Whales & Dolphins Ambassador Program

As an extension of the Origami Whales Project

the Whales and Dolphins Ambassador Program offers the opportunity for children and teens to become educated on anthropogenic (human-caused) threats to cetaceans and their ocean habitats. Students become empowered to protect all connected marine wildlife and their habitat through art action letters and by applying artistic skills to crafting sustainable alternatives to some of these threats which include solid, chemical, and noise pollution, bycatch, entanglement, climate change, and ocean acidification, and whaling. We also discuss ethics, cetacean captivity, and current movement towards a Declaration of Cetacean Rights. The goal of this program is to increase awareness of our impact on the environment, and to instill a need for stewardship of all life on Earth through caring for cetaceans, their fellow beings, and ocean habitats....

For more information on Whales & Dolphins Ambassador Program please go to our dedicated website.

"Every Kiwi (New Zealander) should see this, John Wathen's eyewitness account of the Gulf of Mexico"
Devastating Offshore Oil Threat to NZ waters and ALL marine life, including the Maui's & Hector's Dolphins!!!

More news...

Pete Bethune
Earthrace Conservation, on the Maui’s dolphins, “The measures that could significantly help to stop this species from becoming extinct in our lifetime are being put on the back burner because of direct pressure from the fishing industries.”
Steve Olson
We love Steve, legendary old school professional Santa Cruz Skateboard team ridder, character so colorful... Here's looking at you Steve.
Vernon Courtland Johnson
Vernon Courtland Johnson, or VCJ, is one of today’s most influential artists working in a commercial medium. His iconic designs for Powell Peralta have inspired thousands of other artists worldwide, and he routinely gets namechecked by street-art superstars like D*Face and Shepard Fairey. VCJ didn’t invent the idea of skateboard art, but he both defined it and set a standard that others have yet to match.
Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum speaks through the drums. Each hit or kick that Sorum has committed to tape or knocked out on stage can be felt by anyone within earshot.
Glenn Hughes
Vocalist/bass guitarist/songwriter Glenn Hughes is a true original. No other rock musician has carved such a distinctive style blending the finest elements of hard rock, soul and funk. That astonishing voice is Hughes' calling card. He's known as a singer's singer. Stevie Wonder once called Hughes his favourite white singer.
Erwin Vermeulen
Dutch activist Erwin Vermeulen traveled to Japan last year to serve as Cove Guardian volunteer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Tony Alva
Tony Alva was featured in the video game, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. In 2012 he appeared on an episode of the A&E reality series Storage Wars to appraise a skateboard.
Bruce Brown
Filmmaker Bruce Brown single-handedly changed the face of surfing with The Endless Summer.
Janet Wolf
Over 4 years ago, at a press conference against commercial whaling, we met the now Santa Barbara Second District Supervisor, Janet Wolf. We are grateful to Janet also "Showing Us the Love" for "our" Maui's & Hector's Dolphins of New Zealand.
Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales.
Yvon Chouinard
Legendary rock climber, surfer, environmentalist and outdoor industry businessman, noted for his contributions to climbing, climbing equipment and the outdoor gear business. His second company, Patagonia, is known for its environmental focus.
Hannah-Beth Jackson
19th District Senator, California. Hannah-Beth Jackson is an educator, former State Assembly Member, and former Deputy District Attorney. She was elected to represent the 35th Assembly District, encompassing large portions of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, from 1998 to 2004.
Lance Mountain
Robert Lance Mountain was one of the prominent skateboarders throughout the 1980s, primarily due to his involvement with the Bones Brigade; Mountain is featured in the 1987 Powell-Peralta video, The Search For Animal Chin.
Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis is an American film director, producer and cinematographer who has directed a number of well-noted action thrillers.
Jay Adams
American skateboarder most prominently known as one of the original members of Z-Boys skateboarding team. He is considered one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.
Keith Malloy
Like his brothers, Keith is a master of all forms of waveriding. Keith can surf anything and everything from 2' to 25' and was on the WQS tour for years and ended up qualifying for the WCT. Keith did the WCT for one year but decided that traveling and surfing with his brothers and friends, making movies, and having the freedom to go anywhere in the world on short notice for a huge swell was more to his liking. Keith and his brothers shocked the surfing community when they went outside of the industry and signed a sponsorship deal with environmentally friendly Patagonia. All three Malloys are a driving force behind the brand's ocean stores and conservation efforts.
Chris Malloy
First known as a professional surfers, Chris along with brothers Keith and Dan impressed the world over with their surfing. Along with surfers like Pancho Sullivan, Myles Padaca, Noah Johnson and Strider Wasilewski, Malloy was part of a new breed of pro surfer who put travel and big waves way ahead of competition on the priority list. He became a fixture in the surf magazines, was a top-biller in Taylor Steele's momentous surf videos and, in one article, was even labeled a "New School ringleader."
Benjamin "Pottsy" Potts
For one, living legend and hero seen as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew member on "Whale Wars", Pottsy has put his life on the line to save the Whales off Antarctica.
John Calambokidis
Research Biologist and one of the founders of Cascadia Research, a non-profit research organization formed in 1979 based in Olympia, Washington. His work has been covered on shows by Discovery Channel and others and has been featured in National Geographic TV specials and a magazine article in 2009.
Christian Hosoi
Hosoi started skating at seven or eight years old with veterans such as Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams as his idols.
C.R. Stecyk III
C. R. Stecyk III is a multimedia artist widely acknowledged as a major influence within the genres of graffiti and street art. He has participated in more than 300 international exhibitions and his work is included in a number of public collections.
Tom Curren
Surfing legend Tom Curren has been the world champion three times (1985, 1986, 1990) and won 33 championship events in his professional career, a total only bested by Kelly Slater.
Salud Carbajal
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal is a Legend! He is always ready to help!
Ric O'Barry
Ric wrote: "Lets get behind this urgent effort, folks!" and with his blessings to create this VP on his behalf, "We love Peggy".
Steve & Josie Stevens
Steve Stevens is one of the most original guitarists to emerge from the 80's rock scene, best known for his 30 year partnership with Billy Idol, his work on Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana", his Grammy Award winning performance on "Top Gun Anthem" & his work with Vince Neil on "Exposed"... & ...Josie Stevens is an American TV personality, model & fashion designer.
Tommy Guerrero
As a teenager, Guerrero was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's professional skateboarding team that was successful during the 1980s. He was well known for his relaxed style of street skateboarding and his Bones Brigade footage was primarily filmed in his hometown of San Francisco
Dr Liz Slooten
New Zealand's leading authority on the use of population modelling to estimate sustainable levels of marine mammal bycatch in fishing operations.
Jim Muir
Dogtown, as a concept, has existed since the early 1970's. It was the birthplace of progressive skateboarding, Santa Monica/Venice, California. In the celebrated documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys
Natas Kaupas
Natas Kaupas (born 1969) is a semi-retired American professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California in the area known as Dogtown and is of Lithuanian descent.[1] He attended Santa Monica High School. He is often referred to as one of the first true professional street skateboarders.
Mark Cunningham
Living legend Mark Cunningham continues his exciting life as one of the most inspiring world class bodysurfers of all time after retiring from 29 years of Honolulu City & County lifeguard duty including the beach at Ehukai Beach Park for nearly two decades. He's six time winner of the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic.
"The Cab" Steve Caballero
Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964, San Jose, California) is a professional skateboarder and musician. Steve was born in the year of the dragon, and has had several board graphics that feature dragons.
Hillary Hauser
Co-founder of Heal the Ocean, Hillary Hauser (pictured left) has been a writer/journalist/news reporter since 1968, with published books about the sea and underwater exploration, and magazine articles including National Geographic, Geo, Islands, The Surfer’s Journal, Reader’s Digest and the Los Angeles Times.
Peter Hammarstedt
Second Mate, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Born in Sweden and raised in the United Kingdom, Peter, 23, joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as soon as he was old enough to submit an application.
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with the band, he released a solo album, Believe in Me (1993), and formed the short-lived supergroup Neurotic Outsiders.
Danny LaPorte
Danny LaPorte helped the United States make the transition from underdog to world leader in the sport of motocross.
Chuck Barfoot
Its been estimated that over 6.1 million people snowboard just in the US alone. According to Chuck Barfoot, the reason snowboarding was invented was because a few surfers wanted to surf in the snow - they totally related it to surfing.
Patti McGee and Di Dootson Rose
Patti McGee was the 1965 Woman's first National Skateboard Champion, Santa Monica. Di Dootson Rose, former professional slalom skateboarder and now of the National Skateboard Review
Les Stroud
Best known as the award winning producer and star of the hit TV series Survivorman (OLN Canada, The Science Channel US, Discovery Channel International, City TV (Rogers) Canada), Les Stroud is the only producer in the history of television to produce an internationally broadcast series entirely written, videotaped and hosted alone.
Marco Morgan, The National Skate Collective, South Africa
The group of skateboarders united in the celebration of the lifting of the ban of skateboarding on a Promenade in Cape Town, and last week we united to support the Lets Face It campaign. It was featured in the local papers as well. I wish you the best of luck with the cause and I hope that we are able to support in the future.
Brad Lackey
Brad Lackey was one of America’s pioneering motocross racers of the 1970s and ‘80s. In 1972, Lackey won the AMA 500cc National Motocross championship. In 1982, after a decade of trying, he became the first American to win the 500cc World Motocross Championship.
Shaun Tomson
Shaun Tomson has been listed as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century and as one of the 10 greatest surfers of all time. During his career he was both the youngest and oldest surfer to win a pro event and is considered to be one of the architects of professional surfing.
Roger DeCoster
Roger DeCoster’s name is almost synonymous with the sport of motocross. DeCoster is generally recognized as the best-known racer in motocross in the first 50 years of the sport. His racing accomplishments are simply remarkable.
Helene Schneider
Helene Schneider currently Mayor of Santa Barbara (California), previously served as Councilmember from 2004 to 2010.
Peggy Oki
Peggy Oki, Coordinator of the "Let's Face It" Visual Petition campaign and "Origami Whales Project" Founder & Director
Howard Garrett
Howard Garrett offers educational programs about orca natural history around the Pacific Northwest. He co-founded the non-profit Orca Network in November 2001 with Susan Berta. Howard received his degree in Sociology from The Colorado College in 1980, and began working with the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island in 1981. In 1996 Garrett wrote Orcas In Our Midst, a booklet oriented toward middle-school students, and has since published additional educational books about resident and transient Orcas in the area.
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and singer. She gained fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. This followed with major roles in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Natural Born Killers, Strange Days, The Evening Star, Kalifornia, From Dusk Till Dawn, and The Other Sister.
Táta Vega
With Táta Vega, what you hear is what you get--and what you get is an artist whose music mirrors her spirit...and vice versa. ​A fresh and original blend of energy and inspiration...an effervescent personality combined with abundant talent, refreshing music and an eternal message.
Mike McGill
McGill was a member of the "Bones Brigade", an elite team of skateboarders sponsored by Powell Peralta who dominated the sub-culture of professional skateboarding (both in contests and in popularity) for a large part of the 1980s.
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), better known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom (Slash achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Jeff Johnson
California surfer / writer / photographer who stars in Woodshed Films’ 180° South – A trip that mirrors the legendary journey of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins. An accomplished writer, his works have appeared in Surfer’s Journal, Surfer, and Alpinist.