Most of us can honestly say we love the ocean. However, there are only a handful of people who have completely dedicated their lives to promoting ocean health. Sylvia Earle is one of these. Dubbed “Her Deepness” by the New York Times and the New Yorker, called a living legend by the Library of Congress, and referred to by Time magazine as the first “Hero for the Planet,” she is an author, explorer, and oceanographer. Here, we’ll take a brief look into the background and accomplishments of this famous diver – a person who has devoted a lifetime to saving the planet.
An Adventurous Life
Born in New Jersey in 1935, Sylvia Earle was educated at Florida State University and Duke University. She led the first ever team of female aquanauts during the 1970 Tektite underwater habitat project, and in 1979, she made an open water dive to the ocean floor off Oahu, setting an unprecedented women’s depth record of 1,250 feet (381 meters). Earle also holds the women’s solo submersible dive record for a dive of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters).
Earle served as Curator of Psychology at California’s Academy of Sciences between 1979 and 1986. During that time, she also served on the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere (NACOA), and in 1982, she and her husband submarine designer Graham Hawkes founded a small company called Deep Ocean Engineering, which built the Deep Rover research submarine – the first submersible of its kind. In 1992, Earle founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER) Marine, which is now run by her daughter, and which continues to design, construct, and operate equipment designed to withstand deep ocean environments.
Since 1998, Sylvia Earle has served as an Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. She has led over 60 expeditions involving more than 7,000 hours spent underwater conducting research. Earle has authored more than 125 marine science and technology publications, including a number of books for adults and children; in addition, she has participated in several TV productions and lectures in over 60 countries, focusing on coral reefs and ocean health.
Mission Blue and the Sylvia Earle Alliance
Among her many accomplishments, Earle founded the Sylvia Earl Alliance (SEA), focusing on increasing public awareness about the many ocean biomes, from the dark, chilly depths of the Antarctic to the sunny reefs of Florida. On a mission to increase public support for and access to marine protected areas all over the planet, SEA focuses on “Hope Spots” that are large enough to restore the planet’s oceans. Under Earle’s leadership, and in partnership with the IUCN, the team produces documentaries, shares stories about the ocean, and has created Google Earth’s fantastic “Explore the Ocean” layer, where you can view shipwrecks and experience a variety of dive spots, surf spots, and Hope Spots, along with sea floor vents, underwater terrain, and much more.
The Sylvia Earle Alliance and Mission Blue provide people all over the world with the opportunity to view photos and films featuring living treasures - plants, animals, people, and ecosystems. To Sylvia Earle, we offer our gratitude. After all, without her efforts, where would we be?