kristen kelly

marine Debris Technician II

Hometown: “The Dirty Water”, Connecticut

Current Residence: Kapahulu, Oʻahu Hawaii

KK learned to hold her breath in the lakes of Vermont,  to survive the fantastic yet brutal ‘King of the raft’ wars with her large family. Her brothers terrified her about freshwater sharks called red-tailed sharks that LOVED eating people's toes if they had purple nail polish! After discovering they were lying, KK had to have every book about the ocean - loving all the crazy creatures in it. At age 17, KK watched Blue Crush and that shaped her life (sad, I know) and she pursued a career in marine biology simply to be able to live next to the ocean and learn how to surf. KK has been able to join MD removal missions in the NWHI several times - showing the marine debris who’s boss even before PMDP existed. When KK is not working she loves to sail their small 30’ Sabre with her husband David and their cat Maple. Maple who does not have toxoplasmosis is really good at surfing. KK is stoked to join a new PMDP year and clean the oceans yet again with a fabulous group of humans.