‘Earth’s water is the cradle of life — the fate of our seas and humanity is intertwined’

Jill Heinerth is a celebrated underwater explorer, cave diver, photographer and marine filmmaker. Her ocean explorations have brought her worldwide recognition, including the prestigious Wyland Icon Award, which she shares with famous marine discoverers like

Jacques Cousteau

and

Sylvia Earle

. Jill discussed her deep attachment to the world of water with

Times Evoke

— and her worries about the changes humans are making upon the seas:

As a child, on television, I watched men walk on the surface of the moon — and I knew that I wanted to explore in some way too. When I started diving, I realised that there was so much to explore right here on Earth. Exploring inner-Earth f r o n t i e r s h a s allowed me to see places that nobody has ever seen or documented — more people have in fact walked on the moon than been to the places I’ve seen inside our planet. The most remarkable place that I have seen as yet is the inside of an iceberg in

Antarctica

. I was the first person to cave dive inside an iceberg — and it did not disappoint. The landscape was a stunning, layered ice palace, literally carved by the hand of the sea. The dimpled walls seemed to emit a beautiful blue glow. It was nature at its most unforgettable. I also had a remarkable dive with over 100 humpback whales that were feeding off Newfoundland,

Canada

.

A MEETING OF MINDS: Exploring underwater ecosystems across the world, Jill Heinerth has closely documented the state of marine life. (Courtesy Jill Heinerth, IntoThePlanet.com)
I had gone to the region to dive into icebergs — suddenly, I found a pod of whales feasting on capelin fish there. They were fat and happy and did not seem to mind my presence at all. In fact, they were so accepting of my being there — and so curious — that a mother

whale

repeatedly brought her calf around to see me, each time swimming close enough for me to touch her belly. It was amazing!

THE SEA’S MYSTERIES: Heinerth has swum through Bermuda’s sea caves where stalagmites were formed when the ocean’s level was lower. (Courtesy Jill Heinerth, IntoThePlanet.com)


I feel extremely privileged to swim through the veins of Mother Earth, in the lifeblood of our planet. I swim in the pulsing flood of water that nourishes humanity, nurtures agriculture and supports our natural world. For me, this is a deeply spiritual experience — I feel like I am at home when I am in the water. It is no accident that tears, the ocean and amniotic fluid are the same things. Our water planet is the cradle of life. Yet, today, I am deeply worried about the waters on our planet. In the springs, I have seen the strength of the current diminish due to the overdrawing of the water supply. In the rivers, I have seen subaquatic vegetation disappear and water quality go down.

In the oceans, I have seen corals bleach, fish species vanish and algae coating the reefs. It is very worrying that I have seen so much change in these waters within my own lifetime. The oceans are the lungs of our planet, enabling one out of every two breaths we take. Clean water needs to be treated as a basic human right for all of us. Yet, we seem to be achieving the opposite — I constantly see the negative impacts of human influence on the oceans now, from acidification to plastification of the seas. The lungs of our planet are in trouble — but the place I see the most change in is the Arctic. Each year now, the sea ice there sets up later and melts earlier. And it is growing thinner every year.

This has profound implications for all of us, given that this ice is responsible for providing sustenance to the bottom of the food chain as well as regulating our global climate. Things in the north are changing faster than anywhere else on Earth. And there is no getting away from what we do to the world’s waters — everything we do on the surface of the land is returned to us to drink. I see the effects of pollution that have soaked into the ground and have now been distributed into our water systems. Not many of us understood these connections earlier, but today, humanity has a new understanding of our interconnectivity — I hope the experience of the Covid-19

pandemic

will help humanity finally understand that we are global citizens and all our actions affect others. When this crisis is over, I hope we come away with better stewardship of the planet and all its inhabitants — especially its waters. The Earth is 70% water. My body is 70% water.

We are all intertwined in this amazing science of life. In terms of mitigating marine degradation, we need big, sweeping solutions like carbon capture and sequestration, of course. But I don’t want humanity to think there is nothing they can do in their own lives. We have to dramatically switch to reducing our consumerism, adopt recycling and creating a circular economy. If we all take small steps to use less, to break away from fossil fuels and to conserve and re-use more, then that is a positive action that can move humanity forward. This can help rejuvenate our waters — which perennially rejuvenate us.

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