Page 8 - Jupiter Spotlight - December '23

Page 8, Jupiter Spotlight
Loggerhead Marinelife Center Announces

2024 Go Blue Awards Finalists

Loggerhead Marinelife ocean habitats in the recovery of threatened or endangered marine
Ce nt e r (L MC) ha s turtles. Upwell launched the “Lost Years Initiative,” a satellite
announced the finalists study that tracks sea turtle migration in hopes of protecting and
for its prestigious 15th preserving habitats.
Annual Go Blue Awards, The finalists have been evaluated by an esteemed panel of
with presenting sponsor independent judges who will review the submitted criteria to
Tampa General Hospital select finalists and winners. This year’s judges include Sally
(TGH). The Go Blue Murray, daughter of LMC Founder Eleanor Fletcher; Susan
Awards recognizes Murray, deputy vice president of Oceana U.S. Pacific and
individuals, businesses, granddaughter of Eleanor Fletcher; Greg Marshall, marine marine biologist and author; Sylvia Earle, Ph.D., president and
and nonprofits that biologist and filmmaker; Joel Sartore, longtime contributing chairman of Mission Blue and a National Geographic Society
promote, implement, or contribute to a “blue” lifestyle photographer to National Geographic magazine and author Explorer in Residence; and Brian Skerry, award-winning
of marine conservation, while making significant impact of The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s National Geographic photographer and film producer.
improving and protecting our oceans, beaches, and Animals; Lad Akins, curator of marine conservation for the To purchase tickets or to sponsor the Go Blue Awards, visit
wildlife. Tickets are on sale to attend the awards dinner Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science and an inductee marinelife.org/connect/goblue.
at the center on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at 6 p.m. into the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame; Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Photos by Loggerhead Marinelife Center
The Eleanor Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award
was named for the Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s
founder who was an innovative pioneer in marine
conservation. Eleanor Fletcher educated thousands of
children about sea turtles and initiated cultural change
to preserve and protect the species. The recipient of this
award exemplifies a lifelong, extraordinary commitment
to marine conservation education through their work or
volunteer activities.
• Jim Toomey ─ Creator of the daily comic strip
Sherman’s Lagoon, which is syndicated in more than
150 newspapers across 20 countries and in six languages.
Sherman’s Lagoon combines two of Jim’s lifelong
passions: art and marine life. His cartoon books have sold
more than 500,000 copies worldwide. Jim has received
the prestigious Environmental Hero Award twice from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) “for using art and humor to conserve and protect
our marine heritage.”
The Blue Ambassador of the Year Award recognizes a person
who has made significant contributions to ocean conservation
through volunteering and work-related efforts. The finalists are:
• Nan Hauser ─ president and director of the Center for
Cetacean Research and Conservation (CCRC), and director and
principal investigator of Cook Islands Whale Research (CIWR).
This nurse-turned-whale biologist has spent the better part of
three decades studying humpback whales in Rarotonga, Cook
Islands, aiding in the creation of a 2-million-square-kilometer
whale sanctuary and educational research center in Rarotonga.
• Todd Steiner ─ founder and executive director of Turtle
Island Restoration Network, an ocean advocacy and research
nongovernmental organization with offices in California, Texas,
and Hawaii. For more than 30 years, Steiner and Turtle Island
Restoration Network have been leading advocates for the world’s
oceans and marine wildlife.
• Scott Vogel ─ an LMC program assistant and hospital
interpreter, Vogel has lived a life of volunteer activism and
education. He has a lifelong passion for ocean conservation, and
has been active in promoting stewardship to future biologists and
conservationists.
The Blue Hatchling Youth Award recognizes a student up
to the 12th grade who has contributed to marine conservation
through volunteer activities. The finalists are:
• Marina Barto ─ president and cofounder of Surface71, a
nonprofit organization run solely by students to raise awareness
about plastic pollution and ocean conservation throughout Palm
Beach County schools.
• Cash Daniels and Ella Grace Galaski-Rossen ─ founders
of the nonprofit The Cleanup Kids. Since they were 7 and 6
years old, respectively, Cash and Ella have shown exemplary
leadership skills and passion toward marine life conservation.
• Asa Miller ─ a 16-year-old junior at Edgemont Jr./Sr.
High School in Scarsdale, N.Y., Asa is a coral reef restoration
specialist, diver, and filmmaker, particularly known for his work
and research in his homeland of Cuba.
The Blue Business of the Year Award/Nonprofit of the
Year Award recognizes a business or nonprofit that has
made outstanding contributions to promoting conservation
or restoration of marine life or ecosystems through its work,
outreach, practices, products, or technology. The finalists are:
• Inwater Research Group ─ a small, nonprofit organization
dedicated to rescuing and researching numerous marine species,
including sea turtles, elasmobranchs, and bony fishes. Inwater
has a strong focus on marine conservation and education, with
research projects spanning across both coasts of Florida.
• Rock the Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival ─ founded in
2013 with the mission of raising funds and awareness for ocean
conservation, Tortuga and Rock the Ocean have hosted more
than 100 nonprofit organizations within the music festival, and
raised over $4 million for ocean conservation research, efforts,
and education.
• Upwell Turtles ─ a nonprofit committed to supporting the
research, data collection, conservation, and management of open