Join us at the Georgia Aquarium each Sunday from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. for BLUE: On Tour, a Global Oceans Film and Conservation Event. Each Sunday, we will present a film from the BLUE Ocean Film Festival each hour beginning at 11 a.m., with the last showing beginning at 3 p.m. The event is free to Aquarium guests and will be held in the Aquarium's Oceans Ballroom. BLUE: On Tour concludes at Georgia Aquarium on Dec. 27, 2009.

BLUE: On Tour is part of BLUE Ocean Film Festival, a global film festival and conservation summit for underwater filmmakers and marine researchers. The goal of BLUE Ocean Film Festival is to share at all levels, the latest insights on what is happening in our oceans, and to provide tangible ways people can make a difference.

BLUE: On Tour Schedule

Oct. 18: Giant Mantas of San Benedicto – Tom Campbell’s Productions
Circling remote seamounts that rise from the depths of the Pacific Ocean over 200 miles off the coast of Mexico, giant manta rays glide through deep blue waters. These pelagic creatures glide in from parts unknown, their travels a mystery. But here, at the Revillagigedos Archipelago, the gentle giants gather to feed on plankton. Giant Mantas of San Benedicto follows Drs. Robert Rubin and Gavin Chilcott as they seek to unlock the mysteries of mantas. (27 minutes)

Oct. 25: Secrets of the Sevengill – Michael Mauntler
Secrets of the Sevengill explores the mysterious lives of sevengill sharks found to inhabit the Otago Harbour in the heart of the small New Zealand city of Dunedin. Surprisingly little is known about these large, predatory sharks and never before has a film been made that attempts to better understand the lives of these animals and captures the unique behaviors they exhibit. (24 minutes)

Nov. 1: Icy Killers – Off the Fence / Evergreen Films
Once a year, one of nature’s great spectacles takes place on the northernmost coast of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a predestined collision of two massive migrations when thousands of ravenous salmon sharks gather to attack millions of Pacific salmon. The salmon are desperately trying to reach their spawning grounds in Prince William Sound. The sharks are there to gorge themselves. Of the nearly 500 known sharks in the world, this is the only large, agile shark equipped to ply these icy waters. (50 minutes)

Nov. 8: Shark Nicole
All the Earth’s oceans are home to great white sharks yet for years the movements of these intriguing animals remained an enigma. Keen to learn more about these magnificent creatures, a research team put a satellite tag on a female shark they named “Nicole.” This single great white will take them on an incredible journey across an ocean seething with threats to her survival. Drawn by natural instincts, Nicole will determinedly navigate icy waters, dive to unfathomable depths, battle hunger and fatigues and outsmart some of the Indian Ocean’s most lethal inhabitants including the greatest threat to her survival – people.

Nov. 15, 22 & 29: Ocean Invaders- SCAD / Anthony Dergham
A unique and distinctive creature, the lionfish is certainly a beauty to behold. Through attention catching and interesting, it is best to observe the fish from a distance. Its venomous spines are used purely for defense, yet can be very painful for humans. Having little to no natural predators, the population of the lionfish is projected to increase. How will this affect the native fish population of the Atlantic and Caribbean? And what are scientists doing to research into this aquatic issue?

Dec. 6: Requim – Living Ocean Productions
Reckless killer? Senseless carnage? Terror and dread? Not hardly. Requiem documents the true nature and purpose of one of the most misunderstood predators on our planet – the shark. Follow the discovery of an underwater photographer from Hawaii as she becomes familiar with the extraordinary beauty, power and skills of the most infamous classification of sharks – the Requiem Family.

Dec. 13: The Great Tide – BBC Natural History Unit
A mighty army of dolphins, sharks, whales, seals and gannets hunt down the billions of sardines along South Africa’s coast each winter. This is the sardine run: an underwater Armageddon, the greatest gathering of predators anywhere on the planet, and the most spectacular event in the world’s oceans. (60 minutes)

Dec. 20: Whale Patrol – Sea Dog TV International
Whale Patrol follows the remarkable and perilous journey of humpback whales as they migrate to waters off the west coast of Australia. It’s a journey whales have been making for thousands of years, and it’s fraught with danger. While the encroaching winter storms can wreak havoc of their own, the whales’ greatest threat is a potentially fatal obstacle course of nets, buoys and ropes. Entanglement can mean a slow and painful death for a humpback whale, but thankfully, an elite team of wildlife officers lead by whale research veteran Doug Coughran are on the alert. (52 minutes)

Dec. 27: Secret Shark Pits
In the waters that surround the volcanic island of Mauritius lie hidden worlds infested with sharks. No one knows why these pits attract so many sharks. What is known is that the sharks keep coming to these areas, and the behavior they display there is not always typical of sharks. What is it about these pits that alter the sharks’ behavior so noticeably? To find the answer, local dive guide Hugues Vitry and shark scientist Ryan Johnson will enter the sunken pits to investigate. Together, through adverse conditions, they will brave these underground caverns to unlock the mysteries of the shark pits.

Additional Films
Re-Think the Shark
We open on people at a crowded beach. Suddenly a woman screams in terror and swims frantically to land. People ruse out of the water. We see a chair, floating in the ocean. Every year 652 people are killed by chairs. Only 4 by sharks. Rethink the shark.  

The Great White Shark Song – Andy Brandy / Cosagrande IV
“I was 7 years old when I saw my first great white shark. A 17-food female coming straight for me. Luckily at the last moment she decided not to eat me – or maybe she couldn’t see me hiding behind the couch. I was watching a National Geographic Television documentary about great whites and after that special moment I have never been the same. I have written a song meant to inspire protection, conservation and further research of these amazing animals. I jumped into the ocean to serenade the sharks underwater and un-caged. It was by far the most intense, memorable and crazy moment of my life.”