Cover Mark Dalio is the founder and co-CEO of OceanX, a non-profit organisation using science, technology and media for ocean awareness and exploration (Photo: Melvin Wong/Tatler Singapore)
Mark Dalio is the founder and co-CEO of OceanX, a non-profit organisation using science, technology and media for ocean awareness and exploration (Photo: Melvin Wong/Tatler Singapore)
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What started as a childhood fascination with nature evolved into OceanX, a non-profit initiative that Mark Dalio and his investment mogul father co-founded to promote ocean awareness and research through storytelling
With headlines often highlighting the state-of-the-art research facilities onboard OceanX’s OceanXplorer, one may not realise that it is also a ship built for top-of-the-line media production, with Hollywood-standard equipment for filming and capturing photos of life underwater.
A non-profit initiative by Dalio Philanthropies, OceanX was started by Mark Dalio, a renowned American filmmaker and producer, and his father, billionaire investor Ray Dalio, who is behind Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.
With only 5 per cent of the world’s oceans explored by humans to date, OceanX’s vision is to educate and inspire people about the natural world below sea level through audiovisual storytelling, similar to the productions we are used to seeing in the film industry.
Since this May, the 87-metre-long OceanXplorer has been traversing the waters of Southeast Asia, studying its diverse marine life and ecosystems. During its brief stop in Singapore this September, we join the younger Dalio onboard the vessel to chat about the times he spent with his influential father, how he got into ocean conservation and his vision for OceanX.
Above Mark with his father and OceanX co-founder, Ray Dalio (right), at the launch of OceanX at New York’s American Museum of Natural History on June 4, 2018 (Photo: Ilya S Savenok/Getty Images for OceanX)
Mark with his father and OceanX co-founder, Ray Dalio (right), at the launch of OceanX at New York’s American Museum of Natural History on June 4, 2018 (Photo: Ilya S Savenok/Getty Images for OceanX)
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It began with a whale fall and a failed TV show
Dalio spent much of his childhood outdoors, camping and diving with his father. When he was not outside, he was likely at home watching BBC’s The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, or a documentary film by the late French oceanographer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau. One of his Cousteau favourites, says Dalio, is his Academy Award-winning film, World Without Sun, released in 1964.
Dalio was particularly inspired by how these films pioneered the use of military-grade technology and Hollywood-style camera work to film nature, bringing never-before-seen worlds to life. For instance, the Cineflex V14 HD camera system, used on Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, could capture a vehicle’s license plate from a helicopter. This means that filmmakers can capture scenes from afar while keeping viewers immersed, as though they were right there alongside a fox hunting its prey, or a lizard fleeing its predator.
Above The late oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau (centre), whose documentaries Dalio grew up watching, with colleagues preparing for a dive (Photo: Getty Images)
The late oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau (centre), whose documentaries Dalio grew up watching, with colleagues preparing for a dive (Photo: Getty Images)
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Dalio’s passion for filmmaking is palpable, as he gushes over what such high-quality equipment can do to create intimate and enchanting experiences for viewers that connect them to the natural world through their screens.
Before OceanX, Dalio worked on scripted productions for National Geographic.
His path shifted when his father purchased the Alucia, a 56-metre-long research and media vessel renowned for capturing the first‑ever footage of a giant squid over a decade ago, in 2011.
He was invited to join an expedition onboard the Alucia, during which he made his first dive in a submersible with the team in search of a whale fall—an event where a whale’s carcass sinks to the ocean floor, providing abundant food for deep-sea life.
After a stormy night with low visibility, he initially mistook a large shape being carried by the currents in the distance for the whale fall. He quickly realised what it was: a 60 kg shark that had taken a bite of the whale before briefly colliding into the submersible and then disappearing into the dark.
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The OceanXplorer is a 87-metre-long research vessel equipped with state-of-the-art research and media production capabilities (Photo: OceanX)
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The encounter left a profound impact on Dalio and he pitched a television show about the scientific work taking place onboard the Alucia. The project, however, fell through and he found himself at a crossroads—to remain in Los Angeles to continue working in traditional film production or sail the seas to pursue ocean storytelling.
When he decided on the latter, he says he had to “twist my father’s arm” to get him on board with the idea.
That was when they started OceanX, combining scientific discovery with cutting‑edge media production to help people form a deeper connection with the ocean.
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Life is sustained by the ocean. Every second breath you get is because of the ocean
Bringing Hollywood to science
Through OceanX, Dalio wants to put oceanographic research and storytelling on equal footing—and this is reflected in how the OceanXplorer has been designed.
On traditional research vessels, science and media teams often interfere with each other due to a lack of space. With the OceanXplorer, Dalio wanted the ship to allow for media equipment to be quickly deployed so that the crew could capture eureka moments in real time.
The ‘OceanXplorer’ is equipped with two submersibles. Nadir, pictured here, is designed for media use and can capture 8K footage of discoveries underwater, while Neptune is used specifically to collect marine samples (Photo: OceanX)
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The media facilities of the OceanXplorer were designed by the renowned American filmmaker James Cameron, who wrote and directed blockbuster films including Avatar and Titanic. This includes a media centre, a submersible rover designed for media use and mixed-reality headsets such as the Apple Vision Pro for immersive educational purposes.
Dalio shares that his crew is also experimenting with mixed‑reality technology to enhance underwater scenes and make them television‑ready. The OceanXplorer is the main star of Cameron’s new docuseries, OceanXplorers, co-produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and OceanX, which premiered on National Geographic in August. Outfitted with LED lights, submersible rovers and full genome sequencing capabilities, it has been said that the OceanXplorer resembles the Starship Enterprise spacecraft from the Star Trek franchise.
It often plays host to external scientists, communicators, business leaders, funders and students. OceanX also runs a Young Explorers programme, which offers students aged 18 to 24 a one- to eight-day experience onboard the vessel to learn about ocean science, media and operations through workshops, lectures and hands-on activities.
Dalio says the hope is to show students that a career in such fields is within reach.
Read more: How this Hong Kong film producer and environmentalist is confronting climate change through cinema
Dalio in mission control (Photo: Melvin Wong/Tatler Singapore)
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Working with a famous last name
While Dalio acknowledges that having a famous last name has helped him connect with key people in business, finance and other relevant sectors, who resonate with his mission and who might not yet be involved in ocean conservation, he says that it has also led to a misconception that OceanX does not need external partners to achieve its goals.
Ocean research is historically underfunded, receiving less than 0.56 per cent of all philanthropic funding since 2016.
In Dalio’s words, it is the “ugly duckling” of the scientific world. At the 2022 World Ocean Summit by The Economist, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, highlighted that “the ocean remains ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for many”, particularly given how about 60 per cent of it is beyond national jurisdictions.
The ocean’s vastness can also make it difficult for people to imagine that it can actually be under strain or in need of protection.
But this is exactly why Dalio emphasises that no single organisation can tackle its challenges alone. OceanX’s efforts are a drop in the ocean (pun intended) that can only be amplified when it works with partners in alignment with its mission and vision.
Here, we ask Dalio a few quickfire questions to learn more about his passion for the ocean.
What’s the longest you’ve spent on the OceanXplorer out at sea?
Mark Dalio (MD): Two to two and a half months.
How do you deal with seasickness?
MD: I don’t get it. I like the movement of the swell of the ocean.
The coolest deep sea creature that you’ve seen?
MD: I’ll give you a habitat: brine pools. They’re like an alien world, a lake under the sea that looks like a witch’s cauldron and brings all sorts of weird creatures like the frogfish or giant squid.
Above One of the OceanXplorer’s submersibles exploring a brine pool in 2016 (Photo: OceanX)
One of the OceanXplorer’s submersibles exploring a brine pool in 2016 (Photo: OceanX)
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What has the ocean taught you?
MD: That life is sustained by the ocean. Every second breath you get is because of the ocean.
The best advice you’ve received from your dad?
MD: Follow your passions.
What’s one thing you believed five years ago that you know now to be untrue?
MD: That telling an interesting story about science would always be difficult. It doesn’t have to be.
Dalio was interviewed by Woo Qiyun, a Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow and climate activist who specialises in communicating and showcasing complex issues in an engaging, digestible and non-intimidating way. Best known for her Instagram account The Weird and Wild, she uses quirky doodles and infographics to communicate compelling climate narratives.
This article is part of Founder Stories, a series dedicated to discovering the untold stories and challenges of today’s entrepreneurs on their climb to the top.
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