Founded in 2003 by the deep sea researcher Onno Groß and a small group of ocean enthusiasts, the marine conservation organization DEEPWAVE from Hamburg, Germany, set off to give a voice to the ocean. Since then, we have initiated several projects regionally and internationally:
1. We were one of the first organizations to raise awareness for the plastic problem in our oceans. We organized clean-ups for hands-on activism and with our BLUE STRAW campaign we contributed to the outcry that led to the EU ban on single-use plastics.
2. In connection with our reforestation project MANGREEN in Tamil Nadu, together with our Indian partner Omcar we anchored coastal protection awareness among the locals by initiating seminars for fishermen and schools, and by providing women’s projects.
3. Yearly, we organize the “DEEPWAVE Filmfestival zum Schutz der Meere” (film festival for the protection of the oceans) in Hamburg, with international short films. We invite researchers, artists, campaigners, and filmmakers to discuss problems and, above all, solutions on stage, and connect them to young ocean enthusiasts and students.
4. Our ocean primer “Our Blue Planet – yesterday – today – tomorrow” explains the complex problems our home has to deal with through detailed illustrations and age-appropriate texts, encouraging action and offering an optimistic perspective.
5. As part of an NGO network, DEEPWAVE has addressed a demand paper called “Meeresoffensive” (marine offensive) to policymakers, which was and still is a decisive impulse for the current maritime policy of the German government (the first maritime policy worthy of the name). To enable everyone to understand the processes of political decision-making and act on it, we are working on a detailed interactive commentary.
6. By talking publicly about possible solutions to the core problems in podcasts, German UN Ocean Decade events, or artistic contexts, we empower people to follow our lead and integrate ocean protection into their very own lives.
7. With our cooperation partner, the NGO Montemero in southern Spain, we have launched the Applied Consilience project, in which people with a wide range of expertise come together in special projects to develop concrete and scalable solutions to specific, urgent key issues.
“Every day, with every square mile protected area, every time we forego eating fish and with every bit of plastic waste avoided, we can conserve the oceans and our planet.
And through every questioning and every active participation in ocean conservation, we move one step closer to our destiny of harmony on Earth.”
Onno Groß, founder of DEEPWAVE.