00:00Under the sea, under the sea, darling it's better down where it went.
00:06From Sydney and Cape Town to Chatham, the Ocean Photographer of the Year exhibition
00:11has finally dropped the anchor at the historic dockyard.
00:15Known for telling the stories of the Royal Navy and the men and women who worked at the
00:19dockyard, they're now diving deeper, turning the tides to reveal the extraordinary world
00:24beneath the waves.
00:25There are over 100 photographs here and the aim is simple, to bring fresh conversation
00:31about our beautiful oceans and the urgent need to protect them.
00:36Selected from more than 15,000 entries, the images range from just tiny marine life to
00:42massive waves, whales and orcas.
00:45The Ocean Photographer of the Year was established to celebrate our blue planet, while also highlighting
00:50the many plights it's facing.
00:52The competition is run by London-based Oceanographic magazine and co-presented with Blancpain as
00:59a part of Blancpain's ocean commitment which supports awareness, research and conservation
01:04efforts.
01:05So the exhibition showcases obviously incredible photographs of people with incredible skill
01:11taking underwater photography.
01:12But there's also a really powerful and important message about ocean conservation, about looking
01:18after our oceans.
01:20Some of the images in the exhibition are quite upsetting but obviously incredibly important
01:25still at the same time.
01:27Here in Kent we're obviously surrounded by the sea so it's incredibly important to our heritage
01:32and to our community.
01:33We've got a number of interactives and objects on display in our orientation gallery as well.
01:40As part of that we've got a pledge wall to give visitors the chance to write down how they
01:47going forward are going to make small changes and small impacts in their day to day and how
01:52this can build together and hopefully create a greater planet and a better ocean for everyone.
01:58The exhibition opens on Saturday the 28th of March and runs until the 31st of August.
02:05So whether you're an ocean fan or not it's worth diving into, showing both the beauty of
02:10our seas and the threats they face.
02:13Maisie Walker for KMTV, Chatham.
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