Life as an ocean explorer

Erika Bergman is a real-life National Geographic Ocean Explorer, a submarine pilot, a marine conservationist, an oceanographer AND an engineer. (How cool is that??) We talked with her about her life, work, oceans and sea creatures. She loves LEGO® sets, and she loves sea life – she’s a Sea Life Friend! We interviewed her while she was on an expedition in British Columbia, Canada. How is your submarine like our LEGO® Friends Submarine? They are a lot alike! They both have battery pods, thrusters with propellers and a big glass bubble. What kind of animals do you see when you go underwater in your submarine? When I go diving in my submarine, I see deep sea sharks, sea anemones and sea stars (or star fish). But there are bigger animals out here, too. We have killer whales, rock fish and octopuses. How do you become a submarine pilot? You can become a submarine pilot in so many different ways! The ocean is so big, you can become anything you want and have a career on the ocean. But if you really love the idea of piloting a submarine, you can make a good pilot if you have really good spatial awareness. If you’re an athlete, or you really like ballet, or you’re a skateboarder. That’s really cool! How can WE help sea life? I actually LOVE that question! There are SO many things we can do to protect our big, beautiful oceans, every single day. Imagine if you and all your friends picked up one piece of plastic waste a day, it would amount to billions of pieces of plastic that DON’T end up in the ocean one day. And our wildlife is so much safer for it. Thanks, Erika! We’ll start today! Are you ready to become a Sea Life Friend? Here’s how: 1. Push the purple pledge button 2. Download, print and sign the pledge to do your best to take care of the sea and all life inside it! Thank you for being an amazing Sea Life Friend!