An 'ah-ha' moment led marine biologist and Korean Canadian filmmaker Sonya Lee to her latest project, the docuseries Our Ocean Table. The three-part series sees Lee and co-host Hannah Sung rediscovering their Korean roots and exploring how traditional Korean seafood dishes connect to the environment, highlighting the importance of conservation and sustainability in preserving those links.
A Personal Journey
Lee, a National Geographic Explorer based in Victoria, said she worked on other people's ocean stories and always felt it must be nice to have an ocean culture, without realizing she came from one. 'I had the realization when I was making Korean food and noticing there's so much seafood,' she said. 'Once I realized that it just kind of snowballed into being, 'Wow, if we don't take care of these ingredients, we actually won't be able to eat our cultural foods.''
Exploring Cultural Connections
The series, which premieres on May 1 on demand on Telus Optik TV, and streams on Telus Stream+ and CBC Gem, asks: 'What does it mean for our culture if our food disappears?' The answer is served up with the help of Korean Canadian chefs, sustainable harvesters and community leaders from Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Calgary. Lee said she always wants to know the state of the ingredients featured, asking, 'Can we keep eating it forever?'
Challenging Stereotypes
Lee hopes the series will help remove some of the negativity and blame assigned to Asian cultures when it comes to environmental practices. 'In the conservation media spaces that I work in, often East Asians are the bad guys. The over-fishers, the poachers and the wildlife traffickers,' she said. 'There are amazing scientists and conservationists in our culture as well. We just don't see them.' She added, 'One of the big things I would love people to see is that East Asian cultures also have a strong tie to the ocean and to the environment.'
Behind the Scenes
Our Ocean Table is Lee's first time in front of the camera after years working on documentaries for CBC, NFB, PBS, National Geographic and others. She reached out to Sung, a cultural journalist and former MuchMusic VJ, to co-host. 'There's this concept of an Eonni, which is like older sister in Korean. She very much felt like an Eonni,' Lee said. The pair met during the early days of COVID-19, bonding over their love of Korean pop culture, particularly BTS. When Lee called Sung about the series, Sung said, 'Sure, why not?'
Lee co-directed the series with Vancouver's Jon Chiang. She is also working on a short film with Vancouver Chef Jay Park, winner of the gold medal at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship and one of the chefs highlighted in the series.
