The Voyage of the Mimi

This was a fabulous show. I watched it as an adult with my baby sister and learned *so* much. Even today, years later I can remember lessons I learned on "Voyage of the Mimi" about whales, whale tagging and whale songs, but the show was about so much more than whales. I learned about sailing, sign language, research methods, the top of Mount Washington, hypothermia and so much more. When watching documentaries, to this day, I often see eminent scientists that I first "met" on "Voyage of the Mimi," such as Ken Balcomb and Sylvia Earle. The first part of the episode would often introduce a subject which would then be carried through to the expedition afterward. Those segments were full of information interesting to both adults and children. This show is so much more than a curiosity and a place to see a young Ben Affleck, (although I thought he was a good actor even then). If you want to learn more about the sea, whales, scientific research and even what it's like going to a college for the deaf, "Voyage of the Mimi" is a great place to get started. It certainly led to many avenues of interest and fields of inquiry for me.

This program was clearly intended for educating a young (in years) audience, not a mentally immature adult. With that in mind you should have no hesitation in watching this program with your children. My children enjoyed every episode, in spite of the less-than-quality acting. The main thrill for them (and for me) came from watching the interactions between the human researchers and the whales, which were the main research target of the Mimi scientists. A subtle, but perhaps even more important aspect of the series is the message that the discovery of our world, driven by the methods of science, can accomodate anyone, regardless of race or sex. The main requirements for such discovery are curiosity about the natural world, the courage to seek adventure, and intelligence to solve problems. If you emphasize these concepts to your children, you will have directed them along the path that the series obviously intended.

I read the other comment on this series, and am appalled at the comments made by that person. This is an excellent series on geography and is designed to be used as a visual aid in geography classes. Yes, the getting lost part is funny, but that is a tongue in cheek type of thing. I enjoyed it and I'm not a kid. Ben Affleck went on to become famous, of course, so perhaps the person who reviewed this did not like Mr. Affleck. In any case, it is very good for its type, and well worth watching. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to use visual aids in their teaching of geography or social science classes. You might just want to watch it to see Ben Affleck as a kid. :)

The other day in my Integrated Science class my teacher showed my class a taping of a TV show called "The Voyage of the Mimi" Since I have a crush on Mr. Ben Affleck, I naturally was excited to see his earlier work. I watched and was amazed at how informative and accurate the show was! After the show we had a test.......I got an A!

I don't usually write comments, but since the one that was originally on here was so negative, racist and bizarre in general I thought I would write a little something.

I used to watch this show when I was little and I remember enjoying it. I think it was on PBS. It was about a boy who was getting in trouble at home so they sent him on the ship with his grandfather (or some sort of relative) to "keep him out of trouble". It was educational and at the end Ben Affleck would tell you a little something new about the sea or boats or what have you. It wasn't rocket science and it was made for kids so if you are an adult, you might not like it and it may be dated by now. Just keep in mind that is made for kids and much like Dragon Tales or any of the new PBS fare, it may seem trivial and absurd to adults.