It is with deep sadness that we finally acknowledge the passing of Kshamenk. We had hoped, alongside many, that after decades in captivity, his story might find a different ending. One that returned him to the vastness of the sea he was pulled from, or at the very least, offered a form of freedom greater than the small pool he was confined to for decades without sun protection. We hope his crossing over the rainbow bridge was smooth and with sweet relief.
The Cetadelic campaign was born from a place of urgency, passion, and a willingness to dream boldly on behalf of disturbing images we were exposed to from the frontline organization, Tidebreakers. Our campaign began simply by asking ourselves and calling to our wider circle to imagine a different future and to explore what it might take to get there. In that spirit, we began our approach to artists as potential collaborators with an open invitation to co-create.
While we did not reach the outcome we had envisioned for Kshamenk, we remain proud of what has been initiated: a spark, a signal, a creative direction that still holds immense potential. So, our work does not end with Kshamenk when so many are still in captivity.
Kshamenk, alongside Wikie, Keijo, and so many others, continues to inspire a deeper commitment within us. Their lives—and the conditions they have or continue to endure—ask us to keep going. To keep imagining and building bridges between worlds that too often remain separate: activism and art, science and story, ocean and audience.
Morgan remains dedicated to carrying this forward through Cetadelic—bringing music, visual storytelling, and VJ art into conversation with the reality of cetacean captivity. The intention is to bring this issue into shared spaces—onto screens, into gatherings, and into cultural consciousness in ways that move both heart and perspective.
We are now pivoting our original concept. Cetadelic, as a project of Green Wave is evolving into an immersive art experience offering vs. onboarding artists to create a movement.
We are refocusing to be in service to organizations working in cetacean liberation and ocean conservation. We will be reaching out to groups on the frontlines to explore how our type of visual and sonic storytelling can support their missions, amplify their voices, and bring their messages to life in new ways and to new audiences. Services will be by sliding scale and we will explore pro bono requests.
We remain open to creative collaborations with other artists, while grounding this next phase in service, alignment, and real-world impact. We wish to honor those we have lost, like Kshamenk (and his dolphin friend, Flopy, who survives him), by continuing to create, connect, and push gently but persistently toward change.
Together we dream forward.
Art by Morgan Lavery. Kshamenk crossing the rainbow bridge.