Dr. Sylvia Earle

Affectionately known as Her Deepness, Sylvia Earle is THE dive iconic that every scuba diver knows. Born in 1935, she is an American marine biologist and has been an Explorer-In-Residence for National Geographic since 1998.

Sylvia Earle was the first woman to become a chief scientist of the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and has received more than 100 national and international honors. She works constantly to raise public awareness of the threats to the global ocean caused by overfishing and pollution. She established Mission Blue to explore and protect the ocean and aims to create a network of marine protected areas or ‘Hope Spots’ around the globe. Sylvia Earle is paving the way for a healthy and protected global ocean for all to enjoy.

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Dottie Frazier

Dottie Frazier may be less well-known to some than Sylvia Earle but she has a remarkable history as a scuba diver and a number of firsts to her name in the scuba industry. In 1955, Dottie Frazer became the world’s first female scuba diving instructor and is also the first female hard-hat diver, plus the first female to own and operate her own dive shop. She has worked with the United States Navy to design wetsuits and drysuits for the military, and recreational divers, and is a living dive icon for all women to be inspired by.

Valerie Taylor

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1935, Valerie Taylor started diving and spearfishing in 1956-60 and won several Australian championships for ladies in both disciplines. She met her husband Ron Taylor during her time spearfishing and they went on to make a living through underwater videography and photography. Valerie and Ron Taylor inspired author Peter Benchley to create the iconic book Jaws and the Taylors were involved in capturing footage for the film of Jaws.

Valerie and Ron Taylor have been credited with being the first people to film great white sharks without the protection of a cage and were the first to film sharks at night. Valerie has been presented with numerous awards and has been instrumental in creating a generation of ocean advocates and shark fans around the world.

Jillian Morris-Brake

Jillian Morris-Brake is a scuba diving instructor, marine educator, shark conservationist, and founder of Sharks4Kids. She is based at one of the top shark diving destinations in the world, The Bahamas, and works hard to teach the next generation about sharks, shark science and marine conservation.

Jillian created Sharks4Kids in 2012 with the aim of creating her own shark education program and to provide free online educational materials for teachers and students. The organization has grown and Jillian visit schools, does Skype lessons, Google Hangouts, and captures beautiful shark photography to educate and inspire others to speak up and make a difference. Sharks4Kids has so far connected with over 60,000 students in 44 countries and 48 US states.

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Sarah Richard

You may not have heard of the name Sarah Richard but you’ll surely know the hugely popular Girls That Scuba. Sarah Richard is the founder of Girls That Scuba; an online community and resource that is now the largest female scuba diving community in the world. There are over 16,000 women in the community and it is growing fast.

Part of the reason Sarah Richard set up Girls That Scuba was to offer a place to discuss the challenges of diving as a woman in a male-dominated industry, such as not being able to find well-fitting equipment and finding other females to dive with. Sarah has been part of the #MeToo movement by setting up a forum to help other women share their negative experiences of the dive industry and is passionate about supporting women in diving.

This article was written by divers and writers at LiveAboard.com.