Int. OCEAN FILM TOUR Volume 2 - Magazine by Moving Adventures

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OCEAN I

ADVENTURE CROSSING THE OCEAN IN A ROWING BOAT: AND THEN WE SWAM ACTION ATTRACTIVE DISTRACTIONS and STORM CHASE OCEAN LIFE TREASURE CHAMBER OCEAN: (R)EVOLUTION and THE CRYSTAL LABYRINTH INTERNATIONAL OCEAN FILM TOUR VOLUME 2

HARLE Y INGLEBY Photo by: Harley Ingleby

OVER

ACCESSORIES + APP & SOFTWARE

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EDITORIAL

Cover Photo: Albee Layer by Daniel Norkunas; Photo: Veruschka Matchett

COME ALONG, OCEAN LOVERS Take a deep breath and then everything goes still. Down here you are floating. Your movements adjust to a different medium. Beyond the wind and the waves we are guests in a silent world full of life, and even if we can’t breathe underwater, we are able to breathe above the surface only with the help of the ocean. “Half of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the ocean,” explains marine biologist Rob Stewart. In a barrage of breathtaking images, his film (R)EVOLUTION illustrates how closely our future is tied to the world’s oceans. The International OCEAN FILM TOUR is back with Volume 2, a visually fascinating look at the many faces of the ocean where waves the size of buildings push the surf elite to their absolute limits; two Brits test their strength and will power on a 3,500-mile journey across the Indian Ocean; and the best windsurfers of the world push the boundaries of what’s possible in a perfect storm. Hold your breath and come along, ocean lovers ... For all information, tour dates and tickets go to www.oceanfilmtour.com

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PROGRAM

TALES OF WATER, WIND AND WAVES

The big blue challenges us in many ways: long-distance open sea adventures, short sprints on the surf board, wakeboard freestyling and new heights in windsurfing. The International OCEAN FILM TOUR Volume 2 shows us six ways to see the sea: Not only the most exciting water sports but also the fantastic world underneath the surface that we need to protect. After all, we need the ocean more than it needs us.

and then we swam Men overboard

When rowers go swimming it‘s mostly because something has gone horribly wrong. AND THEN WE SWAM is the story of two total beginners. With no rowing experience or navigation skills, two Brits, James Adair and Ben Stenning, set off to cross the Indian Ocean from Australia to Mauritius. 3,500 miles across the water, it is an open sea adventure on which both of them quite literally jump in at the deep end.

attractive D istractions The ocean is calling and we must go

When we want to distract ourselves there is indeed an ocean of possibilities at our disposal, particularly for the surfers among us. ATTRACTIVE DISTRACTIONS is a tour de force of surfing that features professional surfers Albee Layer, Matt Meola and John John Florence tucking into perfect long barrels in Indo, performing the most elegant water ballet off the coast of Australia and going big in Hawaii. If you dare to paddle out at “Jaws”, the mother of all waves will most certainly demand your undivided attention. Distraction impossible.

the crystal labyrinth

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Photos: James Adair, Take Shelter Productions, Reel Water Productions

Cave diving in the Bahamas

Cave diving is like traveling 350,000 years back in time. That is how old Dan’s Cave and Ralph’s Cave are on the Bahamian island of Abaco, where Brian Kakuk and Brett Hemphill seem to discover something new every time they go below the surface: gigantic caverns the size of baseball stadiums, delicate sandstone sculptures and glittery underwater grottos. The two divers methodically make their way deeper and deeper into the unknown passages of this vast aquatic labyrinth, all of which is leading them to the conclusion that the two systems are in fact connected. The question is where the connection lies.

PROGRAM

P rime

Taking flight with the wakeboard If you like speed but can’t decide between water and air, wakeboarding gives you the best of both worlds: powerful head winds, loads of air time and waves serving as kickers for the next trick. PRIME features the best wakeboarders in the world showing you what they’re made of in the air and on the water.

R ed B ull storm chase

Photos: BFY Action Productions, Red Bull Content Pool, Rob Stewart

Windsurfing on the edge

For windsurfers, riding the storm of the century is akin to winning the lottery: When 60-mph winds blast across the ocean, only the best wind sailors in the world venture out on their boards. Winter storms are not for the faint-hearted: Huge waves, heavy gusts and no place to hide from the forces of nature. Leading athletes Thomas Traversa (FR), Marcilio Browne (BRA), Leon Jamaer and Dany Bruch (GER) chase for the best storms and the best waves off Ireland, Cornwall and Tasmania.

( R ) E volution

Award-winning environmental documentary According to estimates from the United Nations, worldwide fish populations will be exhausted by the year 2048. What will be the consequences and how can we stop it? Canadian marine biologist and environmental activist Rob Stewart looks for answers. His mission is clear: “Change starts with education. If people know about the scale of current environmental destruction they will make better decisions.” The film is a powerful visual appeal to protect our oceans and thus protect ourselves.

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( R ) evolution

T he R evolution S tarts in Y our M ind

SELECTED BY

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Photos: Rob Stewart

( R ) evolution

Environmental activist and marine biologist Rob Stewart’s successful documentary Sharkwater was an indictment of the shark-finning industry. His new film, (R)EVOLUTION, endeavors to paint the big picture: As the ocean goes, so goes the planet.

“ I f we educate people , they ’ ll do the right thing .” Rob Stewart

”What is the point in saving the sharks if, according to the United Nations, worldwide fish populations will be exhausted by 2048 anyway?” This question from a young viewer at one of his film premiers left Rob Stewart dumbfounded. The Canadian marine biologist and environmental activist had just presented his award-winning documentary SHARKWATER at a Hong Kong event, but was now standing on stage, lost for words, despite his consistent ability to eloquently argue his case. One could even phrase the question more concisely: What is the point of protecting one species if the entire ocean is on the edge of collapse? The question that left him speechless that evening wouldn’t stop haunting him and ended up inspiring a whole new research on the subject of ocean protection, all of which resulted in a follow-up documentary: (R)EVOLUTION. The word ”revolution” was a deliberate choice for the title—a call to action given current levels of global environmental destruction, but also a symbol of defiance. Indeed, the word itself nearly brought the film project to its knees.

When Stewart stepped up to the podium in Ottawa for a speech at Canada’s largest-ever environmental demonstration, he said, ”We don’t need political-environmental regulations. We need a revolution.” This statement cost Stewart roughly 4.8 million dollars. Sponsors and financiers of his new film project pulled out. From the 5 million dollars committed to the project he was left with 150,000 dollars to make his movie. He bought two cameras and a couple of plane tickets and traveled around the globe for one year, talking to climate experts, activists and economists. After 12 months the film footage was captured, and Stewart had found a number of answers to the original question that had inspired his trip in the first place. It is not just overfishing that requires an turnaround in our consumption behavior. Increased levels of hazardous emissions, deforestation, the extraction of fossil fuels, over population—the Western world sees itself as having grasped the subject, but is our degree of understanding and knowledge really up-todate?

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( r ) evolution

We will be confronted with catastrophes and resource shortages of an unseen magnitude far earlier than we all think. What we are destroying, beyond natural wonders such as coral reefs and the species diversity of tropical rainforests, is the very foundation upon which our lives are based. Rob Stewart is not promoting violent revolution. He wants a revolution of the mind that will forge a path to fundamental and rapid change. Stewart sees it as the only way to make morally correct decisions in the future. Amid gloomy prognoses, he has found a ray of hope: ”I learn a lot from children,” says

Stewart. ”They aren’t affected by our system yet. They don’t have mortgages or cars. When children see an endangered species, they ask, ”OK, what do we need to do?” Increasing numbers of youth are getting involved in environmental activism, organizing themselves in social networks and developing new approaches to solutions. The most important thing is perhaps that they aren’t afraid to ask uncomfortable questions. Questions like the one from the young woman in Hong Kong. Stewart knows from experience that questions like this can trigger an entire revolution.

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Photos: Rob Stewart

Rob Stewart was born in 1979 in Toronto, Canada. As a young boy he was interested in the ocean and its inhabitants. By his own recollection he was a “pudgy fish nerd”. While doing his degree in biology, Stewart worked as a photographer for the Canadian Wildlife Federation and made his first film about the shark-finning industry. SHARKWATER and (R)EVOLUTION garnered a number of awards. (R)EVOLUTION is his second film.

(R)EVOLUTION

“THE OCEAN DOESN’T NEED US —BUT WE NEED IT” An interview with GEO reporter Lars Abromeit

The documentary (R)EVOLUTION makes it clear as day: Increasing amounts of garbage are burdening our oceans, and climate change is raising acid levels in the water. How do you see these problems? Which one is worse? Abromeit: They can’t be weighed against each other. Both problems are important and pressing—and unfortunately very precarious. We can’t see hyperacidity with the naked eye, and garbage in the ocean consists primarily of microscopic slivers. To understand the magnitude of these burdens we have to take a closer look at the problems. I went on an expedition with scientists to the Fjordland in Patagonia to study hyperacidity. There are coral types which have managed to adjust to increasingly acidic seawater. On another expedition we researched the proliferation of microplastics and found large amounts of it hundreds of miles from any coastline. The difficult thing about it is that neither climate change nor the amount of garbage can be regulated by individual nations. The oceans span the globe and they need global solutions.

Protecting the ocean is not being treated as the most pressing topic in environmental protection. Why is that? We often think that the ocean is so big that it can handle whatever we throw at it. But we really have no idea what is going on down there. In the deep sea, which is about 90 percent of the oceans, we have researched less than one percent of the ocean floor. Scientists have only begun to realize the scale of the unknown in our oceans. Is it possible that self-healing properties slumber in the ocean’s depth that we know nothing about at this point? We hope so, of course. But findings indicate that we greatly overestimated the self-healing powers of the ocean. Still, it’s not too late to change this mindset. In marine refuges we see how fast fish and other animals recover their populations when given the chance. At this point, however, only three percent of the oceans are protected. If we act now and expand these marine parks, calculate the environmental costs of our actions into economic assessments, and come to terms with how important the oceans are for us, then we can make dramatic change.

Photo: Lars Abromeit

Why is there often such a lack of political will to protect the ocean? Many politicians are simply shortsighted. They want to get re-elected. But environmental changes, particularly in the ocean, will affect multiple generations in the future. We have to understand that the fate of our children and their children is inherently connected to the oceans. I think (R)EVOLUTION addresses the subject very effectively. The ocean doesn’t need us. That has been proven over millions of years. But we need the ocean as a source of food, new medicaments and oxygen. At least 50 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by plants in the ocean. When the oceans die, so do we. That should be enough to get us to work together on this.

What is your biggest concern for you as a GEO reporter and ocean expert? In my work I try to make the general public more aware of the problems we face in our oceans and at the same time show them the rich diversity of life in those oceans. I want to get people excited about it and show them how much is at stake. For me personally it's a revelation and an unbelievable adventure to dive into this aquatic world, each time I go down there.

Lars Abromeit, 40, is an ocean expert and reporter who has accompanied scientists for years across the world’s oceans, exploring the most remote coral reefs, discovering bizarre deep-sea creatures and studying the icy expanse of Antarctica. He has won a number of prizes including the Henri Nannen Award. In collaboration with photographer Solving Zankl, Abromeit published the book “Ozeane – Expedition in unerforschte Tiefen” (Frederking & Thaler Verlag).

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attractive distractions

FROM THE SNOW ONTO THE WAVE 10

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Photos: Take Shelter Productions

Dan Norkunas was born in Brazil, lived on the East Coast of the United States for a long time and started out filming for ski film productions before launching his surf film career on Maui. In 2014, Dan founded the production company Take Shelter together with professional surfer Albee Layer. Attractive Distractions is their spectacular debut.

A ttractive D istractions

Dan, you and Albee Layer founded Take Shelter Productions with the vision of making surfing films from surfers for surfers. How did you meet? Dan Norkunas: We met through professional surfer Matt Meola. When I moved from Northern Oregon to Maui about five years ago, someone I knew told me about a surf film project, which I was hired for in the end. That’s how I met Matt Meola who later introduced me to Albee. We became friends, and when Albee started winning more and more competitions and received more sponsoring, he started thinking about his own production company. He decided to pay me out of his own pocket, which was when we founded Take Shelter. How did you start filming? That happened quite naturally. We used to go skiing a lot, built ramps and did jumps. We wanted to film each other, so I bought a camera and started shooting short films. Maybe I was more interested in photography than my friends, so I found out more about the camera and taught myself a lot. This led to a career as a ski film maker, which ended when I moved South.

Was the switch from snow to waves a big adjustment for you? Not really, no. I surfed a lot in my twenties, so I have a practical understanding of the sport. I’ve made many ski films, which means I’m familiar with action sports and automatically understand the process. The most difficult part of producing a surf film is not the filming itself, but convincing the right athletes, the preparations, and most of all finding waves. That’s difficult to plan. Good waves are even harder to find than good snow. That’s the world of surfing: studying weather charts for days. Capturing the action on film is actually a piece of cake in comparison. (laughs) What was the best day in the 10 months of shooting Attractive Distractions? For Attractive Distractions we took a chance and flew to South Australia. No matter at which break we went into the water there—people kept telling us about shark attacks. But that wasn’t the main problem. Our biggest worry was the calm: we had time for three days of filming, but there were absolutely no waves on the first two. Then on the third day we were finally able to film, even though I always had a queasy feeling when I sent the guys into the water. But that was the best day. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

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ocean lover

RESTUBE A buoyant idea

Necessity is the mother of invention: when Christopher Fuhrhop’s kite bursts off the French Atlantic coast, the idea for his future company is born. Together with fellow student Marius Kunkis he develops the Restube, a safety backup for all water sports enthusiasts. The idea is quite simple: additional buoyancy ensures a higher level of safety in the water. In an emergency, the Restube is inflated with the help of a gas cartridge when a trigger is pulled. Since its invention three years ago, it has saved several lives. For more information visit www.restube.eu

P ure S urfcamps Holidays for surfers and aspiring talents

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Photos: Restube, PURE Surfcamps

Moliets has it all: great surfing, parties, shopping and summer feeling on the beach! There’s always something on in Moliets, and you can party in one of the countless surfer bars. Our camp is only 500 meters from the beach—perfect for relaxing and surfing! To find out more about Pure Surfcamps, visit www.puresurfcamps.com. With the International OCEAN FILM TOUR you can win a stay at the Pure Surfcamp Moliets. To enter just visit www.oceanfilmtour.com/puresurfcamp

ocean lover

T he Y es M uscle

Official Keen Ambassador Dave Cornthwaite Dave Cornthwaite is what you would call a modern-day adventurer. He does not have a fixed abode, but his laptop is always close at hand. He shares his adventures with others via Twitter and YouTube, and when he gets lost on the way, he sends up his drone to get an overview. ”For me, documenting my journeys and sharing the stories along the way, heightens the experience,” Dave says. So how do you become an adventurer? ”I have a pretty strong ’yes muscle’,” Dave laughs. His journey toward adventure begins on the morning of his 25th birthday, when he wakes up and suddenly realizes that he is completely depressed. ”I had a job, a house, a longterm relationship and yet I was miserable. When I realized that, I started looking around for things I actually enjoyed.” Dave buys a longboard. Two weeks later he quits his job and decides to skate further than anyone has ever skated before. He crosses Australia on his longboard. It’s not the best

place for a redheaded, pale Englishman, but he sees it through. An entry in the Guinness Book of World Records, a book contract, and his long-distance project Expedition 1000 is born. Dave follows his ideas or simply his feet. ”Follow your feet” is an attitude for Dave, which as a KEEN Ambassador he lives for every day: during the last ten years, Dave completed eleven unmotorized adventures, each more than 1000 miles long. In 2012 he swims the length of the Missouri River to its mouth (3,203,200 strokes), in 2014 he navigates the fjords and lakes of Scandinavia with a Hobie kayak. With his project ”Sayyesmore” Dave wants to inspire others to follow their feet themselves and to say ”yes” more. It doesn't need to be a 1000 mile adventure. In Dave’s opinion, you don’t need a lot of courage for an adventure like that. ”It takes a lot more courage to be yourself in a world that more and more is encouraging everybody to be very similar.”

Photo: Leif Rosas

For more information about Dave and KEEN visit www.davecornthwaite.com and www.keenfootwear.com

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T H E C RYS TA L L A BY R I N T H

stone for geologists to determine the age of the caves. In addition to other artifacts found in the caverns, the oldest specimens collected with archaeologists were over 10,000 years old. The question of whether there is a connection between the two cave systems is just one of many that occupy Kakuk’s mind. ”The Bahamas have a great diversity of creatures that have adjusted to life in the caves. We constantly discover new species, even if they are just a few millimeters in size.” It’s only with the help of powerful lamps that you can admire the beauty of this underwater world and grasp its bewildering dimensions. According to Brian, one of the largest known caverns is over 120 meters long and 40 meters wide. ”We named it Wrigley Field after the baseball stadium in Chicago. When you’re in there it feels a bit like being on the moon.” The labyrinth of caves stretches over kilometers and has three levels at 24, 30 and 47 meters below the surface. It is not easy to find the connections between the different layers either. Dan’s and Ralph’s Caves overlap, but on different

TIME CAPSULES UNDER THE SEA 14

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Photos: Reel Water Productions

”PLEASE STOP UNLESS CAVE TRAINED. WE CARE!” The warning sign at the entrance to Dan’s Cave in the Bahamas sends a clear message. If you want to go in, you need experience diving in caves. But who cares? In this case it’s Brian Kakuk who put the sign up, one of the most experienced cave divers in the world. The former Navy diver has lived in the Bahamas since 1988 and his diving school, Bahamas Underground, teaches courses for advanced cave diving. The underwater caverns of Abaco are his second home. ”It is a very delicate environment,” explains Kakuk. ”We don’t want unqualified or inexperienced divers to just go wandering in there.” The fragile sandstone formations in Dan’s and Ralph’s Caves were formed over a period of 350,000 years and it’s assumed that they were once above sea level. For Brian the caves are like an open book with something new to read every time he goes in. ”They are a living time capsule in which the water preserves all of the artifacts.” Having worked here with a long list of scientists from a wide range of disciplines, Kakuk has collected enough samples of the

T H E C RYS TA L L A BY R I N T H

”floors”, and as long as no opening has been found that connects one level to the other, the systems don’t count as being linked. Not losing your bearings in here is an art in and of itself. ”When we advance into unknown parts of the cave we make notes on the way back of the most important distances and branches. It helps us draw a rough map,” says Brian. The ”guide line” the divers pull along with them is the only way to find the exit, and the markings they fasten to the line provide information about whether they went left or right at various junctions in the labyrinth. Brian knows his life depends on these thin lines—even more so than on the lights, which provide him with at least a modicum of orientation inside the caves. ”Without the guide line the whole thing would be impossible, especially on the discovery dives. On the way in we typically have the best lighting conditions. On the way back it is trickier because our bubbles stir up the sediment and all of a sudden you can’t even see your hand in front of your face.

The lamps are rendered useless then.” At this point it’s all about keeping your cool. Cave diving requires not only superb control of the equipment but also high levels of concentration and self-control, but if you’ve managed to master these challenges a fascinating new world opens up before your eyes. It is dangerous and incredibly tricky but also matchless on the planet. For Brian, an experienced cave diver, the caverns of Abaco are the most beautiful he’s ever seen. ”I have been diving nearly every day in either Dan’s or Ralph’s Caves for the last 11 years and I am overwhelmed by their beauty on a regular basis. There is an amazing sense of tranquility in this environment and when you float in weightlessness in the middle of this absolutely gigantic space, surrounded by fantastic crystal formations that look like they are made of delicate glass, then any stress and tension you had vanishes in an instant. That is of course what drives me to continue exploring: the possibility of discovering more of these unbelievable places.”

For more information on Brian Kakuk and his diving school go to www.bahamasunderground.com

Diver Brian kakuk has been exploring underwater caves in the Bahamas for 11 years now. In the interview he explains his fascination with these extraordinary locations where every dive is like traveling back in time.

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T H E C RYS TA L L A BY R I N T H

FOUR QUESTIONS TO BECKY KAGAN SCHOTT The woman behind the camera

How much equipment did you have with you in the cave? We took up to five bottles, which we carried along the sides of our bodies because there are some very narrow parts in the cave. That’s why we couldn’t use a rebreather, which would have enabled us to stay down for six to eight hours. The camera was the bulkiest piece of equipment, though: a Red Epic Dragon with a large underwater housing. What is the greatest challenge when filming under water? My biggest worry is always that the lamps could break. I cannot film without light. I had up to six people with me whose only task was lighting. We used 200-watt lamps, which were just as big as our compressed-air bottles. But if you film with a resolution of 6k, you need lots of light. Were you ever scared during the shoot? There was a moment when I was really scared for the first time in 16 years—that’s how long I’ve been doing this job.

Brian wanted to explore a gap in the floor—and just didn’t reappear. Time was running out. We were more than seven kilometers from the exit. So Brett and I had to swim back by ourselves. The problem was that I had completely lost my bearing while filming. That usually doesn’t happen to me, and I’ve always been very proud of that, but this time… I had assumed that Brian would lead us back to the exit, and I couldn’t remember whether we had turned right or left at the 15 different junctions. Luckily Brett had paid close attention to the markers, and so we safely reached our goal. Brian followed us a little later. What is the biggest advantage you have as a woman in cave diving? I’m quite petite, so I need less air, and I can squeeze through small openings quite easily. And no matter how heavy my camera equipment is on land, I can move it with one finger under water.

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Photo: Liquid Productions

Becky Kagan Schott is an underwater camerawoman and photographer. She has received an Emmy and other awards for her work. She regularly twitters about her film projects via @BeckyKagan.

RED BULL STORM CHASE

RIDERS OF THE STORM

Photos: Red Bull Content Pool

When the winds hit force 10, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s windsurfing elite goes hunting. In the race to become the best storm chaser, a young man from kiel, Germany, is the dark horse in the competition. When the wind whips over the ocean and people can barely stand on their feet on land, the best windsurfers take to the seas. In the RED BULL STORM CHASE the hunters become the hunted. Among the best storm riders in the world is 25-year-old Leon Jamaer from Kiel, Germany. He discovered windsurfing at t the age of 10, along with his brothers and quickly developped a talent and a passion for the sport. Usually Leon goes hunting for waves off the west coast of Denmark, but for the RED BULL STORM CHASE, when storms became hurricanes, Jamaer hopped on a plane to Ireland. Only surfers who can keep calm and hold their line in force

10 winds can handle these conditions. A panel of experts judge their carves and aerials, some of the athletes reaching up to 18 meters above the water when they use the wave as a kicker for acrobatic stunts. From time to time the storm gains the upper hand and rips board and sail from the competitor. Initially, Leon was on the waiting list but then he caught up to the leaders and in the final he managed to grab third place on the podium. 2014 proved to be a big year for the young athlete. With third and seventh place finishes on the World Cup Tour, the quiet kid from Kiel stormed his way into the elite of his sport.

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AND THEN WE SWAM

SINK OR SWIM Mauritius

James Adair and Ben Stenning are without a doubt the most chaotic pair to ever row across the Indian Ocean, and of course no matter how well you prepare, something will always go wrong. So when their boat capsized the two Brits had already been through a ton of trouble.

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AND THEN WE SWAM

Photos: James Adair und Ben Stenning

If James Adair hadn’t been pulled over with an expired license while talking on his mobile phone in Geraldton, Australia, who knows what would have happened. He and Ben Stenning may have stayed even longer before setting sail. Their departure had been long overdue, but that looming court date expedited the farewell. Indeed, it was the only thing they would be safe from beyond the three-mile zone. Out there the Indian Ocean loomed, an unpredictable giant that confronted them with problems that made a police hearing look like a walk in the park. The fact that Osama bin Laden’s ashes had been scattered over the same ocean bothered them about as much as any other reports they heard from the ”real world” over satellite phone. If you’re in a rowboat bobbing over waves, you tend to focus on more important things: weather reports in general and circling sharks in particular. James knew that having a shortsighted rowing partner who was too vain to wear glasses wouldn’t necessarily be a survival advantage. Still, you have to be able to ignore certain things when you’re sitting in one boat. Ben rowed that boat dutifully even

when seasickness had laid James out, and they were both responsible for dumping their most important tools overboard on the fourth day of the voyage. Not even the question of whether toilet paper was really a necessity on board ruined the friendship—James had been in favour but Ben had been against it and won the argument, something James regrets to this day. Once they were finally underway, after years of planning, it was still quite obvious that they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. There were advantages to being out on the ocean alone. Nobody was there to notice that they didn’t know which was the bow and which was the stern, nor did anyone hear their discussion about whether the soundtrack from the ”Titanic” or from ”Inception” better suited their rowing adventure. There was also nobody present to tell them ”I told you so” when the calamitous wave capsized their boat five miles off the coast of Mauritius. It wouldn’t have helped anyway. Once they were in the water surrounded by thunderous swells it was clearer than ever what had to be done: survive. But wasn’t that what they had perfected anyway after three months out?

THE SEA TAKES ITS TOLL: Three-quarters of the film footage James and Ben captured on the Indian Ocean will be forever lost to the big blue. It went down with the boat. Indeed, the sea will keep a number of secrets from that voyage to itself. The rest of the footage collected from memory chips stored in waterproof bags was edited by director Ben Finney and resulted in AND THEN WE SWAM.

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Geraldton

B oyan S lat

SWEEPING THE SEA

Dutch technology visionary Boyan Slat is only 20 years old, but he has big plans: he wants to clean up the ocean. A great plan, thinks Lars Abromeit, GEO ocean expert. Boyan Slat, born in 1994, loves diving and is fascinated by the underwater world. However, a few years ago his view of the sea changed: he can’t just continue to enjoy it quietly. He wants to free it—from human traces, from our waste. His story begins in the summer of 2010: during a dive in Greece when he was 16, the young Dutchman was shocked to see that ”there were more plastic bags than fish swimming in the water”. For a presentation at school he digs deeper, reads about trash vortices as big as Europe, about the 400 years it takes a plastic bottle to decompose in the water. And about millions and millions of seabirds, sea mammals and turtles dying of congestion every year because they swallow plastic particles. ”So why don’t we just clean up our rubbish in the oceans?” Boyan asked himself. Scientists estimate that around 140 million tons of plastic waste are floating in the oceans. Most of it, around 90 percent, is smaller than 10 millimeters. Environmental pollutants such as DDT or PCBs attach to it—and are distributed in areas a long way off the coasts, as I myself was able to observe on a scientific expedition on the Atlantic: in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, more than 250 kilometers from the shore, we found around 200 plastic fragments in a single water sample the size of a test tube.

Boyan Slat now wants to build a fleet of autonomous, floating platforms with kilometer-long barriers to catch and gather plastic waste. Fish and plankton will be able to avoid the barriers. The first pilot phase is to start as early as 2017. Experts didn’t take Boyan’s plans seriously at first; his dream was seen as ”too naive”. However, by now his Ocean Cleanup project has convinced experts and won technology awards; most critics have been won over, and more than two million Euros were collected via crowd funding. The first tests are promising. Boyan Slat now has 100 employees who work on realizing his visions. The dreamer himself has put his engineering studies on hold for the ”Ocean Cleanup”. He wanted to become an aerospace engineer, but now he dedicates himself to the blue planet instead. His commitment is an inspiration—just like the film (R)evolution it shows how much strong visions can achieve for the protection of our oceans and how digital social networks can be a catalyst for them today. The commitment of Boyan Slat’s team may also pay off financially: most of the rubbish collected is to be sold as recycling material—thus paying for the project costs (an estimated 246 million Euros).

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Photo: The Ocean Cleanup

For more information visit www.theoceancleanup.com

O C E A N A N D C U LT U R E

S ailing conductors Discovering the unheard-of

In March 2011, two sound engineers set sail with a great idea: The Sailing Conductors didn’t just want to sail back to Hamburg from the Solomon Islands, but also record musicians on their way and unite the world’s sound on tape. Equipped with microphones, a great love of adventure—and hardly any sailing experience they set sail. “We learned a lot on our journey, for example that if you set anchor during low tide, it will no longer be in place at high tide”, Benjamin a.k.a. Captain Ben Bart tells us. Also on board the 30-foot sloop “Marianne”: ship’s cook Hannes, a.k.a. Hannes Hafenklang. In ports from Bali to Bangkok, from Sri Lanka to Rio de Janeiro the two capture the sounds of different countries and fuse their recordings into something that really deserves the name “world music”. The book on the Sailing Conductor’s journey was published by Delius Klasing. To find out more, visit www.sailingconductors.com

OZEANEUM S tralsund

Photos: Sailing Conductors, Ozeaneum Stralsund

Experience the sea

Dive in without getting wet: OZEANEUM combines oceanographic exhibitions with breathtaking aquariums. The modern museum is situated on the harbor island of Stralsund and offers five interactive exhibitions and 45 impressive aquariums. In Europe’s largest Baltic Sea exhibition, visitors gain exciting insights into the habitat of gray seal and sea eagle. The 50-square-meter panoramic window of the largest tank offers a view of a 2.70-meter sand tiger shark, two nurse sharks, skates and silvery schools of mackerel. The exhibition on whales with original-size replicas of the sea giants, for example of a 26-meter blue whale, is especially impressive. This year’s motto is “Expedition Deep Sea”. To find out more, visit www.ozeaneum.de

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LAST PICTURE

BEN HOWARD Music for ocean lovers

He picks and taps and knocks and plucks… Ben Howard plays his guitar any way he possibly can in order to coax out the right sound. It’s gentle and swift, then raw and penetrating. His play is as versatile as his voice—from intimate and light to rugged and hoarse. Having grown up near the English coast, he is a passionate surfer who films his music videos along the country’s windswept shores and you can feel this proximity to the sea in his music. His song ”Esmeralda” in fact provides the perfect sonic back-

drop for the surf filmATTRACTIVE DISTRACTIONS. Since his debut album ”Every Kingdom” (Island Records, 2011), the Brit has managed to work his way into the inner circle of outstanding singer-songwriters. Before that, this accomplished guitarist only held small concerts that were sold out months in advance. At this point he is celebrated by more than just the local surf scene. And in October 2014 he released his latest album ”I Forget Where We Were” (Island Records, 2014).

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Photo: Gaelle Beri for Getty Images

To find out more about Ben Howard go to www.benhowardmusic.co.uk

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Better Places H ier B linder T e x t B lind

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