Marine Conservation
O'Keefe created a marine conservation social enterprise 'to protect and defend the marine environment' in Hawaii in 1996. This social enterprise conducted ghost net recoveries and endangered Green Sea Turtle rescues of turtles wrapped in monofilament fishing line. Many of the turtles that were rescued required amputation of their fins due to the damage from the fishing line. O'Keefe became a pioneer in sea turtle rescues in Hawaii and led a campaign to create a marine sanctuary (Pupukea MLCD) on the North Shore of Oahu. In 1998 he joined an anti-whaling campaign in which he was bloodied when attempting to retrieve a boat belonging to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, of which he was a crewmember. It was in this time he was mentored by Captain Paul Watson. Eventually he served as the regional director for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Hawaii.
Read more about this topic: Kenneth O'Keefe
Famous quotes containing the words marine and/or conservation:
“God has a hard-on for a Marine because we kill everything we see. He plays His game, we play ours.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)