Climate Refugees — A Future Without Sea Turtles

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Project Overview: Climate Refugees — A Future Without Sea Turtles
“What would the ocean look like if sea turtles disappeared?”

Climate Refugees — A Future Without Sea Turtles is a digital art initiative launched by an online platform dedicated to conserving sea turtles. This project seeks to raise public awareness of the marine ecological crisis through compelling visual storytelling and accessible scientific knowledge. The platform integrates resources from sea turtle-focused charitable organisations, illustrated educational materials, and authoritative ecological research, positioning itself as a vital digital hub for promoting multi-species protection and environmental education.

At the heart of the platform lies a digital art exhibition that vividly envisions the oceanic future following the extinction of sea turtles. As ancient navigators of both land and sea, sea turtles have played a crucial role in maintaining marine ecosystem balance for millions of years. However, in the face of climate change, habitat degradation, and anthropogenic threats, they face extinction.

The exhibition conceptualises sea turtles as “climate refugees” and presents three immersive scenarios that explore the cascading effects of their absence: the collapse of seagrass meadows, the uncontrolled proliferation of jellyfish, and the smothering of coral reefs by overgrown sponges. These visual narratives not only illustrate the ecological consequences of species loss but also invite viewers to reflect on the interdependence between humans and the natural world.

This project is more than an art exhibition — it is a multidisciplinary digital campaign that combines knowledge, action, and emotional engagement. Through this platform, we aim to inspire broader public participation in marine conservation, empowering individuals to become active agents of change in securing the ocean’s future.

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MY ID Image
Ziliang Huang
ID Photo
Grace Fu
ID photo
Yi-Hsuan Chen

Exhibition Images

As the last sea turtle vanishes, the ocean's delicate balance is lost, and jellyfish swarms spread without restraint, overwhelming the water. "The Blooming Chaos" employs breathtaking digital art to depict a future where sea turtles have vanished. With these ocean wanderers gone, jellyfish proliferate unchecked, endangering other marine species and unraveling the once-thriving biodiversity. The once-vibrant underwater world, teeming with symbiotic life, is now dominated by a single species, its tangled tentacles forming an impenetrable web, transforming the ocean into a realm of blooming jellyfish. "The Blooming Chaos" serves as a silent warning of ecological imbalance. If we continue to overlook changes in marine ecosystems, the future may not be the one we are familiar with.
The Blooming Chaos
When the ocean’s caretakers vanish, the once-thriving seagrass beds, left untended, spiral into disorder and decay. This digital artwork immerses us in a world where sea turtles—nature’s marine gardeners—have gone extinct. Without their regulation, seagrass grows unchecked, forming dense, impenetrable layers that block sunlight, stagnate water currents, and deplete oxygen levels. A once-vibrant ecosystem collapses into a shadowy underwater wasteland—overgrown, decaying, and suffocating the biodiversity that once thrived. “Underneath the Abyss” envisions this fragile future, serving as a reminder that every species plays a vital role in the delicate balance of our ecosystems.
Underneath the Abyss
As sea turtles disappear, so does the ocean's equilibrium, leaving once-flourishing coral reefs slowly consumed by unchecked forces. This digital artwork envisions a future where the absence of sea turtles triggers an ecological collapse. With no natural regulators, sponges expand uncontrollably, suffocating coral, blocking sunlight, and cutting off the flow of life. A once-thriving marine sanctuary, bursting with colour and biodiversity, deteriorates into a barren seabed dominated by a single species. As currents slow and oxygen fades, the ocean world is swallowed by an eerie silence, sinking further into an abyss of decay. “Devoured to the Departed” is a warning—a reflection of what is lost when we turn away from nature’s delicate balance.
Devoured to the Departed

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