Ticonderonga no Iru Umi

Ticonderonga no Iru Umi is adapted from a children’s picture book of the same name. The story is set against the backdrop of a real incident that occurred on December 5, 1965, when a U.S. aircraft carrier was traveling from Vietnam to Yokosuka, Japan. While conducting training exercises 80 miles off Okinawa, an A‑4 strike aircraft carrying a B‑43 hydrogen bomb fell overboard and sank in 16,000 feet of water. The event, based on the true story of the USS Ticonderoga, which arrived in Japan two days later, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, was never disclosed by either side, and the fact that the carrier was transporting nuclear weapons contravened U.S. treaties with Japan. The aircraft, its pilot, and the bomb were never recovered, and the incident was only declassified in 1989, sparking an outcry in Japan and inspiring this environmentally themed anime. The extra “n” in the title may reflect a transcription error or an intentional attempt to distance the story from real events. The narrative follows Ashika, a boy from a Japanese fishing village, who is contacted by telepathic whales that share visions of menacing sea creatures.