How a 24-YO’s Love for the Sea Grew Into a Global Movement of 35000 Ocean Protectors

On the shores of Worli in Mumbai, a young boy spent hours chasing waves and collecting shells with his mother. For Ajay Sawant, the ocean was family — constant, generous, alive. Its moods shaped his childhood; its rhythm set the pace of his days.

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But over the years, the sea that raised him began to change. The shells disappeared, replaced by bottle caps and plastic wrappers. The same waves that once brought him joy now carried reminders of neglect. “The ocean gave me everything — beauty, calm, purpose,” Ajay says. “Watching it choke on waste felt like losing a loved one.”

That heartbreak became a lifelong promise — to listen to the ocean, to speak for it, and to help others see it not as a distant blue horizon but as a living part of their own lives.

At 24, Ajay is one of India’s most promising ocean–climate activists. Based in Jaipur, where he studies veterinary science at Apollo College of Veterinary Medicine, he leads youth movements that blend science, art, and community — building bridges between people and the planet’s most powerful force: the sea.

The sea that raised him

As Ajay grew older, his bond with the ocean deepened. Evenings on the Worli shore became times of reflection; the tide’s rise and fall felt like his own heartbeat. The sea taught him patience and resilience, but gradually, it also began to reveal its pain.

By his teens, the beaches no longer looked like the ones from his childhood. Plastic wrappers tangled in fishing nets, bottle caps glinted where shells once lay. “The same stretch of sand that once offered me gifts now gave reminders of everything we’d thrown away,” he says.

Each visit left him with a lingering thought: what happens to the ocean when we stop listening to it? That question stayed with him — and slowly began shaping his path forward.

The ocean’s cry for help

That curiosity soon turned into long hours of reading and research. Ajay wanted to understand how the ocean sustains life on Earth and how human activity was disrupting that balance.

“This vast, powerful force, often taken for granted, was far more crucial to our survival than we can imagine. The ocean is the source of food for over three billion people, a vital regulator of our climate, and the most effective carbon-capture technology on Earth, absorbing about a third of our emitted carbon dioxide and 90 percent of the heat trapped by the atmosphere,” he explains.

The more he learned, the more urgent it felt. Despite its importance, Ajay realised that the ocean rarely found a place in climate conversations. It was still treated as a resource to exploit, not something to protect. That became his turning point. He knew facts weren’t enough to make people care — he needed to tell the ocean’s story in a way they could feel.

Turning grief into ‘artivism’

Ajay found his solace in creativity. Art became his way of speaking when words or data fell short — a way to help people feel what the ocean felt. Over time, that expression evolved into something he now calls ‘artivism’.

One afternoon on the beach, he picked up a faded red bottle cap, eerily similar to the shells of his childhood. That small moment stirred something profound. He began gathering discarded plastic — not only to clean the shore but to turn the waste into art.

“The art I created became a form of silent protest,” he explains. “People began to stop, ask questions, and sometimes even join in. Children on field trips, youngsters out on the beach — they would help me make art out of plastic. Others would ask why I was doing this, and I’d tell them it was my way of rebelling against how we are endangering the ocean.”

The solitary act soon became a shared experience. “It wasn’t planned, and I wasn’t trying to make a statement. I just felt something and acted on it,” he recalls. “A part of me was upset watching something I loved get treated like it didn’t matter. And art, in a quiet way, became how I dealt with that.”

Seeing how creativity could open hearts and minds, Ajay founded ‘Generation Artivism’ in February 2023 — a youth-led initiative that helps young people find their own form of activism through art, storytelling, and community engagement. “Our goal is to help each person find the form of activism that feels true to them,” he says.

From policy advocacy to spoken-word poetry, Generation Artivism nurtures diverse voices with one shared purpose: protecting the planet. The movement has already crossed borders, inspiring young changemakers in countries as far apart as India and Brazil.

“In Brazil, I’ve been leading activities that involve children and young people in ocean protection through art,” says Sonia Violante Ptasznik, Brazil Coordinator at Generation Artivism. “We organised a Citizen Dialogue where kids aged 4 to 14 expressed their feelings about the ocean and their hopes for the future. We also hosted side events at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference in Nice, exploring how art can advance climate justice and ocean literacy.”

The collective’s art-based petitions and exhibits have travelled from the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) 2024 to the 10th World Water Forum in Bali — turning Ajay’s creative rebellion into a growing global movement.

Bridging science and soul

As his work deepened, Ajay realised that saving the ocean was not only about science or clean-ups — it was also about the stories people tell. In a world where reels go viral but traditions fade, he wanted to reconnect people to the sea through emotion, culture, and conversation.

Ocean–climate communication, he explains, helps people see how the ocean and climate are linked — not through dense reports, but through art and lived experience. The ocean regulates temperature, fuels the monsoon, absorbs carbon, and gives us oxygen, yet it often goes unseen in climate discussions.

“It’s not a distant body of water but a part of our daily lives,” Ajay says. “When the ocean suffers, so do we.”

He points to India’s coastal communities — the Konkani fisherfolk, Tamil sea rituals, and Sundarbans mangrove protectors — as keepers of ancient wisdom. “We don’t need to invent conservation. We just need to remember it,” he says.

Through murals, multilingual campaigns, and youth-led storytelling, Ajay works to bring the ocean back into public memory. His mantra is simple: you can’t save what you can’t name.

Taking global action to the ground

The impact of Ajay’s work has reached global platforms like Bow Seat, World Ocean Day, National Geographic Society, the High Seas Alliance, and UNESCO’s UN Ocean Decade. Yet for him, the real work begins not on international stages but in classrooms and coastal communities. “Awards are only meaningful if they lead to real change,” he says.

That change takes shape through ‘ThinkOcean Society’, where Ajay serves as President. Guided by the philosophy ‘by youth, for everyone’, the organisation has chapters across continents, advocating for ocean-friendly policies and running literacy programmes in Hong Kong, Nigeria, and Uganda. Students don’t just learn about the ocean — they connect with it.

In 2024 alone, ThinkOcean reached over 35,000 people through clean-ups, training sessions on the BBNJ (High Seas) Treaty, workshops, artivism campaigns, and community initiatives. The team also removed over 100 kilograms of marine debris, turning awareness into tangible impact.

One of Ajay’s most meaningful projects is mentoring mangrove restoration in Cameroon. The pilot effort, Twala Likolo Li Ndok Na Tiko (“Rise Up for the Mangroves”), began in late 2023 and continues through 2025. So far, over 5,000 mangroves have been replanted, engaging hundreds of community members — many of them women and young people — and even bringing back small mudfish species to the restored wetlands.

“The most inspiring part is the children,” Ajay says. “Some of our most committed volunteers are as young as 10. Seeing them show up every week with so much curiosity gives me hope.”

Through ThinkOcean’s mentorship and peer-led projects, Ajay’s leadership has helped build a network of young changemakers who see conservation as part of everyday life.

From a single wave to a rising tide

For Ajay, this journey is still unfolding. “What I’ve done so far feels like just a drop in the ocean,” he says. Balancing veterinary studies with advocacy work, he hopes to meet more communities, collaborate with policymakers, and help people recognise how deeply the ocean touches their lives.

One of Ajay’s key missions is spreading awareness about the BBNJ (High Seas) Agreement, a landmark global treaty to protect marine life in international waters. These “high seas” begin 200 nautical miles from any coastline and make up 64 percent of the global ocean — nearly half the planet’s surface.

For decades, these waters remained poorly protected despite their biodiversity. In September 2024, India became one of the treaty’s signatories — a major step forward for a nation whose coastal communities depend deeply on the ocean.

As the High Seas Youth Ambassador for Asia, representing the High Seas Alliance, Ajay works to connect this global effort with local understanding. “It shouldn’t just be ink on paper,” he says. “It should be a living promise that communities understand, support, and help bring to life.”

“The high seas cover almost half of the planet, yet receive the least protection,” adds Rizza Sacra-Dejucos, Asia Regional Coordinator at the High Seas Alliance. “With this treaty, they will finally have a strong foundation for conservation. India, as a leading maritime nation, plays a key role in ensuring these waters are used sustainably.”

Looking ahead, Ajay hopes to build a social-impact enterprise at the intersection of policy, climate, and community. “While grassroots projects are vital, structural support and long-term thinking are what build resilience,” he says. Whether it’s blue-economy solutions, climate-resilient livelihoods, or ocean education, his focus remains on impact that lasts.

It’s an ambitious vision — but one that mirrors Ajay’s spirit. With every shoreline he cleans, every student he mentors, and every dialogue he opens, he carries the ocean’s voice forward. He’s not only leading projects; he’s nurturing a movement grounded in empathy, science, and hope.

In a time when climate despair often feels overwhelming, Ajay’s story reminds us that change doesn’t always begin with protest. Sometimes, it begins with one person listening deeply to the sea — and choosing to answer its call.

You can explore Ajay’s initiatives, campaigns, and collaborations on his website.