National Geographic Encounter Presents, ‘The Celebrity Whale Challenge’

photo of National Geographic Encounter: Ocean OdysseyNational Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTERphoto of National Geographic Encounter: Ocean OdysseyNational Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTER

National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey is challenging well-known personalities to take "The Whale Challenge" to benefit students.

National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey, located in Times Square in New York City, is a breathtaking, interactive underwater adventure that uses cutting-edge technology to transport you to the Pacific Ocean where you’ll see, hear and feel what it’s like to live under the sea. The immersive technology lets you play with sea lions, get up-close with a majestic, life-sized humpback whale, and discover the incredible stories of National Geographic’s ocean explorers.

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photo by National Geographic Encounter

To benefit NYC area Title 1 school children, Encounter: Ocean Odyssey is launching a new social media challenge where celebrities take “The Whale Challenge” and get swallowed by a 50-foot humpback whale in Times Square. The celebrity will dive into a virtual ocean at Nat Geo Encounter, take a journey across the Pacific, then be transformed into a sardine at the end of their journey and join over a hundred thousand other sardines off the coast of California in Encounter’s grand finale “Bait Ball” scene—an immersive two-story dome with 3-D,8K resolution, photorealistic animation. Then, the celebrity will challenge another celebrity friend to take the challenge.

For every celebrity that participates and posts a video of them completing “The Whale Challenge” to their social media accounts, Nat Geo Encounter will donate one free class field trip to a NYC area Title 1 school to Encounter.

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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTER

ABC7 Eyewitness News and Good Morning America’s weather anchor Sam Champion was the first celebrity to complete the challenge. He then challenged another ABC personality, Tamron Hall, host of ABC’s "The Tamron Hall Show." Hall then challenged David Novarro, co-anchor of Eyewitness News on WABC-TV in New York City.

It is so critical to show kids the ocean and environments that they won’t necessarily get a chance to see in their lives… If we are going to take care of this planet, of our environments, we have to teach kids how beautiful, how precious, and how special all of that is.

Sam Champion,

Developed and produced with the creative minds by SPE Partners, Academy, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning artists, Encounter is a first-of-its-kind immersive experience certain to thrill explorers of all ages.

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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTER