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
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
A quick explainer about yesterday’s groundbreaking ruling on climate change.
Picture 1: Center For International Forestry Research / @wildscreenorg
Picture 2: Center For International Forestry Research / @wildscreenorg
Picture 3: Center For International Forestry Research / @wildscreenorg
Picture 4: @olliviergirard / Center For International Forestry Research / @wildscreenorg
Picture 5: @martin_harvey_photography / @wildscreenorg
Picture 6: @nicky.newman
@cij_icj @pisfcc #climatechange #icj #vanuatu #reparations #humanrights @unclimatechange
#0017 — Long-ridged shell hydroid (Hydrocorella africana)
They might at first look like shell stubble, but these raised patches are actually a calcifying hydroid growing on the surface of gastropod shells. Endemic to South Africa, long-ridged hydroids start off building a thin, hard, chalky-white calcareous crust, and later develop complex ridges, elongate spines and fluted processes that often cover the entire shell. Comprised of tiny polyps (about 3mm), these colonies grow on gastropod shells that are either still alive or are subsequently occupied by hermit crabs. While several other hydroid species are also found on the surfaces of mollusc shells, long-ridged hydroids are easily identified by their calcareous skeleton and their colonisation of a broad spectrum of gastropod shell host species.
#1001species #1001seaforestspecies @saveourseasfoundation #taxonomy #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject #storytelling #marinescience #longridgedshellhydroid #hydroid
Birds have land forests; fish have seaforests – and both are equally crucial ecosystems that support huge webs of life. Here, a school of strepies – also known as dream fish or karanteen – moves like a singular organism through the Great African Seaforest, its giant bamboo kelp towering overhead.
Picture: @the_rewilding
#seachangeproject @the_rewilding #natureconnection #forests #greatafricanseaforest #strepies #ocean #kelp #biodiversity
#0016 — Rustic lace bryozoan - Membranipora rustica
Bryozoans, often referred to as moss animals, are tiny filter-feeding invertebrates that live in colonies on various structures – even the hulls of ships. The colonies consist of repeated individual units, each of them called zooids, which have about 20 tentacles that expand to feed on particles in the water column. Rustic lace bryozoans, often found on bamboo kelp in the Great African Seaforest, each have a little ‘coffin-shaped’ body wall structure and are often found on bamboo kelp. Sometimes, they can become too abundant, starving the kelp fronds of light and gas exchange. However, our waters seem to be in balance and fronds regrow quickly. An important contributor to this balance are predators such as the orange-clubbed and the crazed nudibranchs, which graze on the rustic lace bryozoans, thereby keeping overgrowth in check. Crazed nudibranchs perfectly match the colour and pattern of the bryozoan and are adapted to only live on these lace-like animals – spotting one takes patience and eagle eyes!
@saveourseasfoundation #1001species #seachangeproject #bryozoan #greatafricanseaforest #taxonomy #marinebiology #1001seaforestspecies
Positive stories from across the planet, for our planet.🌍
Picture 1: @helen_walne
Picture 2: @swatithiyagarajan
Picture 3: Martin Harvey/Wildscreen Exchange
Picture 4: @eduardohernandezfotografia / @rewildingchile
#seachangeproject #goodnews #ecocide #scotland #rewildingchile #africanpenguin #earth #climatecrisis
We are so thrilled and honoured to announce that Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey has been nominated in three categories in the @wildscreenorg Panda awards.
The film — which has helped shine a spotlight on these fascinating creatures, and the threats they face — was truly a team effort.
In collaboration with @africanpangolinconservation @lapalala_wilderness, and @pangolincrisis, director @the_rewilding and producer @georgechignell brought Kulu’s story to life — and the film has been nominated for a Production and Direction Panda.
The film has also received a nomination for Sound, which was so ably managed and engineered by @barry_donnelly_insta
Music plays a huge role in the documentary, and has also been nominated for a Panda. All thanks go to the creative talents of @zolanimahola @sky_dladla @annenikitin @alastairmcnamaracomposer and @tsbkelly
And, of course, we thank @maverick_gareth for bringing us Kulu’s story and sharing it so beautifully, and @africa_alive @funnykerk @anoncontent @netflixfilm and @wildarcfilms for helping to bring Pangolin to homes all over the world. 🙏🏼
#seachangeproject #kulu #pangolin #pandaawards #wildscreen @_nicci_wright_ @munyaicaswell @prof_ray_j
#0015 Cape sole – Heteromycteris capensis
Like all soles and their related flounders, these endemic fish are easily recognised by their extremely flattened bodies. For casual observers, however, seeing a Cape sole – let alone recognising it – can be tricky, as they are often partially buried in sediment, lying on their left sides, and are typically cryptically patterned. They can also be confused with other regional species – of which there are about 50 – as their colour patterns are highly variable and can quickly change in the same individual to match the background. So, what identification features set the Cape sole apart? First, they lack the upper pectoral fin (the small fin situated just behind the fish’s head), and, second, they have a distinctively hooked snout that curves over their mouth. However, getting close enough to observe these can be challenging, as Cape soles swim away on their sides and rebury themselves when disturbed. But in a fascinating interaction, Craig got up close and personal with one individual that decided to cling to his hand. Can you guess why? Read his blog on our website to find the answer (link in bio).
#1001species #1001seaforestspecies #saveourseasfoundation #seachangeproject #marinebiology #greatafricanseaforest #taxonomy #capesole @saveourseasfoundation
