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Author(s): Bertrand Loyer

Director(s): Bertrand Loyer

Year: 2005

Producer(s): Saint Thomas Productions, Canal +, Discovery, NDR/ Studio Hamburg

Running time: 52 mn

Format: Digital Beta, Super 16 mm

Distributor(s): Off The Fence, Village Distribution (French-speaking countries, DVD-VOD worldwide)

Awards:
FILMAR, International See and Environment Film Festival
Hendaye, France - 2009
Best Award

International Wildlife Film Festival
Missoula, Montana - USA
Merit Award for Underwater Photography

World Underwater Film Festival
Antibes, France - 2006
Wildlife Film Award

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Around the Crozet Islands, here is the incredible odyssey of a family of Sperm Whales facing rapid changes in their environment.

From the stormy surface to the eternal darkness of the abyss, several generations of these deep-sea divers encounter men and their “toys”: harpoons of yesterday, and fishing lines of today. Once victim of whale hunting, now accused of stealing fish, a sperm whale shares its private life with us. And what an immersion! We discover in turn its mysterious sonar, its competitors like orcas, and also the strange world of its neighbours—the deep-sea monsters. Amongst them, a revelation: the biggest squid ever filmed in its natural environment, almost 15 feet long. Come and discover the depths of the Crozet abyss…


This true tale of survival is shot in a rarely seen and utterly hostile corner of the Earth, the offshore waters of the Crozet islands. It took more than 7 years to gain the trust of local authorities and fishermen to film this incredible concentration of giants of the open ocean. Thanks to international scientific collaboration, the production team managed to deploy Remote Operated Vehicles in the abyss and design cameras adapted to the extreme filming conditions of the Southern seas.