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
0010 – Limpet amphipod (Calliopiella michaeleni)
This shrimp-like amphipod, with its funky green body and red eyes, has found the perfect house-sharing set-up. It lives in the mantle cavities on the underside of limpets such as goat’s eye and pink-rayed limpets, where it is protected and feeds on the limpets’ faeces and possibly on algal fragments. Usually occurs in male and female pairs, territorially defending their host against other amphipod individuals, these co-habitors pay their way by keeping the place clean.
Pictures: Charles Griffiths
#1001seaforestspecies #saveourseasfoundation #marinebiology #taxonomy #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject
Nature is everything, and we are part of everything.
#seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #ocean #kelp #natureconnection
#0009 Mantled keyhole-limpet (Pupillaea aperta)
These large gastropods are endemic to Southern Africa and resemble sci-fi-worthy cloaked beings. They are covered by a firm, fleshy mantle that ranges in a myriad colour combinations, from yellow, orange and blue with dots, to brown, black, mottled and striped. These animals are large, but due to their camouflage are not always easy to spot. We are always amazed to see how animals blend into the kelp forest habitat. At first glance, keyhole limpets can look like shell-less sea slugs, however this species has a highly reduced internal shell and often appears ‘naked’, but has a small shell with a ‘keyhole-shaped’ opening at the top, hence the name. Mantled keyhole limpets are usually loners fond of eating sponges – the individual in the picture is seen competing with an orange starfish for its lunch. There’s still so much to learn about these curious-looking creatures.
Pictures: Jannes Landschoff and Craig Foster
@saveourseasfoundation #1001seaforestspecies #mantledkeyholelimpet #greatafricanseaforest #taxonomy #biodiversity
#0008 – GHOST DORID - Leciphorus capensis
Ghost dorids are small nudibranchs (sea slugs) often found on densely colonised rocky reefs. Like all nudibranchs they bear naked rosette-shaped gills on their back, hence the name (‘naked gills’). These aptly named animals are almost see-through and if you look at the close-up image, you can see a dark shape, called a visceral mass, that contains the dorid’s organs. One of these is its digestive system, which gladly receives snacks such as encrusting bryozoans. On one of our dives we were excited to photograph an animal snacking - can you try and spot how the nudibranch in the second image contracts its head in order to scrape into the bryozoan? What these images don’t show is just how small Ghost dorids are, and it takes a keen eye to find them in the vast Great African Seaforest.
Pictures: Jannes Landschoff
#1001seaforestspecies #nudibranchs #ghostdorid #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject @saveourseasfoundation #marinebiology #natureconnection
We’re taking kelp forests to the UN Oceans Conference in France, to sing their songs and tell their stories and shine a light on these incredible ecosystems. And we’re so excited that they rightfully have a place on the agenda, with the conference’s political declarations including them as one of the coastal biosystems that need preserving and restoring.
Picture: @helen_walne
#UNOC #oceans #seachangeproject #kelp #greatafricanseaforest
A little lie-down in a seagrass meadow is a tender thing – the dimpled ocean surface above, salty water all around, and the sweet, soft tickle of a bed so green. Sadly, these unique flowering plants are feeling the weight of human activity, which affects the crucial role they play in providing homes and food for myriad animals, as well as removing carbon from the ocean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified 14% of species as having an elevated risk of extinction. Now, more than ever, our planet needs our tenderness.
Picture: Luke Saddler
#seagrass #ocean #seachangeproject #natureconnection
Kelp forests are some of the most important ecosystems in the world. However, they face a range of serious threats. Protecting and restoring them is not only an environmental imperative, but a necessity for the wellbeing of communities and the planet. Read our @dailymaverick piece about Sea Change’s drive to get kelp forests on the global agenda. Link in our Stories.
Pictures: @helen_walne
#g20 #unoceanconference #unesco #greatafricanseaforest #kelp #biodiversity #natureconnection #ocean
Snaggle-toothed and stealthy, this box crab – found in shallow water while tracking in the Indian Ocean – has two vastly different pincers, which makes it so unique and fascinating. The right pincer is equipped with a large tooth, which the crab uses to break the shell of its mollusc prey and clamp it like a vice. Then the long and slim modified left pincer reaches deep into the severed shell and picks out the meat. It’s kind of like a biological can opener!
Pictures: Craig Foster
@darrosresearchcentre @saveourseasfoundation #westindianocean #marinescience #seachangeproject #natureconnection #boxcrab
Our work connects us with incredible people and organisations from across the world. One of these is @rewilding_argentina, who joined us in Cape Point a few months ago for a day of tracking, conversation and communing. Today we celebrate them for helping to sign into law the creation of Patagonia Azul Provincial Park, a 300,000ha marine protected area in the province of Chubut. This rugged, windswept coastline is a key breeding, feeding and migration site for a great diversity of life — and will remain so because of the collaborative work done by Rewilding Argentina, other non-governmental organisations, government and state entities, and local communities. We can achieve so much together.
Picture: Oceano Martina
@rewilding_argentina #patagoniaazul #patagoniaargentina #biodiversity #seachangeproject #marineprotectedarea #ocean #chubut
The seaforest is a three-dimensional sensory wonder. Ascending from the bottom, slender kelp stipes travel upwards, fish stream through dappled light, fronds glow as the sun grows nearer, algal swathes sway on semi-submerged rocks, and then you break through the surface, surrounded by drifting, living mounds.
Pictures: @helen_walne
#greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject #kelp #ocean #natureconnection #biodiversity
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, directed by Oscar winner and Sea Change Project’s Pippa Ehrlich (@the_rewilding), is now screening on Netflix. This touching documentary follows the progress of a rescued pangolin from baby to adulthood, and the human who tirelessly guides him to freedom. The New York Times has described the film as ‘so sweet and soothing that you’ll be forced to admit that sometimes the universe — or in this case Netflix — gives you exactly what you need’.
@africanpangolinconservation @pangolincrisis and @johannesburgwildlifevet are passionately working to ensure pangolins do not disappear from our planet. See our bio to learn how you can help.
@johannesburgwildlifevet @pangolincrisis @africanpangolinconservation @maverick_gareth @funnykerk @africa_alive @netflix @lapalala_wilderness
In his latest book, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World, Craig takes readers into Mother Nature’s blue heart, tracking animals that live in the Great African Seaforest and yearning to know their secrets. ‘There is no better feeling than to be in dialogue with the wild, to be able to speak the oldest language on earth,’ he says. Here, a patchwork cuttlefish invites Craig into its world, shapeshifting in colour and texture, its ancient mind a beautiful mystery.
Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World, published by HarperCollins, is now available in soft-cover.
