ONE minute you’re riding the crest of a wave, marvelling at the wonders of world’s oceans, the next you’re sinking into the depths of despair at the colossal damage mankind has inflicted on its marine life.

Heart-breaking images of dead seals and turtles trapped in fishing nets, bleached lifeless corals caused by global warming and conservationists painstakingly removing hundreds of bits of plastic from the stomachs of suffering sea birds make uncomfortable viewing.

The Ocean Film Festival, the sister to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, is a new collection of short films about our oceans, from above and below the surface.

Now in its fifth year, the 2018 UK tour is the biggest yet visiting 35 locations across the country in September and October, including dates at the Tivoli; Lighthouse, Poole; the Regent Centre in Christchurch and Weymouth Pavilion.

But although it is a powerful reminder of the need to protect our oceans, the film festival is essentially inspirational. We can see how given time, the marine world does start to recover.

It is also about adventure. Films about seafaring adventurers rowing treacherous oceans, intrepid surfers riding 80ft waves, and marine biologists exploring the planet’s spectacular hidden depths.

Highlights included One Breath, a couple’s attempt to set a new tandem free diving record at 100m, Touched by the Ocean about Latvian friends Karlis and Gints who set out to become the first team ever to row from Namibia to Brazil in a second-hand rowing boat, with no rowing experience (you will never have seen backside boils like this before!) and The Big Wave Project which follows a tight-knit crew of surfers over five years as they work together to ride the world’s biggest wave.

By the end of the evening you cannot fail to be inspired to explore, respect and above all protect the oceans.

Don’t worry if you missed it though. Further screenings take place at Lighthouse, Poole on September 22; the Regent Centre in Christchurch on October 9 and 17, and at Weymouth Pavilion on October 16.