Watching Sweet Pea swim in her 15,000-gallon home at the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center, I learned her story: found entangled in fishing line and debris on Ono Island, she lost a fin to amputation and a chunk of her carapace to a boat strike. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission determined she could never survive in the wild.

She became an ambassador, teaching visitors about "the dangers human choices have on this imperiled species." But meeting Sweet Pea made me realize something deeper: her injuries were just symptoms of a larger, invisible crisis at our shorelines.

I'd witnessed this decline firsthand growing up on Maryland's Eastern Shore—the foam in the creeks, the red tides, the loss of the oyster bars I loved. For years, I watched the Chesapeake’s water quality suffer. But standing there with Sweet Pea, I realized that observation was no longer enough. We didn't need more awareness; we needed infrastructure.

We needed a technology that didn't exist yet—something capable of scrubbing the "invisible enemies" (PFAS, microplastics, and nutrient overload) before they ever reach the open water.

So I decided to build it.

Leveraging my background in technology and local seafood, I rallied a team of experts in water treatment and aquaculture. We moved fast—filing provisional patents, securing partnerships with ecological leaders like Biohabitats, and designing a vessel capable of industrial-scale restoration.

Project PEARL is the result: living infrastructure that stops pollution at the source. We are building the healthy waters I remember from my childhood, so future sea turtles have the chance Sweet Pea never did.

— Douglas Hood, Founder & CEO