THEIR BOLDEST CAMPAIGN YET– LIVE OCEAN
Photos Joshua McCormack
Jono Ridler’s 1,350km swim down the east coast of the North Island is putting ocean protection firmly in the national spotlight.
Founded in 2019 by champion sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, Live Ocean was born from time spent on and around the ocean. Through their sailing careers, they experienced firsthand both the beauty of New Zealand’s moana and the growing pressures it faces.
They established Live Ocean with a clear vision: a healthy ocean for a healthy future. The organisation works to scale up science, innovation and outreach, backing practical solutions that can restore ocean health and strengthen New Zealand’s connection to it. New Zealand has the fourth-largest ocean space on the planet, yet we’re not delivering on the responsibility to protect and care for it. Live Ocean focuses on helping to bridge that gap – supporting marine science and bringing ocean issues into the mainstream.
While Burling and Tuke are widely recognised for their sporting achievements, they are also champions for the ocean: practical, solutions- focused and committed to long-term change.
In early 2026, Live Ocean is running its most ambitious public campaign yet: Swim4TheOcean. Ultra-distance swimmer Jono Ridler is attempting an unprecedented 1,350km unassisted staged swim from North Cape to Wellington over around 90 days. Swimming in long shifts – up to six hours at a time and targeting around 25 kilometres a day – Ridler is tracing the east coast of the North Island, supported by a seven-strong crew and stopping in coastal communities along the way.
Ridler is no stranger to endurance challenges. In 2023, he completed Swim4TheGulf, setting a New Zealand open-water record for the longest non-stop unassisted swim at 99 kilometres. But this new mission goes far beyond personal achievement. Swim4TheOcean aims to ignite New Zealanders in the race for a healthy ocean and deliver a clear message to decision-makers: commit to ending bottom trawling – the act of dragging heavy, weighted nets across the seafloor, destroying habitat and biodiversity, and releasing stored carbon.
“My Hauraki Gulf swim showed me how endurance sport can bring real attention to ocean issues, and that people care,” Ridler said before setting out from Waikuku Beach, North Cape, on Monday 5 January.
“This mission will push me to my limits. I’ll be swimming around the clock, coming ashore only to rest and refuel. It will be incredibly challenging, but I feel strongly that we can and must do better to care for the ocean. That purpose will get me through the tough moments.” New Zealand is still bottom trawling seamounts in our own waters, and is the only nation still bottom trawling seamounts in the South Pacific high seas.
Through this huge endurance effort, Live Ocean aims to build a national wave of support and show that ocean protection matters to communities up and down the country.
Swim4TheOcean features live tracking, daily content and national coverage, helping connect people directly to the journey and the cause behind it. Ridler is expected to complete his swim at the end of March. Supporters can sign the online petition to end bottom trawling.
Looking ahead, Live Ocean’s goals remain focused: scaling up science, strengthening marine protection, backing innovation, and helping New Zealand live up to its potential as an ocean nation. Swim4TheOcean is one chapter in that wider mission – using an extraordinary human effort to spark a broader shift in how the country values and cares for the ocean that defines it.