In today's episode, I speak with award-winning author, film producer, and underwater photographer Pier Nirandara.
Pier's connection to the ocean started as a young girl growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, with weekend family trips to a nearby beach house. Her time there sparked an interest in storytelling, which led her to writing a trilogy of novels about mermaids when she was just 15 years old. And, remarkably, all three novels went on to be number one national bestsellers in Thailand. From there, her path took her to college in the US and a successful career as a film producer at studios in Hollywood.
But her connection to the ocean never left her and I first heard about her in an article in the Hollywood Reporter about a private dive club she had started for studio executives in the entertainment industry, which she called Hollywood Sharks. So I reached out to Pier and she responded immediately, as she was always open to raising awareness around the world's oceans. And of course, the interview was fantastic.
Pier was thoughtful, funny, and kind, and over the course of our interview, Pier discussed where she initially found that connection with the water, the surprising parallels between aspects of the world's oceans and her inspiration for literature, and an unexpected life-changing moment she had in a sardine run off the coast of South Africa.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jason Elias (00:08):
Hi and welcome to the Big Deep podcast.
Big Deep is a podcast aboutpeople who have a connection to
the ocean, people for whom thatconnection is so strong it
defines some aspect of theirlife.
Over the course of this serieswe'll talk to all sorts of
people and in each episode we'llexplore the deeper meaning of
(00:29):
that connection.
Today I speak with an author,film producer and underwater
photographer who shares how themagic of a single moment in the
ocean changed the trajectory ofher entire life.
Hello, this is your host, JasonElias.
Welcome to the Big Deep podcast.
In today's episode I speak withaward-winning author, film
(00:54):
producer and underwaterphotographer, Pier Nirandara.
Pier's connection to the oceanstarted as a young girl growing
up in Bangkok, thailand, withweekend family trips to a nearby
beach house.
Her time there sparked aninterest in storytelling, which
led her to writing a trilogy ofnovels about mermaids when she
was just 15 years old and,remarkably, all three novels
went on to be number onenational bestsellers in Thailand
(01:15):
.
From there, her path took herto college in the US and a
successful career as a filmproducer at studios in Hollywood
.
But her connection to the oceannever left her, and I first
heard about her in an article inthe Hollywood Reporter about a
private dive club she hadstarted for studio executives in
the entertainment industry,which she called Hollywood
Sharks.
So I reached out to Pierre andshe responded immediately, as
(01:37):
she was always open to raisingawareness around the world's
oceans.
And of course, the interviewwas fantastic.
Pierre was thoughtful, funnyand kind and over the course of
our interview Pierre discussedwhere she initially found that
connection with the water, thesurprising parallels between
aspects of the world's oceansand her inspiration for
literature, and an unexpectedlife-changing moment she had in
(01:59):
a sardine run off the coast ofSouth Africa.
Pier Nirandara (02:02):
My name is Pier Nirandara.
I'm originally from Bangkok,Thailand.
I'm an author, a film producerand an underwater photographer.
Jason Elias (02:11):
Right.
So I was, of course, veryexcited to speak to you, because
not only do you have a deepconnection to the ocean, but we
also both work in theentertainment industry.
So could you talk a bit aboutwhere you grew up and when you
first remember your connectionto the ocean?
Pier Nirandara (02:29):
I was very fortunate to grow up in a
country where the water is warmyear-round, it's like a swimming
pool.
We had a beach house that wewould spend a lot of time at in
Haua Hin, a very local beachsidetown that a lot of times houses
it, or apartments about twohours outside of Bangkok, and I
(02:53):
remember foraging for littleclams mussels these little I
don't even know what they'recalled in English, but they're
almost like tiny prawns thatlive in the sand and we would
bore them out with pieces offish and they would catch them
and then you cook them in Thaistyle.
So that's how I grew up, alwaysby the water.
My mom could never pull me outof it.
(03:14):
People would always ask likehow did you get into scoop dive
or how did you get into thewater?
It's like it was always thereand, looking back, it was such a
privilege to have, which youdon't notice at the time being a
kid, but it was a reallyidyllic childhood in the sense
of being based in Bangkok andthen getting to run away to the
solution for the weekend.
Jason Elias (03:35):
Right, and so you became a bestselling author at
age 15, which is trulyremarkable considering what I
think I might have been doing atthat age.
So can you talk about how thatcame about and what inspired you
to tell these stories, and whatimpact did that have on your
(03:55):
young life?
Pier Nirandara (03:56):
Yeah, I was 15 when it came out the first novel
and it grew into a trilogy.
I think it was about thefeeling that you get when you're
experiencing something largerthan life.
I wanted to impart that feelingonto someone else and share
that feeling of being alive, andthat was really what drew me
towards writing and storytellingand manifested itself in these
(04:18):
trilogy of children's books.
It's a fantasy series and it'sabout teenagers who find out
that they've been chosen tobecome the future ambassadors
between humans and mermaids.
The books did very well andthey were graphic novel
adaptations.
They've gotten options.
The characters and the audiencegrew up with me, which was
really cool.
So I got to tour schools andtalk about literature and the
(04:39):
importance of ocean andstorytelling to a lot of Thai
kids.
So that was a lot of my highschool career was doing that.
But it was really excitingbecause at the end of the day,
it all came from this love forstories and for the ocean and
wanting to impart that feelingon.
Jason Elias (04:55):
I still find that crazy that you did that at such
a young age.
It's just absolutely amazing.
And yet when you tell yourstory it kind of makes sense how
you got there.
So you grew up in Bangkok,which can sound so exotic to a
Westerner, but which youmentioned for you was simply
your hometown, and in a strangeway, growing up in such a big
(05:17):
city started your connection tobooks and to the ocean.
Can you talk a bit about thatand perhaps where you see
parallels between yourconnection to the ocean and your
inspiration for literature,even as an adult?
Pier Nirandara (05:31):
I mean, I'm an only child and I grew up in the
middle of this huge city, whichcan actually be quite lonely, so
I spent a lot of time with myown thoughts, surrounded by
books.
The library was the one placethat I could go and I didn't
(05:51):
have a spending limit, so Iliterally grew up just
surrounded by literature andalways in these dream worlds.
And when we talk about mermaidsa lot of people just think, oh,
childish fantasies.
But for me, looking back on itnow, it was actually the feeling
(06:12):
of longing, of the bittersweetness, the beauty of the
transience of the world, thesublime transcendence as the
romantics of call it.
I think a lot of writersprobably feel the same way, and
(06:33):
I think the ocean is a reallybig way that it manifests in
that sense of it is this otherworld that we dip our toes into.
It never lasts forever, it'salways transient, it's ever
changing and ultimately wealways have to leave.
(06:55):
To me, that's something that'svery beautiful and you don't
find that in a lot of otheravenues of life, I think.
Jason Elias (07:16):
Well, that's beautiful, and, as an artist
myself, I find it so intriguinghow I, too, find the creative
process to be similar to beingin the ocean.
There's a sense of letting goof something bigger than myself,
of trusting the world in a waythat something impacting will
arise, so that really resonateswith me.
(07:36):
So with that, you ended upworking in media and had an
incredible career.
But you also mentioned to mebefore we started, that a deep
realization came to you on adive trip you took and caused a
major change in your life.
Can you talk a bit about yourpath in Hollywood and what you
(08:01):
discovered that was so movingwhen you were in the ocean?
Pier Nirandara (08:06):
I always wanted to actually work in publishing
but, through a twist of fate,ended up at an internship in LA,
actually at a productioncompany, which completely
changed the trajectory of mylife.
I was like, oh my God, this iswhere I'm meant to be.
I want to tell stories.
I've always loved films, butHollywood was just this.
I mean, as a Thai kid which isso far off, I finally got my
(08:26):
foot on the door and thenstarted at ICM talent agency and
then was like mailroomassistant.
It worked my way up and foundmyself at Sony and a major.
In all these other companieshad amazing mentors, just got
very lucky and worked primarilyin the book to film department,
so working with writers andauthors and directors.
And then had a experience whereI went on a scuba diving trip
(08:49):
to South Africa, sardine Run.
At the time I was 24 and I wasalways the good Asian daughter,
went to school, got good grades,got a good job, did things my
parents would be proud of.
I just felt like there was more.
There was more out there.
So it was quitting my job andembracing something that scared
(09:13):
the living hell out of me, whichwas the unknown.
I think a lot of people feelthat way, when they're in deep
water, people joke like, oh, Ijust don't know what's down
there.
And that was what was soterrifying to me.
It was the unknown ocean, theunknown life.
This travel writer named RolfPotts.
He talks about this concept Ifyou go out with predetermined
(09:34):
expectations of what you want,the best that could ever happen
is you fulfill thoseexpectations.
But if you go out there openingyourself to the unknown, so
much more could happen, and Ithink that that really resonated
with me.
Jason Elias (09:48):
Well, I fully respect the courage it takes to
see a different life and thentake the step to embrace it.
That is a step that most,including me, might be hesitant
to take.
So I give you much respect andI want to return to that trip a
little later to get a deeperunderstanding of what really
(10:08):
happened for you.
But I also want to talk abouthow I heard about you originally
.
There was an article in theHollywood Reporter, an industry
magazine, about your dive club,hollywood Sharks.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about that, because I just
love the idea.
Pier Nirandara (10:26):
Yes, so Hollywood Sharks is a scuba
diving club, or a diving clubfor people who are in the
industry, who love the ocean andwho dive.
There's all levels of divers.
You don't have to be a crazyadvanced scuba diver to be part
of it, and ultimately it's aboutbridging the gap between the
ocean and film, and the goal isto make movies that help with
(10:51):
themes of conservation and lovefor the ocean and the
environment, without beingpreachy, but to also stop making
killer shark movies and killeranimal movies that vilify
creatures of the blue.
So much of Hollywood.
If you strip away the fame, youstrip away the money.
Chasing it is creative peoplecoming together to tell stories,
and there is somethingbeautiful about that.
(11:12):
So I always thought that ifHollywood execs could have
tennis clubs and golftournaments, why couldn't we
have our own water society?
That's where it came from.
Jason Elias (11:23):
That's so great and I cannot wait to go diving with
you All right.
So you mentioned this seminaltrip to South Africa that
changed your life forever, andI'd love to hear a bit more
about that story and what it isabout that trip in particular
that was so deeply impacting.
Pier Nirandara (11:43):
So this was 2018 , on the wild coast of South
Africa, which historically wasknown as the Trans Sky, where
black people were forciblyremoved and put during apartheid
.
So insanely beautifullandscapes, but tragic history.
I'm 24 years old.
(12:04):
I'm there for a diving tripsupposed to be a week long.
The sardine run is the biggestmigration in the world.
It's larger in scale in numberof animals than the Serengeti
and the Maasai Mara, moresardines than wildebeest, and
every year around June-July time, the sardines migrate up the
coast in South Africa, chasingwater currents, and with them
(12:26):
come the predators that huntthem Sharks, dolphins, whales,
birds you can even get penguinsthere sea lions.
I went there on the diving tripthat felt like it lasted forever
, but it was really only oneweek long, and I joked that I
went from swimming with sharksand Hollywood to swimming with
actual sharks, because Iremember being on this little
(12:52):
rubber boat whizzing up and downthe wild coast.
It's pouring rain, there'scrazy waves and you're looking
for diving birds, because whenagain it's dived, that's a sign
that there are bait balls, andthat's what we're here to see.
(13:12):
And there's one specific daywhere we find a bait ball and it
seems static enough that we canmaybe jump in.
And I remember the boat pullingup next to the bait ball and
I'm in my year, ready to go, andthe guide says, ok, ready.
(13:32):
When I say jump, you jump.
And then, when he says jump, Ilook over and there's this
bronze whaler shark.
It must have been over twometers long.
That's just feeding on thisbait ball.
Now there's a shark and theguide yells out isn't that what
you're here for?
So I jump in and it's freezingcold because that's what the
(14:02):
sardines like.
They're chasing the cold watercurrent.
So once the temperature dropsat a certain level, that's when
the sardines are running thewater is rough.
I'm bopping up and down in thecold, cold water.
There are sharks everywhere andit's just like pure adrenaline
(14:22):
rush.
You peer down into the gloomand there's huge sharks chomping
on these bait balls and witheach chomp comes an explosion of
glittering scales coming out oftheir gills.
It's pretty crazy.
And I'm there with my cameratrying to decide how close do I
(14:45):
dare get to these animals,because the one thing you never
want to do is swim into a baitball because you could be
accidentally bitten, trying tostill breathe through the
snorkel, choking on saltwater,being cold, your heart's
pounding.
You're like that sharkdefinitely knows I'm here, but
(15:09):
then realizing they don't carethat I'm here.
They're not here for me,they're here for the sardines.
And around you you also hear thethump of birds bandits that are
diving, so every time they hitthe water they're like missiles.
You hear like the thud, thud,thud, thud of the birds around
you that are literally swimmingdown and eating fish.
(15:31):
The dolphins are around, whichherd the bait balls into these
tight balls, and the thudsactually are what draw the
sharks from the blue.
And then you might see penguinwhiz by and the birdish whale
come up and just chomp the wholeball.
So everything is working as onemajor ecosystem.
It's just a huge frenzy andyou're in the middle of it.
(15:56):
But once the frenzy was over,the one moment that I remember
was actually the way the oceanlooked afterwards.
It's glittering with fishscales Because the sharks
disappeared, the bait balls goneand there's like an odd sardine
here and there that survived,but ultimately you are in the
(16:20):
endless blue, floating in agalaxy of stars.
The beauty of it is that it'stransient.
It can never be static.
We look for the bait ball, butit disappears, and that's what
makes it beautiful.
It felt like a microcosm forthe larger metaphor of life.
(16:45):
The fact that I went out toAfrica not knowing what I would
find is that I was able to findthe right place to live.
I went out to Africa notknowing what I would find and
discover.
I think it was a lot ofuntangling my own biases of the
way that I was supposed to leadmy life and it was just a very
(17:13):
big change in my not just lifetrajectory but also my
relationship to the ocean.
Jason Elias (17:31):
Finally, we end every interview and every
episode with a single open-endedquestion.
We ask everyone we talk to whatdoes the ocean mean to you?
Pier Nirandara (17:42):
To me, the ocean is everything.
I've spent my entire lifetimetrying to put it into words,
this connection to the ocean.
I think I'll probably spend therest of my life trying to do
the same type of thing.
Jason Elias (17:57):
Thanks for listening to the Big Deep
podcast.
Next time on Big Deep.
Susan Casey (18:03):
In order to understand the Earth, we have to
know her.
She is 98% ocean and 95% deepocean.
So I wanted to go downwards,because the journey inward it's
a journey into darkness, it's ajourney into the unknown, but
it's also a journey into thelife force of the planet.
(18:24):
And the underworld is, in fact,where the treasures are.
Jason Elias (18:28):
We really appreciate you being on this
journey into the Big Deep as weexplore an ocean of stories.
If you like what we're doing,please make sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Also, please find us on thesocials where you can like and
comment, because thosesubscribes, likes and comments
really make a difference.
For more content from ourinterviews in our series, photos
of every guest or just to getin touch, please reach out at
(18:48):
our website, bigdeepcom Plus.
If you know someone you thinkwe should talk to, please let us
know at our Big Deep website,as we are always looking to hear
more stories from interestingpeople who are deeply connected
to our world's oceans.
Thanks again for joining us.
Hi and welcome to the Big Deep podcast.
Big Deep is a podcast aboutpeople who have a connection to
the ocean, people for whom thatconnection is so strong it
defines some aspect of theirlife.
Over the course of this serieswe'll talk to all sorts of
people and in each episode we'llexplore the deeper meaning of
(00:29):
that connection.
Today I speak with an author,film producer and underwater
photographer who shares how themagic of a single moment in the
ocean changed the trajectory ofher entire life.
Hello, this is your host, JasonElias.
Welcome to the Big Deep podcast.
In today's episode I speak withaward-winning author, film
(00:54):
producer and underwaterphotographer, Pier Nirandara.
Pier's connection to the oceanstarted as a young girl growing
up in Bangkok, thailand, withweekend family trips to a nearby
beach house.
Her time there sparked aninterest in storytelling, which
led her to writing a trilogy ofnovels about mermaids when she
was just 15 years old and,remarkably, all three novels
went on to be number onenational bestsellers in Thailand
(01:15):
.
From there, her path took herto college in the US and a
successful career as a filmproducer at studios in Hollywood
.
But her connection to the oceannever left her, and I first
heard about her in an article inthe Hollywood Reporter about a
private dive club she hadstarted for studio executives in
the entertainment industry,which she called Hollywood
Sharks.
So I reached out to Pierre andshe responded immediately, as
(01:37):
she was always open to raisingawareness around the world's
oceans.
And of course, the interviewwas fantastic.
Pierre was thoughtful, funnyand kind and over the course of
our interview Pierre discussedwhere she initially found that
connection with the water, thesurprising parallels between
aspects of the world's oceansand her inspiration for
literature, and an unexpectedlife-changing moment she had in
(01:59):
a sardine run off the coast ofSouth Africa.
Pier Nirandara (02:02):
My name is Pier Nirandara.
I'm originally from Bangkok,Thailand.
I'm an author, a film producerand an underwater photographer.
Jason Elias (02:11):
Right.
So I was, of course, veryexcited to speak to you, because
not only do you have a deepconnection to the ocean, but we
also both work in theentertainment industry.
So could you talk a bit aboutwhere you grew up and when you
first remember your connectionto the ocean?
Pier Nirandara (02:29):
I was very fortunate to grow up in a
country where the water is warmyear-round, it's like a swimming
pool.
We had a beach house that wewould spend a lot of time at in
Haua Hin, a very local beachsidetown that a lot of times houses
it, or apartments about twohours outside of Bangkok, and I
(02:53):
remember foraging for littleclams mussels these little I
don't even know what they'recalled in English, but they're
almost like tiny prawns thatlive in the sand and we would
bore them out with pieces offish and they would catch them
and then you cook them in Thaistyle.
So that's how I grew up, alwaysby the water.
My mom could never pull me outof it.
(03:14):
People would always ask likehow did you get into scoop dive
or how did you get into thewater?
It's like it was always thereand, looking back, it was such a
privilege to have, which youdon't notice at the time being a
kid, but it was a reallyidyllic childhood in the sense
of being based in Bangkok andthen getting to run away to the
solution for the weekend.
Jason Elias (03:35):
Right, and so you became a bestselling author at
age 15, which is trulyremarkable considering what I
think I might have been doing atthat age.
So can you talk about how thatcame about and what inspired you
to tell these stories, and whatimpact did that have on your
(03:55):
young life?
Pier Nirandara (03:56):
Yeah, I was 15 when it came out the first novel
and it grew into a trilogy.
I think it was about thefeeling that you get when you're
experiencing something largerthan life.
I wanted to impart that feelingonto someone else and share
that feeling of being alive, andthat was really what drew me
towards writing and storytellingand manifested itself in these
(04:18):
trilogy of children's books.
It's a fantasy series and it'sabout teenagers who find out
that they've been chosen tobecome the future ambassadors
between humans and mermaids.
The books did very well andthey were graphic novel
adaptations.
They've gotten options.
The characters and the audiencegrew up with me, which was
really cool.
So I got to tour schools andtalk about literature and the
(04:39):
importance of ocean andstorytelling to a lot of Thai
kids.
So that was a lot of my highschool career was doing that.
But it was really excitingbecause at the end of the day,
it all came from this love forstories and for the ocean and
wanting to impart that feelingon.
Jason Elias (04:55):
I still find that crazy that you did that at such
a young age.
It's just absolutely amazing.
And yet when you tell yourstory it kind of makes sense how
you got there.
So you grew up in Bangkok,which can sound so exotic to a
Westerner, but which youmentioned for you was simply
your hometown, and in a strangeway, growing up in such a big
(05:17):
city started your connection tobooks and to the ocean.
Can you talk a bit about thatand perhaps where you see
parallels between yourconnection to the ocean and your
inspiration for literature,even as an adult?
Pier Nirandara (05:31):
I mean, I'm an only child and I grew up in the
middle of this huge city, whichcan actually be quite lonely, so
I spent a lot of time with myown thoughts, surrounded by
books.
The library was the one placethat I could go and I didn't
(05:51):
have a spending limit, so Iliterally grew up just
surrounded by literature andalways in these dream worlds.
And when we talk about mermaidsa lot of people just think, oh,
childish fantasies.
But for me, looking back on itnow, it was actually the feeling
(06:12):
of longing, of the bittersweetness, the beauty of the
transience of the world, thesublime transcendence as the
romantics of call it.
I think a lot of writersprobably feel the same way, and
(06:33):
I think the ocean is a reallybig way that it manifests in
that sense of it is this otherworld that we dip our toes into.
It never lasts forever, it'salways transient, it's ever
changing and ultimately wealways have to leave.
(06:55):
To me, that's something that'svery beautiful and you don't
find that in a lot of otheravenues of life, I think.
Jason Elias (07:16):
Well, that's beautiful, and, as an artist
myself, I find it so intriguinghow I, too, find the creative
process to be similar to beingin the ocean.
There's a sense of letting goof something bigger than myself,
of trusting the world in a waythat something impacting will
arise, so that really resonateswith me.
(07:36):
So with that, you ended upworking in media and had an
incredible career.
But you also mentioned to mebefore we started, that a deep
realization came to you on adive trip you took and caused a
major change in your life.
Can you talk a bit about yourpath in Hollywood and what you
(08:01):
discovered that was so movingwhen you were in the ocean?
Pier Nirandara (08:06):
I always wanted to actually work in publishing
but, through a twist of fate,ended up at an internship in LA,
actually at a productioncompany, which completely
changed the trajectory of mylife.
I was like, oh my God, this iswhere I'm meant to be.
I want to tell stories.
I've always loved films, butHollywood was just this.
I mean, as a Thai kid which isso far off, I finally got my
(08:26):
foot on the door and thenstarted at ICM talent agency and
then was like mailroomassistant.
It worked my way up and foundmyself at Sony and a major.
In all these other companieshad amazing mentors, just got
very lucky and worked primarilyin the book to film department,
so working with writers andauthors and directors.
And then had a experience whereI went on a scuba diving trip
(08:49):
to South Africa, sardine Run.
At the time I was 24 and I wasalways the good Asian daughter,
went to school, got good grades,got a good job, did things my
parents would be proud of.
I just felt like there was more.
There was more out there.
So it was quitting my job andembracing something that scared
(09:13):
the living hell out of me, whichwas the unknown.
I think a lot of people feelthat way, when they're in deep
water, people joke like, oh, Ijust don't know what's down
there.
And that was what was soterrifying to me.
It was the unknown ocean, theunknown life.
This travel writer named RolfPotts.
He talks about this concept Ifyou go out with predetermined
(09:34):
expectations of what you want,the best that could ever happen
is you fulfill thoseexpectations.
But if you go out there openingyourself to the unknown, so
much more could happen, and Ithink that that really resonated
with me.
Jason Elias (09:48):
Well, I fully respect the courage it takes to
see a different life and thentake the step to embrace it.
That is a step that most,including me, might be hesitant
to take.
So I give you much respect andI want to return to that trip a
little later to get a deeperunderstanding of what really
(10:08):
happened for you.
But I also want to talk abouthow I heard about you originally
.
There was an article in theHollywood Reporter, an industry
magazine, about your dive club,hollywood Sharks.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about that, because I just
love the idea.
Pier Nirandara (10:26):
Yes, so Hollywood Sharks is a scuba
diving club, or a diving clubfor people who are in the
industry, who love the ocean andwho dive.
There's all levels of divers.
You don't have to be a crazyadvanced scuba diver to be part
of it, and ultimately it's aboutbridging the gap between the
ocean and film, and the goal isto make movies that help with
(10:51):
themes of conservation and lovefor the ocean and the
environment, without beingpreachy, but to also stop making
killer shark movies and killeranimal movies that vilify
creatures of the blue.
So much of Hollywood.
If you strip away the fame, youstrip away the money.
Chasing it is creative peoplecoming together to tell stories,
and there is somethingbeautiful about that.
(11:12):
So I always thought that ifHollywood execs could have
tennis clubs and golftournaments, why couldn't we
have our own water society?
That's where it came from.
Jason Elias (11:23):
That's so great and I cannot wait to go diving with
you All right.
So you mentioned this seminaltrip to South Africa that
changed your life forever, andI'd love to hear a bit more
about that story and what it isabout that trip in particular
that was so deeply impacting.
Pier Nirandara (11:43):
So this was 2018 , on the wild coast of South
Africa, which historically wasknown as the Trans Sky, where
black people were forciblyremoved and put during apartheid
.
So insanely beautifullandscapes, but tragic history.
I'm 24 years old.
(12:04):
I'm there for a diving tripsupposed to be a week long.
The sardine run is the biggestmigration in the world.
It's larger in scale in numberof animals than the Serengeti
and the Maasai Mara, moresardines than wildebeest, and
every year around June-July time, the sardines migrate up the
coast in South Africa, chasingwater currents, and with them
(12:26):
come the predators that huntthem Sharks, dolphins, whales,
birds you can even get penguinsthere sea lions.
I went there on the diving tripthat felt like it lasted forever
, but it was really only oneweek long, and I joked that I
went from swimming with sharksand Hollywood to swimming with
actual sharks, because Iremember being on this little
(12:52):
rubber boat whizzing up and downthe wild coast.
It's pouring rain, there'scrazy waves and you're looking
for diving birds, because whenagain it's dived, that's a sign
that there are bait balls, andthat's what we're here to see.
(13:12):
And there's one specific daywhere we find a bait ball and it
seems static enough that we canmaybe jump in.
And I remember the boat pullingup next to the bait ball and
I'm in my year, ready to go, andthe guide says, ok, ready.
(13:32):
When I say jump, you jump.
And then, when he says jump, Ilook over and there's this
bronze whaler shark.
It must have been over twometers long.
That's just feeding on thisbait ball.
Now there's a shark and theguide yells out isn't that what
you're here for?
So I jump in and it's freezingcold because that's what the
(14:02):
sardines like.
They're chasing the cold watercurrent.
So once the temperature dropsat a certain level, that's when
the sardines are running thewater is rough.
I'm bopping up and down in thecold, cold water.
There are sharks everywhere andit's just like pure adrenaline
(14:22):
rush.
You peer down into the gloomand there's huge sharks chomping
on these bait balls and witheach chomp comes an explosion of
glittering scales coming out oftheir gills.
It's pretty crazy.
And I'm there with my cameratrying to decide how close do I
(14:45):
dare get to these animals,because the one thing you never
want to do is swim into a baitball because you could be
accidentally bitten, trying tostill breathe through the
snorkel, choking on saltwater,being cold, your heart's
pounding.
You're like that sharkdefinitely knows I'm here, but
(15:09):
then realizing they don't carethat I'm here.
They're not here for me,they're here for the sardines.
And around you you also hear thethump of birds bandits that are
diving, so every time they hitthe water they're like missiles.
You hear like the thud, thud,thud, thud of the birds around
you that are literally swimmingdown and eating fish.
(15:31):
The dolphins are around, whichherd the bait balls into these
tight balls, and the thudsactually are what draw the
sharks from the blue.
And then you might see penguinwhiz by and the birdish whale
come up and just chomp the wholeball.
So everything is working as onemajor ecosystem.
It's just a huge frenzy andyou're in the middle of it.
(15:56):
But once the frenzy was over,the one moment that I remember
was actually the way the oceanlooked afterwards.
It's glittering with fishscales Because the sharks
disappeared, the bait balls goneand there's like an odd sardine
here and there that survived,but ultimately you are in the
(16:20):
endless blue, floating in agalaxy of stars.
The beauty of it is that it'stransient.
It can never be static.
We look for the bait ball, butit disappears, and that's what
makes it beautiful.
It felt like a microcosm forthe larger metaphor of life.
(16:45):
The fact that I went out toAfrica not knowing what I would
find is that I was able to findthe right place to live.
I went out to Africa notknowing what I would find and
discover.
I think it was a lot ofuntangling my own biases of the
way that I was supposed to leadmy life and it was just a very
(17:13):
big change in my not just lifetrajectory but also my
relationship to the ocean.
Jason Elias (17:31):
Finally, we end every interview and every
episode with a single open-endedquestion.
We ask everyone we talk to whatdoes the ocean mean to you?
Pier Nirandara (17:42):
To me, the ocean is everything.
I've spent my entire lifetimetrying to put it into words,
this connection to the ocean.
I think I'll probably spend therest of my life trying to do
the same type of thing.
Jason Elias (17:57):
Thanks for listening to the Big Deep
podcast.
Next time on Big Deep.
Susan Casey (18:03):
In order to understand the Earth, we have to
know her.
She is 98% ocean and 95% deepocean.
So I wanted to go downwards,because the journey inward it's
a journey into darkness, it's ajourney into the unknown, but
it's also a journey into thelife force of the planet.
(18:24):
And the underworld is, in fact,where the treasures are.
Jason Elias (18:28):
We really appreciate you being on this
journey into the Big Deep as weexplore an ocean of stories.
If you like what we're doing,please make sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Also, please find us on thesocials where you can like and
comment, because thosesubscribes, likes and comments
really make a difference.
For more content from ourinterviews in our series, photos
of every guest or just to getin touch, please reach out at
(18:48):
our website, bigdeepcom Plus.
If you know someone you thinkwe should talk to, please let us
know at our Big Deep website,as we are always looking to hear
more stories from interestingpeople who are deeply connected
to our world's oceans.
Thanks again for joining us.
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