“Mankind is not vicious, mankind is stupid. Someday man will realize what he’s doing. By killing everything in the sea he is killing himself. When the sea is dead, mankind will die, too” (Hastrup, Samson and Sally, 55.30–55.45). These words, spoken by the old whale Moby Dick in the Danish animated film Samson and Sally from 1984, echo the ecological lament found in Bent Haller’s source novel, Kaskelotternes sang [The Song of the Sperm Whales, my translation]. In the novel, Moby Dick contrasts humanity’s inclination to “destroy and kill and be lonely” with the whales’ choice to “live well and happy together, play and sing” (Haller, 97, my translation). Both the film and the novel convey a powerful ecocritical message, subverting the anthropocentric perspective of Moby Dick and fostering sympathy for the hunted whales. In their depiction of multiple human-made and systemic threats towards “everything in the sea”, the two media products effectively pre-empts the idea of a global ecological emergency, warning against the mass extinction of species and the loss of vital ecosystems.In this essay, I will examine how the film and the novel represent this looming ecological emergency and construct an eco-centric worldview through two interrelated strands. First, I will demonstrate how these different media products guide audience sympathies towards non-human subjects, which can be argued to be a key aspect in learning to recognize, acknowledge and act upon ecological emergencies. Second, I will investigate the role of intermedial references. In addition to references to the classic novel Moby Dick, or, the Whale (Melville), the film even alludes to Noah’s Ark, the sinking of the Titanic, and the dumping of radioactive waste. These kinds of references work to underscore humanity’s vulnerability and their impact on, and responsibility towards, the natural environment, highlighting the relevance of an intermedial framework in understanding the communication and mediation of ecological issues.