Pete Bethune
| Pete Bethune | |
|---|---|
Bethune with the Earthrace, September 2008.
|
|
| Born |
Peter James Bethune 4 April 1965 |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Education | Bachelor of Engineering, M.B.A., Bachelor of Science |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland, Macquarie University, University of Waikato |
| Occupation | Skipper, conservationist |
| Employer | Earthrace Charitable Trust |
| Spouse(s) | Sharyn Bethune (married in 1993)-Separated |
| Children | 2 daughters (Danielle and Alycia Bethune) |
| Website | Earthrace |
Peter James "Pete" Bethune (born 4 April 1965) is a New Zealander, founder of Earthrace Conservation and executive producer of The Operatives, a television show about wildlife crime which airs in over 85 countries. His current focus is assisting countries in Asia, Central America and Africa with fisheries enforcement and anti-poaching. He is the holder of the world record for circumnavigating the globe in his powerboat Earthrace, a trihull wave piercer vessel powered with biofuels.
Earthrace was renamed the Ady Gil in 2009 and Bethune sailed it in the Antarctic for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society[1] until a collision with a Japanese whaling vessel. He boarded the whaling vessel the Shonan Maru 2 and presented the Captain with an invoice for the Ady Gil. Bethune was taken back to Japan and charged with a number of offences related to his anti-whaling activities and received a suspended sentence. Pete is currently developing Earthrace-2, a 200 ft (60m) trimaran for conservation work.
Bethune grew up in Hamilton West, New Zealand as one of five children. He completed a Master of Business Administration at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Bachelor of Science at the University of Waikato, and a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Auckland. He has two daughters with his wife, Sharyn, his high school sweetheart, from whom he is separated.
He began his career as an oil exploration engineer and worked in the North Sea and Libya. In 1997, he co-founded CamSensor Technologies. The company manufactured automated camera systems for controlling robots used in complex tasks such as cutting up and grading meat carcasses. He later moved to Sydney to establish the business there.
He is motivated by the potential for alternative fuels. In 2003, Bethune wrote a 20,000-word paper while pursuing his Master of Business Administration degree from Macquarie University about the use of renewable energy for road transport. In regard to his enjoyment of freediving and camping, along with his previous occupations, Bethune told a reporter for The New Zealand Herald: "I've come from a very unusual background to be a conservationist."
...
Wikipedia