Launching our 25th Year with a New Logo and Brand

On May 5, 2026, we held an Open House at our office. We used this event as the official start of our 25th year! This milestone feels both impossible and completely inevitable—because once we start something, we’re persistent… one might even refer to our co-founder Dianna Schulte and I as stubborn.

As we approached this year, we thought about how to usher in this new chapter. We started with our brand and conducted a survey of members and volunteers to gather feedback on what was working and what wasn’t. One thing came out loud and clear: while people loved our original logo (thank you, Michael Yoon, for this design!), many thought it didn’t fully capture all we do as an organization, particularly our beach cleanups, which have grown tremendously since we founded the organization. We embarked on a process with local designer Elissa von Letkemann to create a new logo and brand that reflects our current and future work and positions us for the next 25 years and beyond.

The new logo is “intentionally hopeful, beautiful, specific to the New England coast and its waters, and formal…

It represents love and hope, as well as the seriousness of the work. As the organization celebrates its 25th year of critical research and dedicated leadership, this new logo represents a thoughtful evolution from the original, respecting the past while bringing the brand into the present.”

– Designer Elissa von LetKemann

We are introducing the logo now will be doing a thoughtful rollout of the new brand in the coming weeks. We are also excited to announce that we’ll be launching a new website and merchandise soon.

The Need for the Work Grows

The need for our work has grown. The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water on the planet. That means marine life is changing where it goes, when it arrives, what it eats, and how it survives. When big decisions are on the table—offshore development, changing shipping patterns, emerging uses of the ocean—we need long-term science to understand real trends, not just snapshots.

Experiential learning matters more than ever. Many schools have fewer resources for hands-on science, and many young people are hungry for meaningful, real-world work. Blue Ocean Society fills that gap—by getting people outside, into the field, and connected to the Gulf of Maine.

Our whale and marine life studies produce information that decision-makers, researchers, and the public rely on—especially for endangered species. In fact, we are the only organization doing consistent, systematic local monitoring and data collection of whales and other marine wildlife in our region year after year—the kind of long-term dataset you can’t recreate once it’s missing. And even if we could magically solve every conservation challenge tomorrow, new people are born every day who still need to learn why the ocean matters and how to protect it, right at home.

Imagine if we weren’t here. No consistent local monitoring. Fewer hands on the beaches. Fewer chances for a kid—or a college intern—or a curious visitor—to fall in love with the Gulf of Maine and take action to protect it. I don’t want to find out what that would look like. I want us here for at least 25 more years.

To everyone who has been part of this journey—thank you. We are grateful for the community we have built over the last 25 years.

Over the last year, we’ve made big strides: we completed a major upgrade at the Blue Ocean Discovery Center with engaging exhibits; we expanded beach cleanup programs and partnerships; and we’ve grown our whale research—adding more effort outside the traditional season than we were doing even 10 years ago.

So, I invite you to ride along with us this year. If you’re already a donor—thank you, and I hope you’ll consider renewing or increasing your support. If you’ve never volunteered—come try a beach cleanup, help at the Blue Ocean Discovery Center, or join us in the field.

And if you’re able to give—give in a way that feels meaningful to you, whether that’s a one-time gift, a monthly donation, or introducing us to a business that wants to sponsor work that truly matters. The ocean connects all of us. Let’s make sure the Gulf of Maine has champions for the next 25 years—and beyond.