The film “Sperm Whales of Greece – Life in the Trenches” is an official selection at the 2008 EcoFilms environmental film festival in Rhodos, Greece.

Sperm whales are cosmopolitan animals. They inhabit the blue waters of all of the world’s oceans and are often found in deeper offshore areas around canyons and trenches. They can also be found close to shore around volcanic islands such as the Azores, the Galapagos and the Canary Islands, where steep drop-offs run along the coast.

“Life in the Trenches” is an expedition through the Ionian Sea in search of the little known and endangered Mediterranean Sperm Whale. We join Dr. Alexandros Frantzis of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Greece, onboard the Research Vessel Nereis. In the Ionian Sea, we discover a socializing sperm whale family, and study their behavior as they welcome a newborn calf into the group. However, the future for this calf and its family is uncertain.

The sperm whale is the world’s largest toothed predator. It also has the largest brain, the largest nose, and lives its life among a strongly bonded family group. These factors alone make sperm whales among the most fascinating creatures on Earth, and a species I am captivated by.