Sea Monsters 3D

Walking into the IMAX with my 3D goggles, I felt extremely exicited and greatly anticipated the first IMAX show I have seen in about ten years. I sat in awe watching Sea Monsters in 3D. I had completely forgotten the amazing effects of an IMAX show. Even though I went to go see the show alone, I felt not an ounce of loneliness once the show began. The visual effects made me feel as if I was swimming in the vast sea with the sea creatures and driving along the dirt road with the Paleontologists in search of fossils of such sea monsters. While the story presented the timeline of the sea creatures about eighty-two million years ago, there was a personal story of a Dollycorintops, (excuse the spellings of the sea monsters, but I think they were made up because I tried to find the correct spellings and had no success) whose journey was followed throughout the entire show. The story started out with a mother Dollycorintops giving birth to a boy and girl Dollycorintops; the journey on the female child was being payed close attention to throughout the show. The Dollycorintops lived in shallow waters at the beginning of their existence; when the season change, they moved to deeper waters of a few hundred feet deep to follow their food source, the Encotus. "Dollys," as they were referred to in the show, were believed to be marine reptiles bigger than a dolphine; they were fast swimmers and air breathers, meaning they went to the surface to breath. Along with the "Dollys," the other marine reptiles lived in a warmer climate than our present day climate and the sea level was higher during their existence. Marine reptiles were suspected to gather in protected confines to give birth to their offspring.

Other marine reptiles included the Platycarpus, which was a fierce sea monster that preyed on small fish. The Titlesaurus was one of the largest creatures of any age and it had huge eyes that resembled grapefruits. Also, there was the Ziphactamus sea creature that was seventeen feet long, which is more than twice the size of a "Dolly." Of course the sea is not complete without sharks; the Catoxirima was like our present day Great White Shark and it fed on the largest of reptiles in the sea. Finally, the biggest sea monster was the Tilosaurus; they were able to eat creatures as big as a shark. Along with the enormous size of the Tilosaurus came their fierceness; older Tilosauruses were known to kill the younger ones as a mark of their superiority. The attack would leave the dead Tilosaurus floating in the sea until a group of sharks would appear and feast off the dead creature.

Watching the natural interaction between the sea creatures was fascinating. I felt as if I was apart of their habitat; I could feel the stare of a creature when it would look into the camera, and it seemed as if I could feel the motions of the sea as the creatures swam past. When the show focused on the actions of the Palentologists, I could feel the trees as the hit the camera. It was such a surreal feeling, but I enjoyed it.

While the other marine reptiles was explained, the show still focused on the journey of the daughter "Dolly" born at the beginning of the show. It illustrated how her mother was killed at the hands of another sea creature and how her brother was killed by a surprise attack of a shark. Her journey concludes with her returning back to shallow water after a season in the deep sea. The female "Dolly's" journey illustrated the typical life of a Dollycorintops; they start off in shallow water when they are young, journey to the deep sea after their food source, and then return to the same shallow sea when they were older, most likely around the time when they can give birth to their own offspring. This cycle continues for the Dollycorintops until they are killed or they reach old age, which means their journey ends in the shallow water when the Encotus leave.

Sea Monsters 3D was an awesome experience with an interesting storyline. I enjoyed looking through the oversize 3D goggles into the world of sea monsters that existed millions of years before the world as we know evolved into what it is now.