April 7, 2025 • 55 mins
She said yes before she was ready—and it changed everything. In this inspiring conversation, Chrystal Dawn speaks with marine conservationist Bia Figueiredo, whose deep calling led her from Brazil to the icy waters of Antarctica and the heart of the Amazon. From a near-drowning to four years on Sea Shepherd, to collaborating with Dr. Jane Goodall, this is a story of courage, intuition, and answering the call—before you feel ready.
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(00:00):
I think when you are in the right path in life, even a feeling of belonging, it's reallyprimal.
There's nothing like it.
You can't quite describe it.
But feeling that you are exactly where you were meant to be doing exactly what you'remeant to be doing is powerful.
And that's exactly how I felt then when all these things were lining
(00:21):
Hey Brave Soul, it's your friend Chrystal Welcome back to Her Brave Story podcast.
Conversations that spark courage heal and celebrate the brave in every woman becausewomen's stories matter.
If we haven't met yet, I'm Chrystal Dawn, saltwater mama, woman-centered life coach andstoryteller.
(00:45):
six years ago, I rebuilt my life from the ground up with a newborn in my arms.
And now I help other women to do the same, to reconnect with their worth, soften into whothey really are and create a life they truly love.
Each week we sit in circle with artists, adventurers, entrepreneurs, and everydaychangemakers.
(01:08):
Women living life on their own terms with purpose, passion, and play.
Whether you're starting over or stepping into something new, You belong here.
Today's guest is the extraordinary Bia Figueiredo, a Brazilian-born marine scientist, boatcaptain, expedition guide, speaker, and contributing author to Dear World, the new book
(01:30):
from the Dr.
Jane Goodall Institute, Australia.
From protecting whales on the decks with Sea Shepherd in Antarctica to guiding expeditionsthrough the Kimberleys, the Amazon, and remote corners of the Pacific,
Bea is a living embodiment of courage, conviction, and what she calls nature connection.
(01:52):
She's worked alongside the legendary Captain Paul Watson, advocating fiercely for theocean and all of her creatures,
Bea shares what it means to answer the call, no matter the obstacles, and walks us throughthe synchronistic moment she met the Dr.
Jane Goodall, This is a story of persistence, passion, and rising again, Let's hear fromBea.
(02:14):
Bea, welcome to Her Brave Story Podcast.
We're so excited to have you today.
Yes, honoured to have you here to celebrate life with me.
thank you so much for, again, for
joining in something new and supporting another woman and a friend doing something new.
Can you tell us a little bit about Where you spend your most time and energy?
(02:38):
I would say that my life revolves around the ocean and different activities.
in different capacities.
that's where I
spend most of my time, yeah, it's the ocean.
You're a beautiful ocean woman and you're also a marine scientist.
I am correct.
(03:00):
and you are a boat captain.
I am
You're also a writer and author and speaker.
Wow, when you say this it sounds so grown up.
I've been venturing into these other realms as well.
And I'm really enjoying it just being communicator, a vehicle for information that I findrelevant to obviously the things that I think are very important.
(03:33):
to be communicated.
And the angle of all of this is at this stage is
Nature connection.
love that.
Yeah.
can you tell us about nature connection, what that means to you?
Gosh, so many different levels
In a nutshell, humans, as we know, started slowly wearing shoes and disconnecting from aconstant connection to the ground, and slowly having a more technological sort of
(04:07):
lifestyle and...
spending six, eight hours a day inside these buildings and forgetting about the fresh airoutside, the whisper of the trees, how amazing it is to feel cold water on the body, those
kind of things.
(04:27):
And I feel that because we're such an integral part of nature,
We disassociated from our essence in a way by living this lifestyle.
And it's an interesting one because what I do as a career today is I'm a nature guide indifferent parts of the world, different environments, different ecosystems.
(04:56):
I get to see firsthand what it is to take people out into the wild once again and watchthem blossoming or watching them being a little uncomfortable or very uncomfortable and
(05:17):
how each person responds to being exposed.
to weather, to all sorts of things that are so not in our control anymore.
Like you can't control the wind on a remote control like you do with an aircon.
(05:37):
That kind of thing.
It's so true, the disconnection and what I'm hearing is that, the nature you're takingpeople into right now also includes quite extreme experiences, including Antarctica and
places like the Kimberley that are really wild
So how was it that you came back into connection with nature and are now leading peopleinto nature connection, including really wild spaces like Antarctica?
(06:09):
I come from a working class family, um, dad traveled a lot.
he was always a very conscious person.
was my mother regarding living.
The word sustainability might sound a little bit cliche, but it is very fitting we werevery much aware of the use of resources and the amount of time we spent outdoors.
(06:33):
By the age of eight, they were always taking us to the beach and making sure we had oceantime, which was my happy place.
And I remember when I was eight, dad got back from a fishing trip with my uncle and in aweof this Humpback whale that emerged right next to the boat and I still remember how much
(06:57):
in awe he was
And I remember then I was eight and I remember this is what I want to do with my life.
I want to spend all the time I can with the whales, or with the ocean.
had you at that point seen whales before or known about whales?
Not just in books and hearing stories.
(07:20):
My grandfather, when we were very little, he bought these series of nature books formyself and my sister.
And every month a new edition will get in the house.
And so I had nature in my bedroom the best way I could.
And at that point I've only seen dolphins and turtles, but never Whales
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But I remember that describing and I said that's what I want to do.
That's what I've done.
That's amazing.
even a secondhand description of such a magnificent creature had a really dramatic impacton you as a little girl.
you also spent
Four years working with and on the Sea Shepherd when Captain Paul Watson was part of SeaShepherd.
(08:09):
And that, that is wild to think even just hearing about, whales made that deep connection.
I know that didn't happen right away in your life.
Do you want to share a bit about after you saw whales, how were you able to then make thatconnection to go on the
of Sea Shepherd.
Was there anything that led to you going on the boat?
(08:30):
that propelled you in that direction to take such an extreme route really to connect withwhales instead of going just on a whale watch
tell us more about about Bia's journey
Dad had a sailing boat.
had a catamaran, And it was his hobby.
we were all at the beach all the time while dad was sailing.
(08:50):
me and my sister will be in the water literally until...
the sun went down.
And there was this one episode one day where mom was talking to a friend on the beach andI was in the water with my sister.
The waves are not huge, but we were body surfing a little bit, learning to, and I wasabout 10 I got caught under the set.
(09:14):
One day after another.
and a child not having experience on how to deal with that.
You panic and you swallow water and then you don't breathe and then it had traumaticexperience there.
I got a little bit scared.
and I found excuses to not go back to the ocean for a while with my family.
(09:36):
basically I didn't want to have anything.
to do with the ocean for a few years, actually through all my teens but at the same time,I longed for it.
Didn't know But finally I did, and it was through scuba diving that I reignited mypassion.
one thing led to the other from scuba diving to free diving.
(10:00):
And Bachelors degree in Biological Science course.
And towards the end of my uni, I learned about
whaling in Antarctica.
Right?
And I learned about Greenpeace and I learned about Sea Shepherd and the way my friend, atthe time described to me was a bit funny he said so Greenpeace are the guys who hug the
(10:27):
whale after it's dead or as Sea Shepherd will put a boat in between.
the harpoon and whale I would stop it from being harpoon.
And I was like, those are my people.
Yeah, and I realized that studying them was no longer enough.
(10:50):
So I got involved with the Shepherding Brazil a little bit, or when I came to Australia,
In 2012, I joined the local chapter in Byron Bay and worked as an onshore volunteer forabout a year and a half.
And an opportunity presented itself for me to join one of the ships.
(11:15):
I was meant to be there for four weeks.
the person who interviewed me said, look, you can go for a month.
There's a spot there for you.
I said, great.
I just, that's what I want to do.
I just want to give my time for these four weeks, all for the whales.
I had no maritime experience at the time or very little.
(11:38):
Just had a big passion and I ended up staying way more than four weeks.
I stayed for four years on board.
Four years from four weeks to four years.
That's, that's a huge jump.
Yep, I joined the ship with a backpack and my pillow and by the time I had to leave I hadso much stuff It was a big chunk of my life.
(12:09):
I'm so curious, so you go from having an experience where it keeps you out of the water
why did you get back in the water?
Was it the whales that you wanted to get to?
Or was it something within you?
Because there are many people and there might even be somebody listening right now who hashad an experience that kept them from doing something else in their life that they really
wanted to do.
(12:29):
I'd love to hear from you what what was it that kept you moving towards something thateventually led into you seeing an opportunity and even putting
hand up for it because there's a huge gap between when we see or know about something andthen when we actually take action on it.
Could you tell us a little bit about that process for you?
(12:52):
I can and this is actually a great question because...
It's a common thread between the people that sometimes are sitting in the crowd when I'mgiving a lecture or doing public speaking and this question comes up a fair bit because
sometimes life presents opportunities and we're either
(13:14):
brave enough or we think we're brave enough and we're not but we want to try anyway.
and it's really hard to put into words what I always felt about this big body of water,about the ocean, why it draws me or why it always called me,
I'm sure that, being a water woman, you resonate, you know, grew up on an island, anisland girl.
(13:36):
So, you know, about this pool that you feel, but I didn't grow up by the water.
my auntie had a beach house and we were there all the time, but I grew up in the city andonly now I'm 41 now and it's been less than 10 years that I've
I actually understood that what I felt as a child in the city was completely normal forsomebody who yearned for the ocean.
(14:02):
And I felt like I misfit my whole childhood and my teens and my early adult life and thenI said that there has to be a way for me to attend this call that I had.
middle class, grew up in the city, I made the opportunities happen for me.
I chased them up.
I made them happen.
(14:23):
I got in touch with people.
I've done my research and I was curious when I was 21, my dad's youngest sister.
She used to work with traditional communities, indigenous people in Brazil in the Amazon.
she said, look, I've got friends who work with pink dolphins in the Amazon.
And because you've done so well, I'd love to put you in touch with these guys and you cango and go do an internship in the Amazon
(14:46):
Wow.
Wow.
the time So I, off I go, I pack up my bag and I had one point of contact and all of asudden I am, this intern after my first year of uni, living on a floating house in the
middle of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere, working with some of the most emblematiccetaceans, cetaceans, and dolphins that we have on the planet.
(15:09):
And there developed this big taste for the field, to being out there, to actually learningby watching them.
I would sit down and when I'm in a floating house, it was literally a floating house.
It was like a house on a barge.
And late afternoon, when the dolphins started becoming more active, would sit just outsideon the deck of the house with a little cup of tea.
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And I just watched them.
I just watched them.
And I learned so much just from watching them.
think living these experiences and stepping into this comfort, it is uncomfortable.
mean, you know, I'm in a place that is completely foreign to me.
It's a jungle, it's, hot and it's humid and there's mozzies and everything in the waterwants to kill you.
(15:52):
There's caimans and there's piranhas and then, you know, like there's electric eel
Wow, even one of those I don't want to get in the water with an electric eel.
No.
so it's all these things and you're like, okay, if you educate yourself and you, and yougo that little mile, like an extra mile, just bit by bit, it's amazing what one can
(16:13):
achieve, So that's, that was my way back into the water.
And then, scuba diving, and then, free diving, but I, when I learned about Sea Shepherd, Iknew that I
I had to take action, had to do something about it.
And when I sent my first application to be on the ship, the response was, it doesn't worklike that.
(16:33):
We have tens of thousands of applications every year, and we have to go through them.
So it might take a few years, and I was pushing.
And I pushed and I said, look, I'm here, I'm in Australia, the ships are here.
It's the first time the three ships are gathered in Melbourne.
I have time.
I can come as a volunteer, I want to serve.
So I created an opportunity by trusting my intuition, which is very talkative by the way,I have a very loud intuition.
(17:00):
And I try and honor that and listen to it and act when it's possible.
But I feel that my journey, especially being a woman, even though Sea Shepherd was alwaysvery egalitarian.
with roles with males and females still is a very masculine industry.
You know, the things that need grit and pushing through discomfort, So I feel a hundredpercent, a hundred percent.
(17:31):
that I created my, opportunities that I found what right for me.
When I think one when one does that one has to be responsible towards it.
So when I first when I joined the ship I was meant to be there for four weeks after theend of the first week the boson was the deck boss he and my direct boss he came to me and
(17:51):
said would you be willing to stay a little longer?
And I said yes I'd love to and by the end of the second week he said and this is May hesaid would you be interested in going
for a campaign in Antarctica later this year.
Wow, wow.
my response was no.
(18:14):
And he was in shock.
was thousands of people wanting to go and he's in front of me offering me that.
And I said, no, because I'm not skilled enough.
I'm not trained enough.
I can't take a spot from somebody who could come and deliver more than I could at thisstage.
And he smiled and looked at me and said, not what I asked.
(18:35):
I asked if you want to go, because if you do,
I'm going to train you.
And I said, of course I want to go.
Wow, human bumps.
That's not what I asked.
That's a powerful reframe.
He said, it's not what I asked because if you want to go, I'm going to train you.
And I still remember it was 12 years ago that this conversation happened.
(18:59):
And I still remember where, when and how it happened because it did change the course ofmy life
You saying yes with somebody else's belief, like borrowing their confidence in you to say,you got this.
It's yours, And I took that, like, I put that in such a, like...
(19:20):
Mm.
strong place because i understood the responsibility that came with that it was massivewhat the activists do down there especially in antarctic and such a harsh environment
that's not for the faint-hearted that's for sure and i tend to be quite responsible withthe decisions that i make and making sure that my actions won't have
(19:46):
a negative impact.
unfortunately I don't succeed all the time, but I try and be mindful of that all the time,of what's my role within this picture.
I'm going to deliver everything that I have for this.
if you're listening right now and you know about Sea Shepherd, or have seen somethingabout Sea Shepherd and the work that they do, you might have an idea about what Bea is
(20:12):
talking about.
However, Bia, would you be able to share one story even with us about the kinds of thingsthat Sea Shepherd does
so that our listeners, can understand this journey that you've taken is really from thesafe shores
to a very wild, rough, rugged, uncontrollable environment where there are seriousimplications
(20:34):
Whales was the main goal, protecting Whales was the main goal for a long time, it justexpanded to all marine life pretty much.
the more vessels Sea Shepherd was acquiring, the larger the spectrum became on what ispossible,
I think if I need to put my finger on something of all these four years, I've donemultiple campaigns.
(20:59):
at the time there were three big ships The Sea Shepherd had and I spent time on the threeof them, but
I was part of a very passionate crew that went on a campaign in the summer of 2014 to 2015in Antarctica to actually look for illegal fishing vessels that were catching Chilean sea
(21:25):
bass or Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish.
it's a deep water fish, apex predator in Antarctica.
It can grow quite big.
It takes a long time to reach reproductive age, about 12 years.
And as soon as they reach that age, they just stay on the very bottom of the seabed inAntarctica.
And we're talking 2,000 meters deep, two kilometers deep.
(21:47):
There is a legal industry for that
but at the time there was a fleet of six illegal fishing vessels catching justindiscriminately every summer a lot of it so Sea Shepherd went after them with two ships I
was on board one of the ships the ship that left port first was the Bob Barker fromTasmania and I was on board the Sam Simon
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and we had a problem with our crane so we had to leave a week after and these ships thatwere fishing illegally were being purple listed by Interpol so we were helping Interpol at
the time and we ended up finding the most notorious of them all.
Interpol was after these guys for 11 years and we started like a chase game with them withthe Bob Barker chasing them and the Sam Simon stayed behind and we had to recover
(22:37):
the fishing gear that they abandoned, it became a ghost gear.
And we started pulling it up, we thought it would be a 24 hour endeavor, then it turnedinto a 48 hour endeavor, then 72 hours, and then all of a sudden we pulled it up for three
and a half weeks, and we recovered 72 kilometers of illegal fishing gear from the water.
(23:00):
72 kilometers.
Correct.
Yeah, was about 50 tons of targeted species, which was Chilean and Patagonian andAntarctic toothfish, and a lot of bycatch,
So were you able then, in the retrieving of the nets or of this fishing equipment,creatures in there, did they survive or were they all, were they deceased already?
(23:25):
The fish, the targeted species, Chilean sea bass, they were all dead.
There was one alive out of 50 tons.
Most of the marine life was dead and a lot of the king, had like the big crabs coming up alot.
few of those were alive and we were carefully removing them from the net and putting themback in the water.
(23:49):
Yeah, It was one of the most sad experiences I had in my life for like an extended periodof time because we didn't stop for three and a half weeks.
Like we could not stop because the net was lying on the side of the ship.
So we had to keep holding it up and breaking it up and spreading it around the vessel.
had all this gear on a ship that was not prepared.
(24:12):
to have that gear on board.
it was shifting the gear around the ship was as hard as pulling it up.
But I remember, I remember.
There was a day when our gear got a little bit compromised and we were sleepy, we weretired, we were exhausted, we had frostbites and all the rest of it because obviously it's
Antarctica, but there was so much passion and drive to get that thing out of the waterthat it was amazing how quickly we got together
(24:43):
brought our heads together to come up with a solution to fix that thing.
And we did it and I remember as if it was yesterday, this feeling of how resourceful wecan be if whatever we're doing has got so much meaning.
Mm.
this is one of the things that I've learned with all my years on the ships with all thoseincredible people was how quickly we can solve a problem if there's meaning.
(25:11):
So it was pretty special, it was probably the longest campaign I've done.
I think it was probably out of the 40 plus years of that the organization exists.
It was one of the most impactful campaigns we've done without even knowing what we weregoing to find.
(25:32):
Wow.
Yep.
the depth of that experience and how it's played into your ongoing understanding of notonly the work you do, the purpose that you have in your life feels more evident.
I think so It's really hard as well to come back from that It's quite remarkable whatpurpose and drive can do To the human psyche In that extent
(26:04):
on that note of purpose and drive, what's your purpose and drive right now, with thiswealth of experience?
And
the most recent work that you've done as an author and a speaker is also with Dr.
Jane Goodall and the Roots and Shoots organization.
So moving towards that, the reason I add that in here, because that story was so powerfuland
(26:29):
Really, we're getting to know a bit more about what has really built this inner fire tokeep pursuing your passions, even though it's it's not only uncomfortable, it could be
highly dangerous because it is so meaningful for you.
(26:52):
The way I see it is...
I had the opportunity to go and do all these things on the front line.
and when the time came for me to step out and walk away.
So actually I could open space for new people to come and serve as well.
I don't feel that I've ever worked for Sea Shepherd.
I think I worked with Sea Shepherd.
it as a hub that brought together a lot of like-minded people as a platform with resourcesso we could fulfill something that we all had for
(27:20):
different reasons or some of us the same reason within us.
And I feel that since I've left in 2017
The best way to move forward with all these experiences that I had lived was to actuallymultiply them, was to communicate them, was to share with the world this is happening, for
(27:41):
many reasons.
the channel started opening for me to communicate in different ways.
One of them was through public speaking.
And I started doing a little bit of that when I got into the nature guiding industry onexpedition boats, I started lecturing.
I always bring it back to what is important for me, which is conservation.
(28:02):
And in one of those
talks in Antarctica two years ago, I had a group of incredible people from Australia whohave an online education platform called Upschool.
And if you don't know what Upschool is about, I strongly recommend you have a look becausewhat they're doing is amazing.
(28:26):
And a couple of months after I left,
that boat Gavin got in touch with me send me a message saying hey Bia up school ispartnering with the roots and shoots department within Jane Goodall Institute in Australia
on a book project
and there is a chapter with your name on it.
be interested?
(28:47):
Hmm.
All these years went by and I had this exact same feeling of responsibility that I hadwhen Giacomo offered me to go to Antiartica I hesitated for a second and then I'm like,
no, I'd love to.
I'd love to be able to multiply and communicate all the important things.
so I did.
(29:08):
And something really interesting happened on that same week because all of this ishappening in Australia, right?
And I was in Brazil at the time.
on that same week that I finished my draft and I submitted, I got a message saying, hey,are you about by any chance because Jane Goodal is coming to Brazil.
(29:30):
She's going to the Amazon, she's going to the capital and she is passing by Sao Paulo verybriefly, but I am organizing because...
They happen to be friends, this friend of mine, Thais.
And Thais said, there will be an event and I want you to come and meet her.
And I was in shock.
(29:50):
I'm like, these two completely opposite parts of the world with two completely differentthings happening.
These people have not communicated with these other people.
And on the same week, this is happening.
the common thread is this.
incredible, inspiring human being called Jane Goodall.
And I made it happen.
(30:10):
I bought a ticket and flew to São Paulo.
I attended the event.
Jane walks in the room.
It was a small, closed event only for people who are somehow working with conservation.
So it was very sort of intimate talk.
And Jane talks.
I cry the whole time.
And when I finish, Thais calls me and says, can you please meet us here on the fifthfloor?
(30:33):
And I get there and Jenny's sitting there and I walk in and I sit in front of her.
and she's looking at me with the sweetest eyes, she was so tired and she's looking at meand...
Of course I want to cry.
That's all I want to do.
I want to cry.
But then I looked at her and I said, look, I rehearsed this moment in my head so manytimes and all I can say right now is thank you for never losing hope.
(31:03):
She smiles with not only her lips but also her eyes.
And there was a really endearing moment and there was silence and there was so much thatcould fit in that silence, in that absence of sound.
There was an understanding that didn't need any words.
And I'm crying.
then we chatted a little bit, did a photo together as a beautiful memory.
(31:25):
And I told her, said, look, I contributed with a book for the foundation for the Institutein Australia.
And she ended up coming this year and I went down to Melbourne to see her and there was asoft launch of the book, The book is called Dear World and it's a compilation, Dear World
and it's this book right here.
(31:46):
I think when you are in the right path in life, even a feeling of belonging, it's reallyprimal.
There's nothing like it.
You can't quite describe it.
But feeling that you are exactly where you were meant to be doing exactly what you'remeant to be doing is powerful.
(32:07):
And that's exactly how I felt then when all these things were lining up and the beautifulpeople behind the making of this book, Mahima and Ben and Naila, they're beautiful people
from Melbourne who work for the Jane Goodall Institute here in Australia and deep respectfor them.
(32:29):
And now we are in the process of launches and there will be one here in Byron Bay whichwe're very excited about.
There will be a chapter reading and yeah you're going to get the first invitation
Yes.
Wow.
Well, thank you.
thank you also for not losing hope and to continue following your passions and doing yourgreat work
(32:51):
And that persistence as well, leading you into even more greatness and collaboration with
Dr.
Jane Goodall
And
other women who
have dedicated their lives to enriching the lives of all beings on our planet andpreserving wild spaces.
as well as cultivating a culture of
(33:14):
caring and kindness and awareness around our own responsibility and impact on the worldaround us.
Having the courage, the courage to keep going, even though things have been reallyuncomfortable.
you've actually worked in some really masculine spaces, including working as a boatcaptain, and now even working in Antarctica
(33:38):
coming into these places where women are still carving out spaces for for ourselves, we'restill in the front lines of an egalitarian society that is at this point, not where we
are, but where we want to go.
could you speak to that for for women
and girls who might get a deeper understanding of what it takes to persist through maleparadigms or masculine paradigms in order to bring your femininity to this.
(34:10):
Can you speak to that?
Yeah.
there's a few different moving parts there, but I learned...
Right at the beginning of my work on the ships, I learned what I did not like on...
leadership on the leader and one of the things that I learned quite early was the factthat I believe that respect is to be earned and not imposed and When I got to be on a
(34:39):
leadership position, I really tried to Implement that on my leadership with others
either male or female.
and at the time I was listening and reading a fair bit of Brene Brown.
What does it take to be vulnerable?
What does it take to be vulnerable and exposed and know naked in the arena?
(35:02):
and how do we navigate shame and how do we navigate vulnerability and exposure?
know, no one,
Nobody likes to be exposed and vulnerable, it's not safe.
We want to be safe safe is primal But I think that that's also the key for self-confidenceand to do things that need to be done With kindness towards oneself and towards others as
(35:25):
well
And that brought calmness that took away the edge that took away the, the aggressivenessthat took away so much.
yucky sort of things that actually got in the way because sometimes you're so angry andyou're trying to prove yourself so hard through the wrong channels that you end up making
severe mistakes, it compromises your health and your safety and the others as well.
(35:50):
So I learned as I went, either as a bosun, eventually I was a bosun on the ship, throughknowledge, through educating myself and through self-compassion as well and
opening myself up to learn from others Otherwise, it gets really lonely.
It feels isolating, you know, because you not only have to perform and this is in anythingyou do, you not only have to perform but you're also on top of that, you have to prove
(36:20):
yourself in a way which you shouldn't have to and I understand
that still many industries and areas and careers, there's a lot of challenges that arefaced by women every day to be able to be equal.
but my personal journey was, when I softened a little bit and became human, like I'mhuman, you know.
(36:43):
And of course, if I'm dealing with somebody who I can see that is trying to...
not seeing, it's not acknowledging or valuing the way I'm bringing this to the table, thenyeah, then there's other measures.
I was a very independent person from a really young age and I tend to not ask anybody forhelp.
But these days I'm trying to actually do the opposite and no, it's okay to get help.
(37:07):
It's okay to be
humble and say, need help.
And to collaborate, I'm hearing collaboration and softening.
And This is feminine power as well as is to soften and to open and to be collaborative.
I think it's a natural place for femininity to thrive and and for women to feel safeenough to be in those spaces to really wield the power of the feminine is what
(37:40):
I want to be a part of helping to cultivate too and having women in the world likeyourself taking leadership roles, taking chances and risks and creating even more
opportunities for other women to come forward into these spaces and to not have to pushand shove and...
(38:00):
and exclude and feel isolated, as you say, it's so powerful to name That when we are whenwe do soften and when we are collaborative, then things actually work much easier.
The flow is there.
And bringing that back into your nature connection,
being connected to the flow of nature
(38:22):
I just want to thank you too for being vulnerable as well here and sharing so much withall of us, we're collective here.
And it's so wonderful to hear from you.
And I'd love to hear if you have any advice for
(38:44):
women and girls and anyone who might be listening who really needs the feminine medicineright now, who needs some of Bia's medicine in particular.
If you have any advice for anyone who's up against a wall and has something they reallywant to do or maybe even a dream, a calling that their intuition is telling them about.
And yet there's some really, really serious hard things in front of them.
(39:08):
I think first of all to be able to hear the call you need to be really tuned into yourselfand as I mentioned before when I started actually listening to my intuition and it's there
for a reason it takes us away from trouble like it's there for like
(39:31):
your survival instinct to begin with, you know, but the more you tune in, the more subtlethe roles of the intuition become, in many different ways.
Like just recently, I was in Rajan Pat, I was working, the boys jumped on the boat andsaid late afternoon, we had a small window, let's go find the manta rays, and I'm like,
(39:53):
okay, okay, I got really excited.
And I looked at my drone and
I wanted it to use it, but there was something telling me don't don't do it this time.
anyway, I picked it up.
I took it out.
Put it up in the air, ended up crashing it, and that's it, but I had this feeling that notthis time, don't take it this time.
And it's such a little stupid sort of.
But I remember like going back to my cabin that night, like, you know better.
(40:18):
this is one of the most expensive toys you have, it's brand new, and you crashed it.
But it's there for a reason, again, the more in tune you are with yourself, the better youunderstand the call, the better you understand the path.
And it changes, and it shifts, and it changes, and it's beautiful, and then you learn howto see beauty and impermanence as well.
(40:42):
There's so much beauty and impermanence.
Mm-hmm.
hard, we're going through hardship if we know that it will pass.
and it will pass as well when it's a really good wave.
It's that amazing wave, but you know it's going to end.
You don't want it to end.
You know what I mean?
So it's impermanent and it's beautiful.
Otherwise, how would you appreciate, that one wave if you don't experience
(41:05):
you know, we're all individuals.
You know what's good for you.
You know what brings out the best in you.
You know what does the opposite as well.
I feel that that was one of the main things for me know, 15 years ago when I broke offfrom a relationship that was not serving me and I actually moved.
to another country, it was all scary things that I had to do, those big steps that feltright.
(41:29):
I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it all, but I did it because I felt that therewas something so much bigger waiting for me at the other end.
So trusting myself, looking for help in the right people, in the right channels, I neverasked for hardship or pain not to come, I always asked for the right
(41:52):
people to turn up at the right time and honestly never failed me.
today we have the resources to go after what we want.
there's so much information out there, there's so many easy ways to connect people andprojects
to actually seek for what's waiting for us at the other side of the world.
(42:14):
I was born and raised in Brazil.
I could not have come more far or further than where I was before.
And it was a big call so many amazing things unfolded since I've listened to that call.
as hard as the path might seem, as hard as your little space,
(42:35):
a household or a job or a school or whatever, will pass and you need to take action forthe next step.
What's the best version of myself I can be and what do I need to do to get there, youknow.
That's what I've done.
I love that so powerful and it's led to what an incredible life
(42:58):
where can people find you, Bia?
Where are the best places for people to find you and what are you up to next
with the opportunity that I have to be in many wild, amazing places around the world.
I do have a big library.
I do every now and again put the most special memories and moments that I had in theseincredible places.
(43:25):
I had recently a friend sending me a message saying, I don't think I'll ever make it toAntarctica in this lifetime.
But it's so beautiful to be able to travel with you and see Antarctica through your eyes.
And with that message, I understood sometimes the responsibility of us who actually get tovisit remote places to be able to share that as well the right way.
(43:52):
I do have an Instagram account called
Beyond the big blue And that's me I do have a website as well it's linked to my Instagramaccount I'll very soon also have a podcast channel and then your crystal would be more
I would be more than welcome to come in share your amazing, brave story that I ampersonally as a friend super proud of.
(44:20):
But mostly updates will be through my Instagram I think.
Beautiful, beautiful.
And that's in the show notes for anybody who is tuning in here.
we'll have all links to Bia a and her amazing courageous, incredibly brave life and workthat she's doing in the world.
And you'll be able to find out about the Dear World book as well and where you can findthat and Bia a can you tell us do you have a song or an anthem?
(44:49):
Because one of my goals
Mm-hmm.
is to have a really cool Spotify playlist of all the great songs that people are rockingout to Is there a song or a tune that you can tell us about so I can start creating this
really brave...
(45:10):
haha
playlist for when we don't feel so brave, I know for me music really can shift my mindset.
I just need a little bit of that.
Boom, okay, here we go.
Yes, yes I so hear you and I easily slip into the depths of feelings and emotions and
It's been happening since I turned 40 a year ago that I've been reconnecting with myancestry a little bit, which is from that side is Spain.
(45:39):
So I've been listening to Spanish guitar.
a fair bit, like the beautiful acoustic Spanish guitar, There is a beautiful Swissmusician called the Dknit.
who actually sings super well in French and Spanish as well and she's got a song inSpanish called Naturaleza which translates to nature.
(46:04):
and that whole album it's called Aliento has been my companion for a while now and I feelto reconnect and drop in and get back into myself.
Yeah.
Beautiful I love that natural Lessa I can I can already feel this the guitar and the justwant to lay back and listen to it right now I'm gonna go find it and one more thing
(46:27):
because you are also a friend of Abysse and You have tested a lot of their suits I'd loveto hear if there's one suit you can recommend
because we're offering listeners here, anybody who's listening and tuning in, my code youcan find that in the show notes as well with links to Abysse and their swimwear and
(46:49):
activewear is made from some of the things like the nets that you were pulling out of theocean.
So just love to hear
as well, which is pretty cool.
So I'd love to hear if you have a favorite suit could recommend one for the audience andfor me.
happy to hear you're supporting Abysse as well and vice versa because I've been wearingAbysse for about five years now I think my favorite is the Lottie Spring Suit.
(47:18):
I literally take it everywhere.
It's comfortable, it's long sleeves as well and the geoprene is so flexible, it gives me abig buffer in temperature.
I wear it in 18 degrees temperature and I can wear it in 26 degree temperature.
I have the bikini as well, those parts, the neoprene ones as well.
have...
(47:39):
two or three of them and they're super comfortable to surf, to dive, even just to enjoythe water.
So I'm super happy to hear about this partnership because it's like living your ethos,know, it's living my ethos.
I know incredible people behind.
(48:03):
behind the name and they are they they too they live their ethos so they're water peoplewater family and very well aware and conscious about minimizing impact when you're in the
water
so beautifully said and I appreciate you and you are exemplary in every way.
(48:28):
thank you for sharing that really beautiful testament to the work that Abysse are doingand your own experience with their products and.
and the people that they are in particular mother daughter team.
And it's so wonderful to be able to support women in business and women inentrepreneurship women in the world doing doing and being and we're celebrating here in
(48:53):
the brave and every woman.
So it's wonderful to
participate in this space as it evolves and as it grows.
And as we close out this session, I just want to say with the deepest heartfelt mahalo nuiloa.
Thank you very much for being here, Bia.
(49:13):
I appreciate you.
I'm so excited to share even more of the work that you're doing in our show notes.
And thank you for having faith in me and the courage to share your story.
There's so much that we can learn from the choices you have made and the responsibilitythat you have taken and the places of resourcefulness that you have gone in order to
(49:36):
overcome
so many challenges that have come your way to continue to step into your power to shareyour gifts with the world and to share joy and have fun too because that's what it's about
as well.
We really want to have fun and get curious.
(49:59):
and soften and continue to collaborate as we are here.
Because these stories,
matter.
We're here
listening like a fireside chat and we're growing our own awareness of what brings us aliveas we hear the gifts of our sisters it's such a real pleasure delight and honor to be a
(50:26):
part of
the voices that are coming together and facilitating even more sharing of women's stories.
If you can subscribe or share this, share this with a woman who really could need some ofBea's medicine today.
So I'm sure there are so many women out there.
(50:47):
there are and I'd like to thank you as well.
You're not gonna walk away just like that and not receive all my acknowledgement and allmy awe and my respect, Chrystal, because it takes courage as well to speak up and it takes
courage to act on the things that you find true and good.
(51:13):
and creating this platform for women to have a voice, for women to come and share like Ijust did, you know, and give other people the opportunity to know that we exist and, you
know, we're doing things that might inspire them to pursue a path that is well designedfor them.
(51:36):
They just need to go and get it, right?
Mmm.
Yeah, so thank you for the gratitude and respect And I also like to add just very quickly,because I feel that this is important and it needs to be addressed that I have withdrawn
drawn my the past couple of years, support to Sea Shepherd and I have affiliated toCaptain Paul Watson Foundation.
(52:02):
Paul has left Sea Shepherd unjustfully, The way Paul had to leave his own organization wasnot very fair and just by the rest of the board.
So I'm now affiliated with Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
If you don't know what it is about, strongly encourage you to go and have a look becausethis year we'll be fighting the good fight in Iceland for the whales.
(52:31):
So I just felt that that was important.
That's so important and integrous of you and your alignments with your ethos arecontinuous.
Thank you and thank you, Paul Watson, for continuing your work, even though you went toprison and there were many people wanting to stop you from continuing this work and
(52:55):
to all the people who are out there facing a hard fight.
I want to just say this too.
There are so many women in particular and children who don't have the choices we have.
So we want to acknowledge them too and speak to that and say that there are choices thatwe're able to make.
and some of the things that we're talking about that aren't possibilities for some womenin certain places.
(53:17):
So even more responsibility for us as sisters in places that can, if you're listening tothis, let's keep together cooperating, keep sharing our stories, keep putting them out
there, keep creating as well.
Let's keep creating beautiful things that bring us together and bring harmony and
(53:38):
and protection to those who have less of it.
being a voice for the voiceless.
I love you.
Thank you.
voice to the voiceless.
love you too.
Setting so much love please check out the show notes, subscribe and all that cool stuff toHer Brave Story podcast and you can find us online and in all the places.
(53:59):
Thank you.
Mahalo.
Thank you for joining our circle today.
I trust these lessons in courage sparked something within you, helping you to grow yourgreatness and reminding you you're not alone.
If this resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear her bravestory.
(54:20):
And if you feel called, subscribe, leave a review.
and help us amplify the voices of women rising.
To explore more from this episode, including a 10 % discount on sustainable oceanware fromAbysse, head to HerBraveStoryPodcast.com.
You'll find the link in the show notes along with guest links, resources, and more.
(54:43):
I'll be right here waiting for you next time you hit play with a smile and your weeklydose of Her Brave Story, because women's stories matter.
Until then, remember that you're worth it and thrive on brave soul.
I think when you are in the right path in life, even a feeling of belonging, it's reallyprimal.
There's nothing like it.
You can't quite describe it.
But feeling that you are exactly where you were meant to be doing exactly what you'remeant to be doing is powerful.
And that's exactly how I felt then when all these things were lining
(00:21):
Hey Brave Soul, it's your friend Chrystal Welcome back to Her Brave Story podcast.
Conversations that spark courage heal and celebrate the brave in every woman becausewomen's stories matter.
If we haven't met yet, I'm Chrystal Dawn, saltwater mama, woman-centered life coach andstoryteller.
(00:45):
six years ago, I rebuilt my life from the ground up with a newborn in my arms.
And now I help other women to do the same, to reconnect with their worth, soften into whothey really are and create a life they truly love.
Each week we sit in circle with artists, adventurers, entrepreneurs, and everydaychangemakers.
(01:08):
Women living life on their own terms with purpose, passion, and play.
Whether you're starting over or stepping into something new, You belong here.
Today's guest is the extraordinary Bia Figueiredo, a Brazilian-born marine scientist, boatcaptain, expedition guide, speaker, and contributing author to Dear World, the new book
(01:30):
from the Dr.
Jane Goodall Institute, Australia.
From protecting whales on the decks with Sea Shepherd in Antarctica to guiding expeditionsthrough the Kimberleys, the Amazon, and remote corners of the Pacific,
Bea is a living embodiment of courage, conviction, and what she calls nature connection.
(01:52):
She's worked alongside the legendary Captain Paul Watson, advocating fiercely for theocean and all of her creatures,
Bea shares what it means to answer the call, no matter the obstacles, and walks us throughthe synchronistic moment she met the Dr.
Jane Goodall, This is a story of persistence, passion, and rising again, Let's hear fromBea.
(02:14):
Bea, welcome to Her Brave Story Podcast.
We're so excited to have you today.
Yes, honoured to have you here to celebrate life with me.
thank you so much for, again, for
joining in something new and supporting another woman and a friend doing something new.
Can you tell us a little bit about Where you spend your most time and energy?
(02:38):
I would say that my life revolves around the ocean and different activities.
in different capacities.
that's where I
spend most of my time, yeah, it's the ocean.
You're a beautiful ocean woman and you're also a marine scientist.
I am correct.
(03:00):
and you are a boat captain.
I am
You're also a writer and author and speaker.
Wow, when you say this it sounds so grown up.
I've been venturing into these other realms as well.
And I'm really enjoying it just being communicator, a vehicle for information that I findrelevant to obviously the things that I think are very important.
(03:33):
to be communicated.
And the angle of all of this is at this stage is
Nature connection.
love that.
Yeah.
can you tell us about nature connection, what that means to you?
Gosh, so many different levels
In a nutshell, humans, as we know, started slowly wearing shoes and disconnecting from aconstant connection to the ground, and slowly having a more technological sort of
(04:07):
lifestyle and...
spending six, eight hours a day inside these buildings and forgetting about the fresh airoutside, the whisper of the trees, how amazing it is to feel cold water on the body, those
kind of things.
(04:27):
And I feel that because we're such an integral part of nature,
We disassociated from our essence in a way by living this lifestyle.
And it's an interesting one because what I do as a career today is I'm a nature guide indifferent parts of the world, different environments, different ecosystems.
(04:56):
I get to see firsthand what it is to take people out into the wild once again and watchthem blossoming or watching them being a little uncomfortable or very uncomfortable and
(05:17):
how each person responds to being exposed.
to weather, to all sorts of things that are so not in our control anymore.
Like you can't control the wind on a remote control like you do with an aircon.
(05:37):
That kind of thing.
It's so true, the disconnection and what I'm hearing is that, the nature you're takingpeople into right now also includes quite extreme experiences, including Antarctica and
places like the Kimberley that are really wild
So how was it that you came back into connection with nature and are now leading peopleinto nature connection, including really wild spaces like Antarctica?
(06:09):
I come from a working class family, um, dad traveled a lot.
he was always a very conscious person.
was my mother regarding living.
The word sustainability might sound a little bit cliche, but it is very fitting we werevery much aware of the use of resources and the amount of time we spent outdoors.
(06:33):
By the age of eight, they were always taking us to the beach and making sure we had oceantime, which was my happy place.
And I remember when I was eight, dad got back from a fishing trip with my uncle and in aweof this Humpback whale that emerged right next to the boat and I still remember how much
(06:57):
in awe he was
And I remember then I was eight and I remember this is what I want to do with my life.
I want to spend all the time I can with the whales, or with the ocean.
had you at that point seen whales before or known about whales?
Not just in books and hearing stories.
(07:20):
My grandfather, when we were very little, he bought these series of nature books formyself and my sister.
And every month a new edition will get in the house.
And so I had nature in my bedroom the best way I could.
And at that point I've only seen dolphins and turtles, but never Whales
(07:42):
But I remember that describing and I said that's what I want to do.
That's what I've done.
That's amazing.
even a secondhand description of such a magnificent creature had a really dramatic impacton you as a little girl.
you also spent
Four years working with and on the Sea Shepherd when Captain Paul Watson was part of SeaShepherd.
(08:09):
And that, that is wild to think even just hearing about, whales made that deep connection.
I know that didn't happen right away in your life.
Do you want to share a bit about after you saw whales, how were you able to then make thatconnection to go on the
of Sea Shepherd.
Was there anything that led to you going on the boat?
(08:30):
that propelled you in that direction to take such an extreme route really to connect withwhales instead of going just on a whale watch
tell us more about about Bia's journey
Dad had a sailing boat.
had a catamaran, And it was his hobby.
we were all at the beach all the time while dad was sailing.
(08:50):
me and my sister will be in the water literally until...
the sun went down.
And there was this one episode one day where mom was talking to a friend on the beach andI was in the water with my sister.
The waves are not huge, but we were body surfing a little bit, learning to, and I wasabout 10 I got caught under the set.
(09:14):
One day after another.
and a child not having experience on how to deal with that.
You panic and you swallow water and then you don't breathe and then it had traumaticexperience there.
I got a little bit scared.
and I found excuses to not go back to the ocean for a while with my family.
(09:36):
basically I didn't want to have anything.
to do with the ocean for a few years, actually through all my teens but at the same time,I longed for it.
Didn't know But finally I did, and it was through scuba diving that I reignited mypassion.
one thing led to the other from scuba diving to free diving.
(10:00):
And Bachelors degree in Biological Science course.
And towards the end of my uni, I learned about
whaling in Antarctica.
Right?
And I learned about Greenpeace and I learned about Sea Shepherd and the way my friend, atthe time described to me was a bit funny he said so Greenpeace are the guys who hug the
(10:27):
whale after it's dead or as Sea Shepherd will put a boat in between.
the harpoon and whale I would stop it from being harpoon.
And I was like, those are my people.
Yeah, and I realized that studying them was no longer enough.
(10:50):
So I got involved with the Shepherding Brazil a little bit, or when I came to Australia,
In 2012, I joined the local chapter in Byron Bay and worked as an onshore volunteer forabout a year and a half.
And an opportunity presented itself for me to join one of the ships.
(11:15):
I was meant to be there for four weeks.
the person who interviewed me said, look, you can go for a month.
There's a spot there for you.
I said, great.
I just, that's what I want to do.
I just want to give my time for these four weeks, all for the whales.
I had no maritime experience at the time or very little.
(11:38):
Just had a big passion and I ended up staying way more than four weeks.
I stayed for four years on board.
Four years from four weeks to four years.
That's, that's a huge jump.
Yep, I joined the ship with a backpack and my pillow and by the time I had to leave I hadso much stuff It was a big chunk of my life.
(12:09):
I'm so curious, so you go from having an experience where it keeps you out of the water
why did you get back in the water?
Was it the whales that you wanted to get to?
Or was it something within you?
Because there are many people and there might even be somebody listening right now who hashad an experience that kept them from doing something else in their life that they really
wanted to do.
(12:29):
I'd love to hear from you what what was it that kept you moving towards something thateventually led into you seeing an opportunity and even putting
hand up for it because there's a huge gap between when we see or know about something andthen when we actually take action on it.
Could you tell us a little bit about that process for you?
(12:52):
I can and this is actually a great question because...
It's a common thread between the people that sometimes are sitting in the crowd when I'mgiving a lecture or doing public speaking and this question comes up a fair bit because
sometimes life presents opportunities and we're either
(13:14):
brave enough or we think we're brave enough and we're not but we want to try anyway.
and it's really hard to put into words what I always felt about this big body of water,about the ocean, why it draws me or why it always called me,
I'm sure that, being a water woman, you resonate, you know, grew up on an island, anisland girl.
(13:36):
So, you know, about this pool that you feel, but I didn't grow up by the water.
my auntie had a beach house and we were there all the time, but I grew up in the city andonly now I'm 41 now and it's been less than 10 years that I've
I actually understood that what I felt as a child in the city was completely normal forsomebody who yearned for the ocean.
(14:02):
And I felt like I misfit my whole childhood and my teens and my early adult life and thenI said that there has to be a way for me to attend this call that I had.
middle class, grew up in the city, I made the opportunities happen for me.
I chased them up.
I made them happen.
(14:23):
I got in touch with people.
I've done my research and I was curious when I was 21, my dad's youngest sister.
She used to work with traditional communities, indigenous people in Brazil in the Amazon.
she said, look, I've got friends who work with pink dolphins in the Amazon.
And because you've done so well, I'd love to put you in touch with these guys and you cango and go do an internship in the Amazon
(14:46):
Wow.
Wow.
the time So I, off I go, I pack up my bag and I had one point of contact and all of asudden I am, this intern after my first year of uni, living on a floating house in the
middle of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere, working with some of the most emblematiccetaceans, cetaceans, and dolphins that we have on the planet.
(15:09):
And there developed this big taste for the field, to being out there, to actually learningby watching them.
I would sit down and when I'm in a floating house, it was literally a floating house.
It was like a house on a barge.
And late afternoon, when the dolphins started becoming more active, would sit just outsideon the deck of the house with a little cup of tea.
(15:31):
And I just watched them.
I just watched them.
And I learned so much just from watching them.
think living these experiences and stepping into this comfort, it is uncomfortable.
mean, you know, I'm in a place that is completely foreign to me.
It's a jungle, it's, hot and it's humid and there's mozzies and everything in the waterwants to kill you.
(15:52):
There's caimans and there's piranhas and then, you know, like there's electric eel
Wow, even one of those I don't want to get in the water with an electric eel.
No.
so it's all these things and you're like, okay, if you educate yourself and you, and yougo that little mile, like an extra mile, just bit by bit, it's amazing what one can
(16:13):
achieve, So that's, that was my way back into the water.
And then, scuba diving, and then, free diving, but I, when I learned about Sea Shepherd, Iknew that I
I had to take action, had to do something about it.
And when I sent my first application to be on the ship, the response was, it doesn't worklike that.
(16:33):
We have tens of thousands of applications every year, and we have to go through them.
So it might take a few years, and I was pushing.
And I pushed and I said, look, I'm here, I'm in Australia, the ships are here.
It's the first time the three ships are gathered in Melbourne.
I have time.
I can come as a volunteer, I want to serve.
So I created an opportunity by trusting my intuition, which is very talkative by the way,I have a very loud intuition.
(17:00):
And I try and honor that and listen to it and act when it's possible.
But I feel that my journey, especially being a woman, even though Sea Shepherd was alwaysvery egalitarian.
with roles with males and females still is a very masculine industry.
You know, the things that need grit and pushing through discomfort, So I feel a hundredpercent, a hundred percent.
(17:31):
that I created my, opportunities that I found what right for me.
When I think one when one does that one has to be responsible towards it.
So when I first when I joined the ship I was meant to be there for four weeks after theend of the first week the boson was the deck boss he and my direct boss he came to me and
(17:51):
said would you be willing to stay a little longer?
And I said yes I'd love to and by the end of the second week he said and this is May hesaid would you be interested in going
for a campaign in Antarctica later this year.
Wow, wow.
my response was no.
(18:14):
And he was in shock.
was thousands of people wanting to go and he's in front of me offering me that.
And I said, no, because I'm not skilled enough.
I'm not trained enough.
I can't take a spot from somebody who could come and deliver more than I could at thisstage.
And he smiled and looked at me and said, not what I asked.
(18:35):
I asked if you want to go, because if you do,
I'm going to train you.
And I said, of course I want to go.
Wow, human bumps.
That's not what I asked.
That's a powerful reframe.
He said, it's not what I asked because if you want to go, I'm going to train you.
And I still remember it was 12 years ago that this conversation happened.
(18:59):
And I still remember where, when and how it happened because it did change the course ofmy life
You saying yes with somebody else's belief, like borrowing their confidence in you to say,you got this.
It's yours, And I took that, like, I put that in such a, like...
(19:20):
Mm.
strong place because i understood the responsibility that came with that it was massivewhat the activists do down there especially in antarctic and such a harsh environment
that's not for the faint-hearted that's for sure and i tend to be quite responsible withthe decisions that i make and making sure that my actions won't have
(19:46):
a negative impact.
unfortunately I don't succeed all the time, but I try and be mindful of that all the time,of what's my role within this picture.
I'm going to deliver everything that I have for this.
if you're listening right now and you know about Sea Shepherd, or have seen somethingabout Sea Shepherd and the work that they do, you might have an idea about what Bea is
(20:12):
talking about.
However, Bia, would you be able to share one story even with us about the kinds of thingsthat Sea Shepherd does
so that our listeners, can understand this journey that you've taken is really from thesafe shores
to a very wild, rough, rugged, uncontrollable environment where there are seriousimplications
(20:34):
Whales was the main goal, protecting Whales was the main goal for a long time, it justexpanded to all marine life pretty much.
the more vessels Sea Shepherd was acquiring, the larger the spectrum became on what ispossible,
I think if I need to put my finger on something of all these four years, I've donemultiple campaigns.
(20:59):
at the time there were three big ships The Sea Shepherd had and I spent time on the threeof them, but
I was part of a very passionate crew that went on a campaign in the summer of 2014 to 2015in Antarctica to actually look for illegal fishing vessels that were catching Chilean sea
(21:25):
bass or Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish.
it's a deep water fish, apex predator in Antarctica.
It can grow quite big.
It takes a long time to reach reproductive age, about 12 years.
And as soon as they reach that age, they just stay on the very bottom of the seabed inAntarctica.
And we're talking 2,000 meters deep, two kilometers deep.
(21:47):
There is a legal industry for that
but at the time there was a fleet of six illegal fishing vessels catching justindiscriminately every summer a lot of it so Sea Shepherd went after them with two ships I
was on board one of the ships the ship that left port first was the Bob Barker fromTasmania and I was on board the Sam Simon
(22:09):
and we had a problem with our crane so we had to leave a week after and these ships thatwere fishing illegally were being purple listed by Interpol so we were helping Interpol at
the time and we ended up finding the most notorious of them all.
Interpol was after these guys for 11 years and we started like a chase game with them withthe Bob Barker chasing them and the Sam Simon stayed behind and we had to recover
(22:37):
the fishing gear that they abandoned, it became a ghost gear.
And we started pulling it up, we thought it would be a 24 hour endeavor, then it turnedinto a 48 hour endeavor, then 72 hours, and then all of a sudden we pulled it up for three
and a half weeks, and we recovered 72 kilometers of illegal fishing gear from the water.
(23:00):
72 kilometers.
Correct.
Yeah, was about 50 tons of targeted species, which was Chilean and Patagonian andAntarctic toothfish, and a lot of bycatch,
So were you able then, in the retrieving of the nets or of this fishing equipment,creatures in there, did they survive or were they all, were they deceased already?
(23:25):
The fish, the targeted species, Chilean sea bass, they were all dead.
There was one alive out of 50 tons.
Most of the marine life was dead and a lot of the king, had like the big crabs coming up alot.
few of those were alive and we were carefully removing them from the net and putting themback in the water.
(23:49):
Yeah, It was one of the most sad experiences I had in my life for like an extended periodof time because we didn't stop for three and a half weeks.
Like we could not stop because the net was lying on the side of the ship.
So we had to keep holding it up and breaking it up and spreading it around the vessel.
had all this gear on a ship that was not prepared.
(24:12):
to have that gear on board.
it was shifting the gear around the ship was as hard as pulling it up.
But I remember, I remember.
There was a day when our gear got a little bit compromised and we were sleepy, we weretired, we were exhausted, we had frostbites and all the rest of it because obviously it's
Antarctica, but there was so much passion and drive to get that thing out of the waterthat it was amazing how quickly we got together
(24:43):
brought our heads together to come up with a solution to fix that thing.
And we did it and I remember as if it was yesterday, this feeling of how resourceful wecan be if whatever we're doing has got so much meaning.
Mm.
this is one of the things that I've learned with all my years on the ships with all thoseincredible people was how quickly we can solve a problem if there's meaning.
(25:11):
So it was pretty special, it was probably the longest campaign I've done.
I think it was probably out of the 40 plus years of that the organization exists.
It was one of the most impactful campaigns we've done without even knowing what we weregoing to find.
(25:32):
Wow.
Yep.
the depth of that experience and how it's played into your ongoing understanding of notonly the work you do, the purpose that you have in your life feels more evident.
I think so It's really hard as well to come back from that It's quite remarkable whatpurpose and drive can do To the human psyche In that extent
(26:04):
on that note of purpose and drive, what's your purpose and drive right now, with thiswealth of experience?
And
the most recent work that you've done as an author and a speaker is also with Dr.
Jane Goodall and the Roots and Shoots organization.
So moving towards that, the reason I add that in here, because that story was so powerfuland
(26:29):
Really, we're getting to know a bit more about what has really built this inner fire tokeep pursuing your passions, even though it's it's not only uncomfortable, it could be
highly dangerous because it is so meaningful for you.
(26:52):
The way I see it is...
I had the opportunity to go and do all these things on the front line.
and when the time came for me to step out and walk away.
So actually I could open space for new people to come and serve as well.
I don't feel that I've ever worked for Sea Shepherd.
I think I worked with Sea Shepherd.
it as a hub that brought together a lot of like-minded people as a platform with resourcesso we could fulfill something that we all had for
(27:20):
different reasons or some of us the same reason within us.
And I feel that since I've left in 2017
The best way to move forward with all these experiences that I had lived was to actuallymultiply them, was to communicate them, was to share with the world this is happening, for
(27:41):
many reasons.
the channel started opening for me to communicate in different ways.
One of them was through public speaking.
And I started doing a little bit of that when I got into the nature guiding industry onexpedition boats, I started lecturing.
I always bring it back to what is important for me, which is conservation.
(28:02):
And in one of those
talks in Antarctica two years ago, I had a group of incredible people from Australia whohave an online education platform called Upschool.
And if you don't know what Upschool is about, I strongly recommend you have a look becausewhat they're doing is amazing.
(28:26):
And a couple of months after I left,
that boat Gavin got in touch with me send me a message saying hey Bia up school ispartnering with the roots and shoots department within Jane Goodall Institute in Australia
on a book project
and there is a chapter with your name on it.
be interested?
(28:47):
Hmm.
All these years went by and I had this exact same feeling of responsibility that I hadwhen Giacomo offered me to go to Antiartica I hesitated for a second and then I'm like,
no, I'd love to.
I'd love to be able to multiply and communicate all the important things.
so I did.
(29:08):
And something really interesting happened on that same week because all of this ishappening in Australia, right?
And I was in Brazil at the time.
on that same week that I finished my draft and I submitted, I got a message saying, hey,are you about by any chance because Jane Goodal is coming to Brazil.
(29:30):
She's going to the Amazon, she's going to the capital and she is passing by Sao Paulo verybriefly, but I am organizing because...
They happen to be friends, this friend of mine, Thais.
And Thais said, there will be an event and I want you to come and meet her.
And I was in shock.
(29:50):
I'm like, these two completely opposite parts of the world with two completely differentthings happening.
These people have not communicated with these other people.
And on the same week, this is happening.
the common thread is this.
incredible, inspiring human being called Jane Goodall.
And I made it happen.
(30:10):
I bought a ticket and flew to São Paulo.
I attended the event.
Jane walks in the room.
It was a small, closed event only for people who are somehow working with conservation.
So it was very sort of intimate talk.
And Jane talks.
I cry the whole time.
And when I finish, Thais calls me and says, can you please meet us here on the fifthfloor?
(30:33):
And I get there and Jenny's sitting there and I walk in and I sit in front of her.
and she's looking at me with the sweetest eyes, she was so tired and she's looking at meand...
Of course I want to cry.
That's all I want to do.
I want to cry.
But then I looked at her and I said, look, I rehearsed this moment in my head so manytimes and all I can say right now is thank you for never losing hope.
(31:03):
She smiles with not only her lips but also her eyes.
And there was a really endearing moment and there was silence and there was so much thatcould fit in that silence, in that absence of sound.
There was an understanding that didn't need any words.
And I'm crying.
then we chatted a little bit, did a photo together as a beautiful memory.
(31:25):
And I told her, said, look, I contributed with a book for the foundation for the Institutein Australia.
And she ended up coming this year and I went down to Melbourne to see her and there was asoft launch of the book, The book is called Dear World and it's a compilation, Dear World
and it's this book right here.
(31:46):
I think when you are in the right path in life, even a feeling of belonging, it's reallyprimal.
There's nothing like it.
You can't quite describe it.
But feeling that you are exactly where you were meant to be doing exactly what you'remeant to be doing is powerful.
(32:07):
And that's exactly how I felt then when all these things were lining up and the beautifulpeople behind the making of this book, Mahima and Ben and Naila, they're beautiful people
from Melbourne who work for the Jane Goodall Institute here in Australia and deep respectfor them.
(32:29):
And now we are in the process of launches and there will be one here in Byron Bay whichwe're very excited about.
There will be a chapter reading and yeah you're going to get the first invitation
Yes.
Wow.
Well, thank you.
thank you also for not losing hope and to continue following your passions and doing yourgreat work
(32:51):
And that persistence as well, leading you into even more greatness and collaboration with
Dr.
Jane Goodall
And
other women who
have dedicated their lives to enriching the lives of all beings on our planet andpreserving wild spaces.
as well as cultivating a culture of
(33:14):
caring and kindness and awareness around our own responsibility and impact on the worldaround us.
Having the courage, the courage to keep going, even though things have been reallyuncomfortable.
you've actually worked in some really masculine spaces, including working as a boatcaptain, and now even working in Antarctica
(33:38):
coming into these places where women are still carving out spaces for for ourselves, we'restill in the front lines of an egalitarian society that is at this point, not where we
are, but where we want to go.
could you speak to that for for women
and girls who might get a deeper understanding of what it takes to persist through maleparadigms or masculine paradigms in order to bring your femininity to this.
(34:10):
Can you speak to that?
Yeah.
there's a few different moving parts there, but I learned...
Right at the beginning of my work on the ships, I learned what I did not like on...
leadership on the leader and one of the things that I learned quite early was the factthat I believe that respect is to be earned and not imposed and When I got to be on a
(34:39):
leadership position, I really tried to Implement that on my leadership with others
either male or female.
and at the time I was listening and reading a fair bit of Brene Brown.
What does it take to be vulnerable?
What does it take to be vulnerable and exposed and know naked in the arena?
(35:02):
and how do we navigate shame and how do we navigate vulnerability and exposure?
know, no one,
Nobody likes to be exposed and vulnerable, it's not safe.
We want to be safe safe is primal But I think that that's also the key for self-confidenceand to do things that need to be done With kindness towards oneself and towards others as
(35:25):
well
And that brought calmness that took away the edge that took away the, the aggressivenessthat took away so much.
yucky sort of things that actually got in the way because sometimes you're so angry andyou're trying to prove yourself so hard through the wrong channels that you end up making
severe mistakes, it compromises your health and your safety and the others as well.
(35:50):
So I learned as I went, either as a bosun, eventually I was a bosun on the ship, throughknowledge, through educating myself and through self-compassion as well and
opening myself up to learn from others Otherwise, it gets really lonely.
It feels isolating, you know, because you not only have to perform and this is in anythingyou do, you not only have to perform but you're also on top of that, you have to prove
(36:20):
yourself in a way which you shouldn't have to and I understand
that still many industries and areas and careers, there's a lot of challenges that arefaced by women every day to be able to be equal.
but my personal journey was, when I softened a little bit and became human, like I'mhuman, you know.
(36:43):
And of course, if I'm dealing with somebody who I can see that is trying to...
not seeing, it's not acknowledging or valuing the way I'm bringing this to the table, thenyeah, then there's other measures.
I was a very independent person from a really young age and I tend to not ask anybody forhelp.
But these days I'm trying to actually do the opposite and no, it's okay to get help.
(37:07):
It's okay to be
humble and say, need help.
And to collaborate, I'm hearing collaboration and softening.
And This is feminine power as well as is to soften and to open and to be collaborative.
I think it's a natural place for femininity to thrive and and for women to feel safeenough to be in those spaces to really wield the power of the feminine is what
(37:40):
I want to be a part of helping to cultivate too and having women in the world likeyourself taking leadership roles, taking chances and risks and creating even more
opportunities for other women to come forward into these spaces and to not have to pushand shove and...
(38:00):
and exclude and feel isolated, as you say, it's so powerful to name That when we are whenwe do soften and when we are collaborative, then things actually work much easier.
The flow is there.
And bringing that back into your nature connection,
being connected to the flow of nature
(38:22):
I just want to thank you too for being vulnerable as well here and sharing so much withall of us, we're collective here.
And it's so wonderful to hear from you.
And I'd love to hear if you have any advice for
(38:44):
women and girls and anyone who might be listening who really needs the feminine medicineright now, who needs some of Bia's medicine in particular.
If you have any advice for anyone who's up against a wall and has something they reallywant to do or maybe even a dream, a calling that their intuition is telling them about.
And yet there's some really, really serious hard things in front of them.
(39:08):
I think first of all to be able to hear the call you need to be really tuned into yourselfand as I mentioned before when I started actually listening to my intuition and it's there
for a reason it takes us away from trouble like it's there for like
(39:31):
your survival instinct to begin with, you know, but the more you tune in, the more subtlethe roles of the intuition become, in many different ways.
Like just recently, I was in Rajan Pat, I was working, the boys jumped on the boat andsaid late afternoon, we had a small window, let's go find the manta rays, and I'm like,
(39:53):
okay, okay, I got really excited.
And I looked at my drone and
I wanted it to use it, but there was something telling me don't don't do it this time.
anyway, I picked it up.
I took it out.
Put it up in the air, ended up crashing it, and that's it, but I had this feeling that notthis time, don't take it this time.
And it's such a little stupid sort of.
But I remember like going back to my cabin that night, like, you know better.
(40:18):
this is one of the most expensive toys you have, it's brand new, and you crashed it.
But it's there for a reason, again, the more in tune you are with yourself, the better youunderstand the call, the better you understand the path.
And it changes, and it shifts, and it changes, and it's beautiful, and then you learn howto see beauty and impermanence as well.
(40:42):
There's so much beauty and impermanence.
Mm-hmm.
hard, we're going through hardship if we know that it will pass.
and it will pass as well when it's a really good wave.
It's that amazing wave, but you know it's going to end.
You don't want it to end.
You know what I mean?
So it's impermanent and it's beautiful.
Otherwise, how would you appreciate, that one wave if you don't experience
(41:05):
you know, we're all individuals.
You know what's good for you.
You know what brings out the best in you.
You know what does the opposite as well.
I feel that that was one of the main things for me know, 15 years ago when I broke offfrom a relationship that was not serving me and I actually moved.
to another country, it was all scary things that I had to do, those big steps that feltright.
(41:29):
I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it all, but I did it because I felt that therewas something so much bigger waiting for me at the other end.
So trusting myself, looking for help in the right people, in the right channels, I neverasked for hardship or pain not to come, I always asked for the right
(41:52):
people to turn up at the right time and honestly never failed me.
today we have the resources to go after what we want.
there's so much information out there, there's so many easy ways to connect people andprojects
to actually seek for what's waiting for us at the other side of the world.
(42:14):
I was born and raised in Brazil.
I could not have come more far or further than where I was before.
And it was a big call so many amazing things unfolded since I've listened to that call.
as hard as the path might seem, as hard as your little space,
(42:35):
a household or a job or a school or whatever, will pass and you need to take action forthe next step.
What's the best version of myself I can be and what do I need to do to get there, youknow.
That's what I've done.
I love that so powerful and it's led to what an incredible life
(42:58):
where can people find you, Bia?
Where are the best places for people to find you and what are you up to next
with the opportunity that I have to be in many wild, amazing places around the world.
I do have a big library.
I do every now and again put the most special memories and moments that I had in theseincredible places.
(43:25):
I had recently a friend sending me a message saying, I don't think I'll ever make it toAntarctica in this lifetime.
But it's so beautiful to be able to travel with you and see Antarctica through your eyes.
And with that message, I understood sometimes the responsibility of us who actually get tovisit remote places to be able to share that as well the right way.
(43:52):
I do have an Instagram account called
Beyond the big blue And that's me I do have a website as well it's linked to my Instagramaccount I'll very soon also have a podcast channel and then your crystal would be more
I would be more than welcome to come in share your amazing, brave story that I ampersonally as a friend super proud of.
(44:20):
But mostly updates will be through my Instagram I think.
Beautiful, beautiful.
And that's in the show notes for anybody who is tuning in here.
we'll have all links to Bia a and her amazing courageous, incredibly brave life and workthat she's doing in the world.
And you'll be able to find out about the Dear World book as well and where you can findthat and Bia a can you tell us do you have a song or an anthem?
(44:49):
Because one of my goals
Mm-hmm.
is to have a really cool Spotify playlist of all the great songs that people are rockingout to Is there a song or a tune that you can tell us about so I can start creating this
really brave...
(45:10):
haha
playlist for when we don't feel so brave, I know for me music really can shift my mindset.
I just need a little bit of that.
Boom, okay, here we go.
Yes, yes I so hear you and I easily slip into the depths of feelings and emotions and
It's been happening since I turned 40 a year ago that I've been reconnecting with myancestry a little bit, which is from that side is Spain.
(45:39):
So I've been listening to Spanish guitar.
a fair bit, like the beautiful acoustic Spanish guitar, There is a beautiful Swissmusician called the Dknit.
who actually sings super well in French and Spanish as well and she's got a song inSpanish called Naturaleza which translates to nature.
(46:04):
and that whole album it's called Aliento has been my companion for a while now and I feelto reconnect and drop in and get back into myself.
Yeah.
Beautiful I love that natural Lessa I can I can already feel this the guitar and the justwant to lay back and listen to it right now I'm gonna go find it and one more thing
(46:27):
because you are also a friend of Abysse and You have tested a lot of their suits I'd loveto hear if there's one suit you can recommend
because we're offering listeners here, anybody who's listening and tuning in, my code youcan find that in the show notes as well with links to Abysse and their swimwear and
(46:49):
activewear is made from some of the things like the nets that you were pulling out of theocean.
So just love to hear
as well, which is pretty cool.
So I'd love to hear if you have a favorite suit could recommend one for the audience andfor me.
happy to hear you're supporting Abysse as well and vice versa because I've been wearingAbysse for about five years now I think my favorite is the Lottie Spring Suit.
(47:18):
I literally take it everywhere.
It's comfortable, it's long sleeves as well and the geoprene is so flexible, it gives me abig buffer in temperature.
I wear it in 18 degrees temperature and I can wear it in 26 degree temperature.
I have the bikini as well, those parts, the neoprene ones as well.
have...
(47:39):
two or three of them and they're super comfortable to surf, to dive, even just to enjoythe water.
So I'm super happy to hear about this partnership because it's like living your ethos,know, it's living my ethos.
I know incredible people behind.
(48:03):
behind the name and they are they they too they live their ethos so they're water peoplewater family and very well aware and conscious about minimizing impact when you're in the
water
so beautifully said and I appreciate you and you are exemplary in every way.
(48:28):
thank you for sharing that really beautiful testament to the work that Abysse are doingand your own experience with their products and.
and the people that they are in particular mother daughter team.
And it's so wonderful to be able to support women in business and women inentrepreneurship women in the world doing doing and being and we're celebrating here in
(48:53):
the brave and every woman.
So it's wonderful to
participate in this space as it evolves and as it grows.
And as we close out this session, I just want to say with the deepest heartfelt mahalo nuiloa.
Thank you very much for being here, Bia.
(49:13):
I appreciate you.
I'm so excited to share even more of the work that you're doing in our show notes.
And thank you for having faith in me and the courage to share your story.
There's so much that we can learn from the choices you have made and the responsibilitythat you have taken and the places of resourcefulness that you have gone in order to
(49:36):
overcome
so many challenges that have come your way to continue to step into your power to shareyour gifts with the world and to share joy and have fun too because that's what it's about
as well.
We really want to have fun and get curious.
(49:59):
and soften and continue to collaborate as we are here.
Because these stories,
matter.
We're here
listening like a fireside chat and we're growing our own awareness of what brings us aliveas we hear the gifts of our sisters it's such a real pleasure delight and honor to be a
(50:26):
part of
the voices that are coming together and facilitating even more sharing of women's stories.
If you can subscribe or share this, share this with a woman who really could need some ofBea's medicine today.
So I'm sure there are so many women out there.
(50:47):
there are and I'd like to thank you as well.
You're not gonna walk away just like that and not receive all my acknowledgement and allmy awe and my respect, Chrystal, because it takes courage as well to speak up and it takes
courage to act on the things that you find true and good.
(51:13):
and creating this platform for women to have a voice, for women to come and share like Ijust did, you know, and give other people the opportunity to know that we exist and, you
know, we're doing things that might inspire them to pursue a path that is well designedfor them.
(51:36):
They just need to go and get it, right?
Mmm.
Yeah, so thank you for the gratitude and respect And I also like to add just very quickly,because I feel that this is important and it needs to be addressed that I have withdrawn
drawn my the past couple of years, support to Sea Shepherd and I have affiliated toCaptain Paul Watson Foundation.
(52:02):
Paul has left Sea Shepherd unjustfully, The way Paul had to leave his own organization wasnot very fair and just by the rest of the board.
So I'm now affiliated with Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
If you don't know what it is about, strongly encourage you to go and have a look becausethis year we'll be fighting the good fight in Iceland for the whales.
(52:31):
So I just felt that that was important.
That's so important and integrous of you and your alignments with your ethos arecontinuous.
Thank you and thank you, Paul Watson, for continuing your work, even though you went toprison and there were many people wanting to stop you from continuing this work and
(52:55):
to all the people who are out there facing a hard fight.
I want to just say this too.
There are so many women in particular and children who don't have the choices we have.
So we want to acknowledge them too and speak to that and say that there are choices thatwe're able to make.
and some of the things that we're talking about that aren't possibilities for some womenin certain places.
(53:17):
So even more responsibility for us as sisters in places that can, if you're listening tothis, let's keep together cooperating, keep sharing our stories, keep putting them out
there, keep creating as well.
Let's keep creating beautiful things that bring us together and bring harmony and
(53:38):
and protection to those who have less of it.
being a voice for the voiceless.
I love you.
Thank you.
voice to the voiceless.
love you too.
Setting so much love please check out the show notes, subscribe and all that cool stuff toHer Brave Story podcast and you can find us online and in all the places.
(53:59):
Thank you.
Mahalo.
Thank you for joining our circle today.
I trust these lessons in courage sparked something within you, helping you to grow yourgreatness and reminding you you're not alone.
If this resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear her bravestory.
(54:20):
And if you feel called, subscribe, leave a review.
and help us amplify the voices of women rising.
To explore more from this episode, including a 10 % discount on sustainable oceanware fromAbysse, head to HerBraveStoryPodcast.com.
You'll find the link in the show notes along with guest links, resources, and more.
(54:43):
I'll be right here waiting for you next time you hit play with a smile and your weeklydose of Her Brave Story, because women's stories matter.
Until then, remember that you're worth it and thrive on brave soul.
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