Two people who know this better than anyone were recently at ETH to give the Global Lecture Go Below: On National Geographic Assignment with David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes – Exploring Our Seas.

David is an artist who began taking pictures underwater at 12, Jennifer is an aquatic biologist and photojournalist specialising in natural history and marine environments. Together, they have become two of the world’s renowned underwater photographers, co-producing stories for National Geographic Magazine and supporting the future of ocean sciences.

The series of films and photos they presented were always artistically beautiful, but often hard to watch: dead and deserted coral reefs; infant harp seals starving on unstable ice floes.

While their work focuses on the changing ocean and the effect on its inhabitants, it does so with a neutral touch. Instead of seeking to place blame for the destruction of reef ecosystems and the extinction of animals, instead of lecturing at sceptics who may seem more interested in exploiting nature for profit, David and Jennifer “just show what’s happening. That’s what gets you into the corporate bubble. Bring all the voices to the story – even those you might not be comfortable with,” says Jennifer.

Jürg Brunnschweiler, Chief of Staff to the President of ETH Zurich, has been an independent shark researcher for the past 20 years. He agreed with Jennifer’s statement: “You protect what you love, so you make them love it, show the beauty, document the state of the world, show what’s happening. That changes the story – seeing is understanding.”

Along with the bad news, some of the presented projects were laced with welcome optimism. The ReShark coalition, for example, launched in 2020 by the Seattle Aquarium, is working internationally to reintroduce sharks to marine areas where their disappearance has caused entire ecosystems to collapse, as sharks and rays are vanishing at an alarming rate due to fishing and habitat loss. This coalition is devoted to changing the story and “resharking” the ocean.

There has already been recorded success, with eggs laid by Indo-Pacific leopard sharks in the SEA LiFE Sydney Aquarium and brought to a shark nursery in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. There, the project follows the sharks from embryo to tank to water pen to marine protected area, tagging them and keeping track of them as they are returned to their habitats. The aim is to apply this programme to all kinds of species, starting with these sharks. This is community-based conservation, focusing on in-depth collaboration with local scientists – it’s not about “us” bringing help to “them”. And ReShark’s work is continuing in other places around the world, with new eggs, new locations and new species to recover.

Then we are reminded that half of the Great Barrier Reef is now bleached to death due to warmer water temperatures. Coral polyps are finding it much harder to attract algae, which populates the coral under the right temperatures and feeds its inhabitants. David’s collection of photographs, “Coral through the lens of time”, show before and after shots of reefs – from colourful ecosystems to white, lifeless coral.

But here too there is hope, in the form of the coral ecologist and Director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre at Southern Cross University, Peter Harrison, who is working on farming out coral reef reproduction. His project collects coral polyp spawn from healthy reefs, transporting them to sea pens where they are incorporated into blankets, which then cover reefs that have been decimated, introducing the spawn where it’s needed. An image of the spawn shooting up from the polyps looks like underwater snow going in the wrong direction.

Images from David’s 2021 photo book “Two Worlds: Above and Below the Sea” explore the border between the ocean’s surface and the space just under the water. Shot with an underwater wide angle lens covered by a large dome, the images are lit only underwater, leaving the surface light ambient. The resulting photographs are stunning, even as they highlight the need for environmental conservation.

During the panel discussion, Jürg highlighted the importance of citizen scientists who take and share photographs of life under water. A Fiji conservation project that Jürg is part of has traced sharks over the years using videos, photos and tracking devices – which offer collected data on birth, feeding an reproduction. Citizen science has created a relationship between scientists and photographers, who can provide imagery that includes positive information, which may inspire others to keep working and supporting projects that aim to bring the ocean back to life everywhere.

Jennifer expanded on this: “What’s important for our future is combining forces, supporting other people, the next generation, because they will be substantial in solving future problems. We want to give the future a voice, inspire those starting out. We have talked for a lifetime and published stories for a lifetime. It’s time to push other people forward … to give them a platform.”

Watch the full recording:

Find out more about our ETH Global Lecture Series here.

​​The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global roadmap for creating a more peaceful and just world by 2030. These goals unite all UN member states in addressing pressing challenges, blending poverty reduction and sustainable development into a single, comprehensive agenda. 

But often, the SDGs are viewed as being too abstract and theoretical. It’s not the shortage of knowledge that poses a threat to sustainable development; instead, it’s the shortfall in taking meaningful actions.

The exhibition

The “Open Your Eyes” festival aims to portray each SDG in a way that is understandable to the public while creating a sense of urgency and action. The exhibition comprises 17 “theme islands” – one for each SDG. For each island, one to three photographers present their work corresponding to the issue addressed by the SDG. For example, SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) features the series “Plastic Predicament” by Randy Olson. Plastic waste, once convenient, now overwhelms the planet, with humans ingesting microplastics equivalent to a credit card’s size each week. Randy’s photographs were taken in developing countries such as Bangladesh, where mismanaged plastic waste reaches 80 percent and people are often forced to live on a plastic layer.

The role of ETH Zürich

While the photographs are meant to capture and move the audience, their task isn’t to provide guidance for action. ETH Zürich was selected as scientific partner of the exhibition to provide concrete action-oriented examples of research, projects, initiatives, and spin-offs that are contributing towards the SDG. In the example of SDG 6, the spin-off Oxyle is portrayed, a universal treatment for removing micropollutants from water. As project team members involved in the preparations of the very first Open Your Eyes exhibition, we have diligently endeavored to ignite the flame of hope and to illuminate the pathways toward potential progress. We have also strived to elucidate the tools at our disposal, enabling us to achieve our aspirations related with the SDGs. ETH Zürich is therefore providing tangible solutions that strive to overcome obstacles in the way of sustainable development.

The visitor experience

Working at the General-Guisan-Quai visitor center, we have a unique opportunity to connect with visitors. Many are both captivated and troubled by the pressing challenges our world faces, often feeling overwhelmed by the images they encounter. The contrast between Gerd Ludwig’s work The Long Shadow of Chernobyl” and Jérôme Gence’s “I Love a Hologram”, both exhibitions are located next to the center, amplifies the global spectrum of human realities and leaves an especially deep mark and a certain confusion on many. Let us draw motivation from our growing awareness of the world’s challenges, dedicating our professional and personal resources and time to address these immense issues. We each constitute a vital part within the intricate machinery of our society, contributing our part to the solution. This thought-provoking exhibition echoes its motto: Stop. Think. Feel. Act.

This remarkable event is shown in Zurich as an open-​air exhibition from September 8th to October 15th, 2023. More information can be found here. All ETH Zürich contributions can be found here.