"Sounds the alarm about ocean acidification while offering hope for the future." Chuleenan Svetvilas, San Francisco International Film Festival Program

A Sea Change broadens the discussion about the dramatic changes we are seeing in the chemistry of the oceans, and conveys the urgent threat those changes pose to our survival, while surveying the steps we can take to reduce the severity of climate change. The film's protagonist Sven Huseby asks how will he explain to his oldest grandchild, Elias, what is happening to the oceans and their ecosystems.

A Sea Change is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at reality. It offers positive examples of new technologies and effective changes in human behavior that we all must choose before the oceans are lost.

Note on the Short Version: In order to create a version that is more usable in the classroom and for meetings of concerned citizens, most of the scenes in the original version have been edited slightly. In addition two significant scenes have been dropped. They are, first, a scene where Sven investigates the impact of the Exxon Valdez tragedy on the fisheries and the people of the town of Cordova, AK, to illustrate what the loss of fisheries means to a community. The second scene dropped is Maya Lin describing her project Where The Land Meets The Sea for the California Academy of Sciences which is designed to raise awareness of the oceans, that huge portion of the planet which we ignore at our peril.

The original 83-minute version of the film is available here.



Grade Level: 5-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2010     Copyright Date: 2009
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-943-7

Reviews "The feeling that we have stolen something from our children falls heavy on the old, who wonder whether they have done right by themselves, their family, and their society. Sven Huseby feels this deeply as he discovers that his generation has profoundly changed the atmosphere by adding carbon dioxide...Instead of a starring personality who sucks the air from all around him, we see a thoughtful person who thinks and moves carefully, and never makes you feel sorry for him or the planet. When he asks questions, you feel that you want to help him and talk with him...Mr. Huseby wants you to test the roots of your idealism, your resolve, and your hope for the future and its children." Jeffrey Levinton, Director, Marine Biology Web Page; Distinguished Professor, Stony Brook University "Ocean acidification is a significant part of the climate change story. A Sea Change does a unique and excellent job of conveying this complex scientific issue to the public." Dr. Richard W. Spinrad, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research "Using a delightful series of exchanges between a grandfather and his grandson interspersed with beautifully filmed sequences from around the globe, A Sea Change presents in a generally understandable way the process of ocean acidification, some of its potential implications for this and future generations, and several examples of concrete steps that we can take to reduce this and other problems associated with increasing carbon dioxide emissions. It will serve to raise public awareness and facilitate open discussion of this important issue." J. Timothy Wootton, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago "A Sea Change tells a powerfully frightening story of the unprecedented chemical changes currently underway in the world's oceans due to man's dependence on fossil fuels. This documentary conveys the magnitude of what we stand to lose if we continue conducting business as usual, but also provides hope that things can be turned around...if humanity comes to its senses." Dr. John Guinotte, Marine Biogeographer, Marine Conservation Biology Institute "[A] Sea Change highlights how human's addiction to carbon causes the chemical balance in the oceans to collapse...This film is a must in every high school chemistry classroom!" Dr. James M. Cervino, Visiting Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution "Not to be missed...A good amount of scientific data is presented in this film, [and] the narrator is able to convey to the viewer in laymen terms some of the causes of ocean acidification and what could perhaps be done to slow the process. With a whopping 22 million tons of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans each day, a change needs to occur. Watching this film will open your eyes to the enormity of the issues of global warming and ocean acidification. Highly Recommended." Deborah Provenzano, Suffolk County Community College, Educational Media Reviews Online "'I wish I was a fish,' says young Elias when he and his grandfather Sven Huseby visit an aquarium. But as this documentary's subtitle--Imagine a World Without Fish--suggests, being a fish today is not exactly a winning proposition...Highly recommended." Video Librarian "A Sea Change offers a searching, emotionally powerful look at ocean acidification. This problem is sometimes called the 'evil twin' of climate change, and many of us regard it as an existential threat to the future of fishing. The story is full of heart, scientifically accurate, and lyrical. It also offers good reason for hope, which is indispensable in the face of such a huge challenge." Brad Warren, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership "A magnificent synthesis of science and heart." Anne Alexander Rowley, Chair, Oceana's Ocean Council "I completely fell in love with Sven and the extraordinarily bright Elias. The people in the film are very real and approachable and the ocean footage is stunning. Optimistic, with a whole section of solutions at the end. Broad appeal for all ages." Dr. Cat Dorey, Sustainable Seafood Advisor, Greenpeace International "Your wonderful film is still resonating deeply with me...You show us how intimately everything is interconnected by the way you constructed this film. You take us on a journey of passionate inquiry that any of us could take...and should. And then I am left with an urgent and clear understanding of just how delicate and gorgeous the ocean is and how important it is to do everything we can to protect it." Lyedie Geer, Leadership Consultant, Walpole, NH "Immense and profound." Ned Sullivan, President, Scenic Hudson "Could not be more timely. I believe acidification of our oceans is actually a greater threat to our survival than is temperature or sea level rise, the conventional 'global warming' threats. Acidification is confusing and difficult to even imagine for most people--we need your film." Rob Moir, PhD., Executive Director, Ocean River Institute "[The film] is willing to grieve and simultaneously move beyond grief to hope and inspiration...While the captivating images of ocean creatures deepen our attachment to the marine world, and while the sobering science confirms our worst fears, what resonates with the viewer is the humanistic tale of a family keenly concerned about the fate of the world." Amy Seidl, Orion Magazine "The story of a retired educator who becomes interested in, and finally consumed by, the declining state of the world's oceans, the film brings a crucial and little-known issue to the attention of filmgoers. The movie, which takes the audience to some of the globe's most attractive locales, brings to surprisingly absorbing life the subject of ocean acidification...[At] a time when plenty of documentaries want to be the Inconvenient Truth of fill-in-the-issue, A Sea Change brings a genuinely important subject to the fore with a welcome lack of jargon and preaching." Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post "A Sea Change deliberately reaches out to people of all ages and political stripes. Kids will enjoy Elias's viewpoint. Newcomers to the subject will appreciate Sven's Mr. Rogers-like approach to interviews. The film is paced to allow for periodic reflection, and beautifully filmed along the rocky coasts of the Pacific Northwest and Norway, all the way to the Arctic." Barbara Kessler, Green Right Now "This eye-opening film sounds the alarm about ocean acidification while offering hope for the future by highlighting the people working on projects to reduce carbon emissions. Huseby's quest also constitutes a letter to his grandson, conveying his love of the sea and his sincere desire that Elias will inherit a world with oceans teeming with life." Chuleenan Svetvilas, San Francisco International Film Festival Program "Huseby launches an adorable About Schmidt-like road trip to meet the world's leading oceanographers and global warming experts to better understand the magnitude of the problem, and learn how to start curing it. The journey takes the genial narrator, and viewers, as far north as the North Pole and as local as Monterey in search of helpful news. Like An Inconvenient Truth, this film is both a love letter to the planet and an urgent plea to its citizens." Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle "Provides hope for what Huseby calls 'our entrepreneurial opportunity, our chance to explore what's possible'...'We have a 10-15 year window to make some noise,' he said. 'I would love to see the term ocean acidification become part of the political discourse.' And thanks to this film--and Huseby's love of the ocean--it just might." Sarah van Schagen, Grist "Tells the story of Ocean Acidification in a manner that is easily understood and easy to connect to. My children and I watched A Sea Change together. Elias and Sven's comforting presence on the screen guided us through this dark subject. Sven writes letters to Elias, sharing with him in his loving and gentle manner what he has learned from scientists. It is through these letters that connected us to the ocean and made ocean acidification real for us. But the most important piece of the documentary for me was the hope it gave. Sven Huseby and Barbara Ettinger not only presented the problems of ocean acidification, but more importantly they explored the solutions to it. A Sea Change inspires us to change so that we may become a sea of change for the world's oceans." Laura Ballou, DC Examiner "Ocean acidification is such a scary problem that many people would rather not think about it - kind of like climate change. But A Sea Change goes a long way toward making this uncomfortable topic oh-so-human." Erica Gies, Matter Network "Offers information to balance its visual beauties and varieties of love. But the presentation of this information is kept at a layperson level thanks to very vivid real world examples. Dozens of Exxon Valdez-level eco-disasters occurring simultaneously on the world's coastlines proves a very chilling metaphor for ocean acidification's effects." Peter Wong, BeyondChron