NFT Collection Highlights Rare Philippine Marine Species, Advocating Conservation

Manila-based Octopus & Whale (O&W), a Game and Experience Design Agency founded by Joey David-Tiempo, and the Philippines’ premier NFT marketplace Likha by BayaniChain have recently entered into a partnership as they put a spotlight on the country’s declining marine biodiversity.

The pair’s ocean advocacy has led to the launch of their first NFT collection dubbed “Save Our Sharks (SOS)” featuring tokens that represent the 200 species of rare Philippine sharks, rays, and chimaeras. As interest in NFTs continue to rise, especially among the youth, the project is at funding conservation efforts of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, lobbying for the protection of threatened sharks, as well as promoting awareness and education.

“O&W owes much of its creative success because we value everything around us. The people who share our lives, and the creatures we share our planet with. It is sad to see how current ways of life are causing habitat destruction that endanger other creatures. For O&W, the opportunity was just too sweet to ignore. Art, sharks, rays, chimaeras, and NFTs equal advocacy,” explained Tiempo.

“They’ll be extinct before we know much about them, or before we could appreciate them, and save them for the next generations. O&W wants to do our share in saving the sharks the best way we know how, through art, creativity, and technology.”

Each design of tokens in Save Our Sharks is based on species recorded in “Pating Ka Ba? An ID Guide to Sharks, Batoids and Chimaeras of the Philippines.” Save Our Sharks is also considered to be an “evolving NFT collection,” as the team is expected to update the art for the tokens based on added information once the latest version of the guide is released.

“Our team of talented artists designed 200 unique art pieces to bring life to the highly undocumented sharks, rays and chimaeras that swim in our Philippine waters,” elaborated O&W Digital Strategy Head Bea Pesarillo. “We want to honor these beautiful creatures through art, taking them to the NFT space where rarity is highly valued.”

“With O&W as partners, and advocacy in the mix, we are confident that our mission to provide local artists and brands the space to mint, manage and market their NFTs will be propelled, and our work as a Filipino blockchain development company accelerating decentralized digital asset adoption in the country would reach wider understanding,” further affirmed BayaniChain CEO Gelo Wong.

Source: Manila Times