Urban Environmentalist | Pete Malinowski

MY 25: The Ocean Between Us is an authored short film switching between memories and reality to tell an intimate story of how our ocean has changed from the perspective of multiple generations. The film follows producer and director Inka Creswell and her personal relationship with the ocean as she dives into the threats that face our ocean today and shows how much has changed in just her lifetime. From traditional fishing practices to state-of-the-art wet labs and coral restoration work, we will see how there is still time to change the fate of our ocean, and the importance of learning from different cultures and generations in the fight to conserve our ocean. It is a story of resilience, a story of hope — but ultimately a call to action for us to decide what legacy we want to leave behind for our children.

Filled with life and vibrant colors, coral reefs are some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, built by small yet amazing creatures. One quarter of our ocean’s life depends on them — and they depend on us. Coral Lights is a film in favor of ocean conservation, designed to motivate and inspire people to deepen their commitment to the natural world in hopes of creating advocates for the sea.

Cocos Island, part of a long underwater mountain ridge that connects with Galápagos — and one of a handful of marine protected areas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape — attracts enormous aggregations of endangered wildlife like sharks, turtles, and whales. However, as soon as these species exit the marine reserve during their extensive migration along underwater mountain ranges, they become vulnerable to illegal, unregulated, and unsustainable fishing practices. In an unprecedented discovery by an international group of scientists, the need to create a fully protected marine “superhighway” that connects the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Cocos Island National Park and Galápagos Marine Reserve is made clear. Their findings underscore that we have much to learn about nature, and that effective conservation transcends national boundaries.