Was Gislaine Maxwell involved in any research projects or diving expeditions in areas close to or within Cuban territorial waters?

1. TerraMar and the high seas: an advocacy platform, not a documented Cuban field program

TerraMar was founded by Maxwell to promote protection and awareness of the high seas and international waters, and Maxwell is repeatedly identified as the organization’s president in tax records and public profiles ^{[1] [6] [5]}; that institutional emphasis was on “the global commons” rather than on national or territorial‑sea programs tied to any single country such as Cuba ^{[5] [3]}. The material assembled by the organization and by news outlets frames TerraMar as an advocacy and awareness nonprofit rather than as a grantmaking or field‑research institution that ran sustained oceanographic programs documented in public filings ^{[7] [3]}.

2. Public appearances and claims of expedition experience

Maxwell frequently presented herself as experienced with the sea—giving a TED talk, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, visiting universities and appearing with Palau’s ambassador at U.N. events—where she discussed ocean conservation and, in some accounts, described personal voyages and expedition involvement ^{[2] [1] [4] [8]}. University promotional material and other bios say she “spent much of the last decade investigating problems that plague international waters and participating in marine and archeological expeditions,” but those claims are promotional and not supported in the provided reporting by detailed expedition logs, scientific papers, or dive manifests that would place her in specific national waters ^{[4] [5]}.

3. What the tax filings and nonprofit records show—and do not show

Public IRS forms and nonprofit profiles show TerraMar’s existence, Maxwell’s role as president, and financial activity including loans from Maxwell to the charity, but those filings indicate minimal grantmaking and do not catalog field expeditions, research partnerships in Cuban waters, or vessel logs that would substantiate Cuban‑area dive operations ^{[1] [6] [3]}. Journalistic examinations highlighted TerraMar’s limited programmatic output and high overhead relative to tangible conservation projects, further reducing the likelihood that the organization ran an undisclosed, documented Cuban research program as described in the available sources ^{[7] [3]}.

4. Investigations, reputational scrutiny, and why that matters to verifying activities

After Epstein’s arrest and the ensuing scrutiny of Maxwell’s circle, reporters and investigators looked into TerraMar’s activities for possible links to Epstein and to determine who was involved with the organization, but those probes focused on governance, funding and personnel ties—not on placing Maxwell on specific dives in Cuban waters—and the reporting surfaced no documentary evidence tying Maxwell to research or diving in Cuban territorial seas ^{[9] [10] [2]}. The intense reputational and legal scrutiny means some public claims about her maritime history were revisited and questioned, but the provided sources do not convert promotional assertions into verifiable expedition records ^{[7] [9]}.

5. Alternative interpretations and limits of the public record

Some profiles emphasize Maxwell’s lifelong affinity for yachting and the sea—rooted in childhood time aboard her father’s superyacht and an expressed admiration for explorers like Jacques Cousteau—which plausibly explains why she positioned herself as an ocean advocate ^[7]. However, the available reporting and nonprofit records stop short of documenting scientific collaboration, published research, or diving expeditions within Cuban territorial waters; the lack of such documentation in these sources means confirmation is absent, not that definitive disproof exists in other records beyond those reviewed here ^{[7] [4]}.

6. Bottom line

The assembled reporting confirms Maxwell’s public role as founder and president of TerraMar and her public advocacy and speaking about the high seas, but none of the provided sources document her participation in research projects or diving expeditions specifically in or adjacent to Cuban territorial waters; the sources either make general claims about expeditions without primary expedition records or focus on TerraMar’s advocacy and financial footprint ^{[1] [2] [4] [3]}. Absent expedition logs, scientific publications, dive manifests, or contemporaneous news accounts tying Maxwell to Cuba in the provided sources, the question remains unanswered by the documented record supplied here.