Canadian Movie News –

(January 28, 2014 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) The leatherback turtle is a magnificent creature that is found in Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. This ancient species swam with the dinosaurs. It swims faster, travels further, and dives deeper than any other reptile on the planet. Until recently they were thought to be a tropical species. During the past two decades however, a Canadian scientist has challenged that conventional wisdom and revealed a much different reality.

Every summer hundreds of leatherback turtles migrate north, crossing some 12,000 kilometres from their nesting grounds in the Caribbean to the cold waters off the East Coast of Canada to feast on jellyfish. This remarkable trek is fraught with an increasing number of hazards including loss of habitat, fishing nets, marine pollution, and poaching.

Trek of the Titans is a one-hour documentary that provides a rare glimpse into the world of leatherback turtles and reveals the ground-breaking research and preservation work being done both here in Canada and in Trinidad. The film follows Canadian sea turtle biologist Dr. Mike James (pictured on the right) as he conducts his annual research off the coast of Nova Scotia. He then travels to Trinidad to rendezvous with his research colleague Dr. Scott Eckert as thousands of leatherbacks run the gauntlet of fishing nets to lay their eggs on the warm sandy beaches as they’ve done for millions of years.

Trek of the Titans was written and directed by award-winning Halifax filmmakers Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason, and created and produced by Edward Peill from Halifax-based Tell Tale Productions Inc.

“Being on the beaches of Trinidad and witnessing a leatherback emerge from the ocean gave us the chance to experience what it may have been like 100 million years ago when the dinosaurs roamed the planet. Discovering them here in our home province of Nova Scotia was equally thrilling,” said co-directors MacInnes and Nason. “Leatherbacks are an endangered species so we need to be vigilant because their long term survival is being threatened. We hope this documentary raises awareness about these amazing creatures and the important ground-breaking work being done to better understand and conserve them.”

Trek of the Titans was produced in association with CBC-TV`s The Nature of Things with support from the Canada Media Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund, Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia, and Federal and Provincial tax credits. It will have its world broadcast premiere on CBC-TV’s The Nature of Things this Thursday, January 30, at 7 p.m. (7:30 NT).