Rebecca Bellini – Trustee

Rebecca is an advocate and voice for captive Orca Worldwide. Growing up in Scotland and spending holidays in the Hebrides, Rebecca was surrounded by marine life. Graduating in Media studies in 2007, she combined her love of photography and diving to work as an underwater photographer and divemaster.

Rebecca lived in New Zealand focusing on whales and dolphins while she worked as Assistant Manager and onboard photographer for a dolphin trip business. This fuelled her desire to keep working within this field and in 2014 she worked for Whale & Dolphin Conservation and recently as Project Manager for WhaleFest and World Cetacean Alliance. Her work has gravitated to conservation roles where she feels her skills and experiences are best utilised.

“I want to help turn the tide on captivity through fundraising, informing and inspiring all ages to view Orca in the wild.”

Lucie Armstrong - Trustee

Lucie’s interest in orcas was born from watching Blackfish the movie for the first time in 2016. She couldn’t believe how unaware and uninformed she was surrounding the topic of cetacean and captivity.  She was introduced to Orca Rescues Foundation Charity shortly after by Jo-Blaise
Martin. She then joined the team as a trustee and ran the Brighton half and full marathon to raise funds needed for ongoing research, rescue and release. She also has a place for the consecutive Brighton and London marathons in 2020.

In 2017 she travelled to Monterey Bay in California to witness whales in the wild and learn further about their natural behaviours and habitats.
Lucie is a keen wildlife photographer enjoying the buzz of waiting a length of time to capture the right shot. Together with Jo- Blaise, she has travelled on Safari in South Africa and across South East Asia’s enchanting landscapes and wildlife. Her interest and experience in marketing and social media has been useful for Orca Rescues Foundation. Her ability to use and identify any opportunity to get the message within the public arena is an important asset. She is looking forward to continuing her support for ORF as we edge slowly closer to putting an end to captivity.

Jo-Blaise Martin - Trustee

A keen wildlife photographer and an adamant believer that Orca are meant to be swimming freely in the oceans, not going insane inside concrete tanks. Jo-Blaise had a keen wildlife interest from a very early age and now enjoys travel based around new wildlife experiences with a particular interest in snorkelling and free-diving in the Maldives filming and photographing the abundance of marine wildlife. 

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These experiences only enhance the passion for the freedom experienced in the ocean and will not rest until the largest of Marine mammals can swim freely again. Jo-Blaise has also run a number of Marathons to raise money for the Charity.

lauren - Volunteer

Lauren’s passion lies in conservation and education. She has a Bachelor Honors degree in Biology, focussing on marine biology, animal ethics and animal behavior. Lauren spends her spare time volunteering for a number of different organisations and charities, including Orca Rescues Foundation. She’s been a part of setting up a citizen science project in Sri Lanka, has travelled across the multiple seas for research and surveying and travelled to Iceland, Spain, France, Canada, USA and Scotland to observe cetaceans in the wild. 

Lauren continues to enhance her knowledge and skills in marine science through training and related courses such as marine survey techniques, photo ID and passive acoustic monitoring. Attending and presenting at events, Lauren communicates interesting topics to the public such as the difference between species in order to help educate, interest and inspire others to want to see these amazing creatures in the wild, as well as to help protect species of these animals around the world.