The Ocean A-List: Meet the heroes and heroines of ocean conservation

With the ever-increasing threats facing the world's oceans, protection and conservation is a task for the many not the few and where the heroes and heroines of ocean conservation lead, the rest of us would do well to follow. By Olivia Falcon.

Cristina Mittermeier

Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen are both photographers and marine biologists who harness the power of the lens to show the real story about what’s going on underneath the ocean. In 2015 this talented duo launched SeaLegacy, a collective of highly acclaimed photographers and film-makers who share their images and films with scientists, conservationists, policymakers and selected media partners to spread their ocean-saving mission. This inspirational group of storytellers is on the front line and sees first hand the damage that is inflicted on marine life. “When there is an emergency, like an oil spill or a hurricane, we are able to deploy a team of photographers to the site immediately so that they can document the crisis and we can share the images with partners and the media,” says Mittermeier.

With a social media reach of more than 70 million and National Geographic as a partner, this group of snappers is punching well above its weight and proving that pictures speak louder than words.

sealegacy.org

"Sadly, I became connected to the ocean late in life,” says Grenier, who set up the Lonely Whale Foundation in 2015 to develop a community of ocean advocates through education and interactive social media campaigns. “I grew up in New York City but never thought of myself as living near the ocean, even though I was. When I finally learnt to scuba dive, I quickly realised how much I had been missing.” Grenier’s new passion led him to co-produce 52: the Search for the Loneliest Whale, a documentary that chronicles the quest to find the mysterious and solitary 52 hertz whale, a mammal scientists believe calls out at a frequency that no other whale can hear.

Grenier also navigated choppy waters when he was challenged last summer by Richard Branson (pictured above) to swim the Strait of Messina to raise awareness for World Oceans Day. “My training for that race took me to waterways all over the world, from the dead zone off Mississippi, to the second largest shipping port in Singapore. I’ve seen and swum through different levels of environmental degradation of our waterways.” Grenier is mindful of his own personal choices at home, too. “My house has an open door policy to my friends and family, with one exception: no plastic bags allowed! I have also committed to saying no to plastic straws and sharing their detrimental effects on our ocean with the restaurant industry.”

Education is also at the core of the Lonely Whale’s work. “We are particularly proud of our kindergarten to fifth grade marine science-based education initiative. We’ve partnered with the Academy for Global Citizenship on the southwest side of Chicago to build a unique education initiative that is rooted in empathy [co-developed with practising scientists and marine researchers, children learn about seven sea creatures and the polluting challenges they face]," he says. “The biggest threat to our oceans right now is non-action. Our oceans are resilient but only if we take collective steps towards protecting and rebuilding them. We need to protect 30 per cent of our oceans by 2030. Today, we’ve protected just three per cent. We have a long way to go but I’m ready for the challenge and the opportunity to engage a new community of environmental leaders.”

lonelywhale.org

On a mission to rid the world of plastic bottles, S’well founder Sarah Kauss has turned an inspired idea – reusable bottles that keep drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 – into a multimillion-dollar business that has supported many eco-friendly charities including WaterAid. With approximately nine million bottles sold globally, limited edition designer collaborations with artists such as Gray Malin and Yoon Hyup, and celebrity fans like Tom Hanks, a S’well bottle has become the "it" accessory. “Prior to creating S’well, I learnt of the Pacific garbage patch, which is a patch of plastic waste in the ocean that’s something like the size of Canada and in places one mile deep,” says Kauss. “This plastic will never biodegrade. It will just become smaller bits that will eventually make their way into our food system. In creating S’well, I set out to convert the non-converted and to encourage others to stop using single-use plastic bottles. I’m so proud to have been able to turn an eco-conscious item into a fashionable one.”

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It has been just over a decade since Prince Albert II of Monaco followed in the footsteps of his great great-grandfather and visited the Arctic, reaching the North Pole to explore the effects of global warming on the weakening ice. In the aftermath of this expedition, the Prince created his eponymous foundation, which is dedicated to environmental protection and focuses specifically on projects in the Mediterranean Basin and the polar regions and on identifying the richest and most fragile areas of biodiversity in the least developed countries. These include areas such as Cambodia, where the foundation has helped to implement new initiatives to manage fisheries.

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"I had been working as the chair of the environmental committee on Mustique for four years, when I became aware that the issues facing the island were just a microcosm of the entire region,” says Adams, who set up the St Vincent and the Grenadines Preservation Fund in March 2015 with funding from many of Mustique’s homeowners.

The singer, who has been holidaying on the island since 2002, has witnessed coral bleaching, overfishing and works to protect endangered species. “I’d say the biggest threat by far to this region is overfishing. It’s done on an industrial scale, by commercial and pirate fishermen and the knock-on effects are catastrophic for local fishermen. The lack of fish is putting the reefs under stress and causes larger predators such as tiger sharks to come into shallower water when deep-sea fish are scarce. The main thing we are focusing on with the fund is the protection of turtles and whales, and educating people that killing off these rare and beautiful creatures is killing off the ecotourism that is the backbone of the future local economy.

It’s counter-intuitive to the government’s plan to develop tourism – having just spent millions developing a new airport. There needs to be a shift towards greater conservation. These islands are like the Caribbean Galápagos. They have a rich biodiversity from the seabirds, marine life and amazing leatherback turtles – there is so much to see. There are signs that there is a shift towards more conservation, and that is very encouraging.”

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This pioneering charity was set up by TV producer Jo Ruxton and lawyer Sonjia Norman when Ruxton was making A Plastic Ocean. This impactful documentary film, first shown in 2016 and now on general release, is a heartfelt call to action in response to the neglectful way we dispose of plastic and the heinous effect it has on marine life and consequently human health as it enters the food chain. “I wanted the film to have a legacy,” says Ruxton. “I wanted to take it forward through education and science programmes. The film is the first of our education tools, but it’s just the beginning because there is so much work to be done.”

What started as an expedition to the Pacific garbage patch in 2009 has turned into a life’s mission to change people’s behaviour within a generation. Ruxton is working with exam boards that operate in 170 countries to get this issue into the curriculum. “Once people realise what’s going on then the right minds are going to come up with solutions… it’s the most crazy situation we’ve got ourselves into and it’s the easiest one to solve.”

plasticoceans.org

As co-chair of the Global Ocean Commission, which ran from 2013 to 2016, the former UK foreign secretary took on an unpaid role to highlight problems and promote the protection of the high seas – vast areas of ocean that make up 45 per cent of the world’s surface but lie beyond the jurisdiction of individual states. With plastic pollution, pirate fishing (often using slave labour linked to drugs and weapons smuggling) and the future risk of illegal dredging and geological mining at stake, “it’s the ecological equivalent of a financial crisis”, said Miliband. Working with former Costa Rican president José Maria Figueres and South Africa’s former finance minister Trevor Manuel, the commission set out practical proposals for action, most notably a call for an international ocean police force to prevent plunder and pillage on a massive scale. “We are living as if there are three or four planets instead of one and you can’t get away with that,” Miliband has said.

Honoured by Riverkeeper for leading the Ralph Lauren Corporation with a deep commitment to protecting the environment, the fashion mogul gave $100,000 to the New York charity. Riverkeeper has worked for 50 years to reverse the decline of the Hudson River and ensure more than nine million New Yorkers have clean, safe drinking water. Lauren landed the coveted Big Fish award at the 50th anniversary Fishermen’s Ball last May. “I’m a New Yorker. I was born here. I was married here. I raised my children here. The Hudson is my river – it’s our river,” he said.

riverkeeper.org