Wendy Benchley is a renowned global voice for protecting sharks and safeguarding our seas. As a scuba diver for fifty years, she has witnessed dramatic changes to our ocean's wildlife and its habitats. This has motivated her vigorous efforts to help shape smarter, stronger environmental and marine policies with government officials, NGOs, and other civic leaders. Wendy co-founded the distinguished Peter Benchley Ocean Awards to honor her late husband's legacy and shine a light on the exceptional conservation work being done by marine scientists, researchers, explorers, and policymakers in the United States and internationally. The Benchley Awards recognize excellence and are known as the 'Academy Awards for the Ocean.' Wendy served as Executive Producer of the acclaimed 2025 feature documentary directed by Laurent Bouzereau, Jaws@50: The Definitive Inside Story, which was produced in collaboration with Disney’s National Geographic and Amblin Entertainment to celebrate Jaws’ 50th Anniversary. Wendy was the 2014 recipient of the International SeaKeepers Lifetime Achievement Award, presented annually to an individual or organization that has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to ocean conservation. She was inducted into the Women's Diving Hall of Fame in 2015, accepted the 2016 Beneath the Sea' Diver of the Year for Environmentalism' Award, received the 2017 Pegasus Foundation Wings Award for excellence in animal and habitat protection, and in 2019, she was honored with the Rob Stewart Foundation Lifetime Achievement for Ocean Conservation Award. Based in Washington, D.C., Wendy is actively engaged in the marine policy community and supports many of the world's leading ocean & environmental philanthropies. As a WildAid Board member, she plays a prominent leadership role. She is actively involved in its highly respected and effective global work to reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products, including ivory, rhino horn, pangolin, and shark fin. Additionally, WildAid is committed to building 250 highly effective, well-enforced marine protected areas worldwide. She is a board member of Beneath the Waves, an ocean nonprofit that uses cutting-edge research to advance scientific discovery and catalyze ocean policy. Its focus is on sharks and threatened marine ecosystems. She is also a board member of Blue Frontier, a leading national grassroots organization with links to over 1,400 ocean-related groups. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Wendy worked on various environmental issues as a trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund. She currently serves as a Trustee on EDF's Advisory Board. Wendy began her environmental and political career in the 1970s in her home state of New Jersey, serving as a co-founder and Trustee of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. She was elected to the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders and was elected as a Princeton Borough Councilwoman for three terms. Among her many legislative accomplishments, she worked on smart growth and sustainability issues, played a leading role in bringing a prize-winning downtown development to fruition, and expanded affordable housing opportunities. Wendy was married to Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws and a prominent advocate for ocean conservation through his numerous books, articles, and documentaries about the wonders of ocean life and its many threats.