The Western Flyer with Nick Offerman

My life, like millions of others, was transformed after reading John Steinbeck. His ability to weave universal truths into astonishingly beautiful descriptions of everyday life made me powerfully curious about life outside the walls of my rural Virginia upbringing. So, I studied writing in college and traveled as far as my old car would take me.

My adventures and my passions for art, music, conservation, and humanitarian issues led me to a career in filmmaking. And ironically, it was here tucked into a bluff outside of Haines, Alaska filming a grizzly bear mama teaching her cubs to catch salmon for dinner that I first learned about the Western Flyer.

Standing next to me was John Gregg, a marine geologist, inventor, and explorer, who had bought the boat and spent $6M returning it to its 1940s grandeur. Why would anyone do such a thing? While keeping an eye on the mama grizzly, I listened to John talk with wonder in his eyes about the power of art and science coming together to better understand and protect the ocean.

Little did I know, but John Steinbeck and Dr. Ed Ricketts, a marine biologist before anyone knew what that was, chartered a 75 foot wooden purse seiner to sail to Mexico to create the first serious compendium of the flora and fauna of the Sea of Cortez. It was Steinbeck’s book “Log from the Sea of Cortez” that inspired several generations of marine biologists as well as science communicators. This is where art and science got hitched.

I was hooked.

Then I learned that the Western Flyer Foundation had retrofitted a state-of-the-art scientific laboratory into the belly of the ship. This vessel was now ready to be used for scientific research and education in ocean health and climate change. I was overwhelmed by the opportunity to help tell the story of the storyteller who had inspired me to do this work.

I began working with the Western Flyer Foundation to figure out how we could tell the story on a shoestring budget. Our goal was to stir curiosity and get more people involved. There were so many elements to the story. There was Steinbeck, there was an old wooden boat, there was Ed Ricketts, there was art and there was ocean research.

Our big question was, who would voice this story?

After a short meeting, we all agreed. Nick Offerman. If you know anything about Nick, you know he may be the only best person in the world for this job.

Did we know Nick? Nope.

We reached out with a cold email to his agent’s agent and quickly got a message back that said Nick was too busy. But then about 10 minutes later we got a message saying Nick was interested, if we had a script.

I quickly wrote a script in Nick’s voice and thankfully Nick loved it. He agreed to record with us and support the project.

The result has been 10s of thousands of new people engaged in this ocean research vessel and the story that is unfolding.

Inspired by the film, plans are being made to tell the next story: The Return of the Western Flyer to the Sea of Cortez where a new story of ocean research and conservation unfolds. Stay tuned.

Respect,

Aaron Straight