Our Why
It is no secret that winners and losers are hand selected from the endangered species list for funding. Everyone’s favorite warm fuzzy animals resonating from their childhoods are prioritized. Meanwhile, the species with the least recognition are left with the funding scraps regardless of their importance to our ecosystem. A perfect example are coral reefs – 36% of the world’s coral reef has experienced major trauma (bleaching) based on latest scientist estimates. These coral reefs house 25% of all marine life, directly account for 25% of the world’s fished food, and have a profound impact on global medicine, tourism, and economies let alone their broader ecosystem touch which is estimated at over 2 million species. Yet, these animals do not receive funding commensurate with their importance in our ecosystem. Not even close! In fact, our oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface but receives less than 1% of philanthropic funds.
Our mission is to increase awareness and evoke emotion for the often-forgotten marine life. Rather than do it in a somber tone, we are focusing on celebrating all marine life has to offer with Responsible Recreation. Everything we do, whether it be increasing access to our oceans or sharing oceanic data with research organizations, is centered around increasing marine life awareness. We are confident the humans we share our journey with will leave equipped with the mindset necessary to help fight the cause in a manner commensurate with their passions. Change starts with getting people’s attention!
Chief Aquanaut
Chief Aquanaut Keith Crossland is the brainchild behind Immerse Underwater Safari but the story doesn’t start there. As a Black male raised in the South Bronx during some of NYC’s most turbulent times, Keith knows a thing or two about resilience and perseverance. He later went on to create John Brown Real Estate, a U.S. based nation-wide commercial real estate company, by the age of 29. He has since continued his success by being nationally recognized in the worldwide CASE business competition where teams from around the globe competed in a complex real estate development project consisting of engineers, architects, financial modelers, and sustainable developers (Keith served the latter two roles). Keith graduated New York University with a Masters’ Degree in Sustainable Development & Finance near the top of his class and graduated from Y-Combinator Start-Up School (Y-Combinator is responsible for companies such as Airbnb and Stripe). Lastly, he has 10 years of risk management experience having worked in many of the largest banks in the world.
Although Keith is very proud of all the accomplishments listed above, he is far from satisfied. There are significant problems in the world that must be tackled. Finding what motivates people to help address these problems is key! This is where the idea for Immerse Underwater Safari spawned. Our oceans are under attack and unless we evoke emotion for marine life through first hand experiences, the attackers (humans) will kill the ocean subconsciously.