Nine More
Women Shaping Our Seas and Surfing
Written
by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
This is the
tenth year for SurfWriter Girls Women Making Waves story focusing on
nine amazing women making a difference in our oceans and in surfing.
Like the ninth
wave of a set, that is more powerful than the rest, these women have had a
powerful impact on the world. Surfers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and
more. SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel are excited to introduce
you to this lineup of dynamic women.
Lynne Boyer, surf/ocean artist, is a pioneering two-time
World Surf League Champion (1978, 1979), who got women on board the pro surfing
circuit. Growing up in Oahu, she drew and surfed at an early age. After her
professional surfing career, she turned to art, dividing her time between
Hawaii and Hungary (where she has fewer distractions and can "paint my arm
off"). Her “truest inspiration comes from painting 'en plein air' (outdoors)"
and she “likes to add a stroke of red in my Hawaii beach scenes.”
Amanda
Chinchelli, Seea surf
wear fashion founder/designer, makes the perfect blend of fashionable and
functional women's surfing apparel. Born in Brazil and raised in Italy, she came
to California where she got immersed in the ocean/beach lifestyle. When she
couldn't find the kind of swimwear she liked – “not too sporty or too
skimpy" – she stitched her own designs that "looked good, while
working great for surfing." Other surfers saw her creations and wanted
them, too, and Seea was born in 2011.
Daniela V.
Fernandez, ocean
innovator and sustainability advocate, uses the power of media and technology
to address environmental threats facing the planet. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Social
Entrepreneur, she founded the organization Sustainable Ocean Alliance while
a student at Georgetown University – a network of young ocean leaders in over
165 countries. Fernandez says, "We must dedicate our lives to creating a
world that is in harmony with our values and hopes for our futures."
Pacha Light, surfer/environmentalist, born in
Ecuador/raised in Australia, travels with an extra board to give away to a
deserving surfer. Destined to be an environmentalist (her name “Pacha” comes
from the Ecuadoran name for “Mother Earth”), Light is a UNESCO Green Citizen,
helping promote UNESCO’s conservation and empowerment of women goals. She also
has a personal project, Women of Sea, telling the stories of women in
ocean conservation with strong connections to nature, such as Japan’s Ama
freedivers.
Sawyer
Lindblad, a two-time
U.S. Open of Surfing winner before turning twenty (2023, 2025), grew up surfing
at the iconic Lower Trestles in San Clemente, CA. The World Surf League Rookie
of the Year in 2024, Lindblad has had a meteoric rise as a professional
surfer, following waves around the world and becoming a role model for the
surfing community.
Melissa
Marquez, shark
specialist, got interested in sharks from watching the Discovery Channel.
With a MA degree in marine biology, she uses remote sensing techniques to
assess environmental influences on them. A podcaster and children's book author
(Wild Survival and Mother of Sharks), she contributes to National
Geographic, the BBC, and more. A Forbes 30 Under 30
Science honoree, she is also a member of the Ocean X research team
on the scientific vessel MV Alucia, seeking to unlock the ocean's
potential to benefit people and the planet.
Jericho
Poppler, the first World
Pro women's surfing champion (1976) and co-founder of the Women's
International Surfing Association, is known as "The First Lady of
Professional Surfing." With multiple surfing titles, she started out in
dance, learning moves that added to her graceful surfing style and earned her
the nickname "Wave Dancer." A Surfing Walk of Fame 1999
Woman of the Year and California Surf Museum Silver Surfer (2017), Poppler
is a founding member of the Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Heritage
Foundation.
Ingrid
Visser, New Zealand Whale
Rescue founder/marine biologist, has a PhD. from U. of Auckland and been
published in numerous scientific journals. A member of the legendary Explorers
Club (founded 1904), Visser has sailed around the world, visiting over 40
countries. She's written an autobiography, Swimming with Orca, and two
children's books, I Love Killer Whales and The Orca. Whale
Rescue volunteers provide expertise and equipment for rescuing whales,
dolphins and porpoises.
Roberta
Wynashe, Surfrider
Foundation former co-chair North Orange County chapter, is a committed
volunteer/advocate for surfing and the ocean. While co-chairing one of the most
active SRF chapters, Wyynashe interacted with Huntington Beach (Surf City),
Seal Beach and Newport Beach to educate about the environment, coordinate beach
cleanups, and share the stoke of surfing. Still active in the chapter, Wynashe
can be found at the beach or on game days rooting for her favorite football
team, The Raiders.
Like the other Women
Making Waves, Wynashe goes the extra distance to make things happen. Her
NOC co-chair KC Fockler (shown below) told SurfWriter Girls she “does all her volunteer work
while living in the Inland Empire, sometimes driving over two hours to make our
events here at the beach. We would not be the chapter we are without her steady
hand, guidance, and vision.”
Leaders in
their chosen fields, each woman shares one thing in common – a passion for the
ocean and a desire to make the world better.
SurfWriter Girls
Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine
Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the
exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint
it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit
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