James Cameron's Environmental Crusade

Of course the ocean is not a new subject for James Cameron. He is responsible for the biggest blockbuster movie yet about the demise of the "unsinkable" Titanic. But Cameron was only testing the waters with Titanic. He's way more serious about saving our blue planet than exposing the general public to an unforgiving iceberg. (Nature always trumps technology, Y'all!)

Cameron is serious about his passion for the resources of our delicate world, and our oceans, which cover more than 70% of our precious Earth's surface. We know so little, in retrospect, about most of the world we inhabit. Cameron takes advantage of that, and seeks to change it. The deep is front and center as he delves further into the abyss with the creation of a story and creatures for Avatar 2. No one has ventured to the deepest depths of the ocean since the Bathyscape Trieste delved down to Challenger Deep in 1960, but Cameron is game for the venue - in search of mystical characters and an alien-like setting appropriate enough to take on the continued story of Pandora. In the process, the ocean gets more attention and hopefully closer to healing.

Photo by Jurvetson

Mr Cameron goes to the deepest end of the earth to find inspiration for his Avatar 2 creatures. In a quest with competition from Richard Branson and others to be the first since the 1950s to explore the deepest end of the Ocean, James Cameron took his trip.... solo!

With a view of the Ocean

100 acres next to his beloved Pacific Ocean, James Cameron's off grid ranch provides him with solace and inspiration. The place where his mind turns and creates incredible characters, weaves spellbinding tales, creates solutions to problems. Cameron designed his own windmill to help power the ranch. He chimed in with a solution for BP after the Gulf Oil Spill. He watched seabirds while making Avatar to study aerodynamics. Now, he's working on a submersible to use in the making of Avatar 2 and 3. He's also acquired "green" studio space and plans to leave no carbon footprint in the making of the sequels.

... follows a team of scientists as they explore the deep ocean vents of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, offering readers a view of life in Earth's most hostile and inaccessible environments and their remarkable inhabitants...fish with feet, shrimp that can swim between boiling hot steam and icy currents, and other amazing creatures.

A look at scenes from Alien(s) reveals a strange similarity to the deep ocean. The creature even has a slithery quality not unlike the eel. It really is uncanny, when you take a look at Cameron's early works, how much the environment influences his creative mind.

"There was a nuclear war. A few years from now, all this, this whole place, everything, it's gone. Just gone. There were survivors. Here, there. Nobody even knew who started it. It was the machines, Sarah" .... James Cameron's The Terminator, 1984