I guess it all began when I was eight years old. I was the tag-along kid brother to my much elder siblings Clark, Mark and Darren, or ‘Dark’ as we so affectionately called him due to his obvious gift for bronzing. Having been recently introduced to the sport of spear fishing by Curtis, their adrenaline junkie buddy, they’d often come home with a handful of wild fish tales and a bounty of fish to feed the family. I begged and begged Mark and Dark to take me with them. After what (in my mind) seemed like months of nagging, they finally agreed. but on one condition: I pass a swim endurance test of their making and I watch ‘Jaws’ in its entirety without flinching.
That was all I needed to hear. I didn’t care what it took. I was going spear fishing, finally!
After swimming ten laps without touching the wall and 45 minutes of treading water in the deep end of the Rolling Hills High School pool with a brick over my head – I passed the test.
Fast forward 23 years. I still love diving into the Pacific every chance I get. The only difference is a few grey hairs and the fact that the ocean is even more polluted than it has ever been. It is this global pollution epidemic that has prompted me to refocus my career and artistic pursuits in hopes of protecting and preserving that which has given me so much happiness: the ocean.
On January 1st of this year l began my 7-week solo journey to document the Southern Pacific coastline. With camera and spear gun in tow, I have been traversing the shores from Lima, Perú, south through the Atacama Desert of Chile, and continuing on towards Antarctica through my beloved Chile. The journey will culminate in Easter Island, ‘the navel of the world.’
Join me as I film, photograph and blog the current state of one of our most precious natural resources: the Pacific Ocean.
instagram: @surfrider_southbaychapter
