BLUE Media

From stories below the waterline to campaigns for change, Blue Media works with almost every project and unit in the organisation, and alongside numerous partners and local communities worldwide. Our mission is to pursue conservation gain by connecting and informing both macro and micro audiences. We tell the stories of the ocean, 1) through national and global press editorial, 2) by innovative visual media, and 3) by activating media campaigns to drive transformative conservation. 

In 2023, our campaign influenced the UK government to make a U-turn on its position on deep-sea mining; now we are supporting Blue Legal’s action against the same government over continued overfishing in UK waters. In Jersey our petition and press work made the case for significant marine protection — and the Jersey government now proposes to close 27 per cent of the island’s waters to bottom trawling and dredging.  

In the Maldives we launched the first of our #GentleToGiants campaigns, which calls on whale-shark tour operators to abide by a code of conduct, and the public to choose those operators. Twenty-two operators signed up to the code, and the social media campaign was seen 1.2 million times. Our campaign for sustainable wildlife tours has also launched in St. Helena. 

Blue Media has produced long- and short-form films to connect audiences with ocean conservation and influence behaviour. On the south coast of England, we shot the documentary-length ‘Solent – the Oyster’s Return’.

In collaboration with a local team in Devon, we produced a documentary to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK’s first no-take zone, around Lundy Island. This includes testimony from local fishermen confirming that protection has been positive for them – a story that also emerges at the first no-take zone in Greece, where the Amorgorama campaign film is driving protection from the bottom up.  

To support Blue Marine’s largest project, the media team is also shining a light on the critical research at the heart of the Convex Seascape Survey. Films, immersive animation and the augmented reality experience of #WalkingWithWhales help to communicate the complex science that links climate mitigation with ocean health. 

In 2024, we achieved significant campaign success in reversing a threat to re-open destructive longlining in the Maldives; activated a global audience, and engaged decision-makers in South Africa, on the plight of the African Penguin; and informed and engaged the British public on three key marine asks for its new government. These campaigns were supported by impactful films and visual media and fronted by household names such as Sir Stephen Fry and ‘Black Mermaid’ Zandi Ndhlovu, the conservationist and influencer. Their stories – and the many others from our project work around the world – had a collective press editorial reach of 21.41 billion in 2024.  

Blue Media films, including the story of the community-led call for protection on Amorgos in Greece, took to the world stage at the inaugural Our Oceans Film Festival in Athens. A documentary about the success of the trans-boundary marine protected area in the Dominican Republic – made in collaboration with partners SeaLegacy, Mission Blue, Wyss Foundation, Caribbean Cetacean Society, Yachts for Science and Blue Nature Alliance – was premiered on the plenary Our Ocean stage.  

The unit continued its policy of using innovative media by adding further 360 virtual reality, which is being rolled out to schools in the UK and beyond. We also launched a hugely popular series of films in sign language to increase accessibility to our most powerful media outputs.