Descending into the deep on April 14, 2019, the surface world didn’t just fade; it dissolved. If astronauts experience the Overview Effect – a sense of fragile isolation from a distance – my experience in the submersible was the Innerview.

It was a transition from observer to participant. As the blue deepened into an infinite indigo, the sensation wasn’t one of entering a void, but returning to the source. Where the Overview offers perspective through distance, the Innerview provides it through immersion. I felt an overwhelming sense of belonging; a realisation that we are not separate from this liquid heart of our planet, but inextricably woven into it.

That moment fundamentally recalibrated my moral compass. Seeing the ocean’s vastness from within made its protection personal, not just political. We cannot protect what we view as ‘other’; we protect what we are a part of.

This profound shift from ‘watching’ to ‘belonging’ has turned me into a relentless champion for the seas. Our survival isn’t just about saving a resource; it’s about honouring our home.