AMNA NAWAZ: Free diver and ocean conservationist# Hanli Prinsloo has spent her life helping others## connect with the ocean and understand# our responsibility to care for it.

Here, she shares her Brief But Spectacular# take on protecting what we love.

HANLI PRINSLOO, Ocean Conservationist:# Something I love sharing with people## is that our bodies are 70 percent# water; 70 percent of the surface## of our planet is ocean.

Our tears have the# same salinity as the ocean.

We are water.

And I truly believe that we protect what we love# and that, when something we love is threatened, we## act.

I grew up on a horse farm outside Pretoria in# South Africa, and my childhood consisted of riding## horses bareback, climbing the tallest trees,# catching frogs, and listening to owls at night.

I had two rules, come home before# the sun sets and don't die.## Some of my earliest memories# are of wanting to be a mermaid,## exploring the dams on the farm, the rivers,# that stillness of being below the surface.

Free diving came to me later in my life.# Free diving is when you go down on one## breath and swim underwater holding your# breath.

In my mind, the penny dropped,## and I was like, that is what# I have been wanting to do.

There's a small village on the southeastern# cape of the Baja Peninsula called Cabo Pulmo,## where the jackfish that school there are# about this size and there are thousands## of them.

And when you get in the# water, you just see this ball of## silver underneath you.

And as you dive# down, it opens up and swallows you.

And suddenly you can't see the surface# of the water, you can't see around you,## you can't see the bottom, and you're surrounded# by this swirling, living cloud of fish.

It feels## like I've dived into the center of our world, of# our planet and become something other than myself.

The ocean has not been a place for# everyone in South Africa.

And in 2010,## I started the I Am Water# Ocean Conservation Foundation,## wanting to share the ocean with more than# the few who get to go into the water.

And for many of the young children# we work with, it is the first time## anybody in their extended family have# had this experience.

And it's empowering.## My dream is to instill in my children some of# the wildness I got to experience as a child,## whether it's the fascination and reverence# of an inchworm on a plant in our garden or## the absolute majesty of a kelp forest# soaring from the bottom to the surface.

I want them to always remember that they are wild.

My name is Hanli Prinsloo, and this is my Brief# But Spectacular take on protecting what we love.

AMNA NAWAZ: As always,## you can watch more Brief But Specta..