The ocean is a vast and mysterious world teeming with life, yet much of it remains unexplored. In Episode 3 of Art Strategy Impact, podcast host Jess Coldrey speaks with marine biologist and educator Jessica Tran, known online as the "biologist with a lisp," who is dedicated to raising awareness about marine life in French Polynesia. Together, they explore the importance of marine conservation and the role that education plays in fostering a love for the ocean.

French Polynesia has over a thousand species of fish. Yet, to protect these creatures, we must first notice and understand them. Jessica shares her journey from a childhood spent near the ocean in New Caledonia. I wasn't an ocean baby - my love of the ocean actually doesn't come from my parents," she reflects, "they don't really like the sea, in fact my mother is from an island, but she can swim".

It was studying in Paris, over 100km from the sea, where Jessica was first inspired to become a professional diver and marine biologist. "The inspiring teachers and people I met sparked my curiosity and love for marine life", she added, reminiscing on her favourite lectures that influenced her path back to the ocean.

Takeaways

• Protecting marine life involves both big picture actions like reducing fossil fuels and local efforts like cataloguing species.

• Jessica's passion for marine life was influenced by her academic studies in Paris.

• Night snorkelling reveals unique marine species that are often under considered.

• Jessica's viral shark video highlighted the cultural significance of sharks in Polynesian culture.

• Traditional knowledge is crucial for marine conservation and should be preserved and shared.

• Social media can be a powerful tool for raising awareness about ocean conservation.

• Engaging young people in science requires creativity and connection to nature, not stagnant classrooms.

• Protecting local ecosystems on land is essential for ocean conservation, as all lands are connected to the ocean.

Podcast links

Sponsor | ⁠The Australian French Association for Innovation and Research⁠⁠ https://www.afran.org.au/ TikTok | ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@ArtStrategyImpact Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/artstrategyimpact/ LinkedIn | ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-coldrey/ Website | ⁠https://www.jesscoldrey.com⁠

Guest Details | Jessica Tran

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@labiologistequizozote

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jss_tran/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@labiologistequizozote

Transcript

Jess Coldrey (00:00)

The diversity of ocean life is unparalleled. In French Polynesia in the Pacific, there are over a thousand different species of fish. To protect them, there are many big picture things we can do like halting the use of fossil fuels, creating marine protected areas, and reducing plastic waste. Although on a local level, the first step in protecting marine life is often deceptively simple, naming and counting them. But who catalogues marine life?

and how. Often, this is a manual job done by expert divers who go beyond counting to make interventions, inform policy, and drive systematic changes to keep ecosystems thriving. Today, we are speaking to an inspiring marine biologist, diver, and educator from French Polynesia, la biologiste qui zozote the biologist with a lisp

I'm Jess Coldrey and you're listening to episode three of Art Strategy Impact, the podcast bridging disciplines to reimagine how we live, build and belong in harmony with nature. This mini series on ocean governance is generously supported by the Australian French Association for Innovation and Research.

Jessica Tran is a marine biologist and science communicator in Tahiti, French Polynesia, known for her fun and educational videos about ocean life.

She is also a professional diver with over 500 recorded dives where she restores the ecosystems to help preserve marine life. Online, Jessica helps young people around the world build skills to identify fish and corals. Both talented and informative, Jessica's popular videos explain how to identify local species in Latin, French, and the Tahitian language, Rio Tahiti. She presents their significance.

their role in the ocean, and behaviour patterns to raise awareness about conservation. Jessica is also passionate about inclusion. She cares deeply about the preservation of Polynesian culture and shares positively about her speech difference. Her nickname for herself is the biologist qui zozote the biologist with the lisp. Catchy, fun and authentic, exactly like the style of her videos. Welcome to the podcast, Jessica.

Jessica Tran (02:28)

Hello.

Jess Coldrey (02:31)

Nice to have you here.

Jessica Tran (02:32)

Me too!

Jess Coldrey (02:32)

So

coming from ⁓ a Vietnamese and Madagascan background, as I understand it, I know you grew up in New Caledonia and you now live and work in Tahiti. So I wanted to hear from you. How have these places and these cultures influenced your perspective of the ocean and marine life?

Jessica Tran (02:55)

⁓ So this is a very big question for me because it's like my relationship with the ocean and the sea it's very important for me and so I grew up in New Caledonia and I was born there and then I lived in the Réunion island and after I lived by Nice in the south of France when I was like a teenager

and my mom is from Madagascar and my dad from Vietnam but the love of the ocean doesn't come from my parents because they don't really like the sea ⁓ my mother is from an island but she can swim and I think it's like to live close to the ocean every day

in the island and like to meet people with cultures, with particular ⁓ relationship in every island. I think it's something that influenced me to build my own relationship with the marine life. So it's like the environment and the people that I met that...

put me like this curiosity and this love and this passion that I had for the marine life. ⁓

Jess Coldrey (04:31)

That's so interesting. you spent a bit of time near the beach growing up, but your parents didn't necessarily introduce you to the ocean. How did you find your way to becoming so connected with the ocean?

Jessica Tran (04:45)

So I think that ⁓ I've always been next to the ocean, but I was never conscious about it since I was in Paris for my studies. And then without ocean, without the sea, and with very gray weather. So I was like, when I live in Paris, I was like...

Well, without the ocean, it's very complicated for like the everyday life. ⁓ initially, I didn't want to be in the stereotype like, ⁓ I always live in the island, so I'm an ocean baby. No, I wasn't like that. And it was during my studies.

that I was studying the general biology and I wanted to connect more with things that passionate me and like wake up my curiosity and my favorite lectures during the university was the abut marine life. So I think that the academic theory ⁓

drive me to the passion for the marine life because when I was little it was just my background.

Jess Coldrey (06:24)

That's so interesting. suppose often the more we understand something the more we can appreciate it.

Jessica Tran (06:30)

Yes, I'm okay with that.

Jess Coldrey (06:32)

And you

must have had some really inspiring teachers to reawaken your interest in marine life.

Jessica Tran (06:41)

Mm-mm-mm.

Jess Coldrey (06:43)

Lovely. So I know there are so, so many beautiful plants and animals in the ocean, especially around Tahiti. Do you have any favourite species that you've seen?

Jessica Tran (06:54)

⁓ I have a lot. I have a lot, a lot. There's a lot of things that we can love ⁓ in French Bouniza in the water. I think the waters here is known for the big species like sharks, turtles. But I think there's so much more. And one of my favorite species is...

is all the genera montypora it's a chorus it's a hard choir and i love it because it's in an increasing form so it will like fit in the substrate and have the form of the initial environment so it was like he ⁓ it adapts itself to the

the environment and when you see closer you can see his polyps like the individuals of corals and it looks like teeny teeny margaret and i think it's very so so so pretty so it's one of my favorite genera in the marine life and the second is a little bigger but not that much it's an hermit crab

that you can see in tropical region in the world it's called it's the genera dardanus it's like the sea anemone hermit crab and it lives by night and they usually sleep and by night he can like run on the sand in the lagoon and it's very beautiful because he has like sea anemone on his shell

So he's very very charismatic and when he changes his shell he will keep the same anemone for his whole life. Like he will cut it and he will place it on a new shell. So it's like a very fascinating relationship between an hermit crab and a sea anemone and his...

Jess Coldrey (08:56)

Mmm.

Jessica Tran (09:22)

I think it's my two favorite Christmas season.

Jess Coldrey (09:24)

Wow!

I think the crab sounds particularly interesting. Do they change their shells often?

Jessica Tran (09:31)

the hermit crab I don't know the frequency but when he when it grows up he needs to more place so bigger shell that he can find in the lagoon so I think it depends on the life stage but yes he has to change it regularly and at each

change he needs to his cianemon for life.

Jess Coldrey (10:03)

Cool, and are these species you often see on your dives?

Jessica Tran (10:07)

There's two species

Jess Coldrey (10:08)

Yeah, your two favourites. Do you see them much?

Jessica Tran (10:09)

So

yes, Montipora is a very common species of corals here in French Bonaise. It's not the dominant one, but I think in each lagoon you can see it because it's so general with a lot of species. And Dardanus, we have two species here in French Bonaise. And by night, we only...

we can only see it by night and every time I do because I love snorkeling by night and every time I go swim in the lagoon by night I can see it so I think it's a very common too but nobody's talking about because it's not very common to go by night in the lagoon so I think all the species that we can meet

here in the darkness are underestimated.

Jess Coldrey (11:10)

Wow, I often think of the bottom of the ocean being quite dark but I've never thought about diving during the evening in general because I suppose in the lagoons it's quite shallow, there's usually probably a lot of light but I suppose maybe that makes species more easy to see by their predators so it makes sense that some of them would be coming out at night time.

Jessica Tran (11:36)

There are some like the hills and sharks but when you have like your... it's like a night dive when you go like for a night dive you have some security you have to do some security things to keep ⁓ it safe but like the risk is here by night and by ⁓ the day so...

You have to respect the distance between wildlife and yourself. You have to be more careful where you put your hands because maybe during the day, can like when you are in the current, you want to see something, you can grab dead corals. But by night, there's a lot of predators that we don't know. But it's ⁓ very... ⁓

How do we say? It can hide very well on the subtraction so you can see them so you have to be more careful because the animals that ⁓ show by night they are very venomous or ⁓ it can be dangerous so you have to be more careful but I think that you are in the darkness you have your light

So you have to focus on what you see on the light. You're not distracted with the rest because it's totally dark. And I think the focus is okay. Like psychology, you are like, I'm by night, I only see the light so I can focus. And for me, it's like the best feeling because it looks like you're in the moon. And you see lot of species that you don't usually see.

Jess Coldrey (13:19)

Yeah.

Jessica Tran (13:24)

So yes, you don't have to do it alone, but it's very good experience. And it's free, ⁓ not like night dive, so you can see marine life in the night without to pay. And with an extension of time because you are not with a dive tank, so you can do it hours and hours. So I think it's a very good experience. And we have to think about it.

and I have to go with, ⁓ but yes.

Jess Coldrey (14:00)

Wow, it sounds really interesting. So I'm picturing you, have you got like a snorkel on and a torch in your hands? Is that how you go? Okay.

Jessica Tran (14:10)

Yes, but maybe

we can go together one day here in the Laguna Freshmania.

Jess Coldrey (14:16)

One day. that sounds so lovely. And I'm trying to picture

as well, if I was on an evening dive looking around, does anything glow? know in some places things are bioluminescent. Is anything like that in Tahiti?

Jessica Tran (14:34)

Yes, there is, but I don't... I have like regular light, like I think that other fluorescent and bioluminescent animals work with blue light, so I don't have one, but yes, I saw some pictures and videos about the... for example, corals, but I have...

they have like a fluorescent protein and we can see it by night with a blue light and there's other things and I think the most relevant observation I did, it was in a blackwater dive, so blackwater dive is not like snorkeling by night.

you go far away from the coast and for the barrier reef between Tretien Malouir and you put like a big light on the boat and you stimulate the vertical migration of the plankton so you can see a lot of animals that come from the deepness very very deepness of the ocean and then you can see like

all little animals that that compose the plankton and can be bioreminiscent so it's very very very cool and you can see like all the it looks like aliens to me because there's a lot of species that i really don't know from the the deep ocean and yes you can see like fluorescent bioreminiscent and a lot of colors on the very very tiny things

So yes, I hope we can see together. ⁓

Jess Coldrey (16:25)

I

Sounds amazing! Absolutely! I have to come to Tahiti.

Wow, sounds amazing. So when this big light turns on and all the plankton come up, is it because all the fish are wanting to eat the plankton that they're coming as well? Is that why?

Jessica Tran (16:49)

Yes, you can see some predators ⁓ but I've never seen a big one like sharks or anything but I think it's the risk but I didn't do a lot of black dive in my life so I don't know. But you can see the babies of predators like you can see a very little

the larva stage of a lot of animals so you can there's a lot of things that i don't know about it because it's like the i'm i'm i usually work with the marine species and in the reef and around the reef but not on the deep ocean so it's totally new for me so

So yes, there's a risk, there's some predators that can come by, but I never see them.

Jess Coldrey (17:49)

⁓ Wow, there must be so much biodiversity.

Jessica Tran (17:53)

Yeah, but we don't know, I think there's like only one percent, a few percent of the ocean that we know, so I can't imagine all the things we don't know in the deep ocean. And the black dive is like a little sampling of what we can see. So it's very cool, but I think that not a lot of animals do this vertical migration.

So yes, have so much to discover about it.

Jess Coldrey (18:27)

Yeah, wow, that's amazing. I suppose as we were mentioning in the intro, as a diver, you're collecting a lot of data, you're tracking what species you're seeing, how many you're seeing. And I suppose it's so important to have this sort of information to help with conservation and to help with policy. So it's crazy to think that we only know a few percent of the ocean, but you're clearly doing a great job in your work.

helping to document what we do know and do see. And that leads me into my next question. So as an influencer on social media, I know you create lots of really engaging videos about different species watched by people around the world. So I'd love to hear what made you want to share your love of the ocean online.

Jessica Tran (19:00)

you

Yes, it's a big adventure. I began at the beginning of the year. So I have a background in NGO. So at the beginning of my career, I was marine biologist for the association Tamarie Pont des Pêcheurs. It's a little NGO in the west coast of Tracy.

And we welcomed a lot of children and a lot of people for marine sensibilization. it was where ⁓ I began to love to share my knowledge and share this passion with people. So I built these skills with this association.

And then I'm for now I work for a private constituency and then I'm only volunteer in the weekend for the NGO. So it was something that missed me in my everyday life. So I wanted to I wanted to keep this kind of transmission with the people and sharing this passion about marine life. So ⁓ one way ⁓

I wanted to do it was via social media. So I always love to do videos, but only in private for my friends and my family. And then I was like, okay, I can try it. So it's like a little challenge for me because I have like a speaking difference. And at the beginning, I was not very confident, but then I was like, okay. ⁓

I have to share a lot about marine life and I think that ⁓ Polynesian marine life is underrepresented in the social medias and in the audiovisual in particular. So I wanted to have this vision about ⁓ marine life in French Polynesia but also the cultural path.

Jess Coldrey (21:38)

it's great to hear about your inspiration. Thank you for sharing, And there's one video in particular I was really curious to hear about. I know one of your shark videos went viral and had over a million views around the world, which is amazing. Could you tell us a bit about what was in that video?

Jessica Tran (21:58)

Yes, so the shark videos is the second episode of a mini series that in English means ⁓ Discover Marine Life with me in Tahiti. So ⁓ I think that to put it like a mini series, it's engaging people to know every day or regularly a lot about Polynesian marine life. And the second episode was about the sharks.

very charismatic species in the world, in and in French Polynesia. So this epithelium was about to have not this vision that we all have about shark and biology, ecology of shark, but only on the cultural vision of shark because the sharks are very important in Polynesian culture.

And in the Mauhi culture, so in the Tahitian cultures, sharks can be like a taura. So I'm not Polynesian, so if some Polynesians see it and can correct myself, it's okay. And taura is like an emblematic animal that can be an ancestor or a symbology for a family.

and a lot of marine species can be that but in the ⁓ in the royal lineage of a family in Traite, the sharks is like the very powerful taura. So I was like talking about the notion of taura, in English it's very abstract but it's like, I tried my best and... ⁓

And so the shark can be a taura and it was a way for me to introduce people with the notion of taura in here that is very important here in French Polynesia. And I think that people were curious about sharks and then discover or think about ⁓ very strong about the Polynesian culture. So I think it's why there's a lot of engagement with this video. And I had also a lot of

about the way I speak. So I think it was like a cocktail that catch the curiosity of people like my way to speak, the sharks and the cultural vision of sharks in the French Polynesia. So I think it's like everything that put this video on the world.

Jess Coldrey (24:47)

Wow, I think it takes a lot of bravery to put yourself out there. you know, it's sad to hear that you got some negative comments as well. I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure you inspired and helped a lot of people as well. I suppose particularly around how different cultures see the ocean, I think in Western viewpoints, the way that we view the ocean and interact with the ocean,

It's not working and it's not sustainable and we need a new way to see the world. I think that understanding how cultures who've lived harmoniously with the ocean for such a long time, we can learn so much. I can imagine many people being curious about different ways to see and understand the animals around us.

Jessica Tran (25:38)

Yes, I'm okay with that because ⁓ I think the most common way to see marine life is in the Western scientific way and there's a lot of knowledge that are not ⁓ documented in the world about the vision and the traditional knowledge and it's a very, it's something very fragile. I don't know the words in English but like we can...

we can lost this knowledge with the generation by generation and I think it's very important to encourage ⁓ young islanders to share the knowledge to go talk with the elder people in the family and it was ⁓ for me the videos it's a way to encourage people to do it because I didn't have the chance to have ⁓

the knowledge of my ancestors because my parents come from their country to France and they didn't share their culture just so we can as a child be integrated in ⁓ the French society. So I think it's a way for me to reconnect with the

traditional knowledge of island people and the way for me to discover about it. So yes, I hope you can like add my scale to encourage people to be more curious about the cultural knowledge than the scientific knowledge. That is very important too, but the traditional knowledge are underrepresented and it's very important to talk and to...

to learn about it.

Jess Coldrey (27:36)

It's such a great mission to share. And I see that you often combine facts with fun and colour and excitement. And I'm curious to hear and how the way science is taught in schools. Do you think we need more engaging and fun ways to encourage young people to become scientists?

Jessica Tran (27:37)

Yes.

Yes, and I think that the way I edit my videos with fun facts and very colors and very catchy things, ⁓ it's something I did to catch attention of people and I think it works a lot on young people because I think that we are a generation with very very short time of concentration.

And in school, it's not very OK because we have like, it's like the Jules Ferry school, you have to sit and to listen to one person and don't participate in the lecture or the school like during the class. And I think...

There is a problem and now we can see the limit because we are a lot on social medias. We consume a lot of short formats, so short videos like only carousel of photos, etc. that don't need us to be concentrated for more than one minute. And I think that there's two problems. There's a problem that we consume too much medias on internet.

It's very paradoxical for me to say it because I participate on it. But I want to not only ⁓ for divertissement, but also for education content is very important to include their base in the question of content in this. Like we can say today, the brand-new machine. So and the second problem is that the traditional

school system today is not adapted for the young people because I think today young people need connection between humans and connection with nature and just to be sitting at a desk and listen to an adult that we can't always trust. So I think that there's a little...

there's like a transition to we have to do a transition between these two systems and yes I think that social media is a good way to catch attention and also to reconnect young people with the scientific indication that can be maybe boring in school so but there's a lot of creative contents that understand this and I think it's a way to

yes, to wake up the curiosity of young people.

Jess Coldrey (31:00)

I agree and I think science needs a rebrand as well. I didn't like science in school and I think when I was about 14 I stopped doing it and my teacher said, you never know, you you might be interested in the future, you should continue. I said no, I'm never going to be interested in science, it's so boring. And then I ended up doing a masters in science and

I think I just didn't know that being a scientist is about being an explorer and being an investigator and coming up with sometimes crazy ideas and testing them and building a process and a system to try things and figure things out. And I think the role of imagination in that, in, yeah, like you said, connecting with the world around you, understanding how it is and how it could be and the information that can bridge the gap and being

curious and excited and hungry to find that information, find that knowledge, uncover how things work. I mean, it's not how the classroom feels, is it? Often we're asked to memorize things and to recite things for tests. And I think that creativity and that sense of connection is something that is really missing from Western science.

Jessica Tran (32:04)

Mm-mm.

Yes, I'm okay with that. And I think there's also like the very elitist ⁓ form of science when we are young, like ⁓ only the science class are valued like the mathematics and biology. And we when

when a child is like, ⁓ I only like letters and language and learn different languages, a ⁓ lot of parents are like, no, there's so much more future with scientific knowledge than with the other knowledge or artistic knowledge, for example. And I think that there's this problem too, like...

⁓ We put a lot of pressure on children with science class that are very elitist and not very sexy. I think that most of us were wanting to go on science as children because our parents ⁓ share with us these things that if you want to success in life you have to go...

to our science, not for passion, but for success. And I think there's something we have to, I don't know the English words of deconstruction, like you have to rebrand it and rethink about it. So yes, there's a lot of mixed things about science. But today you are a scientist.

Jess Coldrey (33:56)

Mm-hmm.

Jessica Tran (34:09)

You see, like you said, it's very cool to be an explorer. And if I was a child and people say to me, science makes you an explorer. So yes, every child will go to science.

Jess Coldrey (34:25)

Of course and it's so true what you said about what parents say as well of like it's a practical subject like you need to do it if you want a good job they don't say you know ⁓ like when you make something in art class ⁓ did you have fun it looks amazing like did you enjoy it and why this color and why that color like the curiosity and the excitement we need to bring that to to science as well and uncover that ⁓ yeah that excitement because it is exciting.

Jessica Tran (34:31)

Mm.

Mm-mm. I'm okay with it.

Jess Coldrey (34:58)

Cool, so my next question for you Jessica is, and this ties into your TikTok handle which I'll link in the comments for the viewers, ⁓ on TikTok you call yourself ⁓ labiologesquizozote, the biologist who lisps and I wanted to ask you if you have any advice for other people who have a difference or want to be more authentic.

How do you embrace who you are and how you share your ideas with the world?

Jessica Tran (35:33)

⁓ It was very difficult for me to expose myself on social medias with this difference because I had a lot of comments but ⁓ thanks to life, these comments didn't reach me because I think that a lot of people with little or big differences know that we grew up with ⁓

mockery and comments about our differences. So we are conscious about our differences. And I think that as an adult, it buys some self-confidence, but we have to abide with everyday life, not only as a teenager, but also as an adult. And for me, the...

The best things to do is to, I know it's easier to say it than to do it, but just to accept our differences is very, very important because we are in the society, not only like in the real life, but I saw on social media that there is a lot, it means diversity and a lot of people want to do like the same things, look alike.

⁓ the same like the It's always the same thing. So I think that some diversity is very risky because you expose yourself to to do to do differently that than a majority of people but I think it's a it's a kind of richness loop because ⁓ You can show that a human being

Jess Coldrey (37:05)

you

Jessica Tran (37:28)

can be very different. I think that people with little or big differences can be ambassadors of this difference because like I said, we don't see a lot of people that represent this difference on the social media. So if you don't see it, be the first one and be the ambassador of people that maybe can't.

don't want to express themselves or share their passion just because they have differences. So I think it's very important for me to see it like we are an ambassador of one difference. So we can show people with the same difference and not feeling alone too because in my comments I have a lot of people that said they have a lisp too but they don't...

They don't want to do talk and they don't want to do videos because of it. But I was like, it doesn't have to stop you from ⁓ what you want sharing and it has to be your force.

Jess Coldrey (38:45)

that's so inspiring and it's amazing that you've been able to connect directly with other people with a speech difference as well and give them a bit more encouragement and a bit of a push to maybe share their own voices and their passion as well. yeah, kudos to you, that's fantastic and I'm sure you will inspire not just people with speech differences but

all sorts of people in whatever way they're different to be authentic and to share and to focus on putting their passion first. And I think that's amazing. So well done. And one final question for you today, Jessica. I know a lot of people are interested in the ocean, but they don't necessarily live on an island or live close to the beach. So what's something that listeners can do to help protect the ocean?

Jessica Tran (39:17)

You

Jess Coldrey (39:38)

even if they don't live close by.

Jessica Tran (39:40)

⁓ we can do a lot of things because we are in the era of Internet so I think we can share a lot of things and social medias can be a way to ⁓ raise awareness about the the ocean protection but ⁓ if we don't live close to the ocean I think the

The best idea is to raise awareness from where we are because all the lands are connected to ocean. to see like if you are not on an island and you live like in the land without a sea around it, you can like ⁓ see what various rivers connected to ocean over ecosystems.

And to be engaged to protect this ecosystem is also very important to protect the ocean because everything is connected. So I know it's very sexy to be like, yes, I love the ocean. I want to be a mermaid. Yes, it's very sexy. But I think we forgot a lot of the terrestrial biodiversity too.

Jess Coldrey (40:55)

You ⁓

Jessica Tran (41:08)

And I think this is very important and we have to do more often the connection between the land biodiversity and the marine biodiversity. So if people don't live next to the island, they need to protect the ocean system that are around them. And this is the most important. And we need also to be very careful of this vision of...

⁓ why we want to protect the ocean. Is it because it's very sexy to be next to coral reefs and yes, there's like, I think there's a, I don't know what the term is, like a good image of protecting the ocean. Why is it ⁓ less sexy to protect the land biodiversity? So

I think there's ⁓ a colonization view and a Western view on protecting the ocean. So we have to be careful as Western people to be, how do you say, conscious about it. But the first thing is to protect the ocean system around us. We ⁓ don't really... ⁓

Jess Coldrey (42:12)

Mm.

Jessica Tran (42:35)

I'm not, I don't really believe in little, little like ⁓ gesture of everyday life to protect. I think we have to connect as a group. I think we have to be engaged in the political scales. We have to reach our voices of people to protect ecosystems in general. So I think that the...

The best way to protect nature is to connect as a group and raise the voices for the protection of nature. And I think it's the best thing we can do today.

Jess Coldrey (43:18)

Amazing, thank you so much. That's all super helpful. I suppose, yeah, people who are far from the ocean don't think you're disconnected from it because pollution, chemicals, local ecosystems, rivers, they're all flowing to the ocean. So it's more connected than you think. And exactly like you said, focusing on local advocacy, policies of where you are that affect the ocean and building community.

with other people as well is such an important proponent of making change. You don't have to fly to another country and be in the coral reef to do something for the ocean. Everything is connected beautifully like you explained. So that's all so inspiring. Thank you for sharing today Jessica and telling us all more about your work and what life is like as a marine biologist in Tahiti. So with that, I'd like to thank you for being on the podcast today and

Stay farewell.

Jessica Tran (44:18)

Yes, thank you Jess for inviting me and it was my first podcast in English so thank you for this challenge and thank you for the interest in my story and it was a very good pleasure. Bye!

Jess Coldrey (44:34)

Thanks, Jessica.