Craig Foster of My Octopus Teacher — How to Find the Wild in a Tame World (#735)

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“I was born wild. I’m a wild animal. These creatures that I interact with taught me I’m a wild animal. It was almost like I was walking along the shore and then that ocean to the one side was my wild self and the land to the right was this tame self. And I was trying desperately to find a balance.” — Craig Foster



Craig Foster ( @seachangeproject ) is an Oscar- and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, naturalist, author, and ocean explorer. His films have won more than 150 international awards. He is the co-founder of the Sea Change Project , an NGO dedicated to the long-term conservation and regeneration of the Great African Seaforest. His film My Octopus Teacher has led to making the Great African Seaforest a global icon.



His new book is Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World . Watch the video below to learn more.









Please enjoy!



Listen to the episode on  Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Overcast ,  Podcast Addict ,  Pocket Casts ,  Castbox ,  YouTube Music ,  Amazon Music ,  or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here .



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#735: Craig Foster of My Octopus Teacher — How to Find the Wild in a Tame World













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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments .







Want to hear another episode focused on human connection to nature?  Listen to  this conversation with hunter and conservationist Steven Rinella in which we discuss how Steven got me to overcome my lifetime aversion to hunting, why the conservation-minded non-hunting crowd should care about the decline in hunting and fishing license sales in the United States, the politics of reintroducing predator species to popular hunting grounds, close encounters of the grizzly kind, and much more .


#470: Steven Rinella on Hunting (and Why You Should Care), Reconnecting with Nature, Favorite Trips, and More



SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE




Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World by Craig Foster | Amazon



Remember You Are Wild | Sea Change Project



My Octopus Teacher | Netflix



Striving to Know from the Inside-Out | Mentora



Great African Seaforest | Sea Change Project



Explore South Africa’s Forest Beneath the Waves | Atlas Obscura



Short-Tail Stingray Seen on a BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) | Cape RADD



Short-Tail Stingray | Wikipedia



Boyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #571



The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life by Boyd Varty | Amazon



The Great Dance A Hunter’s Story | Internet Archive



10 Interesting Facts About the Kalahari Desert | African Travel Canvas



San Bushmen | Siyabona Africa



The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World by Wade Davis | Amazon



The Primal Metaphysics of Becoming-Animal during the Chasing Hunt in the Kalahari Desert | California Institute of Integral Studies



Common Limpet | Oceana



Restoring the Indigenous Knowledge of Wildlife Tracking | Tracker Academy



Luxury Safari Experience in South Africa | Sabi Sands Nature Reserve



My Octopus Teacher Became a Viral Sensation on Netflix. Its Human Star Craig Foster Wants the Film to Inspire Change | Time



What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon Young | Amazon



The Easy Guide To Nature Observation | Nature Mentoring



Guided by Wonder: A Naturalist’s Observation Skills | David Lukas



Craig Foster | The Wim Hof Podcast #10



Africa: Scent of Nature | Natucate



Wild Underwater Photos Captured by Free Divers | Popular Photography



Underwater Wild: My Octopus Teacher’s Extraordinary World by Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck



Sevengill Sharks | MarineBio Conservation Society



Craig Foster Interview | Scott Ramsay



Cape Clawless Otter – The “Loch Ness Monster” of Africa | Scientist in Limbo



An Otter, the Wild and Coming Change | Sea Change Project



Watch a Coyote and Badger Hunt Their Prey Together | Smithsonian



Monkeys’ Cosy Alliance with Wolves Looks Like Domestication | New Scientist



A Dwarf Mongoose’s Perspective | Londolozi Blog



From Sloths to Clownfish: 20 Examples of Teamwork Across the Animal Kingdom | Stacker



Cooperation in Animals, and What It Tells Us about Scientists | Science for the People



Clinus Superciliosus | Wikipedia



Sea Change: Exploring the Octopus’ Garden | Getaway



How Connecting with Nature Benefits Our Mental Health | Mental Health Foundation



Suriname, South America’s Hidden Treasure | The New York Times



Indigenous Peoples in Suriname | IWGIA



ACT Raises $35,000 for The Trio Indian Shaman’s Encyclopedia | Amazon Conservation Team



Everything You Need to Know About Hunting Javelina | Mossy Oak



The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon



First Humans: Homo Sapiens and Early Human Migration | Khan Academy



Genetic Memory: How We Know Things We Never Learned | Scientific American



Past Is Prologue: Genetic ‘Memory’ of Ancestral Environments Helps Organisms Readapt | University of Michigan News



Scientists Have Discovered How Memories are Inherited | World Economic Forum



Characteristics of Heart Urchins, or Sea Potatoes | ThoughtCo.



Sepia Tuberculata | Wikipedia



Understanding the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon | Healthline



Nature is Very Smart. Damn It. | BNIM



Intelligent Beings without Brains Are Abundant in Nature – A Growing Scientific Consensus | Forbes



Mirroring Nature | Earth Island Journal



New Shrimp Species Has Unique Association with Octopus | UCT News



Lophophora Williamsii (Peyote) | Wikipedia



The Origins of the Naming of Lophophora Williamsii | Cactus Conservation Institute



The Music of Bill Monroe | Jim’s Roots & Blues Calendar



Jon Young: The Song of Nature | 8 Shields Institute



Kelp Structure | Microbiological World



Why Yo-Yo Ma Thinks Culture and Music Can Help Protect the Planet | Opus 3 Artists



Song of the Silent Forest | Sea Change Project



Home is Everywhere, Everywhere is Home | Sea Change Project



Connecting with Sharks | Sea Change Project



The Psychological Consequences of Fame | Psychology Today



Can Your Hair Turn Gray Overnight? | The Cut



Tiger King | Netflix



Bodhidharma and Jim Morrison on Prayer and Worship | Mirror of Zen Blog



Our Human Ancestors Very Nearly Went Extinct 900,000 Years Ago, Genetics Suggest | Smithsonian Magazine



Finding the One Decision That Removes 100 Decisions (or, Why I’m Reading No New Books in 2020) | Tim Ferriss



1001 Seaforest Species | Save Our Seas Foundation



Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Dr. Frank Luntz | Amazon



Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919): The Conservation President | US Fish and Wildlife Service



Time to Put Conservation Back in Conservatism | Earth Island Journal



What’s the Oldest Tree in Austin? | KUT Radio



Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez | Amazon



Mike Phillips — How to Save a Species | The Tim Ferriss Show #383



The $20M Flip: The Story of the Largest Land Grab in the Brazilian Amazon | Mongabay



Indigenous Youths Lured by the Illegal Mines Destroying Their Amazon Homeland | Mongabay



Rick Perry Calls on Texas to Study ‘Magic Mushrooms’ to Treat PTSD | People



Steven Rinella on Hunting (and Why You Should Care), Reconnecting with Nature, Favorite Trips, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #470



Jake Muise — The Relentless Pursuit of Innovation, Quality, and Meaning | The Tim Ferriss Show #678



‘Austin Is Known for Being the Blueberry in the Tomato Soup of Texas’ | The Irish Times



Conservatives and Climate Change | National Affairs



Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots | Amazon



I Am a Seaforest Species (Octopus Films Us) | Sea Change Project




SHOW NOTES




[08:39] A morning ray.



[11:01] Connecting with the sea is a family tradition.



[13:24] Making The Great Dance .



[15:28] Unnatural powers granted by natural attunement.



[22:40] Observing the secret lives of animals.



[26:44] What makes Kalahari trackers so impressive?



[29:37] Connecting with nature in the big city.



[32:43] Breath holding and cold exposure.



[37:25] Land lessons via underwater tracking.



[42:55] Connecting with a Cape clawless otter.



[46:20] Interspecies alliances.



[49:39] What compelled Craig to write Amphibious Soul ?



[52:58] Why pristine nature comforts and inspires us.



[1:00:03] Is ancestral memory real?



[1:04:16] Nature as a mirror.



[1:07:48] The pros and cons of discovering new species.



[1:10:03] Song catching.



[1:16:30] The meaning of “home.”



[1:19:03] Parenting lessons.



[1:23:41] The psychic cost of sudden fame.



[1:31:18] For whom was Amphibious Soul written?



[1:33:58] Sea Change Project.



[1:35:53] The short-sightedness of current climate policy.



[1:41:52] Changing entrenched minds.



[1:52:37] A camera-stealing octopus.



[1:55:25] Hope for a shift in human perspective.



[1:58:21] Parting thoughts.




MORE CRAIG FOSTER QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW



“Just start to look at a small area where there are few insects and maybe a few birds, maybe one or two amphibians, and take notes and observe every day, just, say, for half an hour. After a while, you’ll be absolutely shocked at what you couldn’t see before. It’ll be so obvious and it was totally invisible to you before. And it’s not just about the leaves changing color, but there are thousands of these things going on that, unless you take notice, you will miss. Nature then becomes this incredible teacher.” — Craig Foster



“I was born wild. I’m a wild animal. These creatures that I interact with taught me I’m a wild animal. It was almost like I was walking along the shore and then that ocean to the one side was my wild self and the land to the right was this tame self. And I was trying desperately to find a balance.” — Craig Foster



“If you are in an environment where there’s almost no biodiversity, your ancient creature that’s living inside you, your deep design, is terrified because it doesn’t know you can go to the supermarket. It’s just looking and feeling and hearing and smelling. There’s no life around. So the experience of going to these wilderness places tells that wild part of us that everything is okay. We just need to go and harvest a tiny bit each day and there’ll be plenty for everybody, for the family. And you feel, oh, everything’s all right, everything will be fine. This is good. This is the good life.” — Craig Foster



“In this part of the world, you won’t believe how easy it is to find a new species. It’s the naming of it that’s an enormously difficult job.” — Craig Foster



“When I’ve spoken to some of the scientists I work with, certainly some of the cinematographers, there’s this strange thing that the wild ecosystem is somehow mysteriously mirroring the human psyche and almost wanting to teach us and show us things way beyond where the edge of attention bias leads.” — Craig Foster



“I walked down to the ocean and I went in that kelp forest and I looked back toward the house that was no longer there. And it struck so hard in my heart that this ocean, but also very much this planet, this original deep mother that birthed our species and it nurtured me from my whole life was actually my home, and I would be absolutely fine as long as that biodiversity and that biosphere was functioning well and was healthy.” — Craig Foster



“If the phytoplankton communities in the ocean collapse, we stop breathing. Literally, that’s it. So every single investment that you might have in the bank or any property you might own or any future children that you might want to have, that’s game over for all that. That investment is worth zero if biodiversity collapses.” — Craig Foster



“The planet’s fine without us. She’ll last easily without us. She’s as tough as nails and can handle anything. We are the fragile ones. So we almost need to look at our place and all the other animals that are sharing the space with us and just feel at least that gratefulness for this amazing planet that has looked after us so beautifully.” — Craig Foster



PEOPLE MENTIONED




Boyd Varty



Alex Van Den Heever



Renias Mhlongo



Wade Davis



Nainoa Thompson



Papa Mau



Jon Young



JJ Minye



Swati Thiyagarajan



Bill Monroe



Yo-Yo Ma



Pippa Ehrlich



Ronan Skillen



Zolani Mahola



Tom Braden Foster



Frank Luntz



Theodore Roosevelt



Barry Lopez



Steven Rinella



Matt Mullenweg



The Dalai Lama



Jannes Landschoff

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