Businessman Albert Gersten founded the society with Tom Houston as its president, and recruited major yacht owners, including Microsoft founder Paul Allen, to support the start-up organization..[1] A monitoring unit called the SeaKeeper 1000 was deployed on more than 90 platforms across the globe including yachts, cruise ships, buoys, and piers.

The SeaKeeper 1000 unit was designed to record weather and near surface oceanographic data automatically.

It then transmitted the data via NOAA satellites and through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS).

[3][4] In 2002, 61 society members and 4 cruise lines had installed SeaKeeper 1000, and 14 yacht manufacturers had agreed to include the technology on their boats/ships.

[3] In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Society with the assistance of researchers at the University of South Florida and environmental sensor company YSI were able to attach and interface a hydrocarbon sensor to the SeaKeeper 1000 environmental monitor in June 2010.