Sea of Hope: America’s Underwater Treasures follows iconic ocean explorer and conservationist Dr. Sylvia Earle, renowned underwater National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, author and captain Max Kennedy and their crew of teenage aquanauts on a yearlong environmental quest. In celebration of the centennial of the National Park Service, their goal is to turn the next 100 years into a blue centennial by protecting vital habitats and underwater natural wonders. Through science and photography, they hope to inspire President Obama to establish blue parks across an unseen American wilderness. Building on the legacy of previous presidents, including actions by President George W. Bush, the yearlong expedition culminates when President Obama reveals that he created the world’s largest marine preserve in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean. To celebrate these historic achievements, National Geographic captured the first-ever footage of a U.S. president diving underwater.

Directed by Robert Nixon.