The other day, a subscriber told me they were pausing their membership. They said they couldn’t face another bad news story about the ocean. I understood. The endless reports of bleaching reefs, hunted whales, and plastic in every current can feel crushing.
That’s why today, I want to share something different. Something uplifting.
On August 30, Sylvia Earle, the legendary oceanographer known as Her Deepness, turned 90.
She has spent her life breaking barriers and showing us what’s possible. The first woman to serve as Chief Scientist at NOAA. Leader of the first all-female aquanaut mission, living underwater for two weeks. Record-holder for the deepest untethered walk on the seafloor at 1,250 feet. Founder of Mission Blue, the movement that gave us more than 100 “Hope Spots” around the world.
She has logged over 7,000 hours underwater, written hundreds of papers and books, and inspired generations to care for the ocean. And at 90 years old, she is still diving, still speaking, still reminding us that hope is as essential as oxygen.
One of her most famous lines has guided my own work: “No Blue, No Green, No Us.” Protecting the ocean isn’t just about saving species, it’s about defending the systems that sustain life on Earth. Her vision inspires me daily.
Sylvia often says, “This is the greatest era of exploration.” Not the age of discovery. Not the space race. Now. Because now is when we decide what kind of ocean, and what kind of future, we will have.
So if you’re feeling weighed down by bad news, I hope this story gives you something lighter to hold onto. Sylvia Earle’s life reminds us that despair is the wrong response. Action is the right one. Hope is the right one.
Here’s to Her Deepness, a beacon for the sea, for my work, and for us all.
Why This Matters
I write long-form articles for Ocean Rising and record the Voice for the Blue podcast to uncover the ocean stories the world too often ignores. Together, they shine a light on crisis, but also on possibility, and they take a huge amount of time to research, write, record, and edit.
Your support doesn’t just fund words on a page or minutes in your ears. It fuels investigations, podcasts and campaigns that push back against the destruction of our blue planet.
Tens of thousands of people read Ocean Rising and listen to Voice for the Blue for free. If just a fraction chose paid, we could scale this work to the level the ocean needs. If you believe these stories matter, upgrade today and be part of the difference.
