Unesco x The Ocean Agency

United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030

While space exploration captivates the world’s attention, our own planet’s oceans remain largely unexplored and underfunded despite their critical role in sustaining Earth’s climate, biodiversity, and resources. UNESCO challenged us to create a campaign that would spark the same level of curiosity and fascination for ocean exploration as space exploration currently has.

The excitement of discovering aliens often overshadows the incredible biodiversity and mysteries of the ocean. We recognized this insight and used it to draw attention to the urgent need for oceanic exploration with a two-part campaign.

The first part of the campaign involves publishing articles across various news outlets featuring images of bizarre and unseen oceanic organisms, claiming they were evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Once public interest peaks, UNESCO reveals the truth with the second phase of the campaign: "Aliens of the Ocean." This phase includes posters and educational content featuring the same oceanic organisms, now identified as species living in our seas.

The campaign educates the public about oceanic organisms and emphasizes how little we know about the oceans - despite their importance to our planet. The message is clear: it is ironic that we invest heavily in space exploration yet neglect the mysteries right here on Earth.