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Cave Diver Risks All To Explore Places ‘Where Nobody Has Ever Been’

Diver and photographer Jill Heinerth has explored unmapped, underwater caves deep in the earth, as well as the submerged crevices of an iceberg. She’s seen hidden creatures and lifeforms that have never been exposed to the light of day.

“Since I was the smallest child, I always wanted to be an explorer to have an opportunity to go someplace where nobody has ever been before,” she says. “As an artist with my camera, it’s an incredible opportunity to document these places and bring back images to share with others.”

Heinerth writes about her explorations, some harrowing escapes, and the challenges she’s faced as a woman in the cave diving community in a new memoir, Into the Planet. She notes that cave diving is so risky that divers are often unable to buy life insurance; she estimates she’s lost more than 100 friends and colleagues to underwater caves and technical diving.

Before every dive, Heinerth goes through extensive safety checks on all of her gear. Then she sits down, closes her eyes, and imagines all the horrible things that could happen.

“I actually think about what would kill me today,” she says. “But I envision myself solving each one of those [problems], and sometimes I’m actually, like, moving my hands and reaching for a valve or a button or whatever to solve each of those issues, so that when I get in the water my mind is really free.”

Heinerth is also a writer, photographer and filmmaker who’s starred in TV series for PBS, National Geographic Channel, and the BBC.