Pathway for the Whales
A Documentary Film (in development) about Climate Change Impacts on Humpback Whales in the Pacific.
Climate change is threatening ecosystems vital for the survival of humpback whales.
Every year, they travel an ancient, daunting route over 6,000 kilometers from the frigid Antarctic to the warm, tropical waters of The Kingdom of Tonga where they give birth and prepare their newborns for an epic journey.
Humpback whales require several tons of krill per day to survive, yet krill populations have been in steep decline—reduced by more than 75% in the past 50 years in large part due to climate change.
Krill only survive in a narrow temperature range and warming oceans are threatening this critical species whales and other marine life depend on for survival.
In the last century, human intervention saved humpback whales from extinction when international whaling threatened their existence.
Today humpback whales need our swift action to protect marine ecosystems both they and humans depend upon for survival.
Your support will allow our team of international award-winning media professionals and climate change experts to complete a compelling documentary film telling the heartwarming story of Mother humpback whales who, after giving birth in the protected waters of Tonga, teach vital survival skills to their newborn calves and embark on the epic, ancient journey from Tonga to Antarctica.
Dangers to the newborn and mother are present at every turn: low food stock due to climate change, discarded commercial fishing gear, noise pollution sound waves from massive vessels..
This compelling documentary details cutting-edge efforts to establish a “Pathway for the Whales”—a series of marine protected areas linked from the Antarctic to the birthing waters of Tonga—to provide protection for humpback whales.
We need your support to finish the documentary. Our goal is to raise US $475,000 by April 30, 2025, to provide funding to complete all stages of production and disseminate the video via film festivals, screening events, and international public media.
To date we have filmed spectacular, awe-inspiring, high-quality video footage of mother humpback whales raising their calves in the warm waters of the Kingdom of Tonga, preparing to embark on the perilous journey to Antarctica.
We are now ready to interview experts discussing climate impacts in the Pacific Ocean and climate related threats to humpback whales, and nongovernmental and government officials about the pressing need for additional protections, not only for humpback whales but marine ecosystems at large. We also require additional footage of humpback mothers with their calves and scenes of their habitat.
MEET THE FILMMAKERS
David Sattler Ph.D.
“David Sattler has the eye of an artist and the voice of the poet” —Jane Goodall, Ph.D.,
DBE; Founder, The Jane Goodall Institute & United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Dr. David Sattler is an award-winning photographer and professor at Western Washington University and International Board Member of OHAI Tonga, a non-governmental organization devoted to raising awareness on the impact of climate change for Pacific island nations. Dr. Sattler has extensive experience in the Pacific region and internationally as a climate change scientist and served as a delegate for the Kingdom of Tonga at United Nations Climate Change Conferences and as a Leader with Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.
Dr. Sattler and Rhys Logan collaborate on climate change adaptation projects in Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Mongolia. Funded by the United States Department of State via the U.S. Embassy Fiji and U.S. Embassy New Zealand, they have designed educational programs teaching youth how to create compelling videos about climate change impacts. Dr. Jane Goodall wrote the foreword to Dr. Sattler’s nationally recognized environmental photography book focusing on marine life in the Pacific Ocean.
Rhys Logan
An award-winning photographer/videographer with a decade of media experience working with university communications and as a free-lance journalist. Rhys is involved with OHAI Tonga and international projects documenting the global effects of climate change and has collaborated with Dr. David Sattler on a host of climate change adaptation projects in Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Mongolia. Funded by the United States Department of State via the U.S. Embassy Fiji and U.S. Embassy New Zealand, they have designed educational programs teaching youth how to create compelling videos about climate change impacts.
Rhys served as a delegate for Tonga at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and as a co-instructor at the My Climate Change Story Master Class taught in the Pacific.
This documentary is being produced in collaboration with Uili Lousi and OHAI Tonga, a non-governmental organization devoted to addressing climate change impacts in Tonga and throughout the Pacific.
