Nelson Lagoon,AL : Michelle Ridgway fatally injured in car crash on January, Tuesday 2nd 2018

Marine ecologist Michelle Ridgway, best known in the fisheries and environmental communities for her passion as an ocean conservationist, died in a Seattle hospital on Jan. 2 from injuries suffered in a vehicle accident near Juneau on New Year’s Eve.

Tributes pouring in to her work and spirit of adventure included one from Ketchikan’s fisheries artist Ray Troll, who wrote on Ridgway’s Facebook page “Michelle was a true warrior for the deep … a hero of mine and just flat-out brave as well.

“We talked many times about the wonders of the deep … and exploring the depths of the Bering Sea. I draw pictures of the deep … but damn … Michelle actually went there, deep down into the blackness in a tiny submarine. Bad ass in so many ways and utterly passionate about her work,” Troll said.

Among the many marine research accomplishments of the 54-year-old Ridgway was participating in a Greenpeace-sponsored expedition in 2007 into the giant Zhemchug Canyon, the largest submarine canyon in the world, in the middle of the Bering Sea.


For more than 25 years Ridgway, a lifelong Alaskan, pursued her passion in marine ecological research, consulting and education, including testimony on her work before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“I respected Michelle above all in the fishing industry, politically and in science and oceanography,” said Shawn Dochtermann, of Kodiak, a veteran harvester of many years. “She set the bar for integrity. She was also a personal friend.”

Ridgway’s work also included teaching youngsters at St. George Island in the Pribilofs about marine ecology.

Beginning in 2005, Ridgway began collaborating with the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, coastal Alaskan school districts and Alaska Native entities to develop customized “place-based” hands-on marine science adventure camps, which were subsequently held at Old Harbor in 2006, Juneau in 2007 and the Pribilof Islands at St. George in 2008.

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Michelle Ridgway fatally injured in car crash