Carolyn Beeler: I understand that you were drawn to the ocean from quite a young age. Do you remember if there was a specific moment in your early life where that spark was ignited?

Sylvia Earle: The first time I met the ocean, I got knocked over by a wave, and I got tumbled around a little bit, but when my toes touched the bottom, my head came out of the water and I could breathe, I realized, “That was fun.” And so, the ocean really did get my attention. But what has held it and still excites me every time I get into the ocean, it’s life. Knowing that the ocean itself, the water, is filled with life, that we’re just beginning to have the capacity to see the microscopic life that is swimming around in what seems like clear water.

I understand it was around when you were in college that you had your first scuba dive.

Yes. 1953.

When scuba technology was still relatively new, can you tell us what that first dive was like, if there’s a particular image or a particular feeling that you still remember?

The delight of actually being able to breathe underwater. It’s so counterintuitive, but it seems miraculous. And then you just quickly, at least for me, you accept that and then you start moving around and realize you can stay there and get acquainted with the creatures who are there. Fish want to see, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” And even the big creatures like sea lions, seals, whales, they’ll come over, check you out. It’s kind of unnerving sometimes.

But fascinating, I’m sure. You go down into the ocean not as a tourist, but with a mission. You’re a researcher, a writer, a speaker, and you have been doing all those things in ocean work since that very first dive. This is a big question, but I hope to have you tell us, how has the ocean changed from that day of your very first dive until now?

Sylvia, as I mentioned, you spent the first part of your career dedicated to studying and exploring the ocean and eventually became the first female chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the past decades, though, you have been more focused on advocacy and marine protections. And related to what we were just talking about, what sparked that shift? Was it that realization of everything we, as humans, were doing to the oceans?

I don’t think of myself as an advocate. I think of myself as a messenger. I get to see things that others have not. And you can’t care if you don’t know. That’s my role, I think, to try to share the view. Now, not everybody knows what is there to be known, but the knowledge is not only there, but more accessible. Kids can carry computers in their pockets, talk to others, access information to the point where knowledge becomes universal, available, and at a time when we still have an opportunity, and we can do something about it.

You mentioned that knowledge about the oceans is a lot more accessible than it used to be, and more people have a better understanding of how important they are to us, although, of course, that’s not a complete understanding. Where else are you seeing bright spots? Where else are you seeing momentum for ocean protection, which is something you work on a lot now?

You have worked tirelessly on the oceans for decades, as we have said, and you speak with some amount of optimism about our ability to change their trajectory. But right now, climate change is making ocean acidification worse. The plastics you were just talking about continue to flow into the oceans by the millions of tons every year. Biodiversity is being lost. How do you continue to forge ahead with your work and not become dispirited when the metrics don’t look so great?

Well, I think it’s starting with what I began with. We live in a time when we’re the beneficiaries of all preceding human knowledge, but never before the last half century or so has there been this rate of accelerated learning and knowledge. We’ve learned more in my lifetime at the same time that we have lost more than at any other time in history. And it’s the knowing that leads to caring, that leads to action. It’s, we know what to do. And while we continue to live our lives and continue basically what we’ve been doing, can we change? Can we find ways to inspire people to feel the privilege of being a 21st-century human being? We could not know, before the technology that now exists gave us the knowledge that we’re in trouble, but it’s not too late.