Winifred "Wendy" Benchley (née Wesson; born February 4, 1941) is a marine and environmental conservation advocate and former councilwoman from New Jersey.

[1] While in college, Benchley became involved in activism and was arrested for picketing Woolworth in Saratoga Springs in protest of the department store's segregation policy.

[2] The process of researching ‘Jaws’ and the aftermath of the novel's success and film adaptation left both Peter and Wendy Benchley with a profound interest in sharks and ocean conservation.

[5] Peter 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 Benchley's cage was suspended by and was struggling to break free.

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.