This whale shark is one of the ten NFTs on sale now to raise money for an ocean documentary. (Ocean Collective/Melody Sheep)
Today is Earth Day, a time to reflect on the beauty of our planet and what we can do to help preserve it.
Earth is a remarkable place. What makes it so? Wow, where do we begin?
The majesty of mountains. The sights of birds swooping through the sky. Endless rolling fields of green grasses and forests. Galloping herds. Stunning seas of golden sand. Curious, skittering reptiles. Strange, almost alien formations of rock. Legions of tiny insects digging and building. Palaces of ice and snow. Lungs full of crisp, clear air.
That all of these things are on one single world is stunning. But if you had to sum up in a single word the incredible nature of Earth, it would be this:
Water.
Look at all that water! It's why Earth is called the Blue Planet! (NASA)
Earth is covered in it, and it is the main difference between the planet being a living world and a dead one. (It's no secret that when scientists search the universe for possible life, the first thing they look for is the presence of water.) We're lucky to have it!
This fact is the thrust behind a new collection of NFTs that have just been released. Called The Museum of Extinction, the message is heavy, but important. The stresses of climate change and pollution are becoming something that even Earth's mighty oceans are struggling to handle. It's time to act and help turn the tide!
Coming together
The blue whale NFT. (Ocean Collective/Melody Sheep)
The people behind the NFTs is a group of documentary filmmakers called the Ocean Collective. According to their website, they say that "through the power of storytelling, we aim to raise awareness, influence behaviour, and effect policy change" around how humans treat the Earth and its oceans.
To demonstrate part of what is at stake, they collaborated with digital artist Melody Sheep to make a series of ten NFTs that feature at risk ocean animals. The ten species are:
- bull shark
- great hammerhead shark
- whale shark
- ocean sunfish
- manatee
- oceanic manta ray
- green sea turtle
- blue whale
- southern bluefin tuna
- sawfish
Experts say that, unless things change drastically, each of these species is likely to become extinct over the next few decades.
Using NFTs to raise money
By selling the NFTs, the Ocean Collective is trying to raise money to make a documentary film about the crisis in the oceans.
(If you're curious what NFTs are, please read our explainer post on them here.)
Each species belongs to a different tier of NFT. Tier 3 species have 500 copies available for sale. Tier 2 have just 5 copies. And Tier 1 (the sawfish and great hammerhead shark) have just one single copy for sale.
"Selling NFTs is a new way to fund environmental film missions,” said Bob van de Gronde, director at Ocean Collective.
The idea is that Tier 3 NFTs will be more affordable, allowing more people to participate, regardless of budget. But the ultra-rare Tier 2 and 1 NFTs will go for much more money (the more rare something is, the more valuable it is—kind of like water on a planet!).
If you'd like to see what these animated NFTs are all about, you can watch the trailer below.
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