“The greatest vertical migration on the planet takes place in the deep ocean. It happens 24/7, every day, every night offshore in the open ocean. Billions of animals come to the surface and at dawn go back deep again,” says Rick Rosenthal.
Few people have witnessed this remarkable phenomenon. Rosenthal, an acclaimed wildlife cameraman and marine biologist, made it his quest to reveal this hidden world. His resulting film The Dark Side of the Ocean, still on the festival circuit and not yet available in wide release in the United States, screens at the Santa Barbara Film Festival February 10 and 11.
The Dark Side of the Ocean – Trailer
“The creatures of the deep follow the light. They can’t be seen during the day,” Rosenthal points out. The elusive nature of this natural wonder presents an interesting conundrum, one that has kept this great migration shrouded in mystery. It’s difficult to see in the dark.
Rosenthal says newer, light sensitive cameras and the advent of LED lighting made it possible, but first his crew had to discover the biological hotspots where it naturally occurs.
They’d motor 20 miles offshore of Hawaii, Panama or Costa Rica in search of activity such as pilot whales feeding on squid or flotsam attracting baitfish or other small sea creatures. Then Rosenthal’s crew would shut down and prepare for a night dive.
“If I felt there was a lot of activity and I didn’t to disturb it I’d use my inflatable Hobie® MirageDrive kayak. It is very stable and quiet. We’d hang out and let the animals come to us,” he says.
Rosenthal’s cameras captured many odd and unusual creatures previously only seen via the distant video feeds of submarine remote unmanned vehicles. Some were unknown to science. Accomplishing this quest required something unimaginable to 99 percent of people on the planet. Diving in the ocean at night, floating over thousands of feet of water, in a tiny sphere of light, with vast unseen mysteries beyond. -Paul Lebowitz
