Richard Burke-Ward

In its worst crisis since World War II, Japan faces disaster on an epic scale: a death toll likely in the tens of thousands, massive destruction of homes and businesses, shortages of water and power, and the specter of nuclear meltdown. With exclusive footage, NOVA captures the human drama and offers a clear-headed investigation of what triggered the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis.

An investigation by Professor of Geological Sciences, Roger Bilham, of the science behind the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

Marine biologist and cameraman Rick Rosenthal has been filming in the ocean for decades, but one spectacle has eluded him and other filmmakers, until now. It is a vast “vertical migration” that happens every night, in which billions of animals rise up from the depths. Rosenthal captures the often bizarre and still unchartered life forms that make up the largest animal migration on the planet.

In its worst crisis since World War II, Japan faces disaster on an epic scale: a death toll likely in the tens of thousands, massive destruction of homes and businesses, shortages of water and power, and the specter of nuclear meltdown. With exclusive footage, NOVA captures the human drama and offers a clear-headed investigation of what triggered the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis.

An investigation by Professor of Geological Sciences, Roger Bilham, of the science behind the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

An investigation by Professor of Geological Sciences, Roger Bilham, of the science behind the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

Marine biologist and cameraman Rick Rosenthal has been filming in the ocean for decades, but one spectacle has eluded him and other filmmakers, until now. It is a vast “vertical migration” that happens every night, in which billions of animals rise up from the depths. Rosenthal captures the often bizarre and still unchartered life forms that make up the largest animal migration on the planet.