Catching Up With the Oceanographer Sylvia Earle Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, explorer and conservationist who has led more than 60 deep-sea expeditions and logged more than 6,000 hours underwater, setting world records for solo diving. READING E. O. Wilson's "Social Conquest of Earth" is a revolutionary look at who we are, where we've come from and where we're going. It's very hopeful in that he suggests that we have the capacity to learn to live within the planet's means. I personally call this the sweet spot in history. Never before have we had the knowledge and opportunity as good as we have now to make change. The great message Wilson conveys is that there's still time. Also Callum Roberts" "Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea" is a powerful account of the effect humans have had on the ocean and vice versa, with special attention to the drastic impact of industrial-scale fishing using space-age technologies. What we once used as weapons of war, we now use as weapons against fish. And for good measure, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's wickedly inspiring "Bed of Procrustes." Like his "Black Swan," it's thoughtful and provocative. LISTENING I love music of all kinds, but there's no greater music than the sound of my grandchildren laughing, my kids, too. And I love listening to the sound of my cat, Blue, purring. WATCHING At the Blue Ocean Film Festival in Monterey, I saw a feast of films about the sea. And I'm eager to see the sequel to "Avatar." The ocean will figure prominently. I'm friends with James Cameron. We've spent time together over the years because he is a diver and explorer and in his heart of hearts a biologist. We run into each other at scientific conferences. His interest in Mars brought us together at a NASA conference about risk and technology for exploration high in the sky and deep in the sea. Driving a car is riskier. That is the most daring thing I do; much more dangerous than exploring the depths of the sea. You're relying on the mutual desire of the person on the opposite side of the road to stay alive and a yellow strip of paint. FOLLOWING I try to stay on top of the Web site built around my organization, Mission Blue, and also I check out the explorers on National Geographic.com. All have interesting things to say and you can follow along with all of them. Paul Sereno, the dinosaur guy, is an example. Also, Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute has a great online presence along with Richard Branson, and Queen Noor is a swift tweeter. KICKING I love my Force Fins, which are the kind of fins Special Forces use and really are adapted from the fins of fish. They're very efficient. They are so beautiful, a pair is in the Museum of Modern Art. The set I have are ruby red. I call them my ruby flippers.