About

Some years ago, I fulfilled a dream to work as a guide in Antarctica.
Towards the end of my time working 'down south', I was peering over the edge of an inflatable rubber boat and down through glassy seas that were uneerily silent.

The water beneath began to swirl. A mirage-like leviathan shape slowly materialised.
The ocean now exploded in a display of white-water, followed by an airborne spray that reeked of pungent, off-tuna breath. Humpback whale. Now at the surface, this magical creature rotated slowly so that its colossal eye firmly fixed its gaze on me—all less than a metre away.

My eyes widened. Perhaps I missed a breath. My heart pounded. For a few moments, it seemed this whale was peering into something much more profound than my own eyes. We were observing one another.  Unexpectedly yet serenely came a knowing; a feeling of being connected to all other life in the ocean.

Something resonated in my body that day that persists today. Along the way, through continued observation, a listening from within and curiosity, I continue to feel humbled with a responsibility to act for Nature. Through collaborative teaching and learning can we redevelop that capacity.

Along the way, elders, mentors, creative artists, young, wise ones and Mother Nature herself remind me of what a gift it is to help Nature repair. It's an often-indescribable feeling. Much like the all-knowing gaze from a Humpback whale's eye, again and again.

Stephen Curtain, Australia 2026.