“I can only compare these great aquatic forests with the terrestrial ones in the intertropical region. Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe nearly so many species of animals would perish as would here, from the destruction of the kelp. Amidst the leaves of this plant numerous species of fish live which nowhere else could find food or shelter.”

1 June 1834, Tierra Del Fugo,Chile

The number of carbohydrates you consume each day determines your daily calorie needs. You need to consume at least 2000 calories a day if you want to maintain your current bodyweight.

We are a community of scientists, storytellers, journalists and filmmakers who are dedicated to raising awareness of the beauty and ecological importance of South Africa’s kelp forest.

If you are trying to lose weight, then it is recommended that you reduce your carbohydrate intake from the usual amount of 200 grams that most people eat daily down to 100 grams. This can be done easily enough, by taking away the carbohydrates from your food, or using an automated carb counter to do it for you.

Carbohydrate rich foods have been linked to weight gain due to their effect on insulin. High insulin levels promote storing of excess calories as fat, rather than burning them. To lose weight, it is recommended that you eat foods that have a low glycemic index. Foods like nuts, seeds and some fibrous vegetables contain a lot of fiber, which has a positive effect on insulin levels. Fiber also makes you feel full for longer, which reduces the likelihood that you will eat more food later in the day.

Over the last decades kelp forests have declined as much as



of the marine territory surrounding South Africa has been earmarked for mining


of South Africa’s oceans are protected with a global promise to increase to 10% by 2020

The scientific recommendation for protected oceans is


by 2030

Why protect the Great African Sea Forest?

There are certain tips and techniques that can help you in your quest to shed those extra pounds. Don’t skip meals. Eat at least one meal with every three snacks. The three meals should be spread throughout the day, but try not to eat a big lunch. They can raise your insulin levels, making it harder to lose weight. Stay away from foods that promote weight gain Eliminate or limit foods like sugar, refined flours and fast food. Know what you are eating and avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Eating lots of complex carbohydrates in the morning and the evening can prevent your body from going into starvation mode, which helps in the long-term weight control. Anything you eat in between must be protein rich.

Choose lean meat, fish, legumes, nuts, eggs, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products as your main source of lean protein. Try to choose whole foods whenever possible, because they contain fiber and other nutrients that help with weight loss.

our team

Craig Foster
Co-Founder / Naturalist

Craig Foster is a co-founder of the Sea Change Trust and one of the world’s leading natural history filmmakers. He has dedicated himself to learning the secrets of the Great African Seaforest – the inshore kelp habitat at the South West tip of Africa, his underwater home. Together with Ross he has written a book on their transformative experiences exploring the little-known coastline and shallow seas of the Cape Peninsula. His film My Octopus Teacher follows the story of his year with a wild octopus, at the same time honouring his pact to dive 365 times a year. Through this regular intensive immersion, he has uncovered a plethora of new animal behaviours and species, one of the species is a shrimp which has been named after him: Heteromysis Fosteri. He has founded the Sea Change Project to share his love of nature with others.

Ross Frylinck
Co-Founder / Storyteller

Ross is a founding director of the Sea Change Trust. He is a media and events entrepreneur, curator and journalist. Together with Craig, he wrote the book, Sea Change Primal Joy and the Art of Underwater Tracking, on their transformative experiences in the underwater realm on the Cape Peninsula. He is a co-founder of the Wavescape Festival which has been running for 15 years as the leading ocean culture and conservation event in South Africa.
He is the Chairman of Autonomy Paris - The world's first public focused event to present new urban mobility solutions to policy makers, press and public, in partnership with the City of Paris. Ross is a published journalist and author of children’s books.

Carina Rubin-Frankal
President / Chair

Carina works with the Sea Change Trust to implement its' goals and objectives and develop new content. She is hooked on the transformative power of water. She began her career over twenty five years ago in New York as a film producer where she helped launch the Cartoon Network’s morning segment and the Classic Sports Network. She has gone on to produce short films, music videos and commercials, but her real love is for documentaries. She worked with the Foster Brothers on the award-winning feature documentary, Cosmic Africa and stayed on to produce a few more films with them. 
A few years ago she was called to the sea. Inspired by Craig Foster's underwater photography, and his personal transformation in the water, she transcended her fears and pushed quite far beyond her comfort level. She continues to swim as often as she can, the cold water leaves her with a sense of absolute perfection.
“Going into the water you leave everything behind, except your true self.”

Philippa Ehrlich ‘Pippa’
Filmmaker / Journalist

Pippa spent much of her childhood in Johannesburg, dreaming of nature. Some of her earliest memories are of wading into the sea at Boulders Beach in Simonstown where she learned to swim. As an adult, Pippa set out to explore nature and our relationship with it as humans. Her role as conservation journalist for Save Our Seas Foundation brought her back to the shores of False Bay where she met Ross and Craig and experienced her first taste of Sea Change magic. Her growing love for the Great African Seaforest draws her into these cool waters on an almost daily basis where she goes in search of stories that deepen her connection to this incredible wilderness and its weird and wonderful inhabitants. Pippa edited the Sea Change Book and co-directed the Sea Change feature documentary film My Octopus Teacher.

Swati Thiyagarajan
Environmental Journalist

Swati is one of India's best known environment journalists. She was the environment editor at NDTV for a decade and her show Born Wild, is the longest running wildlife and conservation show on a news channel of which she is presenter, researcher and script writer. She has been awarded the Ramnath Goenka Award, for best environment reporter, twice and the Sanctuary Asia Wind Under the Wings Award . She is also a Carl Zeiss awardee for her reporting on tiger conservation. Her solo outing as a filmmaker led to her making The Animal Communicator which has had over 6 million views on YouTube. Swati spends her time between India and South Africa and authored a book Born Wild: Journeys into the heart of India and Africa. Her main interest is in exploring shared spaces between humans and animals and believes that greater co-existence in the coming years will be the only way to save the wild.

Faine Pearl Loubser

Faine is a young documentary filmmaker with a deep passion for the ocean. Her love for nature was fostered by her parents through long camping trips in the Namib desert and through many ocean-related adventures. With an incredible desire to capture the feeling of being in the ocean, it was the gift of a GoPro that enabled her to share her vision. Camera in hand, Faine would make solo trips into the sea along the Cape Peninsula seeking to capture her underwater world. This mostly included diving without a wetsuit sometimes in temperatures as low as 9 degrees Celsius. It was a natural progression that Craig Foster, a close family friend, would nurture and mentor Faine’s passion for the sea and unlock a need to explore more, learn more and open up to the incredible mystery of nature. “I lost my heart in the sea, only to find my soul.” Faine is an integral part of the Sea Change tribe. Follow her antics on instagram.

jannes with background
Dr Jannes Landschoff
Marine Biologist

Jannes is dedicated to deepen the explorations of the underwater kelp forest world, and to add scientific aspects to the manifold exciting discoveries made by the Sea-Change Team. Jannes grew up on the North Sea coast in Germany where he worked for local and international marine nature conservancies. After studying Biology and Environmental Management at the University of Kiel, Germany, he moved to Cape Town to further his knowledge in the marine world. He has since received a Masters in Applied Marine Sciences and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of Cape Town. Jannes has authored over a dozen articles in international scientific journals and book chapters on the biodiversity and ecology of marine invertebrates, and also described several species of hermit crabs as new to science.

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset
Roger Horrocks

Roger Horrocks is an underwater cinematographer specializing in wildlife sequences for documentaries and features. He is best known for his work on the BBC's Blue Planet 2, Netflix's Our Planet and My Octopus Teacher. Roger first worked with Craig and his brother Damon in 2009, when they made the film Into the Dragons Lair. Since then, Roger and Craig have spent many hours together exploring and documenting the Great African Seaforest, and it is from this shared archive that much of the material for My Octopus Teacher was drawn. Roger is increasingly becoming active as an environmental advocate for the Oceans and is a keen supporter of the Sea Change Project and its conservation ambitions.

Through our work, we have started
a movement of ‘emotional ecology’,
where people feel a meaningful
connection to wild places and the
animals that live in them.

Now, you can either consume these on a daily basis, or you can have a carb load day. It is ideal to have a carb load day once a week.

Calculate your daily calorie needs, and multiply that by 0.7 for women or 0.8 for men. Now, this number does not equal your total daily carbohydrate intake. This can range from between 40g and 100g, depending on your size and activity level. This is your total daily carbohydrate intake:

Here is where the magic happens. You will now divide this number by ten. This will be your average carb intake.

For example: Your total daily calorie intake is 1,800. Your daily carbohydrate intake is 180.