A collaborative initiative to support projects that confront the plight of the oceans and take direct steps towards ending their destruction.
"When it comes to safeguarding our oceans and the high seas, we are in unchartered territory. Often literally. Protecting this planet's life support system takes courage and a commitment to reinvention. Both require new ways of thinking, acting and living, and the strongest projects and ideas in these categories rarely fit within a traditional business model or approach to fundraising. Through the Parley Ocean Defense Fund, we will connect a network of collaborators to ensure the strongest knowledge, visions and solutions are supported and shared."
- Cyrill Gutsch, Parley for the Oceans
Vast swaths of the oceans lie vulnerable to the threats of illegal fishing, pollution, exploitation, sea slavery and related crimes against both marine life and humanity. Projects to protect remote ecosystems require courage and bold action. And they should be supported accordingly.
In line with our mission to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and connect a diverse network of creators, thinkers and leaders in their protection, we announce our latest program: the Ocean Defense Fund — an initiative to provide unconditional support for people and projects going where no one else has to end the destruction of our oceans.
Specializing in sensitive initiatives and projects that don’t naturally lend themselves to traditional partnership models, the Ocean Defense Fund seeks to provide an uncompromising and unconflicted support mechanism for original ideas and new approaches to solutions.
Initially presented during Parley Talks held at the Explorers Club in New York on November 30, 2017, the Ocean Defense Fund launches with an auction featuring a limited-edition artwork by legendary artist Ed Ruscha, the first adidas x Parley running shoe and an exclusive experience to join a Parley SnotBot® expedition in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico.
Snotbot® is a registered trademark of Ocean Alliance
Ed Ruscha - The Amazing Earth, 1984/2017
Fiberglass print on laminated Firewire Timbertec Paulownia wood surfboard
Parley Snotbot Expedition 2018
Place for two people on the next Parley Snotbot Expedition to the Sea of Cortez, Mexico
Signed First Adidas x Parley Running Shoe, 2015
Signed by Cyrill Gutsch (Founder of Parley for the Oceans) and Captain Paul Watson (Founder of Sea Shepherd)
Auction proceeds help Parley for the Oceans address major threats towards the oceans, our planet's most important ecosystem.
BENEFIT AUCTION OPENS DEC. 6 ON PADDLE8
Past projects funded through the Parley mission include Chris Jordan’s award winning film, Albatross, highlighting the impact of plastic waste on one of the world’s most majestic birds at Midway Atoll, as well as Academy-Award winning filmmaker Louie Psihoyos’s film and projections “Racing Extinction”, which were showcased on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and The Empire State Building.
