Oceans Week Wednesday starts with a journey into the world of seaweed with our 2025 Blue Generation cohort and Lonely Whale’s newest documentary, features a look into the remarkable lives of salmon, and closes with a showcase of short films from the Oceanic Global Short Film Festival.
🎬 WEDNESDAY
1:00 pm – Seaweed Stories – Screening & Panel
- Narrated by Forest Whitaker and presented by Lonely Whale in association with Re:wild, Seaweed Stories is a vibrant, global look at the wonders of seaweed, and some of the extraordinary stories and characters whose lives have been entangled by this often overlooked marine organism which may hold answers to some of humanity’s biggest challenges. Seaweed Stories includes insights from a Silicon Valley startup creating plastic alternatives from macroalgae, to the Indigenous Shinnecock Kelp Farmers using seaweed to prove their sovereign right to coastal land, and a scientist in South Korea supporting seaweeds’ sexual reproduction to create new species that can withstand the effects of a changing climate.
- A special session of our 2025 Blue Generation Program, open to the public.
5:00 pm – Ambassador Hour – Salmon
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Salmon As A Mirror — Hosted by Duncan Berry Salmon conservationist, poet and artist, and Deirdre Brennan, film maker, the audience will be taken on a whirlwind, three-stop tour of the underwater world of these beautiful land sea ambassadors, in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans they call home. Included will be a look at the past 10,000 years of co-existing with these finny creatures; a deep dive into a series of the greatest Salmon watersheds and rivers of all, where we will experience on the ground, first hand examples of what has led Salmon populations to drop to 6% of historical stocks, as well as some remarkable stories of revival and hope. And finally we will explore practical ways we can each experience a paradigm shift in our own relationship with Salmon, in order to bring them back to full abundance again .
6:30 pm – Stories from the Deep – Experience the “Wonder” of the Oceans
- A special screening of the 2025 Oceanic Global Short Film Festival winning films, followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Experience compelling short films that illuminate the ocean’s beauty, challenges, and cultural significance, while also exploring ways to get involved in ocean conservation.
- Examine the power of visual storytelling in addressing urgent ocean issues—from climate change and biodiversity loss to cultural traditions and human resilience — featuring filmmakers Devon Chivvis (moderator), Kristina Nikolova Dalio, and Ana Blanco.
- To cap the program, we’ll have a special preview the UN World Ocean Day Photography Competition with a panel of experts. Now in its tenth year—the competition is the preeminent maritime photo competition. The winners will be announced on World Oceans Day, June 8.
