“It left me feeling very much like an astronaut of Earth’s inner space instead of Earth’s outer space.”

For more than a decade, animal biologist and television presenter Liz Bonnin has travelled to some of the most remote places on Earth and witnessed how the natural world has changed. Since working on Big Blue Live, Galapagos and Drowning in Plastic, the impact humans are having on the environment has become impossible for Bonnin to ignore.

We catch up with the naturalist and activist about how her work has evolved, her experiences with plastic in nature, the realities of plastic pollution and what needs to be done about it.

Oceanographic Magazine (OM): When did you first connect with the ocean?

Liz Bonnin (LB): When I was really small. I grew up in the south of France, but a lot of my family are from the Caribbean and ever since I was tiny, we visited them for holidays. I remember being in beautiful, tropical waters with my granny just loving the water, loving the ocean. Back in the 1980s, there were beautiful coral reefs off Tobago – they’re a bit decimated now unfortunately – but I grew up loving the sea, particularly snorkelling around coral reefs. That’s definitely when my love for the ocean began.

OM: How do you cope with balancing the joy of working in the natural world and witnessing its destruction?

LB: It’s hard to put into words because there’s a lot of joy in my life, not least because of the incredible conservationists and scientists that I meet on the road that really renew my faith in human nature. I’m very grateful for that. But there’s a lot of worry, pessimism and despair. I’m learning more about what’s happening to our planet, understanding in a very real way why the obstacles to saving our planet still remain and in some cases are getting greater. That’s been really difficult. At the moment I’m having meetings with all sorts of different organisations to see how I can better help the cause, so I do have a fire in my belly about it. But there’s an internal fight going on with respect to how I feel about life, the human race and what we’re doing to the planet. I will persevere to make my way through it and do the best I can do.

OM: Of the marine conservation projects you’ve reported on, which one has had the most impact on you personally?

LB: Over the years I’ve worked on different programs and, with respect to the oceans, I’ve had the great privilege of filming with all sorts of marine life. I remember filming a story in the Galapagos. We spent two weeks on the water, travelling around the islands and picking up various incredible scientists along the way who were exploring different aspects of the Galapagos. It meant that I got to go to a thousand metres beneath the waves with a scientist, seeing species that were entirely new to us in a part of the planet that no other human had set eyes on. It left me feeling very much like an astronaut of Earth’s inner space instead of Earth’s outer space. I have been blessed with this career to immerse myself – quite literally – in different parts of our blue planet and it’s been extraordinary. Nature makes me realise how beautifully insignificant we all are and how majestic and miraculous this planet is. Unfortunately, a lot of what I see is rampant destruction now. That’s just as poignant to me, it stays with me in an equally powerful way.