Page 18 - Southern Exposure - December '23

Page 18, Southern Exposure

loggErhEad nEwS

Loggerhead Marinelife Center Announces

2024 Go Blue Awards Finalists

Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) has announced The Eleanor Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award was Whale Research (CIWR). This nurse-turned-whale biologist
the finalists for its prestigious 15th Annual Go Blue named for the Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s founder who has spent the better part of three decades studying humpback
Awards, with presenting sponsor Tampa General Hospital was an innovative pioneer in marine conservation. Eleanor whales in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, aiding in the creation of a
(TGH). The Go Blue Awards recognizes individuals, Fletcher educated thousands of children about sea turtles 2-million-square-kilometer whale sanctuary and educational
businesses, and nonprofits that promote, implement, or and initiated cultural change to preserve and protect the research center in Rarotonga.
contribute to a “blue” lifestyle of marine conservation, species. The recipient of this award exemplifies a lifelong, • Todd Steiner ─ founder and executive director of Turtle
while making significant impact improving and protecting extraordinary commitment to marine conservation education Island Restoration Network, an ocean advocacy and research
our oceans, beaches, and wildlife. Tickets are on sale to through their work or volunteer activities. nongovernmental organization with offices in California,
attend the awards dinner at the center on Friday, Jan. 26, • Jim Toomey ─ Creator of the daily comic strip Sherman’s Texas, and Hawaii. For more than 30 years, Steiner and Turtle
2024, at 6 p.m. Lagoon, which is syndicated in more than 150 newspapers Island Restoration Network have been leading advocates for
across 20 countries and in six languages. Sherman’s Lagoon the world’s oceans and marine wildlife.
combines two of Jim’s lifelong passions: art and marine
life. His cartoon books have sold more than 500,000 copies Loggerhead News on page 19
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