- Go Blue Awards -

Nominations

Award Categories
Make A Nomination
Judges
Event Overview

Award Categories

Before making your nomination, please carefully review the award categories below.

Eleanor Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award

Eleanor Fletcher was an innovative pioneer in marine conservation who was primarily self-taught. She educated thousands of children about sea turtles and initiated cultural change to preserve and protect the species. Like Eleanor Fletcher, the recipient of this award exemplifies a lifelong, extraordinary commitment to marine conservation education through their work or volunteer activities.

2025 award recipient is former NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders.

Blue Ambassador of the Year Award

The recipient for this award exemplifies significant contributions to ocean conservation through volunteering and work-related efforts. Nominations should address the following:

Provide a description of the nominee's activities as they relate to marine conservation.
Describe how the nominee's efforts directly or indirectly benefit marine life and/or marine conservation.
What are the specific results of the nominee's efforts?
List any of the nominee's outstanding contributions to marine conservation.

Blue Hatchling Youth Award

This award recognizes a student up to the 12th grade who has contributed to marine conservation through volunteer activities. Nominations should address the following:

Provide a description of the nominee's activities as they relate to marine conservation.
Describe how the nominee's efforts directly or indirectly benefit marine life and/or marine conservation.
What are the specific results of the nominee's efforts?
List any of the nominee's outstanding contributions to marine conservation.

Blue Business/ Nonprofit of the Year Award

This award recognizes a business or nonprofit that has made outstanding contributions to promoting conservation or restoration of marine life or ecosystems through its work, outreach, practices, products, or technology. Nominations should address the following:

Describe the nominee's marine conservation activities and accomplishments which have produced a positive impact and/or significant change.
How does the nominee's corporate culture benefit marine life and marine conservation?
Does the nominee support and encourage employees to actively participate in volunteer activities related to marine conservation?
Describe the nominee's products or services that support marine life and marine conservation.

Make A Nomination

Nominations for the Eighteenth Annual Go Blue Awards are now open.
Finalists will be announced at the Go Blue Awards Kick-off Social in September, 2026.

The Eighteenth Annual Go Blue Awards recognize individuals and organizations who are leading the community in practicing ocean conservation and are on the leading edge of going "Blue!"

LMC is accepting nominations for the 2026 Go Blue Awards, which are given annually to individuals, and a business or a nonprofit that are making extraordinary contributions in ocean conservation.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center staff and volunteers are not eligible for Go Blue Award nominations based on their work or volunteer hours with LMC. We appreciate our staff and volunteers and will continue to recognize their contributions in our internal recognition programs. LMC Volunteers who are nominated for work with other organizations will be considered at the judges’ discretion.

A narrative is required to describe the nominee using the category description listed below with a minimum of 250 words and maximum of 500 words. Only one nomination per nominee will be submitted to the judging panel, additional nominations will not be considered or consolidated for review.

Past award winners may not be nominated in either the same or other categories.

2026 Go Blue Awards Nominations

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Blue Ambassador of the Year

Blue Hatchling Youth Award

Blue Business / Nonprofit of the Year

Nominee Information

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Narrative(Required)

Narrative explaining why the nominee should be considered as a recipient using the guidelines on the bottom of this page. (250 min & 500 max word count) is required to describe the nominee.

Submit a resume (CV), or work history of the nominee (optional).

Max. file size: 2 GB.

Provide a hi-res color digital photo of the nominee in jpg format (4” x 6” @ 300 dpi).

Max. file size: 2 GB.

Nomination Criteria:

• Provide a description of the nominee's activities as they relate to marine conservation.

• Describe how the nominee's efforts directly or indirectly benefit marine life and/or conservation.

• What are the specific results of the nominee's efforts?

• List any of the nominee's outstanding contributions to marine conservation.

The finalists for the awards will be determined by an independent panel of judges. All nominees and nominators will be notified in September of their status. The winner in each category will be announced during the Go Blue Awards on October 23, 2026.

2025 Judges

Go Blue Awards Nominations are open to the public and are judged by an independent panel of judges. The esteemed panel of judges that will select this year’s finalists and winners includes:

Go Blue Awards Nominations are open to the public and are judged by an independent panel of judges.

The esteemed panel of judges that will select this year’s finalists and winners includes:

Lad Akins - Curator of Marine Conservation, Frost Science

Dr. Greg Marshall - Filmmaker & Inventor of Crittercam, National Geographic

Roderic Mast - Co-CEO and President, Oceanic Society

Susan Murray - Granddaughter of Eleanor Fletcher & Oceana Pacific Deputy Vice President

Joel Sartore - Photo Ark Founder, National Geographic Photographer & Contributor

Jim Toomey - Creator of Sherman's Lagoon comic strip,filmmaker, and conservationist

About The Go Blue Awards

The Go Blue Awards program was created to recognize individuals and businesses that directly or indirectly support LMC’s mission to promote conservation of ocean ecosystems with a special focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. Previous Go Blue Award recipients include Dr. Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation; Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue; Hardy Jones - Executive Director, Bluevoice.org; Nathaniel Reed, Everglades Foundation; Dr. Edith Widder, Ocean Research & Conservation Association; Florida Power & Light Company; Gary Adkison, U.S. Shark Foundation; International Game Fish Association; and Coral Restoration Foundation.

Please note: there are no refunds or exchanges for purchased tickets. All sales are final.

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Nominations

Award Categories

Eleanor Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award

Blue Ambassador of the Year Award

Blue Hatchling Youth Award

Blue Business/ Nonprofit of the Year Award

Make A Nomination

2026 Go Blue Awards Nominations

2025 Judges

About The Go Blue Awards