Canada’s Explorer-In-Residence, Underwater Photographer Jill Heinerth

Canadian Underwater Photographer

At the end of last year, when I started this blog, talking to interesting people about their retirement was what sparked my writing.  Rightly, or wrongly, I assumed that if I found something cool and exciting (like being an underwater photographer), someone else might too.  And it really didn’t matter how loosely “retiring” was actually connected to the topic. 

Sometimes the conversation was about their decision to retire.  Sometimes the conversation was about they what they were doing so I could find cool ways to fill my wide-open Day-Timer!  Yes, it’s a paper one, and I use it with my fountain pen!

High-Risk Adventures

Today’s conversation is the result of one of my early posts.   I did one called “Wreck Diving In Micronesia“.  It was an interview I did with my brother Mike; and his wreck diving adventures in Bikini Atoll and Micronesia. 

Side Note

Mike’s other high-risk, “scare the shit out of our mother” hobbies included skydiving (where he crashed into a tree), ironman events (where his bike was stolen) and cave diving (where they found out he had an undetected childhood heart defect). 

Mike’s love of diving came from our dad…who dove in Cuba before Castro (and ruptured an ear drum).  And people wondered why I became an ICU nurse!?!

Jill Heinerth The Author

 I had already bought him her book for Christmas, “Into the Planet, My Life as a Cave Diver” simply because of the title; I figured it would interest him. And it was well before I wrote his post.

But when I started researching info for his post, I came across her name all the time (the top picture is Jill diving under icebergs).  She was everywhere. On the internet, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Am I saying it like an old lady?  Perfect, I’ve met my kids’ low expectations!

Canada’s Explorer-in-Residence

It was when I started following her on Instagram, that I really became fascinated with what she was doing.  I can even remember the post.  It was about finding red sand from the Sahara Desert in a blue-hole cave under the Bahamas.

So in my weird, crazy, stream of consciousness, everything is connected, mind, I thought “hey, maybe I should call Jill Heinerth.  I reached out to her, and she graciously agreed to an interview. 

It was probably naïve of me to think I could just pick up the phone and call Jill Heinerth.  Or that she’d say “sure complete stranger, I’d love to talk to you.”  She’s kind of a big deal. 

An Amazing Career

She’s the first Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. She is the inaugural recipient of the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration and Canada’s Polar Medal.

Jill leads expeditions into extreme environments to advance scientific and geographic knowledge. Her projects have been broadcast on the CBC, BBC, PBS, Discovery Channel, and television networks worldwide. Jill is also the recipient of the William Beebe Award from the Explorer’s Club and has been inducted into the International Scuba Divers Hall of Fame back in 2020.

James Cameron

When James Cameron says things like, “more people have walked on the moon than have been to some of the places Canadian underwater photographer Jill Heinerth has gone right here on earth,” you can see why I was so enthusiastic when she actually did say, “I’d love to talk to you.”

The Instagram Post that Caught My Eye

This is the actual picture (above) that caught my eye on Instagram. The red sand is so out of place in a pristine cave in the Bahamas.

This picture (below) is what Jill says cave diving in the Bahamas typically looks like.  Crystal clear, white, and blue, like diving through a chandelier.

The Interview

You can watch my interview with her in the link beneath the pictures.  We talk about the connectedness of the planet, working with James Cameron, filming for National Geographic, and working on projects in the 90s for 3D mapping of underwater caves that will be used to map caves on Jupiter someday.

The Interview

https://youtu.be/HXKEquPzibE

See!  Cool, right!?  I loved her thoughts about retirement.  I had thought of her as an author/diver/underwater photographer.  But as she points out, she’s also an entrepreneur.  Like many of us, she went to school for one thing; but with a  passion for something else, a curious mind, and a lot of grit, she grew into something new and different.  She’s her own boss, so she can retire whenever she chooses.  But with her passion, grit, and curiosity, I think we’ll be seeing lots of Jill Heinerth for many years!

Cheers,

Cynthia

• Blog author, Cynthia Ross Tustin.
• Innisfil, Ontario
• My guest, Canadian underwater photographer Jill Heinerth
• Post for Friday, July 2, 2021

I acknowledge that the land on which I live is the traditional territory of the Wendake-ionwl,  Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ , Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee peoples.

All photos by Jill Heinerth