30 Heroes Fighting to Save Our Oceans

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.