PADI and Seiko are celebrating their 2022 Sea Hero of The Year.
This year’s is the 12th award, and it is going to an Australian teenager who spearheaded a clean-up of her hometown’s waters through her passion, commitment and dedication to conservation.
The 2022 winner is Shalise Leesfield from Port Macquarie, Australia. Included in her award was US$5,000 (~€4,706) from Seiko to go towards supporting her conservation work. She has decided to use the funding towards new habitat conservation panels in the seaside town.
According to PADI CEO & President Drew Richardson:
“Ms. Leesfield is the perfect example of someone who has turned her passion into hands-on action for our blue planet… We’re building a global network of Ocean Torchbearers to team up and remove 200 million metric tons of trash from our waterways. Ms. Leesfield is not only lighting the way for other young torchbearers to join in on these efforts but also proving that you are never too young to make a difference. Hope is rising – and inspiring all of us to step up – thanks to ambitious and determined people like Ms. Leesfield.”
While Takeshi Sakamoto, the President and CEO of Seiko Watch of America, stated:
“We applaud Ms. Leesfield for her outstanding contributions to ocean conservation, and for her passion and advocacy to expand awareness on this important issue. Ms. Leesfield’s unwavering commitment to make positive impacts in her community gives us hope that our world’s most precious habitats will be protected for – and by – future generations. Since 2017, we have worked with PADI to recognize global leaders in ocean conservation. With our continued sponsorship of PADI’s Scuba Diving magazine Sea Hero Awards, we are able to help Sea Heroes blaze a path for innovative ocean protection.”
You can check out a video about the Sea Heroes below.
