Expedition into the abyss

Expedition into the abyss is a scientific adventure which takes us to California on board a research boat equipped with the latest technology, the Western Flyer, to discover the mysterious destiny awaiting whale corpses 2,000 meters underwater.

The expedition leader, Craig Smith, a researcher at the University of Hawaii, speculated more than 20 years ago that the corpses of enormous marine mammals would disrupt the balance of the deepwater plain, usually deprived of food. His discoveries confirmed his conjectures and led him even further, to explore the mystery of deepwater inhabitants.

This film presents us with exceptional footage never seen before, filmed two kilometers underwater. We follow a man like no other, founder of a new discipline in modern oceanography: the ecology of whales corpses.

Selected at Pariscience 2005