Educational Media Reviews Online

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the area in and around the Black Sea changed economically, politically, religiously and environmentally. Decades of runoff from surrounding rivers, including the Danube and Dnieper damaged the Black Sea to such an extent that 21 out of 26 different species of fish were destroyed. The Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul worked to bring together a group of scientists, environmentalists, politicians, and religious leaders to tour the Black Sea by boat and to find a solution about how to save it.

The film explains extremely well how the economy, religion (culture) and the environment are integral to the Black Sea's survival. The ship visits various large cities in the former Soviet Union: Batumi in Georgia, Novorossisk in Russia, Yalta, Odessa in the Ukraine, Constantza in Romania, Varna in Bulgaria, and finally, Istanbul on the Bosporus. Each of these visits outlines the hardships on the people of these areas and how they are being affected by the environmental and economic crises of the Black Sea region. For example, in Novorossisk, a scientific facility to rehabilitate dolphins is now a zoo, showing the dolphins to make enough money to keep the facility open. In Yalta, the viewer is shown how the pollution of the Sea has damaged tourism to the region. On the Danube delta, fishermen are shown going out of business due to the lack of fish in the Sea.

The film gives some solutions to the problems of the area. Religious leaders work together to spread the message in the area to stop polluting the Sea. Environmental groups offer alternatives to current techniques in farming and fishing to help the sea (planting reeds in the Delta to filter pollutants, etc.). Viewpoints from all sides are given to teach the full scope of the situation in the area.

The film quality is somewhat grainy, looking at times like a home video of the conference rather than a professionally edited film. The content is extremely good, giving a full description of the situation and possible solutions to the problem. Recommended for upper level high school courses in environmental science.