Locals call it the ‘arribada,’ or ‘arrival.’ Every year, this spectacular event takes place on the Costa Rican coast: sea turtles come ashore in the tens of thousands, to lay millions of eggs. In Turtle Beach, naturalist and cameraman Hugo Kitching follows a team of international scientists on a groundbreaking expedition to uncover the mysteries of this rare phenomenon.
The star of the ‘arribada’ is the olive ridley sea turtle, the most abundant and least studied of the world’s seven sea turtle species. They are considered an endangered or vulnerable species in most places they are found. To learn more about this elusive creature, the scientists turn to new technologies which will allow them a close-up look at sea turtle behaviour.
New discoveries abound as the team investigates the nesting turtles. Biologist Vanessa Bézy uses clever camera technology, such as drones and discreet GoPros, to spy on adult turtles at sea. Meanwhile, scientist Lindsay McKenna uses audio recording equipment to eavesdrop on the nests, disproving the assumption that because sea turtles have no vocal cords, they don’t communicate with one another.
In a scientific first, Dr. Roldán Valverde of the Sea Turtle Conservancy takes us into the previously hidden world of a turtle nest through the use of infrared cameras. This unprecedented access allows us to follow the hatchlings on the journey from the embryonic stage to their emergence aboveground, revealing the incredible feats they must undergo in order to take their first step out into the world.
Turtle Beach uncovers the many ways that sea turtles must beat the odds to continue the cycle of life.
Overview
- Narrator: John Ralston (Canada)
- Genre: Documentary
- Running Time: 90 min (BBC); 100 min (ARTE); 44 min (CBC); 52 min (Blue Ant Media)
- Writer:
- Director: Hayley Smith (UK), Caroline Underwood (Canada)
- Producer: Merit Jensen Carr, Jo Young
- Original Music by: Shawn Pierce
- Format:
- Language: English
- Subtitles: Yes
HUGO KITCHING | HOST
Hugo Kitching is a Canadian wildlife cinematographer specializing in Canadian natural history, based on the edge of a vast wilderness park in northern Ontario.
An award winning wildlife cinematographer, presenter, and producer with over 10 years of independent professional experience, Hugo has travelled across North America filming for BBC, NatGeo, PBS, CBC (Canada), Arte, and NHK (Japan).
Hugo loves filming stories of changing landscapes and rare animal behaviours; his favourite subjects include moose, bears, wolves, lynx, coyotes, beavers, otters, the wealth of bird species found in Canada’s near north, and most especially the unique beauty of the four seasons in Algonquin Park.
Production Team
Hayley Smith | Director (UK), Creative Producer
Caroline Underwood | Director (Canada)
Caroline Underwood is an independent Executive Producer and Wildlife Film Consultant. For more than three decades, she has produced, directed and written for Canadian television, including award-winning documentary series and international co-productions. From 2008-2015 she was Senior Producer/Commissioning Editor for The Nature of Things, the CBC’s flagship science series. She has worked in many remote locations, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, to reveal the beauty, complexity and the threats facing some of the planet’s last great wildernesses and their inhabitants.
Erna Buffie
Erna Buffie's science and nature films have shown around the world and won awards at festivals from California to Toronto. For the past 20 years she has written, directed and produced shows for CBC's The Nature of Things as well as PBS, Nat Geo and a host of other broadcasters. In addition to writing and directing, Erna is a creative producer, known for her skills in story editing, story structure and pitching. In September 2015 she published her first novel "Let Us be True," which was nominated for the Margaret Laurence Fiction Prize.
Merit Jensen Carr
For over 30 years, Merit Motion Pictures (MMP) has worked with Canada’s foremost writers and directors to produce award-winning documentary films and series. During this time, MMP has partnered with BBC, ARTE, ZDF, France TV, Vulcan, CBC, Smithsonian Channel, National Geographic Channel and many others. MMP is a frequent partner for international science and nature co-productions and is fortunate to have access to the highest and most flexible tax credits in Canada. Executive producer and founder, Merit Jensen Carr, is passionate about telling stories which reflect humanity’s relationship with the natural world and has received some of the industry’s top honours including the inaugural HOT DOCS Don Haig Award for Special Achievement in Producing. Recent highlights include the MMP & CAPA/Films A Cinq science and nature co-production, Reef Rescue (ARTE, CBC, NOVA, VULCAN) winner of Best Conservation Film Long Form at the Jackson Wild Media Awards 2020. Merit is currently producing the 2 x 1hr natural history series Kingdom of the Polar Bears (National Geographic Channels, France 3, CBC, Terra Mater, Canal D); Great Lakes (Smithsonian, TVO, Terra Mater); Everest Dark (CBC documentary Channel) and season 4 of Dr. Keri: Prairie Vet (Animal Planet). Other highlights include the Canadian Screen Award-winning films What Plants Talk About (CBC/PBS Nature), Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees nominated at Pariscience and the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Science and Nature Film, Turtle Beach (BBC, ARTE, Blue Ant, CBC) and Polar Bear Town (Smithsonian Channel US, OLN).
Jo Young
Awards & Nominations
- Nominee, Science or Nature Program or Series (Rob Stewart Award), Canadian Screen Awards, 2020
- Nominee, Direction, Documentary Program - Caroline Underwood, Canadian Screen Awards, 2020
- Official Selection, Pariscience Science Film Festival, 2020
- Nominee, Best Natural History Documentary, Grierson Awards, 2019
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ophélie Petit | Email: ophelie@meritmotionpictures.com | Tel: +1 (204) 775-4092