Her Deepness

When asked if she believes in past lives, Dr. Sylvia Earle replies in a way only a scientist would: “I don’t rule out anything, but I do know for a fact that we are all made out of stardust.”

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If she did, perhaps the 89-year-old was once a whale—a humpback or a bowhead, the longest living mammal on Earth. Whales are known to emit a specific frequency when communicating, and Earle’s voice also has a certain sing-song quality. She’s often told to become a radio presenter, but she says she has more important work to do in this lifetime.

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And a lifetime of work she has accomplished. For the last 60-plus years, Earle’s name has become synonymous with the ocean. A world-renowned oceanographer, explorer, and marine biologist, she made history in 1990 as the first woman to ascend to the position of chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Her research has helped identify and protect crucial ecosystems, led to the discovery of new species, and increased our overall understanding of the intricate workings of the sea. She was the first woman to pilot a submersible, helmed the first all-female team to explore the deep ocean floor, and has led more than 100 marine expeditions, totaling in excess of 7,000 hours underwater. Her dedication has earned her the title of “Her Deepness” and the moniker “Living Legend” from the Library of Congress. In 2009, Earle received the TED Prize, a prestigious honor that empowers individuals to make a significant impact on the world with a $1 million grant and support from the TED community. Thanks to the accolade, she was able to launch Mission Blue, an initiative dedicated to protecting the ocean and establishing marine-protected areas around the globe known as Hope Spots.

“Ocean water is not just water plus salt. It’s water plus salt plus all the elements of the universe,” she explains, emphasizing the deep connection we all share with the largest ecosystem on earth. “The sea is in our blood.” Today we are visiting a Hope Spot in New York with Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative and the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. After a short boat ride into Shinnecock Bay, Earle pulls on beige chest-wader dungarees with rain boots attached, twirling around twice and curtseying with ease before helping newbies into their uniforms. We are docked 20 feet away from the shore, and the scientist, giddy with excitement, is the first to enter the Atlantic Ocean. Sporting a Rolex on each wrist (her left shows Pacific Daylight time, the right is set to Eastern), she motions for everyone else to join her. The water is already up to her chest, but our guide is the least bothered person in the frigid sea besides two local fishermen nearby who are dragging a net to shore.

Earle has brought us here to highlight the nature-based solution of using hard clams to clean brown tides, which are caused by failed septic systems and prevent seagrass from growing, slowly obstructing the growth of local marine life. She plucks a strand of seagrass from the ocean floor to show the restoration of life underwater, and later, on board, shows bags of mature hard clams to demonstrate how this process of filter feeding begins. It took 10 years of employing such strategies—plus joining forces with Shinnecock Nation for the creation of an Indigenous advisory board to shed light on traditional ecological knowledge—but these brown tides have at last been completely eliminated. The success of the endeavor further led Shinnecock Bay to be named a model for ocean conservation by United Nations leaders.

Despite her formidable scientific acumen, Earle has never seen herself as just a scientist. Rather, she is a fierce defender of the ocean at large. She uses her platform to sound the alarm about the threats it faces from pollution, overfishing, and climate change—constantly reminding us that “the ocean is our life support system.” Though she harbors deep concerns about its future, Earle remains a staunch optimist. “This is the last best chance to make peace with nature,” she says. Her priorities center on education, innovation, and collaboration, as well as urging us all to take action, no matter how small. “Where water is, that’s where life is. Because we’re terrestrial, we think land is where the action is, but it’s the ocean that governs climate. It’s the ocean that makes earth habitable,” she says. “Let us never forget that.”