The Ocean Institute&rsquo\;s Distinguished Speaker Series\, presented by the Nicholas Endowment\, brings interesting innovations\, real-world research\, exotic experiences\, and delightful discoveries to the surface through powerful presentations from an ocean of experts.
\n\nAbout Captain Brett McBride: \;
\n\nBrett McBride\, a dedicated mariner and waterman\, has spent the majority of his life surrounded by or in the water. Growing up in San Diego\, he filled his time with fishing\, surfing\, and breath-hold spearfishing. At the age of five\, McBride became captivated by fishing after his first offshore fishing experience on the 65&prime\; New Lo-An. From that point on\, he aspired to become a boat captain. At twelve years old\, he got his first opportunity to work on the 65&prime\; sport fisher. Throughout his junior high and high school years\, he spent weekends and summers working on open party and
\n\nlong-range sport fishers\, before transitioning to private yacht-fishers and broadening his exploration horizons.McBride spent a few seasons fishing along the coast of Baja\, California before permanently relocating to Cabo San Lucas\, Mexico\, where he called home for the next 21 years.
\n\nOver the following decade\, Brett served as a deckhand or captain on various sportfishing boats and long-range yacht-fishers\, covering locations from Panama to Alaska and everything in between. During this time\, he devoted much of his attention to fishing marlin tournaments in Southern California and Mexico\, as well as spearfishing. In the early days of spearfishing\, building one&rsquo\;s own speargun was often necessary to obtain a decent one. Brett constructed his first speargun while in high school and continues to build them to this day. His passion for spearfishing led him to develop an interest in underwater filming.He purchased a waterproof housing for his video camera and started capturing his underwater trips. As he continued filming both above and below the water on long-range trips from Costa Rica to Panama\, Brett became increasingly fascinated with creating professional videos to showcase life at sea.
\n\nIn 1998\, Brett received a job offer to run a 48&prime\; sportfisher from a friend who connected him with entrepreneur Chris Fischer. Sharing a passion for the ocean\, they embarked on a partnership\, and when Chris upgraded his boat to a 72&prime\; custom yacht-fisher\, they began their journey in creating outdoor television aboard the 72&prime\; GO FISCH. Their collaboration resulted in &ldquo\;Offshore Adventures&rdquo\;\, an Emmy Award-winning show that dominated outdoor television ratings for 14 consecutive seasons on ESPN Outdoors. They also produced &ldquo\;Ocean Hunter\,&rdquo\; a show with a focus on spearfishing that aired on ESPN Outdoors.
\n\nA pivotal shift in their work occurred when Fischer purchased the 126&prime\; Bering Sea crab fishing vessel\, now known as OCEARCH. In 2010\, Chris asked Brett if they could assist scientists in capturing and releasing adult white sharks at Guadalupe Island. Brett accepted\, marking the beginning of an extraordinary journey. The initial trip was a success and led to the
\ndevelopment of Shark Men\, a television series that showcased the scientific fieldwork involved in the White Shark Tagging efforts of the OCEARCH team. Since its inception\, OCEARCH has completed 45 expeditions around the globe. McBride drew upon his lifetime of water experience to develop the fishing methods used by OCEARCH&rsquo\;s team\, and has played a vital role in the capture\, handling\, and release of over 400 animals studied by OCEARCH. His expertise and leadership has provided researchers across the globe with unprecedented access to study our oceans&rsquo\; apex predators and push science further. McBride appreciates all the gifts the ocean has given him over his lifetime and aspires to keep the ocean healthy through the conservation efforts of OCEARCH.
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