Oceanic Preservation Society

The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) is a California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on marine conservation and broader environmental protection. Founded in 2005 by photographer and conservationist Louie Psihoyos and technology entrepreneur Jim Clark, the organization uses documentary filmmaking and media-oriented advocacy to bring complex ecological problems to public attention. OPS addresses issues that extend beyond ocean wildlife alone. Its stated subject areas include biodiversity loss, climate change, illegal wildlife trading, deforestation, unsustainable fishing, the degradation of coral reefs, and the accumulation of toxins in marine environments. This broad scope reflects the organization’s view that ocean health is linked to terrestrial ecosystems, industrial activity, consumption patterns, climate systems, and the enforcement of wildlife-protection laws. The organization became widely known through The Cove, released in 2009. The documentary investigated the annual capture and killing of dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan, and presented the subject through investigative footage, interviews, and environmental campaigning. The film received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, giving OPS a high-profile platform for marine-animal welfare and conservation advocacy. The project also illustrated the organization’s characteristic method: using cinematic storytelling and media exposure to make an environmental issue visible to audiences who might not encounter it through conventional scientific or policy communications. OPS’s subsequent documentary work expanded from a specific marine-wildlife investigation to global ecological systems. Racing Extinction, released in 2015, examined the accelerating loss of species, threats to coral reefs, and the presence of toxins in the ocean. The film connected extinction risk with human production and consumption, pollution, and the wider pressures affecting biodiversity. The organization’s listed filmography also includes The Game Changers, released in 2018, and You Are What We Eat: A Twin Experiment, released in 2024. These projects extend OPS’s media interests into food systems, health, sustainability, and the environmental consequences of human choices. OPS is not a conventional consumer brand, retailer, or publicly listed company. Its principal offerings are conservation campaigns, documentary projects, public education, and environmental storytelling rather than physical products. Its brand positioning is therefore built around investigative credibility, high-impact visual media, biodiversity protection, and the translation of scientific or conservation concerns into accessible public narratives. The organization’s work is international in subject matter even though its institutional base is in the United States. Available reference material does not identify a current chief executive, detailed organizational departments, a precise headquarters city, financial figures, or a parent organization. OPS’s public identity is primarily associated with its founders, its environmental-film portfolio, and its use of documentary media as an instrument for conservation advocacy.

The Oceanic Preservation Society was established in 2005 in California by Louie Psihoyos and Jim Clark. It was created as a nonprofit organization devoted to marine conservation and environmental protection, with documentary film and media serving as central tools for its work. Rather than operating primarily through commercial products or direct retail services, OPS has built its public profile through environmental storytelling, investigative documentation, and issue-focused advocacy. The organization’s early and most prominent breakthrough was The Cove, released in 2009. The film documented the annual mass slaughter of dolphins in a national park area at Taiji, in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Its subject combined wildlife protection, public access to information, animal welfare, and the environmental consequences of human activity. The documentary’s investigative presentation helped transform a geographically specific issue into an internationally discussed conservation story. Its Academy Award win for Best Documentary Feature further expanded OPS’s reach and established documentary cinema as the organization’s signature public-facing medium. OPS later broadened its subject matter from dolphin hunting to systemic threats affecting biodiversity and the oceans. Racing Extinction, released in 2015, examined the mass disappearance of species, the deterioration of coral reefs, and the presence of toxins in ocean environments. The film connected these issues to larger ecological and human systems, including consumption, pollution, and the pressures that accelerate biodiversity loss. It was also Emmy-nominated, reinforcing the organization’s role in environmental documentary production. The society’s stated concerns encompass a wide range of interconnected problems: climate change, illegal wildlife trading, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable fishing, as well as marine pollution and reef decline. This breadth distinguishes OPS from an organization focused on a single species or one local habitat. Its work presents ocean conservation as part of a larger environmental framework in which land use, trade, energy, food, industrial production, and consumer behavior all influence marine ecosystems. The organization’s listed filmography subsequently included The Game Changers in 2018 and You Are What We Eat: A Twin Experiment in 2024. These projects indicate an expansion into food systems, health, sustainability, and the relationship between personal choices and environmental outcomes. Together with The Cove and Racing Extinction, they show a progression from a focused wildlife investigation toward broader documentary treatment of ecological and societal questions. OPS’s historical significance rests chiefly on its use of high-visibility media to support conservation communication. Its films are designed to make difficult or geographically distant issues understandable to broad audiences and to encourage public attention to environmental protection. The available reference material does not provide a detailed account of the organization’s internal leadership after its founding, annual budgets, membership structure, or specific policy outcomes. Accordingly, its documented history is best understood through its founding, its documentary portfolio, and the environmental issues those projects have brought into public discussion.

• 2024

  You Are What We Eat: A Twin Experiment added to filmography

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The documentary became the latest project listed in the organization’s filmography.

• 2018

  The Game Changers added to filmography

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Game Changers appeared in OPS’s listed documentary filmography, broadening its media themes toward food, health, and sustainability.

• 2015

  Racing Extinction released

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  OPS released its second major documentary project, addressing species extinction, coral-reef loss, and ocean toxins.

• 2009

  The Cove released

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  OPS released its best-known documentary, examining the annual mass killing of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

• 2009

  The Cove receives Academy Award

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, increasing international attention to OPS and its conservation advocacy.

• 2005

  Oceanic Preservation Society founded

  [1]Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Louie Psihoyos and Jim Clark founded the California-based nonprofit to promote marine conservation and environmental protection.

A nonprofit environmental organization that combines investigative documentary filmmaking, public education, and media advocacy to address marine conservation, biodiversity loss, wildlife exploitation, climate-related threats, and unsustainable human activity.

• Documentary film · 2009

  The Cove

  Released in 2009, The Cove investigates the annual mass slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. The film uses documentary and investigative techniques to expose a conservation and animal-welfare issue to an international audience. It became OPS’s signature project and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, giving the organization substantial visibility in environmental advocacy.

• Documentary film · 2015

  Racing Extinction

  Released in 2015, Racing Extinction examines the accelerating disappearance of species, the decline of coral reefs, and the growth of toxic substances in ocean environments. The project expands OPS’s focus from a single wildlife issue to the interconnected ecological pressures driving biodiversity loss. It was nominated for an Emmy.

• Documentary film · 2018

  The Game Changers

  The Game Changers, released in 2018, is included in OPS’s filmography. Its subject matter extends the organization’s documentary interests into food, health, performance, and sustainability, linking individual and societal choices with wider environmental questions.

• Documentary film · 2024

  You Are What We Eat: A Twin Experiment

  Released in 2024, You Are What We Eat: A Twin Experiment is listed among OPS’s documentary projects. The film continues the organization’s interest in food-related choices and their implications for health, lifestyle, and sustainability.

• 2015Racing Extinction biodiversity campaign

  International

  Racing Extinction used documentary storytelling to communicate the global loss of species, coral-reef decline, and ocean toxicity as connected environmental challenges.

  Outcome. The film was Emmy-nominated and broadened public awareness of OPS’s biodiversity and marine-conservation agenda.

  Source
• 2009The Cove conservation advocacy

  International

  OPS used The Cove to publicize the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji and to bring international media attention to marine-animal protection and conservation concerns.

  Outcome. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and substantially raised the visibility of the issue and of OPS.

  Source

• 2015

  Expand from a focused marine investigation to global biodiversityProduct launch

  Background

  After The Cove, OPS addressed wider ecological threats affecting species, reefs, and ocean environments.

  Action taken

  The organization released Racing Extinction, focusing on mass extinction, coral-reef disappearance, and ocean toxins.

  Aftermath

  The project was Emmy-nominated and reinforced OPS’s broader environmental-media positioning.

  Source

• 2009

  Release The Cove as an investigative conservation filmProduct launch

  Background

  OPS sought to document and publicize the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan through a feature documentary.

  Action taken

  The organization released The Cove and used the film as a public-facing vehicle for marine-animal conservation advocacy.

  Aftermath

  The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and became OPS’s most prominent project.

  Source

1. 1Oceanic Preservation Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Oceanic Preservation Society official websiteopsociety.org