Share your Sea Story

Thanks for your interest in contributing! Below you’ll find everything you need to know about submitting your sea story.

 

What we’re looking for

We welcome a wide range of work, as long as it relates to the ocean, tells a good story, and is of high quality. Examples include:

  • Personal essays or fieldwork stories

  • Opinion pieces

  • Fiction, poetry, or creative writing

  • Illustrations, comics, or photo-essays

  • Infographics or other visual storytelling

We don’t publish advertorials or sales pitches.

We especially encourage submissions from writers, artists, and storytellers from communities and regions often underrepresented in ocean conversations.

Who you’re writing for

Our audience includes scientists, conservationists, students, industry professionals, and ocean-curious members of the public. Please write in a way that is accessible to non-specialists:

  • Avoid jargon and acronyms (or explain them clearly).

  • Aim for accuracy and clarity.

  • Length: up to you! If you are writing a personal essay, fieldwork story, or opinion piece, we recommend between 500 and 1200 words.

  • Language: All languages welcome. You do not have to submit your sea story in English.

Images and media

Images are encouraged and can be part of your story or stand alone. A few things to note:

  • You must have the right to use the images you submit.

  • Credit will always be given to the creator.

  • Acceptable sources include your own work, work with written permission, or royalty-free collections (e.g., Unsplash, Pixabay, Creative Commons-licensed work).

  • Please include captions and alt text for accessibility.

Contributor recognition

We’ll add a short bio (up to 100 words) and an optional headshot to go with your Sea Story. You may also include links to your website, organisation, or social media. If you are writing something that is sensitive, you may opt to be anonymous.

Rights and use

By submitting your work, you grant Ocean Oculus the non-exclusive right to publish and share it online and across our channels (e.g., social media, newsletters, websites).

  • You keep full copyright.

  • You are free to publish your work elsewhere.

  • We may edit for clarity, grammar, and length, but will check major changes with you first.

 

Ready to share your Sea Story?

Tell us a little bit about what you want to share. We’ll take a look to make sure it is suitable for the site, and follow up with details on how to send us your contribution.