“What have we done?” That was the reaction of a marine scientist, the first Micronesian (and second woman in history) to explore the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench — more than 7 miles below the surface.
"Seeing trash at the bottom is a huge red light going off in our faces, but we've already had so many red lights flashing in our faces, and yet we're still continuing what we're doing, just polluting our ocean," she said. "We're at the bottom of Challenger Deep, and we stumble upon trash."
Nicole Yamase’s journey is detailed in a documentary that won the Pasifika award at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. The Conversation talked to Yamase and filmmaker Daniel Lin.
Lin also works with Nia Tero, an organization focused on elevating the role and influence of Indigenous people. He started off talking about how the film, “Remathau: People of the Ocean,” came together.
Interview highlights
On the film coming together
DANIEL LIN: Nicole has been living this story for her whole life, and it's a big reflection of her journey and her perspective. For me, it's a culmination of many years and many relationships that I've been fortunate enough to have and be a part of over the course of my work throughout the Pacific, especially across the Micronesia region. And so when we came together, and she had her experience, and we understood there's these bigger arcs of stories that are tied throughout the diaspora, the many generations of people that live across Hawaiʻi and the mainland, and also in all parts of Micronesia. We just felt like it was a really great opportunity to explore what that would look like through the lens of an individual like Nicole, who has such a unique perspective, but also a very powerful and charismatic voice, but ultimately, look at a community story in that regard. So that's why we made it. It's our love letter to the people who have nourished and supported us across the region for so long.
On exploring the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean
NICOLE YAMASE: I did not expect to see marine debris down there, especially in a moment where I'm just feeling so proud and so honored to be there and to just take it all in. And then when I see the tethers and the lines at the bottom, then my whole mindset kind of just goes to disappointment and embarrassment of: What have we done? Seeing trash at the bottom is a huge red light going off in our faces, but we've already had so many red lights flashing in our faces, and yet we're still continuing what we're doing, just polluting our ocean. ... We're at the bottom of Challenger Deep, and we stumble upon trash. How much trash is there really? ... And I think with the changing worlds and priorities, shifting current, moving and bringing this trash, we really just need to shift our mindset to how life would be before, what would our ancestors say and do.
On the sacredness of the ocean
LIN: I feel in the world of being in the Pacific and especially seeing the world and the lens and stories through Pacific peoples, there's nothing more sacred than ocean spaces. Ocean spaces are the spaces that unite, that nourish, that connect people. They're the sea lanes of all of the previous voyagers. And so to think of what an ancestral territory means for Pacific Islanders, you could say that the bottom of the ocean is just such a sacred space, especially one as deep as it is, it's a space where all creation legends come out of. It's this space where there's this immense amount of life, whether it's seen or unseen, felt or unfelt, it is just sacred. And so the feeling that that is disturbed by what happens on the surface in careless ways is what we wanted to highlight with this film. And just to show that the ocean is not this big kind of dumping ground. There's not this vast, empty, vacuous space. It's this place full of life and memory, and in of itself. And so we wanted to showcase that what happens in all of these things are interconnected from the top to the bottom.
On building connections to the ocean
YAMASE: Now we're really with 'Remathau,' and you've seen that there's so many different powerful levels of the story that can help shape our young minds. One of the big goals that we would like to do is build curriculum. Help get 'Remathau' into classrooms, into spaces where our kids and the youth can see who we are, how deep we are, connected to the ocean. What can we do to take care of our sacred spaces and through the work with one reef like Dan, working with Indigenous communities back home to bring back our traditional ways, knowledge and perspectives of the ocean, so that those could be our North Star of what we do to make sure that we're all aligned in that we come together to work together to protect and take care of our oceans.
The film will screen at the Maui Arts & Culture Center on Jan. 14 as part of the ongoing art exhibit: “Ocean of Peace,” showcasing Micronesian artists.
This story aired on The Conversation on Jan. 8, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
