Born in 1981 on Oahu, Mark Healey started surfing at age three, turned pro by the time he was 17, and made his name in heavy, scary waves, first in Hawaii, then around the world. But big-wave surfing was only part of it. An avid diver, Healey won the World Cup of Spearfishing in La Paz, Mexico, in 2008. And then there were sharks. In 2011, he traveled to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island to dive with great whites for a Nat Geo TV shoot. Outside magazine called him “the greatest athlete you’ve never heard of.” Recently, he founded Healey Water Operations, synthesizing all his singular skills into a personal brand.

In this episode of Soundings, Healey sits down with Jamie Brisick on the North Shore to talk about his first Pipe session, the nuances of discerning the personalities of sharks, weaving together experiential and scientific knowledge, chasing after big surf, the ins and outs of spearfishing, and staying composed in heavy situations.