Mighty Aphrodite (Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia)
Categories Personality Profiles, Published Works, Travel
NOTE: This is a late post, and I apologize to my editors for not promoting the November 2013 issue of T+L Southeast Asia early enough. But between dealing with the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) plus all the traveling we did in November, there hasn’t been much time to catch our breath!
Mighty Aphrodite
A young woman in the Philippines has made it her personal mission to save the seas. By Niña Terol-Zialcita
(Published in the November 2013 issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia)
Many little girls dream of becoming mermaids. Not too many, though, take the mission to heart.
Philippines-based Anna Oposa is different. Her business card reads “Founder and Chief Mermaid of Save Philippine Seas,” and at the tender age of 25, she has already helped expose a smuggling ring that poached the country’s waters for corals, sea turtles and other precious marine species; started an independent movement to protect aquatic resources across the archipelago; and taken her mission to the international stage as a Young Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum. This woman’s love of the ocean is so deep, all she’s missing are flippers. Here, we dive into her underwater and on-the-ground pursuits.
Which came first—your love of diving or your passion for conserving the environment?
When I was 19, I volunteered in a cleanup dive to be exempted from an exam, and I saw diapers underwater. That’s when I told myself I needed to do more.
The interests complement each other perfectly. I am reminded of what needs to be conserved every time I dive.
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This is an excerpt only. To read the full article, grab a copy of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia’s November 2013 issue.
