Our Mission
Storytelling for Nature Preservation
We are a community of scientists, storytellers, journalists and filmmakers who are dedicated to the wild, and specifically the Great African Seaforest.
We advocate for the healing of our planet by connecting people to nature through our science-based immersive storytelling.
“I need no convincing that an ecosystem such as this is of inestimable value & must be protected.”
Our Projects
Inspired by Nature
Supported by Science
Guided by Indigenous Wisdom
All our work is based on our connection to the Great African Seaforest. This underwater forest is a deep source of inspiration for our minds, souls and hearts. By sharing these experiences with the world, we hope to inspire a global movement of nature connection and more stories about the intrinsic relationship between humans and the living planet.
Films
World-class films are an integral part of our content. We tell immersive, personal stories about people and nature, to a global audience. Our films include the Netflix Original My Octopus Teacher; Older than Trees – a film about the future of sharks and rays, and our newest feature documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey about a special baby pangolin.
Books
Our Sea Change book has been republished as Underwater Wild, and we released a children’s book, A Journey Under the Sea. Craig Foster’s new book Amphibious Soul about “Finding the wild in a tame world,” based on his own ‘rewilding,’ is available to purchase.
Exhibitions
Sea Change Project collaborates on multimedia exhibitions that convey the story of our interconnectedness with the natural world. Showcasing the latest research on the origins of Homo sapiens while raising awareness for the Great African Seaforest and kelp forests worldwide. Visit the Origins exhibit at Cape Point, De Hoop Nature Reserve and most recently at Stillbaai.
Education
Having a connection to nature is everyone’s birthright. It is often said we must leave a better planet to our future children but we need to also leave better children to become custodians of this living world and for that we need nature education. We are committed to sharing our love and knowledge of the Great African Seaforest, and nature as a whole, with as many people as we can reach to inspire a sea-change.
Science
Science guides all our work at Sea Change. We conduct biodiversity research and collaborate with academic institutions to uncover the secrets of the Great African Seaforest. Through our 1001 Seaforest Species project, you’ll encounter the extraordinary creatures of this underwater ecosystem and discover their remarkable stories. This project blends science, underwater tracking, and storytelling to illuminate the hidden world of the Seaforest.
Podcasts
Our podcast series Back to the Water, hosted by Zolani Mahola and Pippa Ehrlich, asks what it means to be disconnected from nature and one’s culture – and what happens when you reconnect. The first episode of Back to the Water, “More Than One Octopus” premiered at Tribeca Festival, winning in its category, and available on all podcast platforms.
PATRON & AMBASSADOR
Zolani Mahola
Vocalist, Actress & Nature Activist
Yo-Yo Ma
Cellist
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Preserve the Great African Seaforest
Kelp forests are highly productive near-shore marine ecosystems. They are biodiversity hotspots, sequester carbon, release oxygen and slow coastal erosion. They are found on 30% of our world’s coastlines and are one of the most vulnerable marine ecosystems to the climate emergency.
Our first goal was to make the Great African Seaforest a global icon and bring attention to the world’s kelp forests. With your help and support following the success of My Octopus Teacher, we achieved this.
In this time of environmental upheaval and biodiversity loss, we need to keep ensuring the long-term preservation of the Great African Seaforest. You can help by continuing to support our work in reminding people of their intrinsic connection with nature.
Featured in
We believe that the best thing we can do to protect the Great African Seaforest, and kelp forests globally, is to share their stories.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Take Action
Lack of knowledge and awareness, and our human impact on this planet, are at the root of all threats to the Great African Seaforest and our global kelp forests. We are in the ocean every day, learning the secrets of the seaforest and finding stories that inspire people to reconnect with nature.
We hope our stories, knowledge and love of this environment can remind us that we are part of the natural world and motivate action that allows the living planet to thrive and regenerate itself.
To help us ensure the long-term preservation of the Great African Seaforest and to raise awareness for kelp forests globally, please watch, donate and share.
Social
#0022 White-ringed turret sponge // Haliclona stilensis
It can be difficult for us humans to fully comprehend an animal that has no head, limbs or distinct organs, yet can still feed, reproduce and grow – just like us.
While many of us are familiar with the animated TV character, SpongeBob SquarePants, real-life sponges are far more simple in body plan, best thought of as colonies formed from a few types of collaborating cells.
This mauve-coloured endemic species is identifiable by its fragile texture and the white rings around large openings on the body surface. Called oscula, these variably-shaped openings work together with smaller ones to filter-feed. Water is drawn through the small openings, fine food particles are removed, and then the waste water is ejected via the oscula. And all of this happens within a delicate encrustation of about 10mm thick.
White-ringed turret sponges might not be SpongeBob savvy, but their simplicity belies a remarkable synergy that ensures its survival.
Photos: Jannes Landschoff
@saveourseasfoundation #1001seaforestspecies #1001species #seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #spinystarfish #taxonomy #marinescience
‘Before intention and choice, before ideas and understanding and everything we think we know about ourselves – we love this world around us. How can that be? How can we love all this when our cultural assumptions tell us in so many ways that we “humans” are fundamentally other than “nature,” and that “nature’s” only real value is how it supports our wellbeing. There’s no love in that. Doesn’t love require kindred natures. And what is kinship with wild earth but wild mind?’ – Wild Mind, Wild Earth by David Hinton
#greatafricanseaforest #kelp #kelpforest #natureconnection #biodiversity #preservation #ocean
#21 Spiny starfish — Marthasterias africana
These large starfish are so ubiquitous in the Great African Seaforest that they sometimes go unnoticed. However, there’s so much to behold when you study them closely. Named in reference to the longitudinal rows of spines along their five gradually tapering arms, Spiny starfish are endemic to South Africa. Peer closely, and you’ll see pastel-coloured lumps and bumps – called papulae – between the spines, which act as organs of gas exchange. Then, train your eye along the contour of a moving starfish, and you’ll notice a multitude of tube feet, which it uses for locomotion. This ability to move around (albeit slowly) is key for helping the Spiny starfish meet its voracious appetite. With a penchant for mussels, barnacles, and sea squirts, the starfish often form dense feeding fronts that advance across reefs, gobbling up all in their path. Even urchins aren’t spared – the second image shows a hapless urchin trying to defend itself with a shell. However, this predation plays an important role in helping to maintain ecosystem balance – one could say that Spiny starfish are one of the backbones of the seaforest.
@saveourseasfoundation #1001seaforestspecies #1001species #seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #spinystarfish #taxonomy #marinescience
The global plastics treaty has failed. Yet the evidence is clear that we cannot continue as we are. We are now human with a touch of plastic: microplastics are in our brains, in breast milk, in male testicles, in our blood. They disrupt our endocrine functioning, are carcinogenic, and cause fertility. The health costs are staggering, estimated at between $1.1 trillion and $1.7 trillion. Yet, here we are. But all is not lost. While we can’t enact policies, we can push our governments for them. While plastic is convenient, we can refuse it. It can start with us and our voices. Because we are billions.
Illustration: @green_humour green_humour
#plastic #plastictreaty #refuseplastic #lobby #microplastics
Amid the darkness, there is some light. ✨ Here’s a round-up of good news from across the planet.
Images: @wildscreenorg, Brittanica, @pixabay
#goodnews #ocean #marineprotectedarea #seachangeproject #climatecrisis #plastic #philippines #hawaii
#0020 — Puffadder shyshark – Haploblepharus edwardsii
Endemic to South Africa, the Puffadder shyshark is so named due to its distinctive markings resembling those of a species of snake found in the country. Approach these small sharks (adults can grow up to 60cm in length) too enthusiastically, and they often curl into a ball, covering their eyes with their tail – hence the ‘shy’ descriptor. This behaviour not only protects their most delicate sensory organs, but also makes the shark harder to eat. When it comes to eating, male and female Puffadder shysharks have different favourites: males have an affinity for polychaete worms, and females tend to prefer crustaceans. The sexes even have different tooth shapes, with males having three-pointed teeth, while females have five-pointed teeth, likely driving their dietary preferences. Females lay pairs of light-brown, rectangular egg cases with long tendrils at each corner (see image 3). Incubation time is about three months, with the young born about 10cm long. Sadly, many of these individuals don’t make it to old age, which is estimated to be at least 22 years. Caught as bycatch during demersal trawls, their populations have declined in the last few decades, resulting in Puffadder shysharks being designated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Images: Craig Foster and Jannes Landschoff
@saveourseasfoundation #1001seaforestspecies #1001species #1001speciesproject #puffaddershyshark #shark #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject #taxonomy
As thousands of delegates gather in Geneva to negotiate a global treaty on plastic pollution, the solutions are patently clear if we are to improve the health of both humans and the planet.
Images: @instabo68 @peterianchadwick @samrowleywild @martin_harvey_photography via @wildscreenorg
#plasticpollution #plasticstreaty #plasticcrisis #epr #plasticproducts
0019 Cape rock crab – Guinusia chabrus
The most common shore crab along the southwest coast of South Africa, these medium- to large-sized crustaceans are wily and tough.
A hungry octopus approaching? No problem! Cape rock crabs are excellent swimmers, and use their flattened legs and hair fringes on them as efficient paddles, fleeing to safety onto higher reefs, exposed rocks, and into the kelp canopy.
A heaving tide rolling on? No worries! These crabs have incredibly strong legs and hooked dactyls, which make them perfectly adapted to the wave-exposed shores they dominate.
Cape rock crabs are also not picky eaters – they’re omnivorous and will eat anything from barnacles, amphipods and gastropods to seaweeds. But before they decide what’s for dinner, these crabs have to go through several laval stages, such as the brightly coloured megalopa stage in images 4 and 5.
During this final larval stage, they swim and walk around, scouting for the best neighbourhood in which to settle into adulthood.
#1001species #1001seaforestspecies @saveourseasfoundation #taxonomy #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject #storytelling #marinescience #caperockcrab #crustacean
Today is International Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Day, and to celebrate, we’re highlighting the key role marine reserves play in protecting various types of seabream. Some of these fish can live for decades, so having a safe space is crucial if they are to have long lives.
Pictures: Jannes Landschoff and Craig Foster
#mpaday #letstalkmpas @marineprotectedareasday @2oceansaquarium #marineprotectedareas #preservation #greatafricanseaforest #seabream
Our latest roundup of positive stories from around the world.
Image 1: @swatithiyagarajan
Image 2: @geordin.hill.lewis social media
Image 3: @pixabay
Image 4: @pixabay
Image 4: @freepik
#seachangeproject #seachange #positivenews #biodiversity #climatecrisis #earth #nature
#0018 Cape Triplefin — Cremnochorites capensis
Identifying marine species can be tricky – but, luckily, the scientific team working on our 1001 Seaforest Species project is out there collecting all this information. To a casual observer, this heavily camouflaged fish could be mistaken for a klipfish, but a key feature sets it apart: klipfish have a single dorsal fin, while the dorsal fin of the triplefin is divided into three separate parts. Endemic to South Africa, only one species is found in the Western Cape region, and is usually found hiding among dense growths of invertebrates or algae on the rock faces of shallow reefs. Those ‘bushy eyebrows’ are actually cirri, which the fish uses as sensory organs. Reaching up to 8cm in total length, the Cape triplefin is normally blotchy cream and brown, but breeding males become brightly coloured with broad orange or yellow mottled vertical bands and blue dots.
@saveourseasfoundation #1001species #1001seaforestspecies #capetriplefin #taxonomy #marinescience #greatafricanseaforest #saveourseasfoundation
Next Friday is MPA Day — a day when Marine Protected Areas around the world are recognised for the role they play in preserving biodiversity, supporting our wellbeing, enhancing climate resilience, and protecting marine ecosystems. The Great African Seaforest is just one unique ecosystem that benefits from MPAs. Tell us about MPAs in your area. What have they achieved? What do they provide for you? Which is your favourite?
@marineprotectedareasday #mpaday #letstalkmpas @2oceansaquarium #greatafricanseaforest #ocean #biodiversity #marine #seachangeproject
