Dive with cachalots

Directed by

Volker Barth

Written by

Volker Barth

Produced by

ZDF

Documentary, Germany, 2008, 43 min

Few animals caught as much mythical attention as the sperm whale. Yet astoundingly little is known about these creatures with the largest brain, as they spend 60% of their life deeper than 500 meters. No human diver could follow so far their hunt within crushing pressures at depth. No one has seen how they catch their prey, nor whether they hunt together or alone. Traces of their hunt have been found at -2,000m. He is the deepest diver of all whales.

Now with new technologies leading marine biologists not only manage to follow their dive, but start to understand how they use sound during their deep hunt and how they spot fleeing prey just by listening to faint echoes of the deep sea canyons.

Debate with :

• Volker Barth, director
• Christian De Muizon, head of Earth History Department - Muséum nationale d'Histoire naturelle in Paris
• Olivier Adam, bioacoustician specialist of the Cetacea