Our Ocean Panama Youth Leadership Summit: Meet Nico

Sustainable Ocean Alliance is proud to co-organize the Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit (OOYLS) in Panama this coming February. We are helping to bring together an incredible group of youth from around the world to tackle the greatest challenges facing the ocean. In this series leading up to the conference, you will get to learn a bit about some of the participants! Check out SOA's blog for updates.

Meet Nico Marin, 23, of Argentina

Nico Marín Benítez, 23, is from Argentina. He is an award-winning underwater photographer, diver (divemaster), activist, and a new member of the prestigious National Geographic Explorers program. His focus area at Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit will be targeting marine pollution.

This is a personal mission for him, as he has recorded both the problems and the beauty of nature in connection to the ocean and the care of the environment. He has had the opportunity to interview local people on how their daily lives are impacted being surrounded by marine pollution, and he even planned an expedition to the biggest plastic island around the world, located between Hawaii and California.

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Nico loves exploring the ocean, and is especially fascinated by whales and sharks. His work focuses on documenting the behaviors of endangered marine species and measuring their impact on the ocean ecosystem. Some of his adventures include: living in Cozumel for one year, studying on the behavior of whale sharks; being sent to report on the illegal fishing in Senegal, on an expedition commanded by Enrique Piñeyro; documenting coral reefs in Aruba; and tracking hammerhead sharks and manta rays in Isla de Plata and the Galapagos Islands.

"I am very happy to have the opportunity to attend the summit, to spread my conservation message to the world, how we have to take care of it and how we can do it," Nico says. "As an underwater photographer and activist, this is my chance to show the world what is in the ocean and why it is important for us and for the rest of the species."

Currently, Nico is based in Baja California, documenting the behaviors of orcas, whale sharks, manta rays and sharks in the Pacific Ocean. You can learn more about his work by following him on LinkedIn and Instagram.