Duration: 3:32 minutes
Description:
This video follows Tyler’s work with Natrx, supported by Shell, restoring vulnerable coastlines through innovative nature-based engineering.
EF24 - NATRX - Picture Lock Transcript
[Background music plays]
The background instrumentals shift fluidly between electronic, rock, classical and country, creating a distinctive yet cohesive soundscape. Rhythms range from upbeat and energetic to smooth and balanced, with nods to The Sound of Shell throughout.
Video footage
A sweeping drone shot glides over expansive marshlands, revealing a patchwork of winding waterways, tall grasses, and reflective pools shimmering under natural light as gulls cry in the distance.
Tyler
I'm Tyler. I'm a coastal bioengineer and born and raised in Louisiana.
Video footage
Shots of Tyler standing at a railing show him gazing out across the marshes, his figure still against the vast, open landscape. The distant call of birds and insects underscore the quiet, contemplative mood as he takes in the view.
Tyler
I grew up, just watched the shoreline washing back year after year. As wetlands are disappearing, as oyster reefs are disappearing, there's no more buffer now. The Gulf is in people’s backyards.
Video footage
Drone shots sweep across the marshes below bright blue skies, capturing vast expanses of shimmering water rather than vast wetlands, with birds occasionally visible in flight and their distant calls heard in the background. A distant shoreline featuring buildings and structures seems surrounded by the vast expanse of water.
[Text displays]
In the Unites States, almost 40% of the population lives in coastal counties.
Video footage
A scenic drone shot of the Wrightsville Beach barrier island in North Carolina. The footage transitions into a soft blur as text transitions in to display at frame-center.
Tyler
I haven't been down here since Hurricane Ike. The water was up, flowing over the road here.
Video footage
Footage shows Tyler driving, his expression focused as the world passes by outside the window. Intercut with his journey are shots of local homes, some well-kept, others still bearing the scars of Hurricane Ike, silently reflecting the storm’s lasting impact.
Tyler
I spent my whole adult life trying to do something about this problem. And now we've got the technology, we've got the team, we've got the partners, and we're attacking it.
Video footage
Tyler walks down a quiet residential road, his steps steady as he takes in his surroundings. The neighborhood is a mix of recovery and routine - water-stained walls, motor homes, cars parked outside on well-kept lawns.
[Text displays]
Tyler co-founded Natrx, a company providing nature-based coastal protection.
Custom reef modules nicknamed ‘Cajun Coral’ is one of the innovative products they have developed.
Video footage
A sweeping drone shot reveals a lush green expanse of marshland. Over the footage, text transitions in to display at frame-center.
Tyler
We're doing something a little bit different. We’ve taken this idea of working with Mother Nature, and we’ve combined the way oysters grow with coastal engineering. So this little critter builds a heavy calcium carbonate shell. For a civil engineer, it’s a free rock.
Video footage
A series of drone shots reveals Natrx’s ‘Cajun Coral’ ExoForms forming a protective barrier that curves along the marshland’s edge, blending seamlessly into the natural surroundings. Intercut underwater footage shows the ExoForms anchored to the marsh bed, their textured surfaces fostering marine life and swaying gently with the current. The sequence concludes with an aerial view highlighting the tops of the ExoForm structures from above.
Tyler
So, we let these reefs grow on top of each other. They get bigger and bigger. And so by building your infrastructure, you’re also building nature.
Video footage
Interview footage shows Tyler speaking to the off-camera interviewer on a construction site, with rows of ExoForms laid out side-by-side in the background, their intricate design highlighting the scale of the project. Another drone shot captures the manmade barrier, its ExoForms stretching across the landscape. Underwater footage follows, showcasing marine life as a fish darts from one of the structures, highlighting the vibrant ecosystem supported by the barrier.
Tyler
This machine is where we produce our custom-made reefs. So the digital design goes in, and a concrete ExoForm comes out.
Video footage
A wide shot inside Natrx’s warehouse reveals the 3D machine used to print the ExoForms, its intricate mechanisms and precision highlighting the cutting-edge technology behind the production process. A close-up of a computer screen showcases the digital design software. A close-up shot reveals multiple electronic circuit boards illuminated by green LED lights, with various wires connected to them. High-angle footage shows workers handling a large container filled with cement powder in the warehouse.
Tyler
Every one of these needles are robotically controlled to inject a precise amount of water into the concrete mix to make the shape.
Video footage
A series of shots shows Tyler and his team carefully handling and securing the robotically controlled needles, which inject water into the concrete mix below, ensuring precision and control in the process.
Tyler
I love the whole process of innovating. It's so exciting. Every day is a new day and we’re doing something different.
Video footage
A wide shot captures rows of ExoForm structures partially submerged in water in the Natrx yard, the water’s surface reflecting the sky and surrounding landscape. In the background, industrial structures loom, with two tall green silos prominently displaying the Natrx signage. Interview footage shows Tyler speaking to the off-camera interviewer once again at the construction site, with the ongoing work and machinery subtly in the background.
[Text displays]
In 2019 Natrx won Shell GameChanger, a program to help start-ups.
Shell provides support, expertise, and seed funding to businesses with innovative ideas.
Video footage
Aerial footage showcases the lush green expanse of marshland with ExoForm barriers installed around the land. Over the footage, text transitions in to display at frame-center.
Tyler
So this all started off as a project in my backyard. And here we are, what, five years later, and we've got thousands of square feet of floor space in a waterfront facility where we're loading product directly onto barges to go into construction projects.
Video footage
Interview footage shows Tyler speaking to the off-camera interviewer again at the construction site, with ongoing activity and machinery in the background. We then follow Tyler walking through the yard, framed by the tall green Natrx towers. A low-angle shot highlights the twin towers with their signage, followed by sweeping aerial footage of rows of ExoForms arranged neatly across the yard. At the water’s edge, drone footage shows an excavator carefully loading ExoForms onto a barge as workers oversee the operation. A wide-angle view captures a forklift moving across the yard to collect more ExoForms, and another aerial shot shows the barge being steadily loaded by the excavator.
Tyler
One of my favorite parts of the job is going out into these job sites. Maybe the last time I saw it was when we were building it, and then finding it just covered with life.
Video footage
Close-up shots capture gulls soaring gracefully above the water, followed by a series of footage showing Tyler navigating a hovercraft across the picturesque marshland.
[Text displays]
70% of the oil and gas production in the Gulf of America comes through Shell operated pipelines.
Coastal land loss is a risk to the pipeline and the secure supply of energy to power lives onshore.
Video footage
An aerial shot captures Tyler’s hovercraft gliding through the glistening waterways of the marshland between stretches of vibrant green. Over the footage, text transitions in to display at frame-center.
Tyler
Shell came to us looking to control the flow of water into a pipeline right away without completely blocking it, but then also it would grow into a living natural oyster reef.
Video footage
Footage from onboard the hovercraft offers a sweeping view of the marshland and winding waterways, while an aerial shot reveals the intricate network of channels threading through the vibrant green landscape.
Tyler
There’s a major crude pipelines crossing from back bank over here, through here.
Video footage
A close-up shot captures a Shell Pipeline Company LP warning sign for a petroleum pipeline, set against a vivid blue sky dotted with clouds and the green of the surrounding marshland. Footage shows Tyler on the boat, gesturing toward the location of the pipelines.
Tyler
We have nature-based infrastructure. It's a living fence that's going to keep the water, the tides, from flushing out and making that erosion worse. We designed these specific to the site. They're porous. The water flows through them. So whenever those high tides come in, they're not going to cut around it and blow it out. They're also home for hundreds of oysters and barnacles. I wasn't sure what we'd find when we came out here, but I'm loving all this, all the life that I'm seeing. It looks like we have a pretty successful project going here.
Video footage
An aerial view captures the installation of ExoForms nestled within the marshland as Tyler’s boat approaches. A series of shots follows Tyler disembarking and walking the site, inspecting the thriving marine life on the corals, featuring all the barnacles growing, with this scene shown from multiple angles and perspectives. Medium-angle footage shows Tyler speaking from the installation site, with a brief cutaway to a close-up view of the coral life and an aerial view of the patchwork marshland.
Tyler
Coasts are so important for our culture and our economy. We are working day after day for future generations.
Video footage
An aerial view captures Tyler’s hovercraft skimming along a waterway, flanked by houses on one side and marshland on the other. This transitions to a wider aerial perspective revealing the vast, intricate sprawl of marshland stretching to the horizon.
Video footage and animated sequence
We end on a yellow background montage, where we see various people, ending with Tyler, successively posing against the yellow background, and smiling into the camera. An animated Pecten shape displays at frame-center over the flashing images, yellow neon light appearing to move around the outline in a chasing effect. Successively larger Pecten shapes briefly pulsate out from the original shape.
[Audio]
Shell brand mnemonic played on keys.
[Text displays]
Powering Progress Together
© Shell International Limited 2025
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The prior scene transitions with a contraction effect, closing in the shape of the Pecten and disappearing at the center of the frame, leaving a white background. The small classic red and yellow Pecten transitions in to display at frame-center against the white background. Text displays below the Pecten and along lower frame.
[Text displays]
The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this content “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience to reference Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, ‘‘Shell subsidiaries’’ and ‘‘Shell companies’’ as used in this content refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. The terms “joint venture”, “joint operations”, “joint arrangements”, and “associates” may also be used to refer to a commercial arrangement in which Shell has a direct or indirect ownership interest with one or more parties. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
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