30 Heroes Fighting to Save Our Oceans

Alexandra Cousteau continues the family business in oceanic exploration and preservation. The granddaughter of famed explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and daughter of explorer Philippe Cousteau, Alexandra is a senior adviser to the oceanic conservation organization Oceana. Her mission is to inspire people to protect the ocean and the human communities dependent on sources of freshwater.

Moviegoers might know Amber Valletta from her nearly 20 films that include “What Lies Beneath” and “Transporter II.” The Oklahoma native is also concerned about the high mercury content found in fish that people eat. Valletta became the official spokeswoman for Oceana’s Stop Seafood Contamination campaign, which seeks to stop mercury pollution at its source and persuade chlorine plants to move to mercury-free technology.

Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio has leveraged his fame to create the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation that raises money for marine, wildlife, and conservation organizations. Through his foundation, DiCaprio has produced media projects that stress the urgency of environmental issues, including the web films “Water Planet” and “Global Warning.”

We know him as the troubadour of the laid-back beach lifestyle. However, Jimmy Buffett is quite passionate about the ocean and its marine life. Buffett is involved with the Save the Manatee Club, which has been protecting the endangered aquatic mammal since 1981. He has recorded television and radio announcements to raise awareness about manatees.

Exploration, education, and inspiration are the goals of the Ocean Futures Society, founded in 1990 by Jean-Michel Cousteau. The son of the renowned Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel is a second-generation conservationist who works tirelessly to protect the sea environment. He has made his mark in dozens of ways, such as advocating for the Paris Climate Agreement, writing an open letter to the prime minister of Japan about unethical treatment of whales, and becoming the first person to represent the environment in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Besides carving out a successful pop-music and film career, Panama-born Miguel Bosé is also a fervent ocean conservationist. Bosé, who is involved with Oceana, went on a conservation excursion off the island of Elba in 2006 to evaluate the status of marine life there. He also joined Oceana biologists in the Mediterranean looking for fishermen using “death curtains,” the massive illegal driftnets that catch and kill marine life indiscriminately, including dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.

Afroz Shah was repulsed by the piles of garbage overwhelming the beach in his hometown of Mumbai. So he and a neighbor started cleaning the beach. Their efforts each weekend inspired others — school children, Bollywood celebrities, and politicians — to, in Shah’s words, make a “date with the ocean.” The United Nations cited Shah as one of its Champions of the Earth in 2016.

Sam Trammell from the movie “The Fault In Our Stars” and the fantasy series “True Blood” has also earned a Tony nomination for his work in “Ah, Wilderness.” One of his longest-running and most important roles, however, is his involvement in environmental causes. Trammell is a regular at Oceana events, raising funds, generating interest, and appearing in public service announcements.

Wife and husband Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen founded 5 Gyres Institute to address the mounting issue of plastic waste in our oceans. Gyres refers to the Earth’s five huge, swirling currents. These currents work like giant shredders, pulling in and spewing out water bottles, straws, and all manner of plastic garbage. This results in smaller plastic particles that blanket the oceans and are often consumed by marine life. The nonprofit institute estimates the amount of plastic at 269,000 metric tons. 5 Gyres advocated for a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetic products and supports a foamfree campaign to educate people about plastic coffee lids.

Leonor Varela could stay busy with modeling and acting gigs that find her working with the likes of Wesley Snipes and Quentin Tarantino. But then there’s her passion projects, which include serving as a spokesperson for Oceana, Save the Whales, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and others. Her efforts include trying to protect the ecosystem around Easter Island and a call to ban whale hunting.

Olympic swimmer and California native Aaron Peirsol knows about water. That’s why Peirsol teamed with the oceanic conservation organization Oceana for the “Race for the Oceans” forum that encourages swimmers and swimming fans to become involved in ocean conservation.

Adrian Grenier, whose acting work includes films such as “The Devil Wears Prada” and the hit cable series “Entourage,” is passionate about protecting the ocean. He created the foundation Lonely Whale that looks to preserve the oceans through three pillars of influence: vital education, impact campaigns, and scalable solutions. Grenier has been involved in the campaign Strawless in Seattle that seeks to remove the use of plastic straws.

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Once something piques her interest, Karlie Kloss goes all in. When the supermodel got interested in tech, she founded Kode with Klossy, a program that provides girls with scholarships to coding camp. Her love of baking led to creating a line of desserts. And as an ambassador for Adidas’ Run for the Oceans, Kloss helped raise millions by supporting and encouraging fan participation in the different events.

Growing up in Northern California, Kate Walsh was never far from the ocean, and had she not chosen acting for a career, she might have been a marine biologist. The star of the TV drama “Private Practice” spends her free time advocating for ocean preservation. Walsh swam with sea turtles off the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2009 and appeared in an Oceana public service announcement about the threats to those sea creatures. Other issues Walsh is passionate about are the dangers of offshore drilling and protecting the barrier reefs.

Rock star Sting isn’t afraid to raise his voice in support of something he believes in. He put his famous vocal chops to good use at an exclusive concert in support of Oceana’s Save the Ocean, Feed the World campaign. Oceana posits that with the right policies in place, a fully productive ocean could provide a meal a day for a billion people forever. Sting’s fund-raising gig featured an array of his greatest hits and generated $750,000 for oceanic conservation. Sounds like a good time was had by all.

Television viewers may remember Ted Danson as the amiable skirt-chasing bartender Sam Malone in the sit-com “Cheers.” Off-camera, Danson is a serious advocate for the oceans. He became involved in oceanic conservation in the 1980s and helped found the American Oceans Campaign that evolved into Oceana. Danson has appeared at many governmental hearings about ocean conservation, and he and his wife, actor Mary Steenburgen, sit on the Oceana board of directors. Danson also has authored a book on the oceans titled “Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them.”

British business magnate Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, will do just about anything to support marine conservation projects — witness his willingness to dress as a mermaid on World Oceans Day. His nonprofit Oceans Unite raises money, funds research projects, and hosts events and initiatives to educate and generate public interest in what’s going on offshore.

Sharks may not have many friends, but actress Diane Lane has their backs. The Academy Award-nominated actor has been lobbying for the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act, which was introduced to Congress in January of this year. The measure would outlaw the buying, selling, and transport of shark fins in the U.S. The practice of shark finning, in which the fin is cut off and the body is discarded at sea, is illegal in the U.S., but fins are still imported and exported in America.

If you use oxygen, you should thank a whale, according to marine biologist Asha de Vos, founder of the Sri Lankan Blue Whale project. De Vos notes that whales play a role in creating more than half the planet’s oxygen, spelling it out in her TED Talk “Why you should care about whale poo,” which has garnered more than 1.3 million views. The scientist, who charts the habits and movements of these marine leviathans, describes them as “ecosystem engineers. Take them away and the system can fall apart.”

“Titanic” director James Cameron is fascinated with underwater exploration, which included exploring the wreck of the doomed ocean liner. He also teamed up with National Geographic, Rolex, and Microsoft’s Paul Allen to construct a submersible vessel that piloted to the bottom of Challenger Deep in 2012, only the second manned dive to the deepest known place on Earth. Cameron filmed a documentary of his dive and donated the $8 million sub to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. He also said he would donate a portion of the gross receipts from “Avatar” sequels to environmental causes.

Surfer Hugo Tagholm has been an ocean conservationist since he joined Surfers Against Sewage in 1991. That group has become one of the U.K.’s largest marine conservation charities, with more than 350,000 regular supporters who clean the nation’s beaches. Tagholm eventually became CEO of Surfers Against Sewage.

Almost a quarter century ago, Kevin Costner produced and starred in the dystopian film “Waterworld,” set in the deep future after the polar ice caps have melted, leaving no land in sight. Working on the movie proved a lasting inspiration to the actor: In the wake of BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Costner became a founding partner of Water Planet, which develops water-cleaning technology.

In the 1960s, Richard O’Barry was a trainer for dolphins for the beloved TV-series “Flipper.” But after one of the show’s dolphins died in the arms of a handler, O’Barry became an advocate against dolphin capture. He leads the Dolphin Project that opposes dolphin exploitation and slaughter. O’Barry appeared in a 2009 documentary titled “The Cove,” about the killing of dolphins off the coast of Japan. Among the awards he has received is the Environmental Achievement Award, presented by the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Environmental Program.

Taking care of the ocean is not a new role for Pierce Brosnan. In 1997, Mikhail Gorbachev, as president of Green Cross International, presented the actor with an environmental leadership award, noting that “his bold actions and clever voice have been instrumental in marine mammal protection, as well as that of fragile ecosystems.” Brosnan’s work continues as a member of Oceana’s Ocean Council, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s board of advisers, and through his own Brosnan Trust and other organizations.

Nainoa Thompson is the president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, reintroducing the Polynesian skill of navigating the oceans. The Hawaiian resident his crew chart courses by following the stars; travel in traditional, double-hull canoes; and eschew the use of modern tools. After six years of planning, Thompson and his crew of scientists and adventurers in June of 2017 completed a three-year journey of circumnavigating the globe, a 40,000-nautical mile odyssey in which they fended off 70-foot waves and Somali pirates. The mission of the journey was to spread the message of caring for our planet.

Spending summers by the seashore fueled actor Reid Scott’s zeal to protect the ocean, leading him to join Oceana to advocate for marine protection. Scott, who played Dan Egan, the vice president’s deputy director of communications on HBO’s “Veep,” may have felt on familiar ground when he spoke at a congressional briefing to encourage opposition to seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Kristal Ambrose’s oceanic activism began while she was working at the Atlantis Aquarium in Nassau in the Bahamas. A sea turtle at the aquarium developed blockage in its intestine from eating plastic. That prompted Ambrose to join the 5 Gyres Institute, which combats plastic trash. In 2014, Ambrose founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement.

Dozens of researchers will soon be heading to where the action is aboard a mammoth research and expedition vessel, the brainchild of REV Ocean’s CEO, Nina Jensen. Currently under construction, the REV Ocean vessel is the largest of its kind, with room to house 60 researchers aiming to uncover sustainable and environmentally responsible solutions to benefit the world’s oceans.

Playing Thor in the Avengers movies, as well as appearing in other films, Chris Hemsworth has become a major film star. As an Australian, Hemsworth is keenly aware of the importance the ocean plays in his nation’s, as well as the planet’s, well-being. He is passionate about collecting plastic waste, and several years ago he posted a photo on Instagram of collecting plastic garbage on an Australian beach. Hemsworth has also posted photos online with a member of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, a group that cleans beaches there, and also posted about the endangered marine species vaquitas, which has been pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal fishing.

Strategic tourism and activating local communities are pillars of Kerstin Forsberg’s conservation efforts as she works with the NGO Planeta Océano to educate and empower people to protect marine environments. Forsberg founded a school nature club already at age 9, and recently she brought together a diverse legion of tourists, local fishermen, and more, as volunteers striving to secure legal protection to preserve Peru’s manta rays.