Enric “Kike” Ballesteros passed away in November of 2024 after a long battle with cancer. He was a spirited mentor and friend to the team members who were lucky enough to know him. His good humor was infectious and his endless curiosity built up an encyclopedic knowledge that he shared generously. A member of Pristine Seas since its inception, he joined nearly every expedition and served as the team’s expert on benthic assemblages. His main areas of research included habitat mapping and description, the effects of introduced species on ecosystems, seaweed ecology, and the long-term monitoring of benthic communities. He contributed to more than 300 research papers and authored several books on marine algae, mushrooms, and the biology and ecology of marine Mediterranean ecosystems, including Marine Wildlife of the Mediterranean (2015) which has been published in six languages. He was proud to have dedicated so much of his life to protecting the natural wonders he knew so intimately. Pristine Seas will not be the same without him and life in the ocean will be indebted to Kike forever.