AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles (AltaSea) is a nonprofit organization that claims that the world’s oceans could be used to solve civilizational problems concerning food security, climate change, and energy production, collectively referring to such technology as “Blue Economy.” It provides educational resources to students and advocates for students to get jobs in the so-called Blue Economy industry, BlueSEA, a collaborative incubator for businesses and tech start-ups looking to get into the “blue economy” space.

Background

AltaSea was launched with seed funding from the left-of-center Annenberg Foundation. It was formally incorporated as a charitable organization in 2014. ¹

Activities

AltaSea claims that the world’s oceans could be used to solve civilizational problems concerning food security, climate change, and energy production. It claims the oceans have been severely underexamined by scientists, and that nonprofits and other institutions need to intervene in global education to ensure future scientists will explore these topics and create technologies to harvest the ocean’s potential for clean energy. It refers to such technological ventures as a “Blue Economy.” AltaSea claims to run programs that will help fulfill this apparent need. ²

Its educational efforts are largely carried out through its Project Blue program, which provides educational resources to students and advocates for students to get jobs in the so-called Blue Economy industry. ³ AltaSea also operates BlueSEA, a collaborative incubator for businesses and tech start-ups looking to get into the “blue economy” space. ⁴

Social Positions

AltaSea also aligns its mission with rhetoric typical of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement, writing that it “embrace[s] an accelerated approach to diversity and inclusion” and engages in “economic and educational outreach to underserved communities, as well as considering how our decisions as an organization affect those communities.” AltaSea says it is “dedicated to forming and deepening partnerships with organizations who are serving our minoritized stakeholders.” ⁵

AltaSea publicly laments and acknowledges on its website that its office building is “located on the traditional lands and waters of the Tongva People; specifically our location is historically the aweeshkone xaa Chaawvetam (Village of Chaawvenga).” It also apologizes on behalf of its partners, which are largely left-of-center environmental groups, for the former indigenous territories that their institutions occupy. ⁶

Partners

AltaSea forms partnerships with for-profit, nonprofit, and scientific organizations. Details of its partnerships with each organization can be viewed on its website. ⁷

Its business partners include Aquaai, Blue Latitudes, BlueRobotics, Boeing, Braid Theory, Carlsbad Aquafarm, Maritime Environmental Services, Flying Lion, Holdfast Aquaculture, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Maritime and Environmental Training Trust, Montauk Technologies LLC, Pacific6, Seatrec, the Ocean Opportunity Lab (TOOL), and Seatopia. ⁸

Its science partners included Middlebury Institute’s Center for the Blue Economy, Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, Southern California Marine Institute, National Geographic, and Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS). ⁹

Its educational partners include Boys and Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, California State University Northridge, EarthEcho International, ExpandLA, Junior Achievement of Southern California, the Los Angeles Unified School District, Ocean Exploration Trust, Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS), RTS, Santa Monica College, ScholarmMatch, Los Angeles Maritime Institute (LAMI), University of Southern California (USC), WestCal Academy, and UCLA. ¹⁰

It also partners with PermaCity, an infrastructure development organization that designs and installs solar panels. ¹¹

Sandra Whitehouse, the wife of Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D), was one of the top-five highest paid contractors to AltaSea from July 2015 to July 2018. Tax records for the environmental nonprofit show a cumulative total of $489,704 paid by AltaSea to Sandra Whitehouse during the period. ¹²

Financials

In 2021, AltaSea reported total revenue of $2,313,467, total expenses of $1,688,566, and net assets of $13,140,392. ¹³

Leadership

The founding board chair of AltaSea is Camilla Townsend, a former executive director. She has served as a bureaucrat in Los Angeles city agencies and the surrounding region. She worked as the president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce from 2006 to 2011 and is a past board member of the San Pedro Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District (PBID). ¹⁴

Terry Tamminen was serving as the president and chief executive officer of AltaSea as of 2023. In the early 2000s, Tamminen was appointed the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and then Cabinet Secretary/Chief Policy Advisor by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). In 2010, Tamminen co-founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action to facilitate a cooperative effort between nonprofits, businesses, and governments to address climate change. ¹⁵

1. “Our History.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/home/our-vision-2/.
2. “Our Vision.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/our-vision/.
3. “Project Blue.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea-project-blue.org/.
4. “BlueSEA.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/bluesea/.
5. “Our Vision.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/our-vision/.
6. “Our Vision.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/our-vision/.
7. “Who We Are – Partners.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/partners/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230812025941/https://altasea.org/partners/.
8. “Who We Are – Partners.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/partners/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230812025941/https://altasea.org/partners/.
9. “Who We Are – Partners.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/partners/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230812025941/https://altasea.org/partners/.
10. “Who We Are – Partners.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/partners/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230812025941/https://altasea.org/partners/.
11. “Who We Are – Partners.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/partners/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230812025941/https://altasea.org/partners/.
12. ALTASEA AT THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES. EIN: 46-3977904. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. IRS Form 990 returns since 2001. Payments to five highest paid consultants. Accessed May 15, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463977904.
13. Return of Organization Exempt Status (Form 990). AltaSea. 2021. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
14. “Board of Trustees.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/board-of-trustees/.
15. “Staff.” AltaSea. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://altasea.org/staff/.