Ted radio hour from npr. I'm newsom around. And we want to end our series on the ocean with a look back at how much our understanding about oceans has changed over the last century through. The eyes of legend is a three-year-old knocked over by a wave and life in the ocean has held my attention. ever since this is oceanographer. Sylvia earle i'm a national geographic explorer and founder of mission. Blue dr earl. Can i call you soviet. Or should i call you. You're deep as you have been referred to over so you can call me. Whatever like i've been called a lot of things that years. Sylvia is eighty five years old. Now and what. We've learned over the past six decades or so about our oceans is in part. Thanks to her. I remember a day when i was able to go in the ocean with someone who knows as much as anybody in the world about what's underwater in our world. Her name is sylvia earle as a scholar. She went on scientific expeditions all over the globe. She was usually the only woman on board a team. Documenting see life. Some of which is now. Extinct began by converting. The former presidential in the sixty s space travel was all the rage but sylvia got people excited about exploring the mysteries of the deepest oceans and in the nineteen seventies. She lived in an underwater lab studying coral reefs. Our team of divers will attempt to leave for two weeks while leading an all female team. I know ironically. These astronauts are not men but five young and attractive women the world's first real life mermaids then in nineteen seventy nine new tool in the scene sylvia helped design and test a special pressurized underwater suit if successful she will be the first woman to walk the seafloor beyond one thousand feet. She said that record then. Later led noah the government agency tasked with protecting the ocean. Sunia earl received a presidential point. That was the culmination of a life's work. Gb sylvia received numerous titles and honorary degrees including the million dollar ted prize in two thousand nine in short. Sylvia earle is a pioneer. Who has no plans to stop advocating on behalf of the ocean or stop exploring. I'm still breathing. I'm still diving. I come on. Are you still going in submarines. Why not. he's like getting into a car for heaven's sakes all right. So sylvia. Tell me about how you first got so curious about the ocean and marine life. You grew up in florida right and you spent a lot of time exploring ch- for me. It was an adventure every day after school to be able to go and weighed in these seagrass and cc urgings defined little seahorses about half the length of my little finger their pygmy seahorses known as and assault creatures like see. Here's used to crawl around in those metros and scallops. Walk out and see these blue. Eyed scholars just pulsing around. But they they like or jet propelled when they close their. The two halves of their shuttles would just such exciting adventure at caisley to find a liberal octopus such joy. And it sounds like you let that joy and all the questions that you had a about these creatures you let them kind of propel you academically because you you knew you wanted to be. A scientist are just kept making choices along the way that would lead me in that direction. All the science classes. I could take but not. All the classes had answers. I had to go see for myself and find books that would answer some of the questions but the books were always enough. I ask questions. Couldn't have well. So you stuck with it. And ended up getting your phd in botany specifically aquatic plants and algae and I i love the story. About how in nineteen sixty four. You jumped at an invitation to work On scientific expedition to the indian ocean. And you were the only woman on the boat. Their headline in the mombasa daily times. The next day came out. Soviet sales away with seventy men but she but she expects no problems and actually the only problem that any of us really had was your a little boat on the surface of the ocean and our job. Our goal was to explore.