5 Incredible Ocean Films that everyone should watch

Here are my top 5 favourite films about the ocean that you can catch on Netflix, which I think everyone should watch at least once in their lives. So, for a few hours each week trade those re-runs of Friends or your daily soap fix for one of my fabulous films that will widen your horizons, and hopefully leave you feeling inspired.

1. My Octopus Teacher

Ever since reading ‘Other Minds’ by Peter Godfrey-Smith, I have been fascinated by octopus’s and their lives, beneath the surface of the ocean. So, when ‘My Octopus Teacher’ was released on Netflix last year, I was definitely eager to watch it.

The film features, Craig Foster a free diver who begins to dive in a kelp forest every day for nearly a year building a relationship and learning about an octopus he discovers in its den. Over the time his dives, he really gets to know the octopus, and the octopus vs versa really begins to trust him completely, even using him as part of her hunting act on a lobster. The octopus really has a huge impact on Fosters life, he speaks about thinking about her constantly and always wanting to be in the water. On one occasion Foster watches on as his octopus friend gets caught out by a pyjama shark and despite hiding in a cave loses a tentacle. The injured Octopus drags itself back to its cavern and Foster returns, again and again to watch its recovery discovering that one a period of around 100 days, the octopus regrows his lost tentacle, it starts off as a very odd small tentacle growing back to a full-size arm.

It is often recognised that octopus are some of the most intelligent creatures on earth, however as with any animal it is hard for us to really understand the way they think and lead their life’s without considering it from a human perspective. This film really captures the ins and outs of the Octopus’s life, giving us a real glimpse it to its daily trials and tribulations. I think its an important film, to inspire people to connect with the ocean. All out lives depend on it no matter how near or far we might live from it.

Perhaps it is thought that it would be hard to grow a connect to such an alien creature so different from our-selves, this film definitely puts this notion to the test! Leaves you feeling hopeful, something everyone needs these days!

2. Chasing Coral

Chasing Coral, depicts the journey a group of scientist and photographers take when they set out to discover why our coral reefs are vanishing from all over the globe at such an unprecedented rate. They make it their mission to record the largest ever coral bleaching event in history, which originally proves much harder that they originally thought.

The film released in 2017, took more than three years to shoot and was the result of over 500 hours of underwater footage. They had volunteers from 30 countries around the world, submit footage of the global bleaching event, catching it from all angles of the world.

Quite a task to say the least!

As impressive as their feat may be the results, are catastrophic. Which is the reason this makes it to my list. I think globally mankind could do with being a bit more grounded in our oceans, exhibiting a little more care when it comes to them. Coral Reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and are fundamental to the survival of life in our oceans. In recent years the rising ocean temperature and acidification of our waters has meant that our reefs haven’t had time to adjust, and in 2020 we saw the third mass bleaching event in 5 years.

What is coral bleaching? Well, we know that it means our bright and colourful reefs turn white, but it’s quite as simple as that. Coral Reefs get their colours from a microscopic alga called zooxanthellae. The zooxanthellae live in a symbiotic relationship with the coral and have done for millions of years. But with rising ocean temperature, the coral begins to become stressed out, and it its stress it rejects the algae, meaning the coral fades to its white skeleton. When water temperatures stay high the coral will not allow for the algae to take up its place again and eventually the coral dies. This is important because our reefs all the round the world are millions of years old and have been quietly growing and evolving throughout our history, sadly once they die, they very rarely come back.

Whether you do or don’t know much about reefs this film is still a must watch, containing some amazing footage of some of our planet’s greatest ocean inhabitants.

3. Blackfish

Blackfish is a feature length film concerning an orca named Tilikum who was captured and made to perform at SeaWorld, also circling the controversy over captive killer whales. The film was released in 2013, and so is not necessarily a new film on the block, however unfortunately SeaWorld still has 20 or so orcas in captivity across its sites, and for me this makes the film still as important today as it was when it was released. Which have either been breed in captivity or were captured at a very young age.

Orcas or as they are also commonly known ‘killer whales’ got their name from ancient mariners, observing their strength and ability to bring down other whales and marine mammals larger than themselves. They have evolved to swim up to 40 miles a day and tend to hunt in pods. They also have an innate drive to dive deep, 100 to 500 feet several times a day, every single day. All of this meaning they are not the least bit ideal to be kept in captivity. While attacks on humans by orcas in the wild are extremely rare, there still has not been any fatalities in this case. On the other hand, to date 4 people have been killed by orcas, in captivity.

Until watching this film, I had not myself fully realised the extent to which and the depth of the problem with Orcas in captivity. I myself have never been and would have never been interested in witnessing these animals perform tricks in cages. Animals that really should be swimming freely in the ocean.

As someone who has scuba-dived alongside white-tip reef sharks and green turtles in Indonesia I cannot even begin to explain the pleasure that is out there from witnessing these creatures swim in the wild ocean. I found Blackfish a truly illuminating film, one of which I think everybody needs to observe. I also think that Blackfish could be an important conversation starter for the topic of captivity and perhaps how we should and shouldn’t conduct our animal sanctuary’s, zoo’s, marine parks, and aquariums.

4. Mission Blue

In Mission Blue which was released in 2014, Dr. Sylvia Earle talks about her love of the ocean, her years of experience as an oceanographer and the thousands of hours she has spent underwater. She considers how the oceanic environment has changed just simply in her own lifetime. Telling us the ocean is now dying, she looks at how 60 years ago nobody thought they could do anything to harm the ocean.

From catastrophic fishing habits, to plastic and rising temperatures, Earle’s dream for the planet she calls her mission blue. The goal, to protect the ocean in the same ways we protect the land. National Parks, Rainforests, grassland, and many other green habitats, have been at the forefront of conservation efforts for many years now. Sylvia Earle wants to create a global network or marine protected areas, in order to save and then in turn restore the ocean to its former glory.

As a pioneering woman in her field, Sylvia has worked tirelessly throughout her career to speak for the ocean and to try and protect it. She was actually among one of the first to use and experience modern SCUBA apparatus and doing so she identified many new species of marine life.

I often find that many of the programmes we watch around climate change can leave us feeling hopeless, as though there’s nothing more to be done to help. This is not yet the case and I feel that documentaries that show people things they haven’t seen before can leave them feeling inspired and ultimately this can have a more positive effect on the whole audience. For me, and essential reason to why this film is on the list! People cannot be implored very easily to help things they do not know exist!

5. Ponyo

Ponyo is a young goldfish type ocean creature with a human looking face, who in meeting a young boy who lives on a cliff by the sea decides she wants to become human. Her father is human who has retreated to live under the sea, doesn’t think this is a good idea and tries to stop her. However, her mother Granmammare, (personified version of the ocean itself) is in favour of the idea and they test the boys love for Ponyo to decide her fate.

In comparison to the other films on my list this one is a light-hearted animation brought by Studio Ghibli, but as they last but not definitely least. Don’t be fooled thinking this is only for young people; this is a film for all ages. Jam packed with everything from a gripping storyline to humour, to nods to real world ocean crisis, all in an easy watching enjoyable package.

The imaginative scenes of underwater life have inspired both my illustration practice and my theoretical research. Which are both submersed in ocean life and how we use anthropomorphised reductions of characters/animals to portray the stories we tell and listen to as humans. Stories which are often about us, but somehow easier to listen or tell when they are portrayed through animal characterisations with humanised emotions. I think Ponyo is great example of this anthropomorphised question I find myself re-asking time and time again. Perhaps something I’ll elaborate on in a future post.

I hope that by sharing why these films are important to me, some of you might be inspired to watch something you wouldn’t usually be drawn in by and if you have any that you’d like to share with me then drop me an email or contact me through social media! I’d love to hear from you!