Sealife Conservation

Baylis-stern: Sealife Conservation

Sealife Conservation, a nonprofit based in Santa Cruz, is committed to inspiring conservation of the ocean by creating opportunities for individuals to learn about the beauty of our oceans and the threats that they are currently facing. In the past four years, over 10,000 individuals have learned about our oceans while sailing with SeaLife Conservation aboard the Derek M. Baylis, a purpose designed and built 65-foot sailing research vessel.

SeaLife’s efforts to inspire individuals to take direct action to reduce ocean pollution and increase their support of healthy fisheries are a unique step in the conservation movement. Only through improved understanding of ocean denizens and systems by the masses will the health of our oceans be preserved.

Endeavoring to increase the community’s understanding of the threat of trash to oceanic populations, Sealife Conservation is engaged in original research documenting the volume, distribution and sources of trash in the North Pacific Ocean.

Sealife Conservation also makes the Derek M. Baylis available for charter for research or social functions. This past spring, the crew and vessel spent late March and all of April in the San Francisco Bay working with various marine partners, including the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association.  Not only focusing on the conservation mission of the immediate, plastics mediation, the Derek M. Baylis strives to inspire people to think differently about working boats—what we need to do, and how we might do it differently.

Hybrid cars are coming more into the mainstream as a solution to a more green means of transportation. Examination of this same strategy by commercial users, scientific researchers, and even recreational boaters begs many of the same questions regarding fuel use and pollution. 

The Derek M. Baylis offers a very intriguing alternative—a true, functional and capable workboat, Coast Guard certified to work from Alaska to Midway Island to the Panama Canal, that runs at a fraction of the cost to the operator.  More to think about.