Riley and Steve Hathaway

Position: Television presenter and producer, Field: Education and entertainment, Organisation: Young Ocean Explorers.

Teenager Riley Hathaway started life as a water baby. With a dad who loves the water, Riley was exposed to marine life from an early age. Riley did a school project about sea turtles accidentally eating floating plastic. She used some of her dad’s underwater video footage and interviewed a turtle expert. The video was a hit with her teacher and, even more importantly, her brother’s year 6 class. This inspired Riley and her dad Steve to make a series of short videos called Young Ocean Explorers.

Riley and Steve Hathaway

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Daughter and dad duo Riley and Steve Hathaway have teamed up to produce the Young Ocean Explorers video series and Love Our Ocean book.

Rights: Steve Hathaway

Riley’s life has been quite an adventure since then. She has swum with sharks, overcome her fear of crabs and inspired a new generation of young people to look after the sea.

It wasn’t me inspiring kids. This is a kid inspiring kids about this amazing world.

Steve Hathaway

Steve Hathaway grew up loving adventures, but it was snorkelling that really seized his attention. After a lifetime of enjoying the sea, Steve decided to become a professional underwater videographer. Since then, he’s filmed a number of underwater projects – including documentaries appearing on BBC, Discovery TV, National Geographic and TVNZ.

Following on the success of Young Ocean Explorers, the Hathaways secured funding though grants and a Kickstarter campaign to donate a copy of the series DVD and book to every school in New Zealand and the Cook Islands. They have also filmed a second series of Young Ocean Explorers.