Seti Afoa grew up by the sea on the island of Upolu in Samoa. But like many Pacific Islanders, he feared the deep. As an adult he decided to conquer that fear to find the freedom that comes with open water swimming. It led him down the path of creating Samoa Events, hosting swim series, cycle tours and half ironman challenges in Samoa and around the Pacific. But it also gave him a way to rediscover the relationship Samoans once had with the ocean, as sea farers and navigators.   

Waso Mathews grew up in Rabaul in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain province. Her place was one where she never went hungry, where she was safe and it was also a refuge for others who weren’t so lucky. In 1987, she moved to regional South Australia. She didn’t see a single Papua New Guinean for years. Then seasonal workers started arriving from PNG as part of the PALM scheme. Waso saw the struggle they faced in a new country without their families, food, culture or climate. She took it upon herself to help them.   

Katerina Teaiwa’s family was forced from their home of Banaba in Kiribati when almost the whole population was displaced and relocated to Rabi Island in Fiji in 1945, to make way for more mining. From 1900, the UK, Australia and New Zealand mined phosphate for 80 years to use for fertiliser. Today, Katerina’s scholarly and artistic work highlights the history and current situation of Banabans, which she describes as fragmented and resilient culture. And despite the trauma caused to an entire population, there are talks to mine Banaba again.

Raki Ap grew up in the Netherlands never really understanding why his family was there or why he didn’t have a father. When he was 16-years-old, his mother sat him down and explained that Raki had in fact been born in a refugee camp in Papua New Guinea, after Indonesia invaded his home country of West Papua. He learned that his father - anthropologist and musician Arnold Ap - was targeted and eventually killed by the Indonesian military after his attempts to preserve Papuan culture and identity. From then on, Raki vowed his father’s death would not be in vain, later creating the Dutch branch of the Free West Papua campaign along with his brothers. He dreams of one day going home.  

The school yard was not a friendly place for Peter Sipeli, who loved to daydream and listen to Whitney Houston. He was a writer before he ever put pen to paper and Peter's words would go on to change hearts and minds. Peter helped establish Fiji’s first gay rights lobby and his advocacy work continued with delivering workshops to the military and police force, to educate them on gay rights. More importantly, he shared with them his lived experience. Today, Peter works as a poet and runs his own walking tour company in Suva.

Ann Singeo’s childhood was full of adventure. Each weekend, her dad would take her and her siblings to discover a new island – in Palau there were more than 500 to explore. They would camp, fish and learn about taking only what was needed from the land and sea. These trips formed the foundations for Ann to later co-found the Ebiil Society, a non-profit which aims to educate about environmental protection and proper management of natural resources through indigenous knowledge. Ebiil also runs camps for kids, taking them into the environment Ann loved so much as a child and putting them back in touch with the earth they will inherit...in the hopes they'll be inspired to better care for it.

Ever since his childhood days singing at church, the stage has always felt like home to Klenneth Pombo. At school he also excelled in sport, but after realising soccer wasn't going to make him any money, he pivoted to comedy. His journey started when he scored a big gig hosting a PNG comedy TV show at the age of just 17. And then came a meme that kicked off PNG For Realz, his Facebook page that aims to showcase his societal observations and especially his own vulnerability. Klenneth is now one of Papua New Guinea's biggest comedians, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. And he understands the responsibility that comes with. He also does a brilliant Scottish accent. 

Eleven kilometers below the ocean's surface, in the Mariana Trench, is the deepest known part of the sea. More people have been to the moon than to that point. And while it's located in the waters of the Federated States of Micronesia, until 2021, no Micronesians had ever been there. Dr Nicole Yamase became the first Pacific Islander to make the journey down.

Gabrielle Langkilde had always wanted to go to Harvard, ever since a mentor told her she would. But the fast and competitive culture at the ivy league school was very different to her village back home in American Samoa. Gabrielle also realised the university was lacking a Pacific presence. So she started a Pacific-focused column in the prestigious student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. It was the first of its kind in the paper’s 150 year history. Her words travelled beyond campus, to others on the islands and after graduating in 2021, Gabrielle is now launching that column as independent magazine, Pasefika Presence. 

There is a children’s book that can be found in schools across Kiribati called Teaote and the Wall. It’s about one woman’s quest to build her own sea wall to protect her home in Tarawa from rising sea levels. The book is based on the story of i-Kiribati woman Teaote Davies and introduces children to the human impacts of climate change. Teaote also happens to be the Aunt of Stories from the Pacific host Bobby Macumber.