EDITOR’S NOTE: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.
Washington, DC —
Sylvia Earle has many titles: oceanographer, marine biologist and “Her Deepness,” to name a few. Perhaps the most endearing and characteristic of them all: “Ocean Sister” — a nickname given by friend and marine conservation ally Titouan Bernicot.
Now 90, Earle has explored the ocean and advocated for its protection for more than seven decades — from cataloging aquatic plants to pioneering deep-sea research.
A trailblazer in her field, in 1979 she set a record for the deepest walk on the ocean floor in an untethered diving suit, and in 1990, she became the first female chief scientist of the NOAA (the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
