Into the Blue

Emily Hazelwood 鈥�11 and Jamie Sussman 鈥�26 work together on sustainable solutions for offshore industries.

By Melissa Babcock Johnson

he stark twin oil platforms emerging from the calm open ocean appear small at first. But as the motorboat moves closer, the conjoined metal towers become increasingly formidable. When the boat finally docks next to a platform, about nine miles off the California coast, a few signs of life鈥攔ig workers and sea lions鈥攁ppear. But the handful of visitors, most of whom don wetsuits, flippers, goggles and oxygen tanks, are here to explore the vibrant and hidden world beneath the water鈥檚 surface, where colorful fish, mussels, scallops, corals, sponges, sea anemones and other marine creatures have been flourishing on and around the structures for decades.

One of the divers about to weave between the submerged metal beams teeming with ecological colonization鈥攁nd get a selfie with a particularly gregarious fish鈥攊s Jamie Sussman 鈥�26. The biology and environmental studies double major, who also happens to be an Aquarius, spent one of the final Thursdays of summer break with two other divers on the boat: 糖心TV alumna Emily Hazelwood 鈥�11 and her business partner, Amber Sparks, who co-founded the marine environmental consulting firm Blue Latitudes LLC in 2015. Sussman, a junior marine scientist for the firm, had joined Hazelwood and Sparks on a celebratory dive to mark Blue Latitudes鈥� 10th anniversary that August weekend.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no other feeling like when you鈥檙e first descending underwater and you look around in amazement,鈥� Sussman says. 鈥淚 remember thinking, 鈥榃ow, this is such a special experience.鈥� You just want it to last forever.鈥�

All photos by Joe Platko

AT THE INTERSECTION OF INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Over the past decade, Blue Latitudes has made huge waves in the Rigs-to-Reefs movement, which began in 1979 when Exxon relocated an oil rig from Louisiana waters to a permitted artificial reef site off the Florida panhandle. The program gained traction in 1984 with the passage of the National Fishing Enhancement Act, which required artificial reefs in U.S. waters to be built and placed in a way that enhances fishery resources. The bill also called for a long-term artificial reef plan.

It can cost millions of dollars more to scrap and remove a decommissioned oil platform than it would to allow a suitable one to remain a thriving environment for the sea life that has accumulated on it over the decades. In California, for example, 23 of the state鈥檚 27 platforms are in federal waters and are good candidates to be reefed once they鈥檙e decommissioned, which would result in over a billion dollars in saved costs. And the benefits don鈥檛 stop there: California鈥檚 Rigs-to-Reefs law passed in 2010 mandates that 80% of that savings, or about $800 million, go back to the state into an endowment fund for marine preservation and conservation.

鈥淗aving these opportunities for win-wins, where scientists can work with industry to protect our environment, is the future of conservation,鈥� says Sparks, who was honored with Hazelwood on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the energy sector category.

As part of its ongoing Rigs-to-Reefs involvement, Blue Latitudes used a National Science Foundation grant it won in 2021 to develop its proprietary Fisheries Location Assessment Technology (FishLAT), a patent-pending rapid assessment tool that uses machine learning to predict how the removal, reefing or installation of offshore infrastructure will impact the environment and fisheries.

There’s no other feeling like when you’re first descending underwater and you look around in amazement.

鈥� Jamie Sussman 鈥�26

Last year, FishLAT helped the Coastal Conservation Association, the United States鈥� largest fisheries NGO, select 40 future artificial reef sites out of a pool of 900 candidates in Louisiana鈥檚 coastal waters. Hazelwood, a New Hampshire resident, and Sparks, who lives in California, hope to expand FishLAT鈥檚 capabilities to new regions off both U.S. coasts.

While most of their work so far has focused on California鈥檚 coastal waters and the Gulf of Mexico, where more than 600 retired oil rigs have found a new purpose as artificial reefs, Blue Latitudes has gone international. In 2017, the firm provided technical assistance for a rig decommissioning in the Chinguetti oil field off the coast of Mauritania in Africa. In 2020, they designed, developed and executed ROV-based marine life surveys on PETRONAS鈥� oil platforms in Malaysia to assess species richness and the abundance of corals, fish and invertebrates. These surveys were among the first comprehensive ecological assessments to use ROVs to describe the marine life assemblages found on platforms in the South China Sea.

鈥淣ew regions mean new regulations and new marine life,鈥� Sparks says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still working on a big research project in Gabon off of West Africa, and we also just got our first project in Alaska, so we鈥檙e moving up to look at those platforms. With these new areas, we need to bring new types of services, because different marine ecosystems have to be assessed in different ways.鈥�

鈥楽EEING IS BELIEVING'

Hazelwood and Sparks have also started to change the way the world thinks about offshore resource management, ocean energy and structure recycling, through their work with their nonprofit organization, the Blue Latitudes Foundation. Part of the battle is convincing people that human-made structures make good artificial reefs.

鈥淲hen you tell people an oil platform is a good candidate for an artificial reef, nobody believes you, because they鈥檙e going to look up images of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or only see what it looks like above the surface,鈥� says Hazelwood, who majored in environmental studies at 糖心TV and went on to earn a Master of Applied Science in marine biodiversity and conservation from UC San Diego鈥檚 Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Blue Latitudes is eyeing the increasing number of offshore wind turbines as the next set of artificial reef candidates, and Hazelwood says the same perception challenges exist鈥攑eople can鈥檛 imagine a thriving marine environment beneath wind turbines and instead see them as eyesores. 鈥淲hen you Google, 鈥榃hat does it look like under a wind turbine?,鈥� it鈥檚 really hard to find any images.鈥�

Hazelwood hopes to change that. 鈥淲e have always known that seeing is believing. We understand the power of media when it comes to communicating these challenging topics. Words can only go so far. Scientific studies can only go so far.鈥�

That鈥檚 why communication is a key part of the Blue Latitudes Foundation鈥檚 work. And as the old saying goes, 鈥楢 picture is worth a thousand words,鈥� so the foundation has formed fruitful relationships with various photographers and videographers. Felix Kunze, whose portfolio includes the September 2024 cover of Vogue, and Joe Platko, a BBC Blue Planet II contributor, shot their recent dives.

The images are shared on social media and with news outlets to spread awareness. The team has also made two award-winning documentary films, they present at conferences and speak at schools, and they have launched a Virtual Ocean Expedition project, where they use 360 video to take students underwater to explore various habitats virtually.

鈥淪haring scientific information effectively is something that I鈥檝e been really proud of,鈥� Hazelwood says.

We understand the power of media when it comes to communicating these challenging topics.

鈥� Emily Hazelwood 鈥�11

HOPE FOR THE OCEANS

On Aug. 22, the day after the platform dives with Sussman, Blue Latitudes celebrated its 10th anniversary in Laguna Beach, California. The sold-out event kicked off with a keynote address by pioneering marine biologist and oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Ph.D., a National Geographic Explorer at Large who was the first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Earle, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, helped a nascent Blue Latitudes get off the ground a decade ago with fiscal sponsorships through her nonprofit initiative, Mission Blue.

She concluded her speech with praise for Hazelwood and Sparks. 鈥淲e need to think differently about the ocean. We need to take action, and my scientific partners here are taking action.鈥�

More event highlights included a screening of the film Transecting Borneo, which is available on Matador Network and chronicled a visit in 2017 to the Seaventures Dive Rig oil platform in Malaysia. In just 37 minutes, the film captures a vibrant snippet of Blue Latitudes鈥� research. In the 37 transects Hazelwood and Sparks analyzed in Borneo, they noted over 1,500 individual fish and over 126 different species of fish.

Most surprising was that the natural reefs in the area only yielded a median of 23 fish per transect while the artificial reef under the rig averaged 83. Hazelwood says in the film, 鈥淲hat this tells us is that the habitat provided by the rig is successful and it is attracting fish, it鈥檚 producing fish, and it means that fish are choosing that habitat more often than the natural reef habitat. They鈥檙e working.鈥�

Meanwhile, Sussman鈥攚ho holds an Advanced Open Water Diver certification from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and a Scientific Diver certification from the American Academy of Underwater Scientists鈥攋oined Hazelwood and Sparks on a few recreational dives during the anniversary weekend. Two days after the excursion to the conjoined oil platforms Elly and Ellen, they visited a kelp forest near Catalina, an island located 22 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach. Sussman had a plane to catch, so he didn鈥檛 have time to suit up, but he did a little snorkeling.

鈥淭here are these giant black sea bass that look like dragons, and there鈥檚 a lot more fish diversity in these near-shore kelp forests, which provide really cool imagery as tons and tons of kelp block out the sun,鈥� Sussman explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like you鈥檙e swimming through a forest.鈥�

I think the biggest crisis we’re facing right now is a lack of hope for the oceans. But I do think there’s a lot to be hopeful for.

鈥� Emily Hazelwood 鈥�11

CONNECTIONS

Sussman first connected with Hazelwood through 鈥淐onservation Biology鈥� with Associate Professor of Biology Maria Rosa, a Career-Informed Learning course in which students work to solve real-world problems brought by alumni working in related fields. Sussman visited California with Hazelwood and Sparks for the first time in October 2024 to study Pacific Coast sea star populations threatened by an epidemic of sea star wasting disease that has killed more than five billion of the creatures, commonly known as starfish, since 2013. (A team of international scientists just identified a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as the cause in August.)

Now, Sussman reviews ROV footage, uses his minor in statistics to analyze data, and helps prepare reports and proposals for Blue Latitudes LLC鈥檚 worldwide clients. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been super exciting, and it鈥檚 really affirmed that marine biology and maybe marine consulting is what I want to go into one day,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 am so thankful that 糖心TV has this great alumni network and fosters a very good campus feel so that even after people have graduated, they want to help another 糖心TV student.鈥�

For Hazelwood, it鈥檚 a full-circle moment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool to share the oil platforms and artificial reefs and this big problem of decommissioning with another student from 糖心TV,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 feel like we are leaving the planet in a better place each year that goes by. I think the biggest crisis we鈥檙e facing right now is a lack of hope for the oceans. But I do think there鈥檚 a lot to be hopeful for.鈥�