The 5 Oceans Connective expedition project links fascinating stories of life in all five oceans through one powerful, charismatic marine creature, the sea star. Between July 2024 to February 2025, the project team successfully explored underwater on scuba with a focus on photographing certain powerful sea stars in all the world's oceans and off all seven continents within seven months. The 5 Oceans Connective was awarded Explorer's Club flag 240 to carry and fly proudly throughout the expedition project. The search and documentation of the stars has achieved a greater understanding of remote areas underwater, but also is leading toward telling bigger stories of the ecosystems that the stars influence.
With your donations and support, the project is continuing into its second and third phase where the imagery and stories are processed and shared in a variety of outlets worldwide through print articles, video presentations, a variety of lectures in a range of forums, children's learning aids, and ultimately a book highlighting the conservation stories in each of the star's unique ecosystems. The project's primary mission has always been to donate these resources including the books for education and conservation beginning in remote areas such as communities in the High Canadian Arctic.
The expedition project began dramatically in July 2024, exploring in several locations beginning with a journey from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, through the Northwest Passage, to Alaska, USA. It then continued to explore in Hawaii, USA, Morocco, Gibraltar, Australia, the Philippines, the Antarctic Peninsula, then South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands, finishing in February 2025.
Benthic ecosystems play a critical role in ocean food webs and sea stars are ecosystem engineers that thrive in all five oceans, playing a wide variety of important roles, but whose stories are often cut-short in wide-scale dissemination. The expedition project is opening dialogues about all five oceans by making and sharing stunning underwater photo and video stories helping people make a strong connection with the ecosystems sea stars inhabit and other species they interact with and influence.