Our Mission
Storytelling for Nature Protection
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 on a very special pangolin, will launch on Netflix in April ‘25.
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 in Cape Town and De Hoop Nature Reserve.
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
Protect 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 protection 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
Protect & 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 protection of the Great African Seaforest and to raise awareness for kelp forests globally, please watch, donate and share.
Social
There is hidden life in the kelp forest. While this drifting compass jelly is what immediately draws the eye, a closer look shows a twirling trail of marks on the kelp. These belong to a kelp limpet that has been feeding on the surface of the stipe, which contains algae, microorganisms and parts of the kelp itself.
Picture: @helen_walne
#greatafricanseaforest #jellyfish #kelp #kelpforest #nature #rememberyouarewild #underwater #capetown #ecosystems #stipe #seachangeproject #myoctopusteacher
Today is World Wildlife Day, which reminds us of the intelligence and resilience of Earth’s living systems, and that our own wild nature is threaded into this brilliant web. Our short film, Mother Nature in the Boardroom, is one of eight films included in the Official Selection for the 2025 World Wildlife Day Showcase. The films celebrate the power of Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet, a topic explored by Mother Nature in the Boardroom, which urges business leaders to prioritise nature to help ensure a sustainable future.
Explore the full line-up and watch the films for free at the link in our bio.
#WorldWildlifeDay #JacksonWild #Conservation #Filmmaking #Storytelling #InvestInNature #mothernatureintheboardroom #rememberyouarewild #seachangeproject
Exploring the rocky shores at low tide is one of our favourite things to do. The exposed rock pools are packed with life – including these small cushion stars, which are found in a beautiful array of colour combinations. One was even being traversed by a curious sea slug, which picked its way across the sea star’s respiration papillae.
Pictures: @helen_walne
#seachangeproject #rememberyouarewild #starfish #seastar #capetown #southafrica
Sometimes being in the Great African Seaforest feels like looking in a mirror. Its wild beauty, complexity and interconnectedness is a reminder that we are made of the same stuff. We are nature, even if we don’t recognise it.
Picture: Craig Foster
#rememberyouarewild #seachangeproject #reflectionsinwater
In summer, sheets of slippery orbit – a beautiful translucent-green algae – flourish in the shallow bays around Cape Town, where they act as perfect hideaways for wary octopuses. As the name suggests, slippery orbit is washing-liquid-on-a-slip-and-slide slippery and is difficult to handle. But being smart, octopuses overcome this by ensuring their suckers are super-clean so they securely latch onto the algae. This is achieved by periodically moulting thin layers of the suckers, which then drift like transparent discs in the water column. Watching an octopus hiding like this, its arms and suckers visible through the algae, is akin to peering through a beautiful piece of green sea glass at a mysterious world we are yet to fully understand.
Picture: Craig Foster
#greatafricanseaforest #kelpforest #seachangeproject #octopus #biodiversity #underwater #myoctopusteacher #natureconnection #seaweed #slipperyorbit #hideandseek
‘A large area of land covered with trees and plants, usually larger than a wood, or the trees and plants themselves.’ That’s Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of the word ‘forest’. Despite covering about a quarter of the world’s coastlines, seaforests don’t get a look-in. So we, along with other seaforest organisations around the world, are on a mission to change this and get these ecosystems on the global agenda so they can be protected.
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #kelp #kelpforest #G20Summit
Photo @helen_walne
#0006 – KELPSUCKER - 𝘌𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘺𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘴
Dozens of little eyes peer out of their eggs like silver cake decorations. They belong to a fresh batch of kelp sucker fish, a clingfish that has slick sticky skills. These petite fish use a disc-like sucker formed from modified pelvic fins to adhere themselves to surfaces. The goggle-eyed eggs will hatch within two to three weeks after being laid in the kelp fronds and the larvae will eventually grow to a maximum length of about 3.5cm (they’re small little suckers!). Once out in the world, they will feast on small crustaceans and use the kelp as a hiding place from predators.
#1001species #1001seaforestspecies #seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #kelpsucker #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #fishofinstagram
Pictures: Craig Foster and @jannes_landschoff
‘One of the most effective ways to deal with the mental health epidemic we have in the modern world is to reconnect to the wild. Tracking and nature observation sits at the core of this.’ – Craig Foster
Photo @scottramsay.africa
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #naturelovers
Spotting an intact crystal jelly is a rare treat. These flying-saucer-like hydrozoans usually inhabit the deeper pelagic zone but are sometimes pushed inshore by wind and currents.
Picture: @the_rewilding
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #kelpforest #crystaljellyfish #jellyfish
Abstract art is just one of the ocean’s many skills, but if you look closely you’ll see that this gallery-worthy scene is actually a clutch of dazzling marine animals. The frilly-edged, speckled shape in the centre is a Gilchrist’s flatworm and the octangular shape to the top-left of it is a beautifully patterned cushion star. And all around them is a garden of tiny tide-pool critters reflected in the silver surface.
Picture: @helen_walne
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #flatworm #kelpforest #cushionstar
The sea always delivers surprises, but sometimes it blows our minds! On this day, scores of weird and wonderful siphonophores snaked their way through the kelp forest in a ballet-worthy display. Word got out and curious snorkellers came to float among these other-worldly visitors.
Picture: @helen_walne
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #siphonophores #kelpforest
Caught in the dappled light, these mangrove-dwelling archer fish have markings that perfectly camouflage them from predators. Mangroves are safe havens for many juvenile fish – and for archer fish they provide novel snacks in the form of insects, which they dislodge from branches by using their tongues as water pistols.
Picture: @helen_walne
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #capetown #capetownsouthafrica #freedive #ocean #nature #natureconnection #archerfish #mangrove
