Documentary Review: Mission Blue

Earlier this year, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums held its Midyear Meeting in Long Beach, California.  The guest of honor and keynote speaker was Dr. Sylvia Earle, the former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (and the first woman to hold that role) and generally one of the most respected marine biologists in the world.  Marine conservation is a topic I know very little about compared to my aquarium colleagues and I wanted to learn more about Dr. Earle before hearing her speak.  Someone recommended that I should check out the documentary Mission Blue - and I'm glad they did.

Mission Blue follows the career of Dr. Earle as she broke barriers to enter, and in many ways lead, the field of marine biology, from a curious schoolgirl poking around in tidal pools to the leader of expeditions that sent months at sea, trying to further our understanding of marine life.  Earle's accomplishments are very impressive, all the more so because she had to achieve them in the face of the crushing sexism that to this day plays a role in the scientific community.  Newspaper headlines about her groundbreaking research expeditions were mostly various plays of "Beautiful Lady Scientists Gets On Boat With A Hundred Men," or things like that (this was the 60s and 70s, mind you).  Sometimes, the sexism took a harder, more personal edge, such as when Earle's husband and colleague, apparently feeling inadequate that her career was eclipsing his own, just ghosted on her when they were supposed to go on an expedition together, opting to run away instead.  Watching, I was wondering, did Jacques Cousteau ever have to put up with nonsense like this? 

The story may be framed around Earle, but she uses the program as a microphone to talk about her chief concern - the decline of marine habitats.  She focuses on the major problems of overfishing, pollution, and climate change.  Having been active in the field for so long, Dr. Earle has been able to personally witness the degradation of many habitats that had previously been considered pristine, now depleted of life due to overharvesting and warming waters.  Her career really sums up our recent history with the sea.  A few decades ago, we knew very little about it below the surface, but considered it inexhaustible and untouchable.  Now, we've gained a little bit of knowledge - just enough, really, to prove that everything we thought before was wrong, and that the oceans, far from being inviolate, are in serious trouble.

As is often the case with marine documentaries, there is some beautiful scenery and depictions of wildlife - the opening footage of whale sharks is particularly nice - but it lacks the grandeur and majesty of BBC's Blue Planet.  This is a much simpler, more modest production, which has the advantage of making it more candid.  If there was one thing I could have done with less of, it's director Fisher Stevens, who, as is often the case with documentarians, has a tendency to try to make himself the star of the show, inserting himself unnecessarily when the focus should be on the much more interesting Dr. Earle.  

Mission Blue draws its name from Dr. Earle's nonprofit, commuted to oceanic conservation.  It also serves as a call to arms about the importance of saving our planet's largest and least understood ecosystem, one which we are only beginning to realize how much we all rely upon.