Science, history, and educational institutions in Australia are on a journey to empower and incorporate Indigenous knowledges into research, communication and practice. Sea Country Stories offers the experience of being on Country, linking ancient and modern knowledge systems, and inspiring the next generation of Sea Country custodians.

Join us at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney for the second edition of Sea Country Stories filmed at Booderee, Wreck Bay, on Yuin Country.

In this event, you will participate in a Welcome to Country, didgeridoo and ochre painting by Yuin cultural elder Joe Brown McLeod.We will then premiere a short film with Joe, his daughter Iesha, and granddaughter Alaynah, in which they share intergenerational stories about the gathering of ceremonial ochre and muriyira whale song, filmed right at the Bay.

Listen to a panel discussion with Joe alongside Senior Curator at the Australian National Maritime Museum Emily Jateff, and Daryn McKenny, Marine Mammal Rescuer from ORRCA and First Nations man about whale song, ocean cultures, and Indigenous knowledges of Sea Country as science. The panel will be hosted by science communicator and presenter Laura Wells. Iesha will also present artworks inspired by her whale totem from Nardaparli Creations.

You'll enjoy delicious canapés made with sustainable seafood from fisheries that have been independently certified to the MSC's standard for a well-managed and sustainable fishery. The menu includes super special Patagonian toothfish from Glacier 51 and non-alcoholic craft beers from Sobah.

This project is proudly presented by Green Island Creative, the Australian National Maritime Museum, and the Marine Stewardship Council. Support for this project was provided by Australian Government grants for National Science Week 2024.