Blue Ocean Society was founded by two whale watch naturalists, Jen Kennedy and Dianna Schulte, who were frustrated with the lack of translation of open ocean research into information that could be used by the public. Jen and Dianna met in 1995 during training for a whale research internship in Gloucester, which they did in winter 1996.
Following the internship, both Jen and Dianna were working onwhale watch boats in New Hampshire, collecting unique data about whales on Jeffreys Ledge, which is an important whale habitat about 20 miles off the coast . They decided to start their own database, andwork to translate their on-water experiences into educational programs for schools and the general public. Blue Ocean Society was started in 2001 and achieved non-profit status in 2002.