Sven Husby grew up in Seattle (he was graduated from Ballard High School) so he knows about the importance of fish both economically and ecologically. That’s why when he read a New Yorker article about “The Darkening Sea”, he was stunned and horrified by the idea of a world without fish, a very real possibility. Ocean acidification is a serious threat to all sea life, starting from the tiniest of creatures and heading all the way up the food chain and yet not many people have heard of it.

Being filmmakers by profession, Huseby and his wife, award-winning director Barbara Ettinger, decided to make a film to awaken and educate the public to this growing menace. A Sea Change begins with a talk with Elizabeth Kolbert, author of “The Darkening Sea”, the article that set the film in motion. A conference at NOAA at Sandpoint introduced the filmmakers to a number of scientists racing to understand and eradication ocean acidification and their work is included in A Sea Change as well.

Too much science talk can be overwhelming for the layperson but Huseby and Ettinger keep it human by illustrating Huseby’s travels around the world showing landscapes and seascapes and images of the ocean underneath its surface. Cinematographer Claudia Rashcke-Robinson’s camera follows as Huseby visits places like fishing villages in Alaska, the Copper River Delta, and the glaciers of Norway in between trips to conferences and labs. He also spends time with his five-year-old grandson, Elias, and their charming conversations add a welcome note of lightness to this dark tale. It’s for the sake of Elias and his siblings and cousins that Huseby and Ettinger are so driven to get the story of ocean acidification out there.

The experts who appear in this film are blunt: “Are we screwed?” – “Yes,” replies Dr. Edward L. Miles from UW. But there’s still some hope.

Says Huseby: “We made the film to build broader awareness of the ocean acidification issue. We want the audience leaving the theater wanting to know more. Wanting to understand better the broader effects of anthropogenic CO2. We want people to conclude that we have to act if we want a sustainable world for future generations? We want people to focus in on the world their grandchildren will inherit.

“I believe that there is still time to slow down CO2 output, to stabilize it and over time to reverse it. We have to build the political will to go there. We have the financial and technical resources to make it happen. It is all about bringing the political leadership on board.”

“[People wanting change] can talk to friends, to neighbors, to politicians, to the press about ocean acidification. Most importantly right now they can contact their Congressional leaders and demand that we play a leadership role for cutting CO2 at COP-15 in Copenhagen in December.”

A Sea Change screens tonight at 7:00 pm at the Egyptian Theater and tomorrow at Kirkland Performance Center at 4:00 pm. Ettinger and Huseby are expected to be at both screenings; tonight’s screening features a panel of experts, advocates and critics talking about the issues this film raises.

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