A new exhibition in Santa Barbara aims to highlight the work of some of the women in our community who are making waves.
From sports-fishing, to harbor operations or ocean conservation, women are still in a minority in maritime professions. A new exhibition at Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is showcasing 13 women who work in and around the harbor.
"When I was at UC Santa Barbara back in the late 80s early 90s, I definitely was one of very few female students studying marine science, marine biology. But I wasn't intimidated - I have three brothers," said marine biologist Holly Lohuis, one of the women featured in the exhibition.
"I work for a couple of different organizations. I've been an on camera naturalist, diver, a marine biologist for Jean-Michel Cousteau and his nonprofit is Ocean Futures Society, based right here in Santa Barbara," she said.
(As a side note, Jean Michel Cousteau’s father was Jacques Cousteau, who invented the first SCUBA diving apparatus!).
"I've traveled around the world with him and most recently, [I'm] co-director of the new designation of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area. And today, I now see a lot of amazing women as educators, as scientists, as boat captains, really just leading this field," said Lohuis.
"Some of the work I do with the whales in education - we know the largest dolphin and the dolphin family are orca's, and it's a matriarch society. It's all about the women! It's all about the moms and the grandmas that really dictate the success of a family of orcas. So when we look at nature, females are so instrumental, not only reproductively, but also just the culture that they create and the success of wild populations," said Lohuis.
Another of the women featured is Kim Selkoe, who founded the Santa Barbara Sustainable Seafood Program and Community Seafood. She has one surprising admission…she used to hate eating fish!
"When I was a kid, I hated the taste of seafood because I hadn't had really fresh seafood, and now I absolutely love it. And it's a really great to make local seafood a part of your weekly diet, and for your family and your kids, and get them excited about seafood. It tastes so good when it's super fresh," she said.
"Some of the fishermen I work with say it's so valuable to have women in the room at these negotiations with managers and policy makers that we need that diversity of styles and thinking, and it's really great to hear them say that. It's sad to see that there's so few women who are boat captains in our commercial fisheries, but we're really wanting to change that. You know, these fisheries are here for all of us and I feel like advocating to help this community is not just advocating for a bunch of old crusty men - it's advocating for the survival of these fisheries for the future, and we really want to actively diversify them," said Selkoe.
Lydia Rao, the collections manager at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, says the exhibition is important to inspire future generations…and it was perfect timing during women’s history month.
"A lot of young girls, young women don't necessarily realize that these positions are even open to them, and so these women that we featured really give that example that, 'I can become a harbor patrol officer' or work in sport fishing, commercial fishing, commercial diving and really have an impact on our oceans in the future," said Rao.
The exhibition is running at Santa Barbara Maritime Museum in the Waterfront Center.
