“I breathe the water and in my lungs is a marine forest, if I don’t have water, I don’t think I’d exist.” - Raquel Gaspar, Co-Founder of Ocean Alive / Nat Geo Explorer and SeaTrees project partner.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we proudly present the newest SeaTrees film: ‘Hidden Meadows: A Seagrass Story.' Dive into the extraordinary tale of Raquel Gaspar and the team at Ocean Alive who are devoted to saving local dolphins by protecting seagrass in Portugal.

Coastal ecosystems, like seagrass meadows, produce half the oxygen we breathe on a daily basis, essentially acting as the lungs and lifeline of our Ocean Planet. Yet despite these benefits, seagrass meadows are being lost at a rate of around 7% per year. That’s the equivalent of two football fields every hour.

Many thanks to Linzi Hawkins and Luke Hosty of Protect Blue, Jordan Dozzi, Patagonia, Lewis Michael Jefferies, The Marine Diaries, Raquel Gaspar, Ocean Alive, and Wild Islands for the use of their footage to help tell this incredible story.