A Sea Change

Menunkatuck Audubon Society and Audubon Connecticut sponsor the film, A Sea Change.

Imagine a world without fish. A powerful new documentary on climate change and the oceans proposes just that.  A Sea Change is the first documentary about ocean acidification, the underbelly of climate change, a little-known but potentially devastating threat to ocean life. 

A Sea Change follows the journey of retired history teacher Sven Huseby on his quest to discover what is happening to the world’s oceans. After reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s article “The Darkening Sea” in The New Yorker, Sven becomes obsessed with the rising acidity of the oceans and what this “sea change” bodes for mankind. His quest takes him to Alaska, California, Washington, and Norway as he uncovers a worldwide crisis that most people are unaware of. Speaking with oceanographers, marine biologists, climatologists, artists and policy experts, Sven discovers that global warming is only half the story of the environmental catastrophe that awaits us. Excess carbon dioxide is dissolving in our oceans, changing seawater chemistry. The increasing acidity of the water makes it difficult for tiny creatures at the bottom of the food web – such as the pteropods in the films – to form their shells. The effects could work their way up to the fish one billion people depend upon for their source of protein.

A Sea Change is also a touching portrait of Sven’s relationship with his grandchild Elias. As Sven keeps a correspondence with the little boy, he mulls over the world that he is leaving for future generations. A disturbing and essential companion piece to An Inconvenient Truth, A Sea Change brings home the indisputable fact that our lifestyle is changing the earth, despite our rhetoric or wishful thinking.

A Sea Change is the first documentary about ocean acidification, directed by Barbara Ettinger and co-produced by Sven Huseby of Niijii Films. While emphasizing new scientific information, the feature-length film is also a beautiful paean to the ocean world and an intimate story of a Norwegian-American family whose heritage is bound up with the sea.

Menunkatuck Audubon Society is the local chapter of the National Audubon Society. Audubon Connecticut is the state office of the National Audubon Society.