The Sea Hero program just completed its second successful year and has once again honored 5 individuals for their work. The program was created to recognize individuals who go above and beyond to help protect the world’s oceans and help bring some attention to their efforts.

Jill Heinerth was the overall winner from the 5 Sea Heroes chosen in 2012 and received a $5000 grant from Oris.

Oris has a strong history of supporting marine conservation through limited edition pieces with the Great Barrier Reef, Save the Maldives and the Tubbataha being recent examples.

Jill Heinerth was the overall winner from the 5 Sea Heroes chosen in 2012 and received a $5000 grant from Oris. As one of the most respected members of the global underwater cave exploration community, in addition to being a top level filmmaker, she is using her notoriety and expertise to create awareness about our shrinking water resources with an ambitious film project, We Are Water. The solution-oriented conservation piece is designed to help individuals make the best choices possible in their daily behavior concerning water usage. The Women Divers Hall of Fame member is also planning a 5,000-mile bicycle tour across Canada in Spring 2013 to show the film at schools, service organizations of other public venues to increase the outreach and, according to Heinerth, the Oris Sea Heroes Award will be a key buttress of support for the endeavour.

The year’s other winners included:

• Patricia Ramirez for the Splash Kids Club

• Julie Andersen for her Shark Angels movement

• Brian Skerry for the New England Ocean Odyssey Project

• Casey Sokolovic (a High School Freshman!) for her work with the Love a Sea Turtle program

Source: Oris