16 Facts About Wendy Benchley

Wendy Benchley is known for co-founding various environmental organizations and for being the wife of author Peter Benchley.

Wendy Benchley Wesson graduated from Montclair High School in 1959, after which she did a grand tour of Europe with her family.

Wendy Benchley served as a board member of the Environmental Defense Fund from 1986 to 2006 and Peter was an EDF spokesperson.

Peter Wendy Benchley recalled his wife saving his life in 1974 during a televised cage diving expedition in the Neptune Islands off of Australia.

Unnoticed by the crew, the great white shark being filmed got its teeth entangled in the rope that Peter Wendy Benchley's cage was suspended by and was struggling to break free.

Wendy Benchley was the only one on board the crew's boat to notice and she successfully attempted to free the rope from the shark's mouth before it was severed.

Wendy Benchley later became active in environmentalism and grassroots political causes outside of marine conservation, co-founding the New Jersey Environmental Federation and becoming involved in New Jersey politics.

Wendy Benchley was elected to the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1992, before being elected to the Princeton Borough Council for three terms, from 1999 to 2008 before leaving New Jersey politics to focus on ocean conservation.

Peter Wendy Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis on February 11,2006, at the couple's home in Princeton, New Jersey.

Wendy Benchley is an advisory trustee of the EDF, president of the board of SharkSavers, and a board member of WildAid and Blue Frontier Campaign.

Wendy Benchley helped to facilitate the merger between SharkSavers and WildAid in 2014, which saw both organizations focus their resources on campaigns against sharkfin soup consumption, a leading cause of shark fishing.

Wendy Benchley has supported organizations such as the Aspen Institute High Seas Initiative and the Coral Reefs on the High Seas Initiative to implement new marine conservation policies.

Wendy Benchley supported BiteBack's advocacy against irresponsible media coverage of sharks and the sale of shark products such as shark fin soup and shark steaks.

In 2011, Wendy Benchley married John Jepson III, the grandson of industrialist John Jeppson.

Wendy Benchley was awarded the 2014 SeaKeeper Award and was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2015.

Wendy Benchley received the 2016 Beneath the Sea, Diver of the Year Award for environmentalism and 2017 Pegasus Wings Awards for her lifetime achievements as an ocean conservationist.