Ireland’s Underwater World | National Geographic

[Music] [Applause] [Music] The first time I saw it, I just thought, "Oh, how my father would have loved this." Growing up, I was mesmerized by Cousteau films from the underwater world, and I thought, "Well, that couldn't be Ireland; that must be some exotic place in the [Music] tropics." But I was wrong.

[Music] When I find myself in this hypnotic world, surrounded by amazing, curious creatures and staggeringly beautiful habitats, I feel compelled to document what I see, what I [Music] feel. Time slows down when you free dive, time to interpret this world, these animals. But it's not important what they think of me or how they react to [Music] me.

Diving in the Janary Atlantic isn't easy, and sometimes in quiet moments, I wonder why I do this. When you're too young to trust the future, you don't realize that your passion can't burn forever. I won't always be strong, but knowing that makes it burn twice as bright.

I'm mesmerized by storms, drawn to the edge of one world to bathe in the rugged beauty of another. The North Atlantic seas that pound us ultimately bring fertility and new waves of life. Sometimes it's darkest just before the dawn.

I spend hours just observing the creatures, observing the ecosystem. You go away, and you read, and you think about it, and sometimes, sometimes the key just seems to turn in the lock. You sense it, and you feel it at an emotional level that everything is connected.

[Music] [Music]