Uniting Passionate Teams and Organizations for Global Marine Protection

Uniting Passionate Teams and Organizations for Global Marine Protection

Cleanup, education, and prevention

About us

On a Journey from Waste to Wear since 2013

Healthy Seas is a foundation dedicated to safeguarding the world's oceans and seas through three key pillars: cleanup, education, and prevention of marine litter. Our primary mission is to tackle the problem of marine debris, with a particular emphasis on fishing nets, to promote healthier aquatic ecosystems. With circular economy principles embedded in our DNA , thanks to our founding partner Aquafil, we've pioneered a journey from waste to wear. The
nylon nets recovered by Healthy Seas are collected by Aquafil, along with other nylon waste, to create new textile yarn and nylon material for innovative products. While Healthy Seas engages in repurposing marine litter into innovative products through partnerships with Aquafil and Bracenet, our core focus remains on marine conservation and protection.

Clean-ups

Education

Prevention

OUR NUMBERS

years in activity

countries

partners

volunteers

tons - since 2013

of fishing nets and other marine litter

fisherman and fish farmers involved

Our story

2013

Healthy Seas was Founded

as an initiative of two businesses and one NGO

2014

The First Fishermen Community

joins Healthy Seas in Den Oever, the Netherlands, to work on prevention.

2018

The First Live Stream Dive

is organized in Santorini, Greece, with Pierre Yves Cousteau, to let people experience a diving mission.

2020

A New Diving Boat and the Education Team

Healthy Seas’ partner, DWS, donates us a diving boat, MAKO. After a few years based in the Netherlands, the boat is moved in 2024 to Greece

Healthy Seas strengthens its education and awareness raising activities even more and creates a dedicated education team.

2021

The New Virtual Reality Experience

Healthy Seas creates a virtual reality experience of a dive on a shipwreck to recover ghost nets. Since then, the VR set is used all around the world in schools, corporate events and to motivate and engage people who normally cannot visit underwater (kids, fisherman, broader public).

Healthy Seas organizes the first big scale operation to clean-up an abandoned fish farm on the island of Ithaca, Greece.

2022

Healthy Seas Expands to the US and Asia

for a total number of 20 countries where it operates.

2023

Best Environmental Film Prize at the Cannes World Film Festival

awarded to Healthy Seas for the documentary “Journey to Ithaca” about the cleanup of an abandoned fish farm in Greece in 2021

2024

Tackling More Ghost Farms

Healthy Seas expands its efforts to clean up more abandoned fish farms in Western Greece and runs two projects in Ghana for the first time with the local non-profit Chaint Afrique.

2025

Bringing Science to Our Clean-ups

In 2025, Healthy Seas launched its first research projects directly linked to underwater clean-ups. Scientists began studying the impact of ghost nets on biodiversity and monitoring how marine ecosystems recover after removal.

Get Inspired, Get Excited- Just Like Us!

Meet our team

VERONIKA MIKOS

DIRECTOR

PASCAL VAN ERP

DEPUTY DIRECTOR & DIVING MANAGER

BEN OORTWIJN

DIVING COORDINATOR

KONSTANTINA KOSTOULA

EDUCATION MANAGER

RAMONA REICHERT

EDUCATION & MARINE RESEARCH COORDINATOR

ZETA KABARDI

PROJECT MANAGER

SAMARA CROCI

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

ISADORA ABUTER

COMMUNICATIONS & MARINE RESEARCH COORDINATOR

MARCEL KERSTEN

BOARD CHAIRMAN

MARIA GIOVANNA SANDRINI

BOARD TREASURER

VANGELIS DIVARIS

BOARD MEMBER

FABRIZIO CALENTI

BOARD ADVISOR

CORE TEAM
BOARD

From local shores to global seas, we unite across 7 regions with one unwavering goal: to restore and protect the health of our oceans.

Where we operate

We currently work in the following regions, with over 550 volunteers and 1250 fishers and fish farmers.

North Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Adriatic Sea

Baltic Sea

Red Sea

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Media Spotlight on Healthy Seas

Media Spotlight on Healthy Seas

Explore our featured media coverage and press highlights to see how our work in marine conservation and with our partners is making waves in the news.

Our Tenth Anniversary

Our Tenth Anniversary

Celebrating Growth and Building a Cleaner Future Together

We threw a three-day bash to celebrate the ten year anniversary milestone.

Partners, collaborators, journalists, and eco-warriors came together to reminisce about our journey. It was eye-opening to see the deep connection between marine protection and various industries. Together, we proved that when we unite, we can make waves of positive change.

For more juicy details about the event, dive into some resources here: