Live Ocean
Live Ocean is a New Zealand registered ocean conservation charity founded by Olympic sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Its mission is to speed up ocean action in New Zealand by partnering with scientists, communities, and conservation projects. It relies on donations, with 100 percent going to ocean action in NZ.
The charity’s first project, The Race To Save the Endangered Antipodean Albatross, remains a flagship effort. It also supports monitoring and restoring New Zealand sea lion populations with local biologists.
In March 2021, Live Ocean released an online video series to help save the Hauraki Gulf. They aim to protect 30 percent of the Gulf by 2030, a target supported by scientists, and they endorsed new government protection measures announced on 22 June 2021.
In April 2024, Aucklander Jono Ridler completed a 100-km non-stop open-water swim from Karaka Bay to Narrow Neck Beach, with Live Ocean’s support, to highlight the need to protect the Hauraki Gulf.
That year they launched digital tools for the Marine Metre Squared citizen science project to help communities monitor local coast biodiversity. They also started the Citizens of the Sea project, which lets sailors collect environmental DNA (eDNA) and other data to map biodiversity and track climate change impacts.
Live Ocean also runs Live Ocean Racing, a sailing team that promotes ocean health while competing internationally. In 2024 the team competed in the ETF26 Series with skipper Liv Mackay, supported by Leonard Takahashi and Oscar Gunn, racing in Spain, France and Italy.
All of Live Ocean’s work is funded by public donations, with 100 percent of funds directed toward ocean action in New Zealand.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:27 (CET).