Charley Peebler is a 16-year old independent learner who is passionate about saving our oceans and waterways. In 2016 she and her sister founded Heirs To Our Oceans (H2OO), a global movement started from the ground up to empower youth to take a stand against the crises our Blue Planet faces and to position themselves as leaders in ocean and water conservation and in climate action. Charley’s focus areas of study and research include coral and deep sea habitats and the human impacts that affect them as well as derelict fishing gear and ghost fishing, unsustainable fishing practices, and issues in recycling plastics.
As an Heir, Charley speaks regularly – locally, nationally and internationally — about the ocean and waterway crises and the climate crisis that her generation faces. She speaks on panels, she presents to youth and adults alike in many forums, she speaks in media interviews, she facilitates hands-on workshops and she speaks to lawmakers – local, state and federal – urging for policy change to protect the planet she and her generation are inheriting. In 2018 Charley testified before the Pacific Fisheries Management Council about how bottom trawls are harming deep sea coral. Thereafter, in a “landmark decision”, the Council protected 140,000 square miles of deep sea off the US West Coast. As an Heir and as a youth ambassador to Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier’s SeaLegacy, Charley appeared before the California State Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee in 2018 to share why for her generation it is important to support SB1017 and ban drift nets that harm so many marine mammals. Thereafter, the Committee voted in support of the bill 7-2 and the Governor since signed it into law. Charley also plays as active role in the Heirs’ global movement supporting H2OO’s Int’l SEAL (Summit for Empowerment, Action & Leadership) each year. Charley also created H2OO Hair Potions, a shampoo line made of all-natural and organic ingredients sold in a reusable non-plastic container.
Charley formed and is Chair of the Ocean Climate Action Plan Youth Advisory Council and a member of the US Youth Advisory Council to the UN Ocean Decade.