This article reports on the impact of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative, which supports outstanding individuals and organizations that are implementing novel solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Sylvia Earle, who is featured in this story, is one of those pioneers. A Rolex Testimonee since 1982, Earle has inspired countless environmental advocates and explorers to safeguard the natural world for future generations.
When Sylvia Earle first laid eyes on the Gulf of Mexico at age 12, she thought it must be endless. Her family had just moved to Florida, to a house on the beach—so this vast expanse of turquoise water became
her playground. She’d spend hours swimming in the shallows or tromping through salt marshes. Later, the Gulf would be the site of her first scuba dive. “I fell in love with the ocean, right there in Florida,” she said.
Earle would go on to become perhaps the world’s most renowned marine scientist and explorer. She led dozens of ocean expeditions, spending more than 7,000 hours—the equivalent of a whole year—underwater. She set diving world records and helped innovate new technologies that allow humans to continue to discover uncharted areas of the seas. She has also been instrumental in conservation research and advocacy. In the early 1990s, Earle served as the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the first woman to hold the position. She has even convened with world leaders like former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to discuss protection initiatives.
Unfortunately, however, over the span of this distinguished decades-long career, the waters that first sparked her passion have become imperiled. Today, the Florida Gulf Coast faces a range of human-driven threats, including offshore oil drilling, plastic pollution and the consequences of a warming climate. As part of her latest ocean preservation effort, Earle is working to safeguard the ecosystem. In 2019, her marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue singled out Florida’s Gulf Coast as an important area for protection, what the group calls a “Hope Spot.” The designation is both an effort to spotlight the ongoing stressors on the habitat and a recognition of the significant preservation work being accomplished by local groups. “People have really had an impact on the waters of Florida, and the creatures that live there,” Earle said. “[But] the Gulf Coast hope spot is an example where the community has stepped up and committed to making a difference and inspiring hope, to turn from a time of decline to a time of recovery.”
Although the area carries a special significance for Earle, it’s hardly the only marine locale she has sought to defend. In all, Mission Blue has established more than 130 Hope Spots around the world—a critical intervention at a time when the ocean faces marked challenges. For Earle, this nonprofit work is the culmination of an illustrious career that has been animated by a simple goal. Whether through cutting-edge research, record-breaking expeditions or now, community engagement, she has sought to inspire people to care about a habitat that, paradoxically, encompasses the vast majority of earth’s surface yet remains taken for granted.
Breaking barriers — and records
Earle was first able to raise awareness about the ocean by living underwater.
She was in her mid-30s doing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard when she saw a notice about the Tektite project, a U.S. government program that placed scientists in a laboratory below the sea surface. By then, Earle had already earned a Ph.D. from Duke and had logged more than 1,000 hours of diving time. Yet this opportunity was something altogether new. “This was 1969. People were walking on the moon and astronauts had captivated the imagination of people everywhere. The idea of being an aquanaut, the counterpart of being up in the sky—I found that irresistible,” said Earle. The following year, she was tapped to lead an all-women expedition, named Tektite II, Mission 6, which gained notice for being a historic milestone in the male-dominated world of marine research.
Sylvia Earle discusses how it felt to be in the depths of the ocean for the first time.
listen
This clip was taken from Episode 1 of the podcast Planet Visionaries. Hosted by adventure rock climber Alex Honnold, the series delves into the extraordinary work of a range of Change Makers supported by Rolex. Episode 1, which features Sylvia Earle and offers new insights about her storied career, is available for download now.
Explore the SeriesAfter Tektite II, Earle looked for other opportunities to train the public eye towards oceans. She realized one way to do so would be to simply dive deeper. In 1979, with the help of a new type of scuba suit that could maintain interior pressure regardless of depth—a feature that eliminated some of the physiological dangers of diving—Earle embarked on a groundbreaking expedition. She would walk on the ocean floor, at a depth that no person, woman or man, had ever been before.
“I rode on the front end of a submarine, with a strap around me to hold me in place until we got to the bottom. And then, I just walked off,” she recalled. “There I was, 1,200 feet down. I was literally free to roam around the way a scuba diver can. It was a glorious experience.”
The record-setting journey led to Earle’s designation as a Rolex Testimonee in 1982 and cemented her reputation as a celebrated ocean pioneer. Yet soon, as the threats to the marine ecosystems she cherished became more severe, Earle decided exploration alone wasn’t enough. She started using her pulpit to more directly influence conservation efforts. “I began diverting from some of the things I most love to do,” she said, “for things that I am most compelled to do, because of the urgency.”
The Testimonee Questionnaire
Sylvia Earle considers how Rolex has helped her grow her network of conservation collaborators and evolve her work with Mission Blue.
How has Rolex supported your goals of ocean conservation?
Have you had the opportunity to work with any Rolex Award Laureates?
Why is Rolex’s dual commitment to exploration and conservation so important?
What advice would you give to anyone feeling inspired to help safeguard the environment but doesn’t know where to start?
Engaging the public to keep hope alive
Today, the challenges facing oceans are manifold. Global warming has led to higher water temperatures and increased acidification, which disrupts ecosystems. Overfishing has depleted fish stocks while the noise pollution from the shipping industry can have deleterious impacts on animals. Litter is another huge challenge, notes Scott Portelli, an Australian nature photographer and filmmaker, who has spent thousands of hours in remote locations across the globe, documenting various marine ecosystems. “The world produces so much plastic, and a lot of it ends up in the sea,” he said.
Sylvia Earle discusses the efficacy of conservation initiatives.
listen
This clip was taken from Episode 1 of the podcast Planet Visionaries. Hosted by adventure rock climber Alex Honnold, the series delves into the extraordinary work of a range of Change Makers supported by Rolex. Episode 1, which features Sylvia Earle and offers new insights about her storied career, is available for download now.
Explore the SeriesThis constellation of challenges informs Earle’s work with Mission Blue. Launched in 2009, the nonprofit, which is supported by Rolex, works with community groups to identify areas that are both vulnerable to environmental stressors and vital to the overall health of the ocean. “Local leaders agree to work with us to provide data and images that can be shared, so that we know what it is about this place that merits protection,” she explained. They then collaborate to raise awareness and expand conservation efforts. Earle and her team’s ultimate goal is to generate public support to significantly increase the overall breadth of marine protected areas.
Portelli says he admires Earle’s singular ability to activate people’s passion for the seas. “It’s hard to raise awareness of what’s going on in the ocean. You could be living in the middle of America and never have seen it. What Sylvia does is get people to go ‘Wow, this is amazing,’ and then their whole perspective changes.” He attempts to inspire similar responses with his own work, helping people connect emotionally to a world they might otherwise never witness. “It’s a slow process for getting people to understand what’s going on,” he said. “But whether you are an adventurer or taking a photograph, this is what’s going to change minds.”
Earle feels hopeful that big shifts in attitudes about the importance of respecting the natural world—and our delicate place in it—are starting to emerge. “I do see it catching on as people become increasingly aware that we’re all vulnerable, and that we all can do something,” she said. “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. And it takes a lot of somethings to create a real wave of change.”
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