Howard and Michele Hall

Howard and Michele Hall are underwater documentary film producers specializing in marine wildlife films. Howard has received six cinematography Emmys for films produced for television. Michele has received one Emmy award. Howard holds a degree in zoology from San Diego State University. His interest in marine wildlife has led him to author numerous articles about marine life. He is a “Roving Editor” for International Wildlife Magazine and a Contributing Editor for Ocean Realm Magazine and Fathoms Magazine. Michele’s underwater photographs have been published in numerous books and magazines around the world.

In 1990, Howard Hall produced, directed and photographed Seasons in the Sea, a one hour film which aired on the PBS series Nature in the U.S. This film was judged best of show at Wildscreen 1990 receiving the Golden Panda Award, the most prestigious award in natural history film making. Seasons in the Sea also won the Festival Choice Award at the Jackson Hole International Film Festival.

Shadows in a Desert Sea was produced by Howard Hall in 1992, also for the PBS series Nature and the BBC, in conjunction with Partridge Films. Shadows won a Golden Panda Award at Wildscreen 1992, as well as five other top awards at other major film festivals.

Jewels of the Caribbean Sea was co-produced by Howard and Michele Hall and appeared as a National Geographic Special in 1994. Jewels of the Caribbean Sea won nighttime Emmys for best cinematography and best music in the News and Documentary category.

In 1997, Howard and Michele completed production of a 5-part series of hour-long television programs, which focused on marine wildlife behavior from around the world. Secrets of the Ocean Realm aired as five specials on PBS during 1998. As a companion to the television series, Howard and Michele also produced and authored a coffee table book, also titled Secrets of the Ocean Realm.

Howard made his directorial debut in the IMAX® format in 1994 with Into the Deep, an IMAX 3D film which opened at the Sony IMAX Theater on Broadway in New York City and has played widely in IMAX 3D theaters throughout the world.

In the spring of 1999 Howard and Michele completed production on the IMAX film Island of the Sharks about the marine wildlife at Cocos Island, Costa Rica. Island of the Sharks has won numerous awards, including a Cine Golden Eagle, the Special Jury Award of Merit at Jackson Hole International Film Festival, Best Underwater Film at Japan Wildlife Film Festival, and Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Special Venue Film Award.
Howard directed the underwater cinematography for the popular MacGillivray Freeman film, The Living Sea. He was also underwater DP for the recently released IMAX film, Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance.
Howard and Michele just finished Coral Reef Adventure, an IMAX film, being produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films, with Howard as director of underwater photography and Michele as line producer. Coral Reef Adventure explores coral reef ecology, the marine wildlife that makes coral reefs their home. It also profiles Howard and Michele and provides glimpses from ‘behind-the-scenes.’ The film was released in February 2003.

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2023 SeaWatch Newsletter

We are continuing our 2023 efforts to fully protect the inshore reefs in Espíritu Santo National Park through modification of its Management Plan. The draft plan will be out soon for review and it's critical we apply more pressure for better protection.

Ever since Cabo Pulmo National Park was created 27 years ago there has not been another reef fish recovery in the Sea of Cortez. To that end, we are launching the second phase of our campaign with a multimedia public strategy modeled after the very successful effort to protect the whale sharks in the Bay of La Paz. Read On...

SeaWatch Dream Come True

Since September of 2021, when our attorneys first petitioned the government to create large no take zones around Espiritu Santo National Park to facilitate reef and reef fish recovery, we have been building a dream team. A year later we have that team and a plan in place that is doing exactly that. To see the problem and solution. Click to view this short video...

SeaWatch Recovery Plan Details

This project will be the first recovery project in the Gulf of California since Cabo Pulmo, 27 years ago. It will restore the marine biodiversity of Archipielago Espíritu Santo National Park to a high level of abundance and reef recovery through modification to the park’s management plan and the deployment of policy and conservation finance strategies. Read More...

SeaWatch Annual Raffle

Scott Hanson donated his popular 19" bronze limited edition sculpture "Smooth Sailing" that retails between $7,700 and $9,250 depending on the gallery. Buy one or more tickets here. But hurry as only 150 raffle tickets will be sold!.

Espíritu Santo National Park
Recovery Project

Unsustainable, unregulated and illegal fishing practices during the last 40 years have severely impacted the diversity and richness of the Gulf of California, once considered the “Aquarium of the World”.
This national sea, dotted with more than 800 islands, is an ecologically unique marine ecosystem, and these island coastlines are environments used by marine species to complete all or part of their life cycle Read More...

Creating the Next Cabo Pulmo
Fisheries Recovery in the Sea of Cortez

Where there are fish of any commercial value, fishing interests will find a way to take them.
In 2019 and 2020 with the legalization of fish traps in the Espiritu Santo National Park (banned in most other places 30 years ago) it became clear that where there are fish, fishing interests will find a way to take them. Read More...

Fish Traps Devastate Marine Environments

Watch this video to see the evidence of the devastation caused by fish traps on reefs and reef fish over time. These traps are legal in Mexico and tragically in Espiritu Santo National Park. To learn more about fish traps and see the devastation they cause Click Here...

Sea Lions and Fish Nets

This video shows the entanglement of sea lions in fish nets and fishing gear in the Sea of Cortez. "Is this what we want in the Espiritu Santo National Park?"

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