In addition to studying the world’s only nonmigratory blue whales, marine biologist Asha de Vos seeks to change her compatriots’ attitudes toward the ocean.
The Sri Lankan marine biologist was aboard a research vessel near her home island in 2003 when she spotted six blue whales congregating. A bright red plume of whale waste was spreading across the water’s surface.
More than two decades on, de Vos is now one of Sri Lanka’s most renowned scientists — famed for nurturing the country’s nascent marine biology scene. She is also an ardent champion for greater diversity among researchers in ocean conservation.“I’m driven by trying to make a change,” especially around the negative narrative many Sri Lankans hold for the ocean, she says.
The journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing. The naysaying began when she applied for university. “There’s no scope in this country for a marine biologist,” people would say. “They couldn’t understand that there could be work, there could be jobs out at sea,” de Vos says. “I always joke now that maybe people thought I was going to go to university and then become a fisherwoman.
But the researchers are limited by their vessels, which can only support day trips rather than longer journeys farther out to sea. “We are searching such a tiny sliver of ocean,” de Vos says.
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