Helene-Julie
Helene-Julie Zofia Paamand, an underwater photographer, scuba diving instructor, underwater ambassador and world traveller. With a true passion for photography, Helene-Julie shares stills of life below water to inspire and raise awareness of both the beauty of our oceans, but also the threats to them.
Helene-Jule has lived in Egypt, the Philippines and Mexico working as a diving instructor. Today, she is based in her home country, Denmark. Her journey towards becoming a self-renowned underwater ambassador started back in 2007 when she moved to Egypt. Originally, Helene-Julie was there to combine travelling with her previous career as an architect. Becoming a diving instructor had not been part of her original plan, but so much of it just made sense.
“So many pieces of the puzzle that is me, fell into place. And now, 14 years later, I am still completely addicted to the underwater world. The interesting thing is, we all are - if we realise so or not. As humans, we are 100 % dependent on a healthy and thriving ocean. It is our main life-supporting system.”
EVERY LITTLE COUNTS
Helene-Julie has made ocean conservation and sustainable living concepts part of all activities she engages in. Whether she is teaching diving, diving herself or taking photos, she spreads the word about the importance of our ocean and the biodiversity it holds. Helene-Julie carries a bag for trash collection on all her dives and even on most of her walks or sports activities on land. She has turned it into a habit, and it has become a gesture that is often appreciated by bystanders, which offers her an opportunity to engage them in her thoughts and actions.
“The rubbish I find is not only because of a few non-aware people throwing it around. It is a product of the very privileged and wealthy lifestyle we lead in a country like Denmark, where we have gotten used to waste management to be a governmental concern when in reality we are some of the heaviest consumers in the world.“
These ongoing thoughts, or as she calls them “obsessions”, have led her to arrange cleanup events in dive clubs, even in front of dive clubs. She feels that it is still a new thing, even for divers, that we all need to take personal responsibility for ocean waste. Helene-Julie tells us that divers might well be the best role models to educate others, but that everyone - diver or not - needs to feel that connection to the ocean, knowing the state of our waters, the different surfaces for different water activities.
“There is a whole community of potential underwater ambassadors, that I want to reach out to. My aim is to collaborate on many levels and join forces with people I meet in order to motivate all those of us that are fighting this fight, which at times can be quite lonely. With my underwater photography, I aim to show people not only the beauty but also the degradation and to put focus on life below water and how we impact it.”
CONNECTING TO THE OCEANS
Ocean awareness and leading a sustainable lifestyle have become increasingly important to our ocean hero over the years. Mostly due to the greater focus on these topics globally, and especially within outdoor sports communities, but also because her own experiences have shaped her beliefs. She tells us that seeing physical evidence of human impact or interference with nature has opened her heart to “feel nature’s pain”. “It has become my pain and I am willing to carry it, but will also do everything in my power to turn events around.”
The ocean is Helene-Julie’s safe place. She goes there to see the horizon and get a greater perspective; a bit like getting a reality check. She observes animals doing and gets a more grounded understanding of life than the one we have created in modern human society. “I believe our bodies, that are mainly made of water also react positively to being submerged in the element. So, there is a mental and bodily therapy in being in the water.”
OCEAN CHALLENGES WE CAN SOLVE
Our ocean hero believes that our biggest challenge when it comes to maintaining a healthy ocean comes from the changes in chemistry we have seen over the past decades.
“The heavy use of farming fertilisers and the intensity with which we release sewage water into the ocean has a mass destruction effect on the life underwater and the CO2 to oxygen exchange is impaired. With knowledge, we will be able to change the methods with which we produce food, but this development is happening all while the human population is INcreasing and DEcreasing our resources. Ocean trash and fish depletion are two other massive problems. But the good news is, that every one of us has the power to influence that from today!”
Helene-Julie’s most fond memory of the ocean was witnessing the Sardine Run in South Africa. This annual event happens when billions of sardines follow the colder currents heading North along the Eastern Coast of South Africa towards Mozambique. Along with them comes millions of predators amongst those thousands of gannets and dolphins and of course many sharks. A few local whales partake as well all whilst the humpback whales migrate north to breed and give birth. The Sardine Run is also called the biggest shoal on Earth, since nowhere else in the world are that many animals gathered in one place at once.
Being in the water as this “show” is on, is incredible because you get to witness each of these magnificent animals in action. They are not affected by your presence, but only there to hunt or get hunted. On most of my other underwater encounters, the animals are quite affected and often reserved about my presence, and I really don’t like encounters, where I feel that I disturb the locals.
Helene-Julie’s ocean heroes are.. sharks! She is very impressed by Dr Silvia Earle and Sir David Attenborough, as she feels that their voices have been commonly approved globally.
“We of course need heroes at all levels and each one of us can do a lot of positive reinforcement in our local network. But I am so aware of the problems we are facing on a global level, that I comfort myself knowing that there are voices and heroes out there that have a broader reach.”
#TAVAHA
Helene-Julie would like to thank the ocean for its beauty and for never giving up. She thanks the ocean for the oxygen she breathes, and for giving her meaning.
“Tavaha is a no brainer to me. By default we as animals must secure our survival and our habitat. The ocean is part of both.”
If she had to give three #tavahatips that one could start doing today, those would be:
Stop eating fish (unless you catch it yourself) and limit your meat consumption
Leave every place better than you found it, so pick up trash. It might not be yours, but it is ours.
Reduce single-use in any form and buy second-hand and local products.