Usually taking place in Monaco, the 2016 Bal De La Mer has been organised to take place in Palm Beach, Florida in order to recognise one of SeaKeepers’ Founding Members and Yachting Community Pioneer: Alexander W. Dreyfoos. Each year, SeaKeepers honours and promotes key decision makers and influencers who made exceptional commitments to preserving our oceans. The event will take place on Saturday, October 8th.
Alex Dreyfoos is chairman and owner of The Dreyfoos Group, a private capital management firm founded in November 1963. Mr. Dreyfoos graduated from both MIT and Harvard Business School and is well known for his manufacturing of electronic equipment for the photography industry, in which he received an Oscar for his important contribution to the motion pictures industry. In addition to receiving an Oscar, Dreyfoos holds 10 patents for his photographic technology and electronic equipment in the United States.
Dreyfoos first became associated with SeaKeepers thanks to his support of programming and funding of ocean research, which grounded his long-term commitment to SeaKeepers mission. In 2008, Dreyfoos took ownership of a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull, also known as SWATH vessel, Silver Cloud. He chose this unusual twin-hull design due to his wife, Renate’s sensitivity to motion. The unique design effectively minimizes all rolling motion and Dreyfoos has enjoyed many years with family and friends travelling around the globe in this exceptional yacht.
Dreyfoos is also enthusiastic about diving and a great photographer. During his travels, he has photographed thousands of underwater landscapes and coastal scenery – everything from crocodiles in Australia to parrots in the Amazon. In January of 2015, he went on to publish a book of his photography entitled, A Photographic Odyssey: Around the World with Alexander W. Dreyfoos.
Split into six regions, the photographs exhibit the planet’s underwater world including the Red Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. These images, selected from over 100,000 in his collection, span the years from 1950-2013 and include 60 countries.
Dreyfoos joins an elite and influential group of leaders in marine conservation including Monaco’s own H.S.H. Prince Rainier III and H.S.H. Prince Albert II; French explorer and film producer, Jean Michel Cousteau; Canadian film director/producer and deep-sea explorer, James Cameron; American marine biologist, author, lecturer and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle; French fashion tycoon, Agnes B.; Sargasso Sea Alliance (SSA), a partnership to protect the Sargasso Sea led by SSA Board Chair, David Shaw and the Government of Bermuda; Wendy Benchley, and most recently the 2015 recipient Fabien Cousteau.
