Have you heard of The Marine Detective?
Much like Sherlock Holmes, she’s an undercover VanIsle celebrity—and a true embodiment of West Coast values.
Jackie Hildering is her name, and the mysterious underwater world is her game.
She’s a biology teacher, underwater photographer, and humpback whale researcher who’s been teaching about the ocean for years.
She posts about everything from sea slugs to our coastal whales, to species we should know but don’t (nudibranchs?), and species that aren’t even named yet!
If it’s in the water, she’s out there learning, documenting, and teaching so we can become more aware of the astounding beauty and magic all around us.
Her goal is simple: when people know more, they care more. And our oceans are in need of a lot more care.
By spreading knowledge and appreciation for all these species and how they interact with each other, she’s creating a movement to encourage all of us to do our part. If we do, we ensure action is taken to keep our waters full of life.
“May the knowledge motivate, not lead to fear and paralysis which perpetuates the problem. It truly is the case that if you are not contributing to solutions, you are part of the problem. Care more. Connect more. Consume less,” she said in a posting.
As she’s raising awareness of our coastal ecosystems, more awareness is being raised of her.
Her photographs have just been featured in a new exhibit, “Seaweed: Mysteries of the Amber Forests” at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in Sidney.
“I am choking up at typing that. I have never seen my photos printed that big and am massively moved that they are part of this education aimed at increasing awareness and action for algae,” Hildering said on Facebook.
Kelp is just one of our many keystone species here on the coast.
Changing temperatures are impacting the health of our kelp forests. So are other changes, like more frequent and stronger winds that can rip away more kelp.
Her photographs show the true beauty of these underwater gardens. Hopefully they’ll help more people to realize just how important they are.
If you can’t make it down Island to see them in person, you can find hundreds of Jackie’s stunning photographs on her blog, along with descriptions of all these mind-boggling creatures.
You can also check out her work with the Marine Education and Research Society. They run hundreds of research projects that contain a whole degree’s worth of info on our coastal waters.
And they can teach you what you can do to defend our coastal waters.
