This late 1950s color film opens with the Columbus Film Festival The ‘Chris’ Award, received for this documentary on heartbeat research by Dr. Paul Dudley White, a leading cardiologist. It was presented by the Douglas Aircraft Company as a scientific venture. A California grey whale swims, emerges and blows water (:43-1:20). The Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea are ice covered (1:20-1:40). A vintage globe shows the migration path to warmer waters off Baha, California for breeding (1:41-1:57). Two grey whales swim (1:58-2:35). A vintage map of California shows migration paths (2:36-2:49). Various grey whales swim, flip, and spout. (3:02-3:50). Donald Douglas’ ship Dorado was used as the research vehicle; its goal was a cardiograph of a whale’s heart (3:41-4:02). Vintage Douglas Aircraft Company and National Geographic flags flutter (4:06-4:13). February 4, 1956, the men prepare for the first expedition in a motorboat (4:25-4:33). The tools are crossbows and hand-thrown harpoons with barbed heads and trailing insulated wires connected to a small telemetering boat (4:34-4:44). A gray whale causes damage with its tail as sharks gather (4:45-5:06). The next practice attempts in 1957 used a Douglas N350 helicopter with the telemetering boat, which is shown up close (5:26-5:46). A harpoon firing platform with two high-powered firing rifles is mounted on the helicopter before it takes off (5:47-6:34). Donald Douglas (6:04) and his son fire them into the water (6:35-6:45). To make the real attempt on February 5, 1957, equipment is loaded in a Douglas DC-3 experimental aircraft and heads to Scammon’s Lagoon (6:46-7:55). The Dorado, formerly a Coast Guard ship, followed (7:56-8:35). Ten miles from the lagoon was the Black Warrior salt bed, used as the runway for the DC-3, and the Army and Douglas helicopters (8:36-8:50). Donald Douglas Jr. arrives and supplies are unloaded (8:51-9:20). The helicopter’s shadow is seen as a campsite is set up (9:21-13:09). The helicopter guides the Dorado into place (13:10-13:25). The researchers gather at camp (13:26-15:03). Gray whales are seen (15:04-15:35). A man digs a deep hole (15:36-15:49). The harpoon rifles were tested (15:50-16:15) as was the electrocardiograph (16:15-16:25). The helicopter finds gray whales (16:27-17:44). The harpoons are loaded, with closeups of the heads (17:50-18:10), and the heartbeat boat is prepared (18:11-18:32). On February 10, 1957, the helicopter found a single whale (18:33-20:29). The harpoons are fired and miss their target (20:30-21:42). The hole is now deeper than the digging man (21:43-21:56). February 11, 2017, a whale is spotted, the harpoons successfully fired, and the boat is dropped (22:20-23:00). The heartbeat is recorded and studied (23:01-23:40). The helicopter is launched for the next search (23:49-24:25). A whale is elusive (24:26) and a pair of whales surface (24:50-25:10). The harpoons are fired and the telemetering boat dropped (25:10-25:25). The electrocardiograph machine produces results over the next hour (25:28-26:32). The anchor is hauled in on February 16 as Operation Heartbeat is concluded (26:40). The equipment is loaded, the helicopters leave, and the Dorado returns (26:41-27:32). Gray whales breach and a tail slowly sinks into the water (27:33-27:52).

Paul Dudley White (June 6, 1886 – October 31, 1973), American physician and cardiologist, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of Herbert Warren White and Elizabeth Abigail Dudley. He was one of the leading cardiologists of his day, and a prominent advocate of preventive medicine. Paul Dudley White is viewed by most medical authorities as the founder of preventive cardiology. Appointed as President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s physician following his heart attack in 1955, White very publicly prescribed cycling for his famous patient, giving the bicycle industry a welcome boost. White was a staunch advocate of exercise, diet, and weight control in the prevention of heart disease. In 1924, he was one of the founders of the American Heart Association and became the organization’s president in 1941.

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