This is probably the first documentary made on life that makes its home under the water. Today, it doesn't really look like much, but for its time, there were really no other resources for learning more about undersea animals, other than going to the sea yourself or having a book. The film shows a number of extremely beautiful wonders that exist beneath our oceans, but few people have had the pleasure of seeing, such as tremendously tall growths of seaweed that can be over 100 feet in length, resembling a submerged jungle, coral reefs, and sea anemones. The film doesn't just focus on underwater things though. There's also a segment that shows how turtles hatch on land, then attempt to make a dash for the shoreline on the beach. Sadly, many of them die and are eaten by birds in the process. Also shown are seals and gannet birds. The reason why I say it's a little disturbing is because of how the interactions between the divers and some of the animals go in the movie. In particular, there's one moment when someone grabs a small shark and cuts open its midsection with a knife in only a matter of seconds, leaving it to die of blood loss. Even one of the posters I saw for the movie depicts this. Nowadays, this type of behavior would be unacceptable and divers would only take the animal's life as a last resort if it was threatening to attack a diver. Other than that, it's pretty good. If looking at the vibrant and stunning life of the ocean interests you, try to find a copy of this. The ocean is so huge and vast there are things in it we still don't know about.
Review of The Sea Around Us
