“Her Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ocean Ambassador Jean-Michel Cousteau, renowned Cave Explorer Jill Heinerth and award-winning “Sharkwater” Filmmaker Rob Stewart are four of the action-oriented change-makers who will share how they face and embrace ocean challenges at this year’s Blue Ocean Business Summit, which launched on World Oceans Day on the 8th June.

The 8-day online event, sponsored by Blue Ocean Network.com, features 34 video interviews with thought leaders and eco-conscious entrepreneurs from 13 countries, and is accessible free of charge to registrants.

According to organizer and host Laurie Wilson, this year’s summit theme is based on the figure of speech “Elephant in the Room” which means ‘an obvious truth is either being ignored or going unaddressed.’

“It’s the idea that the largest terrestrial animal on the planet would be impossible to overlook if it were found standing on a house reef blocking the dive resort dock and boat moorings. The elephant poses an obvious problem and a looming risk, but no one wants to discuss this pachyderm; they pretend it’s not there, or hope it will float away. And yet, having an elephant on your reef can actually be a huge opportunity, but only if you choose to see it that way – and that’s what this Summit is all about – facing the big issues and seeing them as opportunities,” explains Wilson.

The Summit is designed specifically for all dive industry stakeholders including: resorts, live-aboards, dive operators, dive stores, recreational divers, instructors, group leaders, travel wholesalers, manufacturers, certification agencies, media and consulting, trade and consumer shows,  marine parks managers, scientists, artists, activists, photographers, marine nonprofits, water sports and hotel associations, and travel and tourism professionals.

Wilson says “A healthy dive industry is fundamentally linked to a healthy ocean, but our ocean is in trouble. Up until now, the mainstream won’t talk about the state of our ocean – it’s considered ‘bad for business’, but the Summit Speakers we’ve assembled are going to change all that.”

A dive industry veteran, Platinum Pro 5000 diver and Women Divers Hall of Fame honoree, Summit creator Laurie Wilson has worked in many aspects of the industry, including dive stores, resorts, liveaboards, marine non-profits, marine sanctuaries, shows and events, dive publications, and her latest media endeavor as the Founder of the Blue Ocean Network. As host of the inaugural week-long Blue Ocean Business Summit in 2014, Wilson interviewed 21 experts from 7 countries who introduced 1425 business participants to the sustainability imperative.  Featured Speakers (and divers) were NY Times best-selling author of Blue Mind, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols and PBS host and best-selling author of Song for a Blue Ocean, Dr. Carl Safina.

To attend the Blue Ocean Business Summit 2015, sign up for free at BlueOceanBusinessSummit.com. Facebook.com/BlueOceanSummit Twitter; @BlueOceanSummit  Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/1Q768xN