FBF: Emily Cunningham: Our Ocean to Save

“What can I do to help the ocean?” is the question marine biologist and conservationist Emily Cunningham MBE is asked more than any other. Her new book, Our Ocean to Save, is her answer: an exploration of the extraordinary life of our seas, the pressures they face, and what each of us can actually do to make a difference.

Based near Falmouth, Emily studies whales and dolphins as an Honorary Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus. Over more than a decade working at the frontline of ocean conservation, her work and research have taken her from Antarctica to the Amazon, while closer to home she has worked to protect marine wildlife and the coastal communities whose lives are intimately connected with the sea.

Emily has helped secure millions of pounds for conservation and has worked to shape marine policy at local, national and international level. In 2025 she was awarded an MBE for services to marine conservation and coastal communities, and she is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

But Our Ocean to Save is not simply an account of what is going wrong. At its heart is a much more hopeful question: what can we do about it? Drawing on science, encounters with remarkable marine life and Emily’s own experiences as a conservationist, it looks at the changes already happening and the practical ways individuals and communities can become part of the solution.

For a festival taking place in a town shaped by its relationship with the sea, this is a particularly timely conversation about the ocean on our doorstep and the future we want for it.

Find out more about Falmouth Book Festival here: https://www.falmouthbookfestival.com/

Falmouth Book Festival: Emily Cunningham: Our Ocean to Save

Sunday 25th October 4.00pm

Tickets: £7.00/£10.00

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. A 50p booking fee is also applied per ticket for online and telephone transactions.