About Us

Our Mission Statement

Our mission is to restore ocean life by securing bold, enforceable protections for the High Seas at the moment they are most urgently needed.

We focus our work on advancing a science-based, five-year global moratorium on high-seas industrial exploitation, paired with a permanent ban on ocean dumping. Both are achievable interventions capable of reversing ecological decline within a single UN policy cycle.

By aligning public engagement, international law, and modern enforcement technology, we work to replace extraction with stewardship, protect marine biodiversity, strengthen global food security, and ensure the ocean’s recovery for future generations. 

Our Story

Saving Oceans was founded in 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah, after our founder, Danny Quintana, encountered stark scientific realities while researching his book Space & Ocean Exploration: The Alternative to the Military Industrial Complex. The data revealed a global emergency: massive losses of ocean wildlife, the collapse of predator populations, and the large-scale killing of sharks and other keystone species. Confronted with the scale of the crisis, one conclusion became unavoidable, inaction was no longer an option.

Although our work began far from any coastline, the reason is simple: the fate of the ocean is shaped everywhere. The High Seas belong to no single nation, and their protection depends on collective action by policymakers, institutions, and people far beyond the shore. From the beginning, Saving Oceans has focused on connecting science, responsibility, and global citizenship to drive meaningful change.

Today, Saving Oceans is supported by a growing network of team members across the United States and abroad. We work with universities, legal scholars, and emerging leaders, including through internship programs at institutions such as the University of Hawaiʻi, to help train the next generation of ocean advocates. As our mission has evolved, our focus has sharpened, but our purpose remains the same: to speak for the ocean and secure a future where marine life can recover and thrive.