Loggerhead Marinelife Center will host its Fourteenth Annual Go Blue Awards on October 28 at 11 a.m., inviting hundreds of guests to gather at the Kravis Center’s Cohen Pavilion in West Palm Beach to celebrate the great strides in conservation being made locally, nationally, and globally.

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, a world-renowned marine biologist and self-proclaimed “turtle nerd.” His visionary ideas about ocean ecosystems, marine protected areas, and plastic pollution have inspired others to find a deeper connection with ocean life, the global water supply, and the mental health benefits of a life spent on or near the water.

The Go Blue Awards luncheon recognizes individuals, businesses, and nonprofits that promote, implement, or contribute to a “blue” lifestyle of marine conservation, while making significant impact improving and protecting our oceans, beaches, and wildlife.

Go Blue Awards finalists include:

• Blue Business of the Year Award: Brightmark and Rothy’s (both based in San Francisco), and Seaworthy Collective in Miami. This award recognizes a business that has made outstanding contributions in promoting conservation or restoration of marine life or ecosystems through its practices, products, or technology.
• Blue Nonprofit of the Year Award: Florida Marine Science Educators Association in Fernandina Beach; SEE Turtles in Portland, Oregon; and The Reef Institute in West Palm Beach.
• Blue Friend of the Year Award: Dr. Megan Davis from FAU Harbour Branch in Fort Pierce; Leneita Fix from The Reef Institute in West Palm Beach; and Phillip Stone from Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission in West Palm Beach.
• Blue Ambassador of the Year Award: Pamela Brasch, a volunteer from Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach.; Shelby Thomas from Ocean Rescue Alliance in Apollo Beach.; and Anesti Vega from Camp Open Science Education & Adaptive Scuba (S.E.A.S) in Miami. This award recognizes a person who has made significant contributions to ocean conservation through volunteering.
• Blue Hatchling Youth Award: Marina Barto from Surface71 in West Palm Beach; Jaïm & Santo Steele from Miami Waterkeeper; and Ajani Stella from Kids Fight Climate Change in New York City. This award recognizes a student who has contributed to marine conservation through volunteer activities.

Roderic Mast from Oceanic Society in Herndon, Virginia, will be awarded the notable Eleanor Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes a person who exemplifies a lifelong, extraordinary commitment to marine conservation through work or volunteer activities similar to those of Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s founder Eleanor Fletcher.

The finalists will be evaluated by an esteemed panel of independent judges who review the submitted criteria to select the winners. This year’s judges are Sally Murray, daughter of Eleanor Fletcher; Susan Murray, deputy vice president of Oceana U.S. Pacific and granddaughter of Eleanor Fletcher; Greg Marshall, marine biologist and filmmaker; Joel Sartore, longtime contributing photographer to National Geographic magazine and author of The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s Animals; Jim Toomey, executive director of Mission Blue and creator of the Sherman’s Lagoon comic strip; and Lad Akins, curator of marine conservation at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.