You may not immediately recognize his name. But, no doubt if you’ve ever picked up a National Geographic or watched one of their specials you have probably admired his work .. Jon Bowermaster is a writer and filmmaker for National Geographic.

He has just returned from an exploration of Antarctica by sea kayak, foot, sailboat and small plane. His documentary – “Terra Antarctica, Re-Discovering the Seventh Continent” – will be released later this spring. Bowermaster has seen the world from a sea kayak and has a deep appreciation for health of the world’s
oceans. And, is profoundly aware of their importance for the nearly 3 billion people around the globe who depend on them. His biggest concerns are: Climate change, overfishing, and plastic pollution. His 2007-2008 Antarctic expedition was the final in his OCEANS 8 project, which over the past decade has taken him and his teams around the world by sea kayak, including
expeditions to the Aleutian Islands, Vietnam, French Polynesia, Chile/Argentina/Bolivia, Gabon, Croatia and Tasmania.

Bowermaster says he has known since he was 15 years old that he wanted to become a writer and has worked at daily newspapers and national magazines. Along the way he has had some truly amazing assignments: “ Roaming East Africa with Peter Beard for the bulk of six months. Shacking up at the end of a mud road in Nicaragua, with a happy gang of Sandinistas. Traveling Chile north to south and back again during the 1990s, just after Pinochet had left office.

Having a front row seat to changes in Antarctica during the past two decades. And more and more and more … I’ve had the good fortune to publish two collections of non-fiction stories – Alone Against the Sea and Wildebeest in a Rainstorm – which I flick through often just to remind myself how lucky I’ve been to see the world and travel it with a wideranging cast of characters.” He has visited close to 200 countries and over 80 different territories.

But, says he has a particular interest in the lands and culture of French Polynesia. Bowermaster shared some time with us and answered a few of our questions. What sparked your passion for ‘adventure’? For me, storytelling came before adventure … so from the beginning, whether it was first descents of rivers in Chile and china or long sea kayak expeditions, my goal has always been to go somewhere, have some experience, in order to bring back a unique story … in words, pictures and video….

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