View from the sky, taken earlier today during a Lighthawk-sponsored aerial tour of proposed North Coast marine protected areas.

If only days like these would arrive with a couple extra hours of sunlight, the better to enjoy the beaches and admire the sea. At least you can explore the greater ocean via several fine short films tonight during a special Ocean Night featuring selections from the Beneath the Waves film festival.

Ocean Night takes place at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. in Arcata. Doors opens at 6:30 p.m., movies start at 7 p.m., cost is $3 donation and free for Ocean Conservancy, Surfrider and Baykeeper members. Ocean Night is all ages.

Film descriptions follow:

Best Conservation Message: “Time Will Tell” by Madison Stewart
“I was raised in the oceans and this came with the honor of also being raised with top predators. My home reef is the Great Barrier Reef, a place that has always drawn my attention and given me my most memorable shark encounters yet. I am now 18 years old. In my lifetime, I have seen a change in the oceans and feel obligated to expose the injustices to our waters.” Filmed throughout the Great Barrier Reef, Caribbean and Palau. 

People’s Choice: “Gloop” by Gaby Bastyra & Joe Churchman
Gloop is a dark fairytale that follows the meteoric rise of plastic from its inception in Leo’s gloomy laboratory 100 years ago. Told like a Brother’s Grimm fable, Gloop offers a poignant and lasting message about the price ouroceans may play for the convenience of plastic. 

“Plastic Future: the Midway story” by Claire M. Fieseler
In January 2010 the small pacific atoll of Midway served as a learning laboratory for a group of Duke University graduate students. The island, they found, was drowning in plastic. NOAA, NFWF and the state of Hawaii struggle to conserve Midway’s coral reefs, monk seals, albatross and rare endemic ducks.

“Sea Harmony” by Monika LaPlante
An online dating parody, Sea Harmony, adds an aquatic flavor to your love life. 

“Manta Ray of Hope” by Shawn Heinrichs
A breathtaking journey through some of the most remote and exotic places on earth to personally experience the beauty of manta rays.  

(Jennifer Savage is Ocean Conservancy’s North Coast Coordinator, Pacific Programs and the chair of Humboldt Surfrider.)