James Logan Jones Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general and consultant who served as the 21st United States National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010. During his military career, he served as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003, and Commander, United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2003 to 2006. Jones retired from the Marine Corps on February 1, 2007, after 40 years of service.
Anthony Charles Zinni is a former United States Marine Corps general and a former Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). From 2001 to 2003, he served as a special envoy for the United States to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. From 2017 to 2019, he served as a special envoy to help resolve the Qatar diplomatic crisis.
Peter Pace is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine officer to be appointed to three different four-star assignments; the others were as the sixth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2001, to August 12, 2005, and as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command from September 8, 2000, to September 30, 2001. Appointed chairman by President George W. Bush, Pace succeeded U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers on September 30, 2005.
A mote is a small bit of substance, such as a fleck or particle.
John Chester Culver was an American politician, writer, and lawyer who was elected to both the United States House of Representatives (1965–1975) and United States Senate (1975–1981) from Iowa. A member of the Democratic Party, his son Chet Culver served as the 41st Governor of Iowa (2007–2011).
John Learie Estrada is the former United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago and a former United States Marine who served as the 15th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007. Estrada stepped down from that post on April 25, 2007, turning over the billet to the next sergeant major, Carlton Kent. Estrada then retired from the military in June 2007, after over 33 years of service. He has also worked as a senior manager for Lockheed Martin Training Solutions from 2008 onward.
Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit, marine research organization based on City Island in Sarasota, Florida, with additional campuses in eastern Sarasota County, Boca Grande, Florida, and the Florida Keys. Founded in 1955 by Eugenie Clark in Placida, Florida, it was known as the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory until 1967. The laboratory aims to advance marine science and education, supporting conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. A public aquarium and associated education program interpret its research for the public.
Pulley Ridge is a mesophotic coral reef system off the shores of the continental United States. The reef rests on sunken barrier islands and lies 100 miles west of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve and stretches north about 60 miles at depths ranging from 60 to 80 meters. Pulley Ridge was originally discovered in 1950 during a dredging operation conducted by an academic group from Texas. While well known to fishermen, this remarkable habitat remained undiscovered by scientists until 1999 when the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and graduate students from the University of South Florida happened upon it. This reef system, like other mesophotic ecosystems, is inhabited by photosynthesizing corals and algae that are adapted to low-light environments. It is habitat for numerous species of bottom fish including Epinephelus morio spawning area.
Dennis Cutler Blair is the former United States Director of National Intelligence and a retired United States Navy admiral who was the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region. Blair was a career officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the White House during the presidencies of both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Blair retired from the Navy in 2002 as an Admiral. In 2009, Blair was selected as President Barack Obama’s first Director of National Intelligence, but after a series of bureaucratic battles, he resigned on May 20, 2010.
Eugenie Clark, popularly known as The Shark Lady, was an American ichthyologist known for both her research on shark behavior and her study of fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. Clark was a pioneer in the field of scuba diving for research purposes. In addition to being regarded as an authority in marine biology, Clark was popularly recognized and used her fame to promote marine conservation.
Lieutenant General Gregory S. Newbold is a retired United States Marine Corps 3-star general who served as Director of Operations (J-3) for the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2000 until he retired in October 2002. Openly critical of Donald Rumsfeld's plans for the invasion of Iraq, he retired partly as a protest.
James "Jim" M. McGarrah is the chief of staff at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He was previously director of the Information and Communications Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and is a retired officer of the United States Navy Reserve.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the nineteenth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2019. He was the thirty-sixth commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions; the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces – Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014, and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23, 2010 to December 15, 2012. He has commanded several units, including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Albert Diaz is the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Diaz is the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Fourth Circuit. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Diaz was a North Carolina state superior court judge and an appellate judge for the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013, and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps; Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014, he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense, he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon.
Thomas "Tom" Gallen, Jr. is a retired Florida state legislator and circuit judge.
Perry Webster Gilbert was a professor at Cornell University, shark scientist, and former Director of Mote Marine Laboratory. He pioneered the capture and study of live sharks and for several decades was considered one of the world's foremost experts on shark anatomy and behavior. Over the course of his life, Gilbert published two books and approximately 150 scientific papers. As a recipient of both Carnegie and Guggenheim Fellowships and chair of the American Institute of Biological Sciences' Shark Research Panel, Gilbert travelled the world to better learn and understand shark behavior.
Robert Edward Hueter is an American marine biologist and Senior Scientist Emeritus at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Previously, he was Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote. He primarily studies sharks and has authored over 200 papers related to marine biology.
The Amberjack Hole is a blue hole located 48 km (30 mi) off the coast of Sarasota, Florida. The rim of the hole is approximately 34 m (112 ft) below the surface, and extends down approximated 72 m (236 ft).
United States Army 
