The International SeaKeepers Society

What it reported doing in 2025

During 2025, six hundred and nine (609) activities were completed. Each strand of programming was responsible for contributing as follows. Seakeepers completed 51 scientist-led expeditions with 204 total days of field research in the united states, the brazilian amazon, indonesia, australia, pitcairn islands, the galapagos islands, costa rica, new zealand, sicily, and the bahamas. Citizen science initiatives were prominent and seakeepers installed 77 data loggers through our collaboration with the global program, seabed 2030 which aims to map the seabed floor by the year 2030. 19 edna samples were collected in the mediterranean to help track white shark presence and movement, with a total of 317 citizen science activities. Educational outreach organized 110 activities that allowed seakeepers staff to engage with 3,461 students and 728 educators, and collaborate with a total of 85 schools (and organizations) with 22% (19 of 85) of engagement coming from title i schools. Seakeepers engaged in 81 public events, which included scientific seminars, educational events, shoreline and underwater cleanups, and yachting industry functions. Seakeepers completed 50 cleanups with 1,744 volunteers from the community resulting in a collection of 6,032 pounds of marine debris removed from the environment - a 7% increase from the previous year. Seakeepers is a global non-profit organization with its headquarters in the united states and chapters all around the world, including seakeepers asia, seakeepers united kingdom, and seakeepers south pacific. Seakeepers headquarters (USA) completed 36 scientist-led expeditions, including 112 at-sea research days, saving researchers over 303,292 in projected costs. Across all chapters, the organization contributed 79.1 million depth sounding measurements to seabed 2030 and activated 30 vessels through the u.s. Chapter in programming. In education, seakeepers delivered 86 programs, directly engaging 2,281 students and reaching 676 others through partnerships and online lesson plans, while collaborating with 685 educators, 64 schools, and over 30 partners. Additionally, seakeepers USA completed 47 cleanups and participated in 73 events. Seakeepers asia completed 14 activities, with 10 citizen science projects that reached over 170 students through educational programs in collaboration with 14 schools and 9 educators. In 2025, the chapter launched its international junior seakeepers program, including student presentations at the earth in focus film festival. Another key milestone was the fourth ocean collective summit in singapore, a two-day conference that convened 190 participants and 23 international speakers across science, policy, business, and conservation. Seakeepers united kingdom completed 16 activities, engaging over 180 students through educational programs in collaboration with 5 schools and 26 educators. In 2025, the chapter launched its races & rallies campaign, enabling large-scale crowdsourced data collection through major events. This initiative earned national recognition, with seakeepers uk receiving gold awards at the corporate engagement awards for best pro-bono work and most innovative csr collaboration. Seakeepers south pacific completed over 12 activities, reaching more than 150 students through educational programs in collaboration with multiple schools and 10 educators. The chapter's partnership with manta watch new zealand advanced regional manta ray identification and population monitoring, while strategic collaborations expanded to leading organizations such as live ocean, wwf-new zealand, and leigh marine laboratory.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
• Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
• Fundraising efficiency: $158.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.82; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings