Family fun with Humpback Whales 3D

When I was invited to the screening of Humpback Whales 3D, the new IMAX documentary, I jumped at the chance for many reasons. One-I’ve been dying to take the kids to IMAX, two-they are obsessed with anything to do with animals, mammals, nature, water, all of it and three-we were in desperate need of family time. Jerry Seinfeld said there is no such thing as fun for the WHOLE family and to a certain extent he is probably right. I mean, yes I have fun with my family but that’s not to say my kind of fun is the kind of fun my kids and husband enjoy. Things have changed over the years and the new things he likes and the new things I like are still coming into focus sometimes and needless to say the kids’ fun is not always our kind of fun. For example, I like hanging out with my girlfriends while my kids play happily with other kids and leave me alone. My kids like to get whatever they want, exactly when they want it. My husband likes to surf, shop for cars online and watch movies where a lot of things blow up. And yes, we like to all be together of course. But it’s just that sometimes, ok a lot of the times, that’s going to mean someone getting stiffed, someone making a sacrifice and someone forcing a smile when in fact they’d rather be doing something else. OK there I said it! Phew, that feels good. In Humpback Whales 3D we learned these creatures were almost driven to extinction 50 years ago. It wasn’t until researchers were able to record and publish their whale songs in the 1970s that public opinion changed and the campaign to ban whale hunting began. Are the whales trying to tell me something? Speak up and ask for what you want or you’re going to go extinct. Well message received. So Humpback Whales 3D will now hold a special place in my heart because it is not only a beautiful narration of nature and the important role humans play in maintaining it, but it sparked a conversation with my family that really needed to be had. The one that goes like, we need to spend more time together as a WHOLE family and we each need to get what we want some of the time. This event was the perfect mix of that. The kids loved tracking a whale’s longitude and latitude and making a whale tail (called a fluke) out of playdoh. Once inside we were all impressed by the scale of the IMAX theatre. Mike and I haven’t been in years and forgot how massive it is. Once the show started we were entranced for the 40 minute duration and completely blown away by the beauty of these majestic creatures. The combination of 3D and IMAX makes you feel like you are actually swimming with the whales which is awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time. If you’re like me, and your family has been drifting a little lately, listen to the whales and speak up-ask for what you want. In this case I wanted quality time and I got it with this film. If you need some too, please get them all together and go see this film as soon as it opens at the California Science Theatre on July 3rd.