Excellence in National Stewardship
Susi Pudjiastuti, the Republic of Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs, was appointed by President Joko Widodo in 2014. Minister Susi has aggressively protected her nation’s economic and...
President Remengesau Jr., the eighth President of the Republic of Palau, is the first Palauan to be elected as President three times. Over the past 2 decades in office, he has consistently...
Prince Albert II is a fourth generation ocean champion, who has followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather Prince Albert I and his father Prince Rainier III—both strong proponents of...
Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries for the European Union, Greek politician and author, Maria Damanaki has initiated and enforced groundbreaking policies to end illegal fishing...
As one of his first acts after his election in 2012, President Sall rescinded the licenses of 29 pelagic fishing vessels belonging to foreign countries in Senegal’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Within...
President Tong, recently re-elected for a third term in office, has become a globally recognized figure for his work on climate response, ocean protection and multinational collaboration. He was...
For expanded protection of the waters around Cocos Island
Laura Chinchilla Miranda was elected president of Costa Rica in 2010 and sworn in as President on May 8, 2010. She is the nation’s...
Excellence in Science
Dr. Halpern is a Professor of Marine Ecology and Conservation Planning at UC Santa Barbara. He is renowned for research that analyzes a broad range of complex questions spanning local to global...
Dr. Sumaila is Professor and Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the University of British Columbia. He received his Ph.D. from Bergen University, Norway, and holds a B.Sc. with...
Barbara Block is the Charles & Elizabeth Prothro Professor in Marine Sciences Evolutionary, Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Stanford University. She received her PhD from Duke University...
Dr. Daniel Pauly is a preeminent authority on global fisheries and has identified overfishing as a major threat to global food security. He is the founder and principal investigator at the “Sea...
Steve Gaines is Dean at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara. Steve is a pioneer in the field of sustainable fisheries management, where he has led research...
Dr. Boris Worm and Dr. Heike Lotze Working both separately and in collaboration this husband and wife team of scientists from Dalhousie University in Canada have continued to expand on the work of...
Nancy is the Executive Director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in the coastal Bayou town of...
For his work using genetic technologies to improve marine conservation.
Stephen Palumbi teaches and does research in evolution and marine biology at Stanford University, and has long been...
Jesse H. Ausubel is Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University and Vice President for Programs...
Jeremy Jackson is Director of CMBC, the William E. and Mary B. Ritter Professor of Oceanography at the...
Dr. Nancy Knowlton holds the Sant Chair in Marine Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses on the ecology, evolution and conservation of coral reef...
Dr. Myers held the Killam Chair of Ocean Studies at Halhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He published over 100 refereed scientific publications in diverse fields of aquatic ecology. ...
Excellence in Policy
Senator Blumenthal is a lifelong law enforcement leader and strong proponent for consumer protections, environmental stewardship, and labor rights. He was an early and outspoken voice in calling...
Senator Schatz grew up in Hawai‘i where he developed a true passion and reverence for the ocean. Upon taking office in 2012, he made protecting the ocean one of his top priorities. In June 2016,...
Dr. David Wilmot has over 30 years of experience in ocean science and policy and is co-founder of Ocean Champions, a highly respected organization dedicated to making the health of our public seas...
"Our ocean is in trouble. The entire world must come together to try to change course and protect the ocean from unsustainable fishing practices, unprecedented pollution, and the devastating...
Secretary Leon Panetta was born and raised on the scenic Monterey Bay coastline of California, an area he later served as a Member of Congress before becoming Chief of Staff in the Clinton White...
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has a strong record of support for the oceans including as an outspoken critic of offshore drilling and BP during its oil blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010....
From the "Ocean State" of Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse has become a major champion of marine protection in Congress. He recently introduced...
For his work on U.S. Arctic and Ocean Policy and Disaster Response Leadership
Admiral Thad W. Allen assumed the duties of the 23rd Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 25th, 2006...
Dr. Jane Lubchenco has been the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of NOAA since 2009. ...
Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA), a fifth-generation Californian, represents the state's beautiful Central Coast. Throughout his 18-year tenure...
Senator Hollings served as a Democratic Senator for the State of South Carolina from 1966 until 2005. He was born in Charleston, attended undergraduate studies at The Citadel and earned his law...
Excellence in Media
Educating the public to the challenges our ocean planet faces is a daunting task. That is why the One World One Ocean media campaign was launched in 2011 to bring even greater focus and advocacy...
Ian Urbina is an award winning investigative journalist for The New York Times. Based in the Washington Bureau, Urbina has reported on many high-profile issues, producing exposés covering a wide...
The Economist has been an influential weekly news publication since 1843 with a contemporary circulation of some 1.5 million highly educated readers. Unlike many news outlets where...
First time documentary director Gabriela Cowperthwaite created a powerful work of investigative reporting in her widely seen Blackfish. The film takes a close look at important issues of...
In 1999 leading ocean scientists and communications professionals established COMPASS to train marine scientists in communications skills needed to talk to the media, the public and policymakers...
Skerry’s photography is often seen in the pages of National Geographic Magazine. He balances the wonder of the living seas with thoughtful...
A born-and-bred Washingtonian, Juliet Eilperin graduated in 1992 magna cum laude from Princeton University, where she received a bachelor’s in Politics with a certificate in Latin American Studies...
Louie Psihoyos, Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society (...
Mark Shelley is a Founder and the Executive Director of Sea Studios Foundation, a non-profit team of filmmakers, scientists, and...
The Naples Daily News was recognized in 2004 as a recipient in the inaugural awards. As the source of news for people in western Florida, this newspaper pays careful attention to matters...
Excellence in Solutions
To fully utilize and protect the ocean requires good planning which is why this year’s Solutions Award is going to three model programs that engage a wide range of ocean stakeholders including...
Dr. Costello is a professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Bren School. Upon receiving his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2000, Costello went on...
Knatz is the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, “America’s Port.” She is both the first woman and first marine biologist...
For his work establishing the Phoenix Islands Protected Area
Dr. Stone is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist for Oceans with ...
Excellence in Marine Exploration
Tara Expeditions Foundation, is a French, ship-based non-profit established in 2003 by Agnès Troublé, founder and inspiration for the agnès b. brand and her son Étienne Bourgois, to celebrate...
Charles Nainoa Thompson is a native Hawaiian navigator and the president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. He is best known as the first Hawaiian in seven centuries to practice the ancient...
An avid scuba diver and conservationist, his Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Sultan of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, established a visionary ocean research and expeditionary non-profit in 2000,...
Inspired by a challenge from ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, Ocean in Google Earth has become a portal for anyone...
Dr. Walsh is an oceanographer, explorer and retired Navy captain whose career was in submarines. In 1960, Walsh and Jacques Piccard dove to the oceans’ deepest place in the Navy’s Bathyscaph...
Ocean Spirit Foundation Award
Established in September 2000, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation seeks to create positive outcomes for future generations. The Foundation...
Christopher Benchley Youth Award
At the very young age of 7 and 8, this Georgia based brother and sister duo were motivated to start a ‘company’ that could help protect endangered species. The sight of sea turtles covered in oil...
21-year-old Daniela Fernandez, born in Ecuador, became passionate about climate change after watching Al Gore's ‘An Inconvenient Truth when she was in elementary school.
She currently is a...
“I work for sharks, they are everything to me,” says Madison Stewart. The 21-year-old Australian underwater filmmaker has been swimming with sharks for over a decade and has made it her life's...
16-year-old Casey Sokolovic is a native of North Carolina and the founder of L.A.S.T. (Love A Sea Turtle) whose motto is lets “Help Them LAST.” She began supporting sea turtles at the age eight...
Twenty-year-old Sean Russell became aware of the problem of marine plastic pollution as a high school intern at Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida. In response he founded the “Stow It-Don’t Throw...
Ta'Kaiya is a ten-year-old first-nations Canadian activist and singer fighting a proposed tar sands oil pipeline and tanker terminal planned for British Columbia's coastal waters. When she learned...
Rudy Sanchez is a youth leader, speaker and environmental advocate. As a senior at Environmental Charter High School, Rudy spent his first couple years of secondary education as the shy student...
Kyle Theirmann is a pro surfer with a passion to systemically affect change. Combining surfing great waves around the world with making a...
Zander Srodes, at age eleven, created Turtle Talks – an interactive sea turtle seminar for children. In 2004, he wrote a sea...
Hero of the Seas Award
Robin Alden, is the Founding Executive Director of the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF), Maine’s center for coastal fisheries based in Stonington, Maine. She co-founded the organization...
Bilingual, bicoastal, and bilateral—Serge Dedina has spent his entire life focused on protecting both sides of the California and Baja California marine coasts.
An avid surfer and swimmer...
Protecting the air, water and landscape that make South Carolina a special place has been Dana Beach’s life’s work. He was twenty-eight when he quit his job as a New York investment banker, got...
Coastal North Carolinian native Todd Miller was raised fittingly in the community of “Ocean” where he and his sisters spent endless joyful hours swimming, sailing, fishing, shrimping, and...
Captain Charles Moore grew up on the Pacific Ocean, sailing from a young age. He founded the Algalita Marine Research Institute in 1994 “to protect and restore the marine environment.” In 1997 his...
Karen Garrison and Kaitilin Gaffney worked together for more than a decade leading the effort to create, design and implement California’s 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) that, following a...
Peter helped create the California Coastal Commission and organized efforts to get it passed as a popular initiative in 1972. He wrote the language of the Coastal Act passed into law in 1976 and...
For her career leading People for Puget Sound
Kathy Fletcher is founder and former executive director of People For Puget Sound, a...
Cynthia M. Sarthou has served as Executive Director of the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) since 1995. The GRN is committed to uniting and...
Richard Charter is a Senior Policy Advisor for Marine Programs for Defenders of Wildlife, working on...
Dery Bennett joined the Littoral Society staff in 1968 as conservation director and was its executive director until 2002. A graduate of Amherst and a Navy underwater demolition driver, he worked...
Sustained Ocean Achievement
For almost three decades, Dr. Reichert, and the Oceans Group of the Pew Charitable Trusts, have relentlessly focused their attention on pushing decision-makers to protect the world’s oceans. Since...
To contact Co-Founder, Wendy Benchley, please email Wendy's Executive Assistant Mary Fritz, mary@wendybenchley.com
To contact Co-Founder, David Helvarg, please email, helvarg@bluefront.org