Houston International Independent Film & Video Festival
- Gold Camera Award, nominated for Best of Festival – U.S. International Film & Video Festival
- Certificate of Merit – The Chicago International Film Festival
- The highest grossing documentary film (of any format – 15/70 or 35mm) of 1995 and 1996
Seeing is believing.
Would you like to schedule a viewing of one of our films?
We can help with that.
