Kristin Belew
Scuba Manager and Instructor, Boat Captain, Naturalist
Employment History
- Lanai Ocean Sports; Pacific Whale Foundation; Trilogy; Alaska Dream Cruises; National Marine Fisheries
Education
- BS Marine Biology - Fisheries Track - Texas A&M Galveston
Birthplace
- Conroe, Texas, USA
Languages Spoken
- English
Kristin Belew grew up in Texas and has always loved being around any body of water (even puddles!) but tropical marine life is her passion. An aquarium book gifted at a young age led to an interest in drawing as well as academia, where she obtained a degree in Marine Biology (Fisheries Track) from Texas A&M, Galveston.
For almost 20 years, she has found her happiest moments onboard, working on boats throughout Maui, Kauai, and Lanaʻi. In addition to being a naturalist, she is also a Master Scuba Diver Instructor and boat captain. Her position at Maui’s Pacific Whale Foundation presented an opportunity to “dive deeper” into humpback whale knowledge after joining them in 2007. Since then, she’s kept abreast of whale research, conducted presentations to a variety of groups, and leads whale watch excursions on Lanai.
Her knowledge grew after spending a few summers in Alaska working on whale watching wildlife tour vessels, where she was able to gain real-life experience in understanding the full life cycle of these humpback whales that migrate between Alaska and Hawaii.
Her passion for art and Hawaiian marine life collided when she began gyotaku fish printing in March 2019. Gyotaku is a traditional Japanese art where fishermen recorded the species and size of their catches, typically utilizing inks that allow for the fish to be processed and consumed. Continuing in this style, Kristin applies acrylic paint to an actual fish or octopus then presses rice paper over the surface to receive the paint. She then adds a variety of colours to fill in details for the final piece.
She shares, “I have an incredible amount of love for all the amazing creatures residing in our oceans and it is my honour to share knowledge, experiences, sustainability practices, and art with those around me."
