In 2012, Australia’s network of marine protected areas covered over 3,000,000 square kilometres of ocean.

But in 2018, the Australian government downgraded protections to these marine ecosystems by more than 30%, opening huge areas to offshore oil and gas, and to industrial trawling.

Lord Howe Island, home to a myriad of rare winged and finned creatures, the most southern true coral reef, and the tallest sea stack on the planet is one of the few marine protected areas that was not downgraded in 2018.

To celebrate the thriving beauty that an active community and marine protection affords, I directed a short film with Andrew Buckley called KIN. This is the backstory of KIN, which is now available free via Patagonia.com.au/kin

We’re 600km due east of Port Macquarie, motoring southeast toward a rock stack that looks like a gothic rendition of Cinderella’s castle, or maybe Dr. Evil’s lair.  Open ocean winds stirred up the surf – and our stomachs – for the last few days. I took my first ever hit of Travacalm, hoping to avoid going green again.

Suddenly, the wind goes slack under high sun. We watch the surface settle and slick. Captain cuts the engine, coasting us over the 600-meter Lord Howe Trench, painted in the hues of abyss. The local dolphin pod arrives and seems keen to play. We grab masks and dive into the deep blue-black. I feel like an insignificant cork bobbing in infinite water. A dorsal fin slices past and I dive to see dolphins spinning loops around our small group. We spend 30 or 40 minutes turning underwater twists and spins. The dolphins mirror them, but deeper. A mid-ocean meeting of mammals still prone to inbuilt neoteny – to play.

Rasta tucking in on the fringes of Australia’s answer to Fantasy Island.

We ...