The ninth edition of Ocean Talks brought together superyacht industry leaders and marine conservation pioneers for an evening that revealed both covert operations dismantling wildlife crime networks and the transformational freediving encounter that turned love into conservation action.
Held on 11 June 2026 at The Magazine, Serpentine North Gallery in London's Hyde Park, the event showcased a new format designed to forge stronger connections between the yachting community and those fighting to protect marine ecosystems.
Partnering once again with Ocean Family Foundation, BOAT International's content director, Lucy Dunn, welcomed guests, who arrived to canapés, drinks and networking opportunities with other like-minded ocean conservation enthusiasts.
From African conservation to ocean advocacy
Before introducing the evening's speakers, Jessica Getty, founding member of Ocean Family Foundation, traced her journey from establishing Zuka, a 10,000-hectare game reserve in South Africa, to founding Ocean Family Foundation in 2018.
"Every species, habitat, community and ecosystem at Zuka exists because of our proximity to the ocean," Getty explained, challenging attendees: "I hope you might go home with a spark of inspiration and quietly pledge to yourself that you might commit every day, in your own way, to do something consequential for our shared oceans."
Inside the criminal networks driving sharks to extinction
Keynote speaker Olivia Swaak-Goldman, executive director of the Wildlife Justice Commission, opened with exclusive undercover footage from Wildlife Justice Commission investigations into shark fin trafficking networks - a glimpse into covert operations targeting wildlife crime kingpins.
With nearly three decades of experience in international justice, including work at the International Criminal Court and as a Harvard University lecturer, Swaak-Goldman has pioneered an approach treating environmental crime as organised crime.
"We're losing 100 million sharks per year," Swaak-Goldman revealed. "This isn't caused by small-scale fishermen. It's caused by industrial-scale exploitation by organised criminal networks making billions of dollars."
Sharks are apex predators known as "the doctors of the sea" for maintaining healthy marine ecosystems. They've survived for hundreds of millions of years - longer than dinosaurs - yet face extinction from organised criminal networks.
Swaak-Goldman detailed a groundbreaking two-year investigation tracking a kingpin operating across multiple countries in Latin America. Using undercover operations and intelligence analysis, the Wildlife Justice Commission mapped his entire network, revealing that international permits designed to protect endangered species were being fraudulently misused.
Working with law enforcement partners across multiple countries, they facilitated the first-ever trilateral criminal investigation for marine crime across these nations.
The results: 16 tons of shark fins seized, representing 176,000 dead sharks from just one warehouse. The kingpin was arrested, key associates detained and the network disrupted.
"Almost more importantly, criminals began to lose trust in themselves and in each other," Swaak-Goldman said. "The risk became too high. Some people actually left the criminal trade - and that's what we want."
The Wildlife Justice Commission maintains successful prosecution outcomes for cases concluded in court. "We know what works," Swaak-Goldman emphasised. "The only limiting factor is scale."
A love story that changed a life
Hanli Prinsloo - filmmaker, ocean adventurer and founder of I AM WATER Foundation - was the evening's next speaker, and began by leading the audience through guided breathwork, reminding them of humanity's aquatic origins before sharing the transformational dive that redirected her life.
While searching for blue whales off Sri Lanka, her boat encountered a super pod of sperm whales - the largest toothed creatures ever to live on Earth.
"I'm sitting on the side of this boat considering whether I should get in the water with a giant creature that we have almost fished to extinction in my lifetime, and they can read our thoughts," Prinsloo recalled.
Two gigantic females swam toward her, scanning her with sonar. "That gentle investigation was like a sledgehammer in my chest. The only thing I could think to do was open my arms and think, feel, emote: 'You are so big, you are so beautiful. Thank you for letting me be here.'"
The encounter deepened when the pod left a baby sperm whale with Prinsloo as "babysitter" while adults dove to hunt.
"For about 45 minutes, we played. By the end, we were swimming belly to belly - two species connecting in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I have never in my life felt so small."
That experience fundamentally shifted Prinsloo's understanding of conservation. "I truly believe that the driver we are looking for in behaviour change is love, is heart, is care. When we truly care about something, we act. If statistics, data and knowledge were going to change our behaviour, it could have done so by now."
This realisation led Prinsloo to establish I AM WATER Foundation in 2010, working with children from underserved South African communities, providing transformational ocean experiences. The foundation has now worked with over 50,000 children, trains grassroots organisations worldwide, and trains young people for blue and green jobs.
"When a young child comes out of the ocean saying 'Miss, miss, when I was floating there snorkelling, it felt like all my troubles were so far away' - 11 years old - that's when you realise this is more important than any achievement measured in metres and seconds."
To build sustainability, Prinsloo launched a travel company offering ethical wildlife encounters and Agulhas, a brand creating sustainable, repairable ocean exploration equipment.
"Wherever we live, whatever career we've chosen, you are also the baby sperm whales' babysitter," she concluded.
Art meets conservation
The evening concluded with a Q&A featuring two artists whose work was displayed throughout the venue.
Louise Skajem, co-founder of Resting Reef, presented her organisation's sustainable alternative to traditional memorials. Resting Reef transforms the ashes of loved ones into beautiful memorial sculptures placed on the seabed in areas where marine life needs support, creating thriving habitats for coral and marine species.
Shan Hua, a London-based digital artist supported by Ocean Rising, showcased marine sculptures inspired by scientific equipment and marine fossils. Hua won the Vogue China Fashion Fund competition, earning her a place as artist-at-sea on a microplastic scientific marine expedition with the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
To find out more about Ocean Talks, please contact the BOAT International events team.