Big Deep - An Ocean Podcast

In today's episode, I speak with maritime archeologist, historian, author, television host, and explorer Jim Delgado. Jim's work has taken him around the globe, and he has known is one of the world's foremost experts in underwater archeology. And his CV reads almost like the greatest history of that field. He started with the National Park Service in San Francisco, then went on to work for NOAA as the Director of Maritime Heritage, was Executive Director of the Canadian Maritime Museum, and headed the Institute of Nautical Archeology. At the same time, he was a TV host for Discovery, History Channel, A&E, and National Geographic. Most recently in 2017, he left to become a senior vice president at Search Incorporated, a maritime archeology company. That was one of the leads on the recent discovery of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance. But beyond all the titles. When I spoke with Jim, I found him to be super fun to talk to, as he was an excellent storyteller. And he spoke about his beginnings as a teenage amateur archeologist, the reason why maritime archeology initially caught his attention, and what it was like to be the lead science officer on the most well-known shipwreck exploration of all time. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, iconic freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier. Mehgan's life story is wildly eclectic and has elements that originally attracted me, particularly its sense of rugged individualism and carving your own path. As a teenager and underwater model, she was a pioneer as she set the first U.S. freedive record for both men and women in the constant-weight category. And this earned her a place as one of the original inductees and the youngest ever at the time of induction to the Women Divers Hall of Fame. From there, she went on to perform underwater stunts for Hollywood films, such as Pirate of the Caribbean and Into the Blue, and was recruited by Discovery Channel and starred in their original series Treasure Quest: Snake Island. And all of this culminated in her recent membership as a Fellow in the Explorers Club. But over the past few years, I've also gotten to know Meghan personally, and she is kind, fun, and very thoughtful. And when we spoke, she talked a little bit about how she went from being a Minnesota lake girl to an ocean advocate, the crazy bootstrap story of how she set her own record, and an amazing moment freediving with a group of jacks. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Steve Gittings, chief science officer for NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. In addition to overseeing science at all 14 United States Marine sanctuaries, and being on numerous boards for ocean environmental organizations, he lives one of the most eclectic lives I know. As an example, he spent time recording and studying humpback whale songs off Hawaii with National Geographic photographer, Flip Nicklin; became a self-identified garage-ineer as he created a deep water trap for invasive lionfish; and he's even spent substantial time as an underwater aquanaut in the undersea research center, Aquarius. He's even recently become a member of the Explorers Club after being nominated by none other than Sylvia Earl. But even with that resume, the reason I did this interview with Steve was because he is just one of the best guys you could meet, and we spent a few nights carousing in a dive industry convention, and just kind of hit it off. When we finally did our interview, Steve spoke about where his deep passion for the ocean started, why he loves piloting submarines, and an incredible evening dive off Little Cayman to watch a massive grouper spawn. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with Doug Anderson, considered to be one of the world's best underwater cameramen. Doug works on primarily what are called blue chip wildlife films, which try to tell compelling stories focused on a specific animals in magnificent pristine landscapes, and have budgets in the area of $1 million per hour or more. For Doug, this has meant traveling the world to film in the world's most rugged and remote oceans for such films as BBC's Our Planet, Frozen Planet, and Life. And then more recently, David Attenborough's high profile Netflix series Our Planet. But for someone who has had such incredible career success, Doug was tremendously down to earth, and fun to talk with. And he shared stories about why it's so hard to shoot in the underwater environment, how he approaches being so close to large wild animals in the ocean, and an incredible moment of filmmaking he had off Antarctica with what is sometimes called the finger of death. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with Sarah Richard founder of the world's largest community for female divers, Girls That Scuba, and the ancillary Girls That Free Dive. With over 700,000 members in just under four years, the group has exploded onto the ocean scene and commands a powerful presence online. And much of that is simply because of Sarah's character and determination. But having gotten to know Sarah over the past couple of years, we were able to speak a bit more deeply. And she shared how diving and free diving push her towards places she feels uncomfortable, the reactions, both positive and some not, to her forming a dive community focused on women, and how a simple moment on a dive in Panama still means much to her today. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with journalist and filmmaker Erik Olsen. Erik’s video journalism has taken him around the world, but his passion most always lies underwater in our world's oceans. His career has spanned ABC News, The Atlantic, Popular Science, and The New York Times. And earlier this year he had a big spread in the Times Science section where he explored the world of backwater photography where underwater photographers shoot the strange creatures that rise to the surface in the open ocean at night. I met with Erik just as covid was begging to rocket around the world and we recorded days before the world went into lockdown. And yet, even with the anxiety that the world felt as everything shut down, we had a remarkable interview where Erik discussed why he felt such a personal connection to octopuses, why cephalopods are like beings from another world, and a breathtaking experience he had with a cuttlefish in the Lembeh Strait. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with former pro surfer, surf journalist, and Fullbright scholar Jamie Brisick. I originally met Jamie as he grew up in Southern California with a close friend of mine, who thought he might be a great guest for the show. And he was, both contemplative and fun to talk to. Jamie told me how he discovered his lifelong passion for surfing at an early age in Malibu, and before long he was traveling the world on the pro surf tour. After years of surfing on the tour, he then began writing about the tour, which lead to the next stage of being a surf journalist and his work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Guardian, the New York Times, and the Surfer's Journal. And in our discussion, Jamie talked about the amazing times of what it was like to be a pro surfer and the demands that it made, how surfing the ocean helped him through a tragic time in his life, and an incredible insight he had one night while chasing waves in the Maldives. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Marine Biologist and Co-Founder of Minorities in Shark Science, Jasmine Graham. I originally reached out to Jasmine because I had seen a talk given by her and her passion and enthusiasm for sharks and rays was infectious. But additionally, I was interested to learn more about the purpose of the organization she co-founded with three other women focused on creating opportunities in the marine sciences, a field largely inaccessible to women of color. When we finally spoke, Jasmine spoke about how her passion for the ocean was born during time as a child with her grandmother on the Carolina coast, how studying sharks had surprisingly deeper echoes from her life experience and a gratifying shark dive off the southern California coast in La Jolla. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

Today I speak with Michael Menduno, one of the most accomplished ocean technology and dive reporters for the past 30 years. Michael’s work is everywhere. He is editor-in-chief of Global Underwater Explorers InDepth magazine, a contributing editor for DAN Europe’s Alert Diver and X-Ray magazine, and is on the board of directors for the Historical Diving Society. Michael is also very active in the technical and exploration diving worlds, which focus on more extreme forms of diving, from deeper depths to mixed gas diving to simply pushing the boundaries of where humans have been underwater. When we spoke, Michael discussed how he came to journalism around diving, what he has discovered about why humans get in the water, and an incredible cenote dive in Mexico that took him back more than a millennium in time. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with journalist, filmmaker, and ocean activist Alexandra Cousteau. Alexandra has a long legacy of working to protect our world's oceans and is the founder of Oceans 2050. She is also on the board of the incredible environmental organization Oceana, which works to protect and restore the oceans on a global scale, and it was Oceana who originally connected me with Alexandra. If Alexandra's last name sounds familiar, it's because she continues the work of her grandfather was Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and her father Philippe Cousteau. Continuing that legacy, Alexandra has also stood at the forefront of the world ocean advocacy ocean community, and we talked at length about her personal and family connection to the oceans, what the legacy of being a Cousteau meant for her as she established her own path in ocean advocacy, and how she was changed forever by a day snorkeling with her daughter in the Phillipines. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina. Ian’s investigate journalism about the intersection of the human species and the lawless frontier of the open ocean, most often appears in the new york times, but he frequently writes for the Atlantic and the New Yorker, and culminated in his Times bestseller, “The Outlaw Ocean." Most often, the people I speak with in this show have a deep passion for the ocean itself and somehow deviate their lives to it. What was intersection about Ian, and why I reached out, was for a slightly different perspective, in particular how the ocean itself shapes human beings, particularly the culture and nature of those who work and live their lives on the open seas. Most of this takes place in International waters, starting just 12 miles offshore, where no country’s laws are in effect and there is no real jurisdiction protecting workers such as fishermen or long haul cargo shippers, nor the world’s marine life. Ian readily admits his work trawls darker areas of the human experience as he works to expose the hidden exploitation of sea workers and the ocean environment. But I also found Ian to be a very smart and incredibly warm person, who talked about his path to the work he does, why “here be dragons” resonated with him and an incredible moment in the north Atlantic when the world turned upside down for him. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In today's episode, I speak with National Geographic Photographer and marine scientist, Cristina Mittermeier. Cristina started her career as a marine biologist but quickly discovered a passion for photography, which in many ways shaped the rest of her life. She has traveled the world documenting the state of our world’s oceans and was awarded Smithsonian Conservation Photographer of the year, recognized as one of the World’s Top 40 Outdoor photographers by Outdoor magazine, and was named one of the National Geographic Adventurers of the Year in 2018. Along with her life partner, fellow National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen, Cristina founded the environmental organization Sea Legacy, dedicated to protecting the world’s ocean through storytelling. With Cristina’s full calendar it took time to organize the interview, and we scheduled our recording for late-march 2020, unknowing that a worldwide pandemic was about to hit. And even with the world seemingly crashing down around us she spoke honestly about the meaning of being a photographer, why telling marine stories was so important to her, and a day in the Galapagos that encapsulated the entirety of why she gets in the ocean. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Hugh Pearson, the underwater filmmaker behind some of the most iconic ocean sequences ever captured, and director of portions of "Blue Planet," and more recently, both underwater episodes for Netflix's "Our Planet." When we did our interview Hugh spoke openly about the challenges of the career he had chosen, told a story behind one of the most recognizable ocean film sequences of the past decade, and related a very open-hearted story about his connection to the underwater culture of dolphins. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza, Executive Director of the Ocean First Institute, an organization dedicated to preserving the world's oceans, and a woman with a deep passion for sharks and particularly hammerheads. When I spoke with Mikki , I found her to be not only a dedicated shark researcher but also an entertaining interview. And she talked openly about how her life has been shaped by a few seminal moments, from seeing a movie with her brother as a child to a chance encounter with the ocean icon Dr. Sylvia Earle, and how it all came full circle one afternoon in The Bahamas. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Aaron James, a philosophy professor who's also an avid surfer. As a lifelong Buddhist myself and an avid scuba diver with a profound connection to the ocean, I was interested in exploring what deeper meanings a philosopher might find simply by being in the ocean. What I found was not only was Aaron thoughtful and open, and very smart, he was also a lot of fun to talk to. And he shared his story of why he connects to the ocean, what it meant to be a surfer, and how one single wave in his life encapsulated the entirety of his experience. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, Part Two of my conversation with Jill Heinerth, cave diver, underwater photographer, and explorer-in-residence for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. As we discussed in Part One, there's a visceral thrill for Jill in terms of pushing the limits of what she and humans might think they can do, as well as a sense of exploration and discovery that extreme cave diving brings. But as we kept talking, Jill opened further about a time she was unsure she might get back out of a cave she was diving, what kind of repercussions that had for her, and in the end, why she still finds magic in some of the darkest recesses of our planet. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode part one of my conversation with Jill Heinerth, cave diver, underwater photographer, and Explorer-in-Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. I first met Jill at a dive industry convention, where she was promoting her book, "Into The Planet", which details her passion for exploring underwater caves around the world. The book is incredible and has some pretty crazy intense stories. So I wanted to talk with Jill about what drives her to such an extreme way of living and what the rest of us might be missing in terms of the rewards. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

In this episode, my conversation with Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, the environmental organization known for interventions with whaling ships around the world. Paul has been at the forefront of the ocean environment for years and was seminal in the foundation of two renowned organizations, Greenpeace, and then years later, Sea Shepherd. Sea Shepherd - and Caption Paul himself - can evoke strong feelings from people, particularly as Paul himself has been at the helm of ships that have boarded, rammed and sunk multiple whaling vessels around the world. Regardless of what anyone might think about his tactics on the sea, I wanted to understand more about what motivated him… why he felt such a deep connection to the whale and the ocean and what pushed him into protecting the ocean in such an active and controversial way. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Paul turned out to be a warm, funny and engaging man of great intellect… and whose passion was less about confrontation, and much more about compassion. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

Season Two Is Coming! And the newest episode premieres on Tuesday December 15th. Big Deep is a podcast is about people who have a deep connection to our world’s oceans, connections strong enough that they have dedicated some part of their lives to being in or working on behalf of the water. So please join us as as we continue our exploration of a deep connection to the world’s oceans through the stories of people who love it. Welcome to Season Two of Big Deep. Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Support the show

Season One Finale: An interview with our hosts and a look ahead to our upcoming season. Support the show