WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.460 Most people look at a cave and they see nothing but darkness. 00:00:05.460 --> 00:00:07.180 They feel claustrophobic. 00:00:07.180 --> 00:00:10.960 It's terrifying to even think about stepping into that doorway. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:16.280 Put that entire environment underwater and it's just unfathomable to imagine. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:21.779 But for me and for my colleagues, we look into the darkness and we see opportunity. 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:25.140 We want to know what's around the next corner. 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.700 Because as we stand on that threshold of the darkness 00:00:27.700 --> 00:00:31.680 and we embrace the little bit of fear that exists 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:33.340 we want to step inside. 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:36.700 Because we know when we step inside that our eyes will adjust 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:42.300 and we have an opportunity to be enlightened by new discoveries and 00:00:42.300 --> 00:00:47.200 opportunities, and learn about the biology of inner Earth, 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.080 about the natural beauty, the geology 00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:54.980 that can teach us about Earth's climate past. 00:00:56.260 --> 00:00:58.300 My name is Jill Heinerth 00:00:58.300 --> 00:01:02.680 and I am the Explorer-in-Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society 00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:06.180 It's the coolest title, isn't it? 00:01:11.320 --> 00:01:17.620 Going inside a cave for me is almost a spiritual experience. 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:23.780 When I'm diving inside a cave I am diving inside the veins of Mother Earth. 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:27.980 I'm in the sustenance that brings life to this planet. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:29.880 I mean that's incredible. 00:01:29.880 --> 00:01:34.100 And I get to see things and places that nobody's ever been before. 00:01:34.100 --> 00:01:36.660 And that's a remarkable privilege. 00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:42.800 I faced a lot of barriers as a woman, as a diver, 00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:44.240 and then as a cave diver, 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:47.340 and then as someone who's trying to be an underwater cinematographer, 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:50.720 those are all, you know, niches within niches within niches 00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:52.500 that are very male-dominated. 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:55.369 So I've often been the only woman on a boat, 00:01:55.369 --> 00:01:59.520 the only woman on an expedition, the only woman in a training class. 00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:02.580 At one point I wanted to be a commercial diver 00:02:02.580 --> 00:02:07.300 and I was told flat out there was no room for women in commercial diving. 00:02:07.300 --> 00:02:14.780 Then I realized that I had to just perform and just put my head down, work hard, 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:21.980 and be good enough to be noticed, to get opportunities and then to ask for the gig 00:02:21.980 --> 00:02:27.700 because frequently within a group of divers someone will kind of look past me 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:33.020 to the next qualified guy unless I jumped up and down and said, "Hey I want the gig, I want to do this. 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:36.320 How can I be prepared to do this job?" 00:02:36.940 --> 00:02:42.240 But at the same time often being the first woman to do something 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.280 is an incredible place of privilege. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:49.120 I mean I look forward to a time when we just look at divers as divers 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.310 and we don't say, "Oh wow she got a woman's record." 00:02:52.310 --> 00:02:57.720 It's like, well so what? That doesn't really matter. I don't want that to matter. 00:02:57.720 --> 00:03:01.120 I just want to be recognized as as a diver 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.020 that did her job and did well. 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:14.200 When I started cave-diving we were perceived as adrenaline junkies. 00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:18.480 We were perceived as sports enthusiasts doing crazy things, 00:03:18.480 --> 00:03:21.980 nearly getting themselves killed for thrills. 00:03:21.980 --> 00:03:26.100 And from the very beginning of my cave diving experiences, 00:03:26.100 --> 00:03:29.880 we've been jumping up and down and saying these places are important, 00:03:29.880 --> 00:03:33.100 mapping them is important, accuracy is important. 00:03:33.100 --> 00:03:39.100 Today in these caves, we're at the forefront of 3D mapping technologies 00:03:39.100 --> 00:03:43.540 that will not just describe the inner space of our planet 00:03:43.540 --> 00:03:47.100 but using autonomous devices to deploy 00:03:47.100 --> 00:03:50.200 some of these technologies in the future will help us understand 00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:55.660 deep ocean vents, max ocean depths, and anything within our oceans. 00:03:58.540 --> 00:04:03.480 The Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary has very unique caves 00:04:03.480 --> 00:04:05.220 and we know very little about them 00:04:05.220 --> 00:04:09.420 because we're only just exploring and mapping them for the first time. 00:04:09.420 --> 00:04:15.120 These sea caves are literally being created by the hydraulic pressure 00:04:15.130 --> 00:04:18.300 of the waves crashing into these islands. 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.300 And these are living spaces. 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.360 There are things that are living in the darkness way back in the cave. 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:26.520 Our work is only just beginning 00:04:26.520 --> 00:04:30.120 and I hope we have an opportunity to find more and fully map 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.420 the opportunities that are here in the Channel Islands. 00:04:34.840 --> 00:04:39.160 Pristine places are becoming more and more rare. 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:43.160 These set asides are important for education 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:49.500 so that the public has an opportunity to interact with the environments 00:04:49.500 --> 00:04:51.720 and the occupants of these environments 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:55.580 because when they can see and come to love these places, 00:04:55.580 --> 00:04:58.560 then they'll want to protect them too. 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:04.780 I pinch myself every day for the opportunities that I have 00:05:04.780 --> 00:05:08.600 to collaborate with scientists and engineers and technologists. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.280 Caves are receptacles that carry so much information. 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:16.760 So many scientists are interested in it. 00:05:16.760 --> 00:05:19.080 And as a cave diver and as an artist 00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:23.520 I can be the hands and the eyes of scientists that I collaborate with. 00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:28.960 And together we can make discoveries that are important to humanity.