Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine
A PBS Nova documentary on the rapidly warming Gulf of Maine.
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Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine is a three-part, one-hour documentary series that aired on PBS Nova in 2024, with its national premiere on July 24. Written and directed by Chun-Wei Yi and Stella Cha, the project was conceived and produced by National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry. The series focuses on the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine—a rate 97 percent faster than the global ocean average—and explores what this means for the region’s marine species, the livelihoods that depend on the ecosystem, and the millions of residents along its coast.
Blending scientific research, exploration, natural history, and personal stories, the documentary highlights the wildlife and wilderness of the Gulf while profiling a range of people—scientists, Native Americans, fishers, and entrepreneurs—who are working to understand the Gulf’s past and the ocean’s broader role in human life. A companion six-episode digital series, created by Indigenous filmmakers in collaboration with Vision Maker Media and NOVA, will address climate issues and highlight solutions within Native communities across North America, aiming to foster awareness and inspire action.
Production & Creative Vision
Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine arrived on American television on July 24, 2024, as a three-part documentary series under the PBS Nova banner. Each episode runs a full hour, giving the filmmakers ample room to explore their subject with depth rather than surface-level treatment.
The series was written and directed by Chun-Wei Yi and Stella Cha, a duo who shaped the on-screen narrative from script through final cut. Behind the creative framework sits Brian Skerry, a National Geographic photographer who served as concept creator and producer, lending the project the visual storytelling sensibility he is known for in his long career documenting the natural world. The combination of a photographic legacy with a documentary filmmaking team gave the series a distinctive visual and narrative identity, positioning it within the Nova tradition of making complex environmental science accessible to a broad national audience.
The Science at the Center
The documentary's central finding is striking: the Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate 97 percent faster than the global ocean average. Sea Change uses this statistic as its anchor, then peels back the layers to show what such accelerated heating means in practice.
The series examines how shifting water temperatures ripple through the local marine ecosystem, threatening the species that have thrived in these waters for generations. Beyond the biology, the film traces the economic consequences for communities whose livelihoods—fishing, aquaculture, and other ecosystem-dependent jobs—depend on a stable marine environment. Millions of residents who call the Gulf's coastline home are also drawn into the narrative, underscoring that this is not merely a remote ecological story but a lived, regional reality with far-reaching social dimensions.
Weaving Science with Human Story
Rather than presenting the Gulf of Maine as a sterile data set, Sea Change deliberately braids together multiple narrative threads. Science, exploration, natural history, and personal human experience are interwoven to paint a fuller picture of what is changing and why it matters.
Viewers are given a window into the extraordinary wilderness and wildlife that continue to flourish in these waters, grounding the urgency in beauty. Equally important is the cast of people the series profiles: scientists conducting field research, Native American community members sharing ancestral knowledge, fishers navigating uncertain seasons, and entrepreneurs seeking new ways to engage with the ocean. Through these varied voices, the filmmakers work to reveal the layered history of the Gulf and to articulate how the ocean touches every one of our lives, framing a regional story as one with potential global implications.
Extending the Conversation Through Indigenous Filmmaking
The impact of Sea Change reaches well beyond its three television episodes. In partnership with Vision Maker Media and NOVA, the project also spawned a six-episode digital series created by indigenous filmmakers. This companion series broadens the lens from the Gulf of Maine to native communities across North America, highlighting the climate challenges they face and, crucially, the solutions they are developing.
The collaboration positions indigenous creators not as subjects being documented but as authors shaping the narrative, a meaningful shift in how environmental storytelling is produced. The stated goal is twofold: to raise public awareness about climate issues affecting these communities and to inspire tangible, positive change. By extending the Sea Change brand into this digital, indigenous-led format, the project creates a wider ecosystem of storytelling that complements and amplifies the original documentary's message.
More in Nova episodes
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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