Brinkley Davies To know is to love

Brinkley Davies has experienced the best of the ocean’s beauty and the worst of its destruction. But to inspire change, the marine conservationist knows only too well that she must first inspire love.

- AMY TAYLOR-KABBAZ

Two times Pulitzer-prize winning author David McCullough once said: “You can’t love what you don’t know much about.” Brinkley Davies certainly knows that to be true. Having witnessed the devastating impact of modern life on our oceans as a young girl in South Australia, the 28-year old freediving marine biologist and charity founder knows that to stem the tide of destruction she needs the world to fall in love with our seas and the life that inhabits them, just as she did.

How do you do that, though, when so much of the ocean’s wonder and its ruin are hidden? For Davies, it’s about showing people what they don’t know, even if it’s just from their computer screen.

Into the deep

If you’ve ever seen someone free dive, you’ll know it’s both a mesmerising and a terrifying experience. As I watched video after video of Davies holding her breath as she gracefully swam into the depths of the ocean, I found myself in awe of the grace and beauty before me, while unconsciously holding my own breath. It’s difficult to comprehend how most freedivers hold their breath for more than 10 minutes at a time. As I watch Davies glide alongside deep-sea creatures and explore the dark universe of the ocean, I wonder what it’s really like down there. What goes through her mind as she freedives into its depths?