SEASOURCE GROUP

In 2014, SeaSource Group began collaborating with established filmmakers Todd Tinkham and Ben Turney to create a web series profiling some of our state’s most remarkable ocean conservationists. We’ve uncovered a tightly connected community of powerhouses who support one another through thick and thin (mostly thin).

Despite endless policy blows to marine mammal protections, petitions to allow seismic testing and offshore oil drilling and fracking, & repeals on clean water and air protections, they banter and persevere with joy and sparkle.
 

A tiny handful of the leaders who’ve fallen under our lens include:
 

Keith Rittmaster, one of the world’s most dedicated and joyful whale and dolphin researchers. Born to be wild, Keith rides around Beaufort, NC on a motorbike bedecked by a decorative dolphin fin crafted from a surfboard skeg. He’s usually heading to work at his Cape Lookout Studies Program lab in the woods.

Guitar solos flow from the stereo as he and biologist, Josh Summers ingeniously MacGuyver mechanisms for safely cataloging and storing giant whale bones and skeletons. Congratulations to Keith and Josh for winning 2017 Peer Recognition Awards from the Smithsonian Institute. Help Keith and his colleagues learn more, teach us more, and conserve more by donating here.
 

Bonnie Monteleone, another marine motorcycle maven and also Executive Director of the Plastic Ocean Project. Bonnie is an artist-turned-scientist who travels the globe removing plastics from the sea. She incorporates some of this into large-scale art installations used for educating school children about wildlife, environmental, and public health impacts of global garbage. She’s also collaborating with Renewology to convert ocean plastics to fuel using a closed-loop conversion system. Soon, she will collaborate with another N.C. conservationist, DesAuguste Johnson of Kay Blada Recycling to pilot the project in Mr. Johnson's hometown in Haiti. Get involved!

Ginger Taylor, a psychotherapist who spends most of her free time volunteering on turtle conservation efforts. In partnership with Plastic Ocean Project, Ginger launched the Ocean-friendly Establishment (OFE)Certification program, which offers incentives to locally-owned businesses who adopt one or more sustainability practices. In under three years, Ginger recruited more than 80 enterprises all along our NC shoreline. Apply for your own OFE certification!
 

Jessica Murphy and Kevin Davis, owners of La Perla Restaurant in Beaufort, NC. They are one of our favorite OFEs, and they created one of the tastiest meals we’ve encountered in North Carolina EVER. Also, if you ask them to make you a cocktail that tastes smoky, “like cigarettes and ribs,” they can totally do that for you.
 

Lisa Rider, a surfing wahine eco-warrioress who reigns supreme at the center of it all. Lisa began rescuing ocean wildlife at a young age and now works in waste management for Onslow County. Her annual NC Marine Debris Symposium, Earth and Surf Festival, and numerous beach and scuba clean-ups have resulted in profound collaborations between researchers, scientists, artists, and passionate volunteers. She also skates like a roller disco queen.
 

Why we’re doing this:

Human and media static envelops and overwhelms us with bad news each day. By sheer force of will, these NC coastal dynamos forge ahead as though all they hear is GOOD news. They remain fueled and driven by a common belief that directing their energies positively promises to yield results even if they never actually see those impacts themselves.

It’s not about self-congratulations; it’s about the larger and more inherent good that accompanies stewardship. These individuals model many of the best human traits, and that’s too valuable not to share.

A Note of Warning: 

Much of what Keith, Bonnie, Ginger, Lisa, and their Scooby Gang of Ocean heroes do are labors of love. So, we are keeping our project that way too. These ocean scientists and advocates are far more fascinating than anything you’ll see on network television. We know that once you watch one segment, you’ll be hungry for others. To avoid any unseemly storytelling gaps, we will complete our first full series season before we release any episodes. Please be patient with our pace, but tune back soon!