Guy Harvey is known for his spectacular artwork depicting marine life, but the artist behind the iconic coastal brand also has a scientific side. Before he was designing shirts, he was studying marine biology, earning a PhD and teaching at the University of West Indies. He retired to focus on his art and apparel brand in 1986.
While funding for research has always been part of the Guy Harvey brand, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation didn’t officially launch until 2008. The foundation was formed to increase funding for scientific research and to develop a curricula for conserving the marine environment.
The GHOF and the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University are global leaders in tagging and tracking pelagic fish. Guy Harvey and film crews have documented hours of natural behavior of animals over the last 30 years.
One of the latest projects the foundation has been working on is mapping the entire genome of great white sharks, which have been swimming in our oceans for more than 400 million years. Of all the animals in the animal kingdoms, sharks heal among the fastest. They also have a lower incidence of cancer than other animals. By mapping the genome — the DNA sequencing — of the great white shark, it could hold clues that would ultimately be a benefit to human medicine.
“That’s just one example of the type of world-class scientific work that is being done,” says Joel Blumenthal, executive vice president of Guy Harvey parent company Intradeco.
