The panel, moderated by Kathy Moran, National Geographic's former senior natural history editor, opened with perhaps the most insidious challenge facing ocean conservation: shifting baselines. The panellists included Dr. Jennifer Adler, National Geographic Explorer and marine science photographer; Shane Gross, Canadian photojournalist and Adult Grand Title Winner of Wildlife Photographer of the Year; Greg Lecoeur, French photographer and National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year in 2016; and Pippa Ehrlich, Academy Award–winning filmmaker and co-director of My Octopus Teacher.

Ehrlich explained the concept of shifting baselines with devastating clarity. “Shifting baselines are one of the most powerful and devastating concepts we have when it comes to understanding our planet and where we find ourselves. It’s this concept of ‘you don't even know what we've lost’. The planet was this absolute thriving biological miracle. Because of shifting baselines, and because the science wasn't done 1,000 years ago, we are actually losing our collective memory of what that paradise must have been."

Underwater photographer Lecoeur brought attention to an often-overlooked crisis. “The majority of the worldwide maritime traffic is in the Mediterranean,” he noted. “Noise pollution is often overlooked but is terrible for marine animals, because they use sound to communicate and travel, and sound pollution disturbs that, especially the mammals."

The connection to human consumer behaviour was direct, he said. “In my experience, since I'm an underwater photographer, I've realised we are totally disconnected from nature," Lecoeur explained. "Maritime traffic transports food, computers, cars, and everything we use. We just have to make the choice to consume a little bit differently and less. If we all collectively make this decision, it will make a big impact."

Gross added that stern whales are now responding with higher stress levels due to increased boat traffic and more noise. He also shared the story of Sapphire Blue Hole in the Bahamas, once a crystal-clear underwater ecosystem teeming with endemic life. “One day, all the trees around it had been clear-cut for a parking lot,” he shared. The consequences were immediate. The removal of trees altered water filtration, sunscreen, and runoff polluted the hole, and populations of red cave shrimp declined sharply.

“That happened basically overnight, and children won’t remember what it was like before, years from now.” For Gross, this rapid baseline shift represents “one of the greatest challenges in conservation.”

The panel turned to plastic pollution with equally grim statistics. As Moran noted, ecologist Carl Safina warned that “we might see more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.” Gross described his experience while encountering microplastics in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of miles from land.

“On an expedition to Bermuda, in the true middle of the Atlantic, as far from land as you can get, we found staggering levels of microplastics using a net that catches microplastics. The most poisoned animals in the ocean are those at the top, like the orcas (also known as the Killer whales).”

Lecoeur said: “Plastic pollution is not just what you can see. The invisible microplastic goes everywhere, and even us, we eat this fish so it goes into our body.”

Dr. Adler, who has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary ecology from the University of Florida, addressed the promises and limitations of marine protected areas. “Science has shown that marine protected areas do work,” she stated.

“We give these fish and resources a chance to come back. When we do create these areas, we need to work with the indigenous and local people, since research has shown that marine protected areas that are most successful work with local communities."

But in another grim turn, she noted that “the 70,000 marine protected areas worldwide encompass just under 10% of the ocean”, with strong criticism that these are nothing but “paper parks” which are just created to check the list, and lack adequate funding and oversight.

Despite the statistics, the panellists also shared transformative encounters with marine creatures, including manta rays, sperm whales, and leopard seals that sustain their conservation work.

The summit also highlighted examples where visual storytelling has led directly to policy change. Ehrlich cited a case in South Africa where photographic documentation of whales dying from fishing gear prompted swift government intervention.

“Within days of public exposure, a moratorium was introduced where fishing practices were changed, and whale deaths stopped,” she said. “It showed how images, when used responsibly, can drive real-world outcomes.”