Menu

Divers and Dreamers | At Last Light, Bream Cove


In the September twilight at Bream Cove we were joined by marine biologist and filmmaker Inka Cresswell, author Wyl Menmuir, freediver Emma Harper, and writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright. Read and listen to a snapshot of the compelling coastline conversations from the evening...

By: Ellie Russell,   2 minutes

"With all the work I have done around the world it's when you get those local communities that are genuinely invested into their local spaces that we can have the biggest impact." Inka Cresswell

"If we can get people to mentally connect with the ocean it’s life-changing for so many people. [...] There’s so many people in our freediving tribe who are autistic or ADHD [who] are all trying to find that solace, that peace." Emma Harper

"The ocean isn't accessible to everyone and that’s why I love photography and film because I get a chance to make it accessible. You have to take that step to bring it to those people to show them and understand that not everyone can put on a scuba tank and a mask and go and look for themselves. Sometimes you need to be able to bridge that gap and I think that’s really important." Inka Cresswell

"There is something about being from somewhere like Stockport, where (as I say in the book) they like water so much that they concreted over the river Mersey - to make way for the Mersey Way shopping centre. And so our only experience of water was this sort of polluted, more like gap-underneath-Asda in the middle of Stockport where we’d watch the shopping trolleys that had been dumped over the side of the bridge. There’s no zealot like a convert. It was that thing that I didn’t have." Wyl Menmuir

"The reality with something like freediving is you can’t really embrace it and enjoy it until you understand it." Emma Harper

"The physical ocean presents itself as potential to have a cure for you, a cure for what ails you. If you let the ocean hold you up rather than fighting it, it can be something that supports you." Octavia Bright

Listen to scientist, activist and filmmaker Inka Cresswell talk about her ocean work

StrangerCollective · In conversation with Inka Cresswell

"If you can become an ambassador for the nature that is around you, then that is such an important and vital thing. Because that is the thing that you are best positioned to protect." Inka Cresswell

+ Find out more about speakers from the At Last Light event

+ Images Hazel Beevers (@HazelBeeves)

+ Join the League of Strangers community and be the first to hear about upcoming events and training opportunities.

Latest Stories