Director's vision

Last night, the three of us were cuddled in bed watching a National Geographic special on the problems (and pain) that whales, dolphins and porpoises are suffering as a result of man-made ocean noise—particularly the navy's sonic exercises. It was full of incredible footage, of course—National Geographic does it up right—from research projects the world over, telling the stories of passionate marine biologists engaged in the fight to save hosts of aquatic animals who are having a tough time making it clear to us humans that their brains are bleeding.

In one especially moving scene, a scientist and his team move frantically along a beach attempting to rescue 17 stranded __ whales, who had thrown themselves onto the sand in an effort to get their heads out of the water as a Navy destroyer on exercises moved through the bay. Two of the whales couldn't be saved. In the name of science, the team cut their heads off to send to the lab—and later tests would show intercranial bleeding near the ears. Sad.

And gruesome. The filmmakers didn't pull punches here. A close-up sequence shows the decapitation and the copious blood flowing into the bay. Sam had been chock full of questions about the program to this point: who was doing what and where and why and how and how long ago, etc. At this point, however, he dropped his "Sid the Science Kid" type queries and put on his film director's hat. "Oh, ewww! Oh, that's yucky! Man. That totally should have been an outtake."

Ya, I was thinking, "yeesh, I didn't need to see that." But director Sam zeroed right in on the editing team: in his vision, that clip should have hit the cutting room floor. Everyone's a critic maybe. But Sam's a movie maker.