Lost Leaders of NOAA: Meet Doug - Oceana USA
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August 29, 2025

Lost Leaders of NOAA: Meet Doug

Photo Credit | Doug Helton

“I couldn’t walk without stepping on dead animals. That stuck with me.”  — Doug Helton 

In January of 1996, a tugboat towing a fuel barge caught fire and ran aground in southwestern Rhode Island, spilling an estimated 828,000 gallons of home heating oil. Doug Helton received the call. He saw many things throughout his 33 years working in response to oil and chemical spills. But nothing can prepare a person to see the carnage on the shore of a spill like this. Damage assessment studies found that the grave impacts included the deaths of 9 million lobsters, 150 million surf clams, 4.2 million fish, over one million pounds of other marine life such as crabs, and mussels, and thousands of seabirds.   

Thanks to responders like Doug and many others who responded to the crisis, the habitats and coastal communities affected by this tragedy began to recover. 

When tragedy strikes at sea or along our coastlines in the form of an oil or chemical spill, it’s the first responders who spring into action. Often unseen and unsung, these dedicated professionals serve as the first line of defense against environmental catastrophe, working tirelessly to protect marine life, ecosystems, and coastal communities.  

MORE ABOUT DOUG

Meet Doug – a responder to over 700 oil and chemical spills, including the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  

As the grandchild of a Navy captain, Doug was destined to find himself on the seas. What first started out as summers on the water with grandpa and his boat, turned into a life of service for our nation’s main ocean agency – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

Doug Helton grew up in Seattle where he always lived by the water. It was part of his life and part of his identity. To and from school included a daily ferry ride, time was spent volunteering at the Seattle Aquarium, and eventually, like a lot of kids in Washington state, Doug followed his right of passage and became a deckhand on a boat. 

While working on fishing boats in Alaska from Dutch Harbor to Kodiak to Bristol Bay, Doug found himself increasingly fascinated by the marine world that eventually led to a master’s degree in aquatic science. 

From there, Doug brought his expertise to NOAA where over 33 years of service, he prepared for, responded to, and helped restore areas affected after oil and chemical spills. Doug worked on more than 700 incidents, including high-profile cases like Deepwater Horizon where he still remembers the gut punch from seeing a young sperm whale and its family swimming in oil slicked waters. According to NOAA, which was recently decimated due to federal budget cuts, workers observed more than 1,400 marine mammals in the surface slick. Every kind of whale, dolphin, and porpoise native to the Gulf of Mexico had inhaled contaminated air; aspirated liquid oil; ingested contaminated water or prey; or swam in contaminated waters. Over 15 years have passed since Deepwater Horizon, but the ramifications of the spill continue to linger, impacting the Gulf of Mexico and the communities and economies reliant on its success. 

Earlier this year, the new administration began talking about cuts to NOAA and offering retirement to those who had the most experience. Doug, like thousands of others, felt his time was near the end, whether he wanted it to be or not, and took retirement. 

WHY THIS MATTERS

Considering cuts to NOAA and other federal agencies, without experts like Doug to lead during crises and prevent further escalation, our oceans and coastal communities are vulnerable to irreparable damage.

Join Oceana and tell Congress to fully restore NOAA’s budget and staff to ensure the agency can protect our oceans and coastal communities.