The new series SEA CHANGE: The Gulf of Maine, A NOVA Special Presentation offers an eye-opening journey into the abundant web of life within the Gulf of Maine, one of the world’s most complex and productive marine environments. Premiering on July 24, the series sheds light on a body of water that is warming faster than 97% of the global ocean, serving as a microcosm for what’s happening to sea life, fisheries, jobs, and human culture. GBH’s Executive Producer of Lifestyle Programming Laurie Donnelly (LD) and Vice President of National Programming John Bredar (JB) told us about what’s special about the Gulf and the series. 

What makes this series different from other climate change films?
LD: It’s a unique format that weaves together, history, natural history, science, and human stories. Each episode is filled with spectacular images of natural history, revealing perhaps for the first time, a part of the Gulf’s underwater world that few have seen before. It’s a habitat for nearly 3,000 species. The series also puts a face on some of the 1.3 million people who depend on Maine’s waters for their livelihood or live on the Gulf’s shores. 

JB: Also, the theme of inclusion weaves throughout. The descendants of the first people here — the combined Tribes and First Nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy, who were nearly wiped out — are very much still here and part of the story of the Gulf. In addition to featuring Native American scientists, fishers and sea farmers, the films present Indigenous science as a way to embrace and protect the natural world as a path forward. Key editorial positions — the director/producer, producer/writer, and the director of natural history all come from diverse backgrounds. 

How did you come to be involved with this film?
JB: A big part of this for me was moving to Maine about five years ago. I realized that I was living right in the middle of a really interesting story. I started thinking that maybe there’s something to be done with it. Then I experienced an amazing coincidence. I was standing in line at a food truck in GBH’s parking lot when I recognized a former National Geographic colleague, photojournalist, and documentary film producer Brian Skerry, standing nearby. He was onsite for a radio interview, and he mentioned that he was working on a story about the Gulf of Maine. We got to talking and spinning up some enthusiasm about it. 

LD: This story resonates in a very personal way for me. I used to work for Maine Public Television and lived in Portland right by the waterfront. I watched the commercial fishing fleets come in every day. I feel a particular affinity to Maine, fishing, the waterfront, and what goes on there. 

Why is it important to include people’s stories in a science documentary?
LD: People’s stories are a critical component. Climate change can be a very intellectual issue. It’s essential to put a face on who it affects, so we featured very human people who’ve survived off the Gulf for a very long time by scalloping, clamming, or lobstering. They tell the story of how the changing waters are dramatically impacting what they’re able to do and how they are going to survive. That really lights up the series and makes it incredibly relatable.

JB: if you can’t humanize a story like this, nobody in the audience is going to recognize the importance of this issue. The human dimension is something that we that we love about these films. 

Are you hopeful that solutions can be found?
JB: The gulf has a history of unbelievably ingenious innovation. But a lot of that innovation has been rapacious, exploitative. Inventions like canned fish and fish sticks, for example, were devastating to the fishery. But I think that same sensibility of innovation is what is going to save us. I have a huge amount of hope in the innovation and creativity of local people, scientists, and scholars. The spectacular beauty of this place and the astonishing ingenuity of the people and animals to adapt is deeply inspiring. 

LD: The entrepreneurs, fishermen, and Indigenous scholars and scientists are all advocates in their own ways and they’re all solution-driven. Everybody’s rowing in the same direction and all bringing a different expertise. That gives me hope. 

Read more about the making of the film here. 

Viewers can look forward to the following episodes: 

Bounty
(Premieres Wednesday, July 24 at 10 pm)
The Gulf of Maine and its bounty was forever changed by European settlers and this episode lays bare how centuries of brilliant and often catastrophic innovation led to an unnatural extraction. Now with the Gulf warming faster than 97 percent of the global ocean, witness how people and wildlife are - or are not - adapting to rapid change. 

Peril
(Premieres Wednesday, July 31 at 10 pm)
A remote - and relatively pristine - part of the Gulf, Cashes Ledge, is a gem of unimaginable bounty. From this vantage point, scientists can investigate how the Gulf came to be, coming to see how its cold waters, unique tides, and even geologic shape power a web of more than 3,000 species ranging from microscopic plankton to massive right whales. 

Survival
(Premieres Wednesday, August 7 at 10 pm)

We are at a crossroads for the future of the Gulf of Maine and our global oceans. Whether it is Indigenous scholars providing conservation leadership, scientists tracking the latest developments, or entrepreneurs finding new ways to make a living from the sea, people are charting a new course in these changing waters. 

SEA CHANGE will be accompanied by a six-part short-form digital series produced by Indigenous filmmakers in collaboration with Vision Maker Media and NOVA, focused on climate issues and solutions in Native communities across the country. PBS and GBH have also created a robust education collection around the rich stories from the program and the digital series for grades 6-12, launching in fall 2024 on PBS LearningMedia.