Deep Blue Legacy: From Shipwrecks to School Desks

What kind of legacy do we leave behind?

That question guided us last year during the Deep Blue Legacy cleanup expedition in the high seas—a mission to remove ghost nets from historical WWII shipwrecks, supported by our partner DWS. The goal was twofold: to preserve these fragile underwater heritage sites and to make them safer for the marine life that had, over decades, turned them into artificial reefs.

The project resulted in a three-part documentary capturing the dangers, challenges, and beauty of these submerged time capsules. But the name—Deep Blue Legacy—continued to resonate beyond the final dive. We realized we had just scratched the surface of the legacy we wanted to explore.

From Ocean Depths to the Classroom

What if we could take the stories of the shipwrecks—their wartime past, their ecological present, and the choices that shape their future—and bring them to schools? What if students could learn not just about marine litter, but also about memory, responsibility, and intergenerational change?

With support from DWS, we developed a new education program under the Deep Blue Legacy umbrella, reaching for now over 350 students across Germany and Italy in 2025.

History Meets Biodiversity

This immersive program combines multiple dimensions:

• The environmental: understanding the impact of ghost nets and how they entangle both marine life and maritime heritage.
• The historical: learning about the Battle of the Convoys during WWII and the role of these shipwrecks in the high seas.
• The ecological: exploring how sunken vessels evolve into artificial reefs, rich in biodiversity.
• The ethical: encouraging students to reflect on the past and consider our and their responsibility toward future generations.

Letters to the Future

One of the most powerful activities invited students to write a letter to their future selves. In doing so, they had to describe the current state of Earth—and imagine the kind of world they wanted to help create. These letters became time capsules of their own: part environmental reflection, part personal promise.

Reaching Young Minds Across Borders

In Germany, the program was implemented at Saalburgschule in Bad Vilbel and Georg-Büchner-Gymnasium, engaging over 250 students aged 11. These sessions were led by two DWS Ambassadors—Luxshmy Harikantha and Katharina Veth—who volunteered their time to bring the program to life in the classroom.

DWS Ambassadors are employees of DWS who receive training from Healthy Seas to become environmental educators and local champions of marine conservation. In this case, their presence brought the project full circle—connecting their company’s support of the high seas cleanup to a hands-on role in shaping the next generation of ocean stewards.

In Italy, 120 students from I.C. G.D. Romagnosi in Carate Brianza took part in the initiative. More schools are expected to join the program later this year, as we continue expanding the reach of Deep Blue Legacy beyond the ocean and into communities.

A Legacy Extended, Thanks to DWS

We’re grateful to DWS, our long-time partner, for supporting this educational branch of Deep Blue Legacy. Their commitment has helped us go beyond the cleanups and into classrooms, sparking conversations on biodiversity, history, and our shared responsibility for the planet.

In this way, Deep Blue Legacy continues to evolve—transforming ghost nets into learning tools, shipwrecks into storytelling anchors, and young students into active thinkers about the world they will one day inherit.