Suddenly a couple of small plastic rings appear on the beach of Guéthary along the west coast of France. Every day there are more and more, hundreds of thousands. François Verdet rides the waves of this beach all year long. He is shocked. The surfer sees these little plastic things for the first time in his life. Where do they come from? François cannot sleep until he finds out their origin…

Litter, wastewater, industrial products and chemicals – it is all ending up in the sea. This is often happening without anybody hearing anything about it. But there are some people that observe and feel the pollution day by day with their own body: surfers. As soon as there is some swell they grab their board and ride the waves, in winter and summer. Water is their life. And they want to protect it.

Their love of nature and the water gives them the strength to go out, investigate and search for the source of the pollution. They start talking to people who were involved, to politicians and to the industry. They even initiate scientific studies in the sea and in rivers. If necessary they go to court.

They want to surf White Waves again.

The team of White Waves traveled for two years along the beaches of Europe to meet those surfers and reveal widely unknown cases of pollution – from millions of small plastic wheels to pathogenic bacteria in the sea.

Released : June 2016
Duration : 83 min