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Fort Lauderdale, FL – On Thursday, October 30, 2025, artist Laura Shape will join The International SeaKeepers Society (SeaKeepers) as part of their annual Founders Event at Pier Sixty-Six during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Shape has been commissioned to create the organization’s official art awards, crafted on invasive lionfish leather, to be presented to this year’s honorees Jimmy Buffett (posthumously, SeaKeeper of the Year) and Emily Cunningham, MBE (NextGen Award). Shape will live-paint during cocktail hour, and her invasive lionfish artworks will be unveiled at the event.

This year’s event honors Jimmy Buffett as SeaKeeper of the Year for his long-standing dedication to ocean and coastal protection. Throughout his life, Buffett blended music, storytelling, and philanthropy to raise awareness about marine conservation.

To fill in the gaps about these sharks, a team at Virginia Tech’s SeaQL Lab is teaming up with the nonprofit International SeaKeepers Society and Virginia Tech’s Genomics Sequencing Center, using a cutting-edge tool called environmental DNA, or eDNA.

With our newest partner, The International SeaKeepers Society, or SeaKeepers for short, we realize the importance of conservationists, marine biologists, and oceanographers. These are the individuals who keep that aquatic life we love to see diving in the horizon or swimming past us on our snorkeling adventures alive for future generations to behold. 

Another exciting collaboration for Nautilus is our partnership with The International SeaKeepers Society. Our Dalmatian flotilla in Croatia will be the first ever flotilla to partner with SeaKeepers and offer our clients the opportunity to participate in SeaKeepers’ Citizen Science initiatives if they so wish.

Since we started to plan our sailing adventure, we wanted to find a way to add a dimension to our trip, besides “just sailing and travelling”. We discovered The International SeaKeepers Society , which has a number of projects where boat owners can volunteer their time and vessel through citizen science programs.

The race has taken a major step forward in environmental responsibility with the introduction of SeaKeepers as its official environmental partner. Participating yachts will join the SeaKeepers DISCOVERY Programme, supporting marine research initiatives during the race.

The introduction of SeaKeepers as Cape2Rio’s official environmental partner marks a major step forward in ocean conservation efforts. Through this partnership, participating yachts will be encouraged to join the SeaKeepers DISCOVERY Programme, which supports marine research initiatives during the race.