Urban Ocean Story Lab

Turning curiosity into stories, and stories into action.

See Long Beach’s urban ocean through the eyes of local young filmmakers.

This summer, Long Beach high school students spent five weeks exploring our local coast, meeting community experts, conducting research, filming in the field, and learning how to tell powerful environmental stories through film.

Working in teams, students took their documentaries from an idea to the big screen—researching issues they cared about, interviewing experts and community members, capturing original footage, and editing their stories into five original short films about the environmental issues shaping Long Beach and our urban ocean.

On August 15, students premiered their films to a full house at the Aquarium of the Pacific, sharing their work with family, friends, community leaders, and partners. It was an incredible celebration of their creativity, curiosity, and hard work—and a reminder of what young people can create when they are given the tools, mentorship, and space to tell the stories that matter to them.

Now, we’re excited to share their films with you.

Watch all five student documentaries below and experience Long Beach’s urban ocean through their eyes.

Created by Scarlett, Cairo, Mason, and Cole

Something fishy is happening along the Long Beach coast. In this funny puppet murder mystery, Detective Garibaldi is on the case to figure out what happened to Mr. Seagull. As the clues unfold, the investigation reveals some of the very real challenges wildlife face in our urban ocean.

Created by Arlando, Bria, Isis, Asa, and Remy

Long Beach sits at the end of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers, which carry trash and pollution from across the watershed to our coast. Between Two Rivers explores how the city’s unique geography and breakwater leave its shoreline disproportionately impacted, tracing pollution from upstream neighborhoods all the way to the ocean.

Created by Alicia, Payton, Conan, Kairan, and Jacob

Diving Deep into Alamitos Bay explores the natural and built systems that shape Alamitos Bay, from green sea turtles to the AES Power Plant. With the plant scheduled to shut down, the film looks at how changing water circulation could affect the bay and the wildlife that calls it home.

Created by Dalia, Miles, Lu, and Sawyer

Plastics have been around for less than 100 years, but in that short time, they’ve completely changed the way we live. The Plastic Catalogue takes viewers through the history of plastics, exploring the innovation and convenience they brought, along with the lasting impacts they’ve left behind. Told through the style of analog horror, the film also introduces people working to rethink our relationship with plastic and flip the script on its future.

Created by Joshua, Micah, Vivienne, Rosz, and Nathaniel.

Brown pelicans have faced a long history of threats along our coast. Brown Pelicans: Perils and Persistence looks back at how DDT devastated pelican populations, eventually landing the species on the endangered species list, and their remarkable recovery that followed. Today, warming oceans, changing food availability, and other pressures are once again creating challenges for these iconic coastal birds. Featuring an interview with Dave Weeshoff of the Audubon Society, the film explores what the brown pelican’s story can teach us about resilience and the changing health of our ocean.