The wild leads. I follow.

Helping people fall in love with their world.

Marine Scientist · Conservation Storyteller · Writer

My Story Work With Me
Joe Kerven
Joe Kerven on the Cornwall coast path

"My aim is to be remembered as someone who glowed. Someone who fills others up with the love of living."

Marine scientist.
Surf instructor.
Poet. Adventurer.

I graduated with a First Class degree in Conservation Biology & Ecology from the University of Exeter. I've helped establish Indonesia's first shark nursery, restored coral reefs in the Gili Islands, surveyed seagrass meadows in Croatia, and filmed some of the UK's rarest marine wildlife. One video hit 213K views.

I've been a Head Surf Instructor in Cornwall for five years, a ski instructor in the Canadian Rockies, and I spent last summer living in a van on the coast. Right now I'm working as a Wildlife Biologist in the Peruvian Amazon, supporting wildlife rehabilitation and turning field conservation into stories for wider audiences. The wild leads. I follow.

I also write. Copy, captions, and poetry that makes a reader live the moment. Scientist. Storyteller. Somewhere in the ocean. This is the home base.

BSc First Class Honours PADI Rescue Diver ISA Surf Instructor CSIA Ski Instructor Marine Ecologist Shark Conservationist Poet & Writer
Say Hello →
213K Top video views
42.6K TikTok likes
1st Conservation Biology & Ecology
5+ Yrs outdoor instruction
4 Brand collaborations
∞ Good reasons to go

Content Creation & Storytelling

Scroll-stopping content
shot where the wild actually is

I have worked in some remarkable places. Oceans, rainforests, mountains. That changes how you view the world. It leaves you raw and open and unafraid to speak the truth.

Marine Wildlife · 213K views

Filming some of the UK's only dangerous jellyfish.

Surf Instruction

Surf instructor lesson on the Atlantic coast.

Ocean · New Zealand

Kayaking the Abel Tasman, New Zealand.

Brand Deal · Red Equipment

Kit review for Red Equipment. Outdoor gear I actually put to the test.

Watch More on TikTok → Commission Content →

Content Creation & Storytelling

Content that performs
because it's genuinely
lived

My content isn't built in a studio. I film underwater with sharks, in the Amazon rainforest, on Atlantic surf breaks, and on mountain slopes.


I'm a PADI Rescue Diver, a qualified surf instructor, and a First Class Conservation Biologist. When I feature your outdoor or lifestyle brand, it's not acting. It's a Tuesday.


Brands pay me to create short-form video content they can run as paid ads or post organically. I handle everything: concept, filming, editing, delivery.

01

Underwater & Ocean Content

Snorkelling, diving, surf lifestyle. Authentic ocean environments most creators can't access. Perfect for water sports, dive gear, surf brands, and ocean conservation organisations.

02

Adventure Travel & Nature

I always seem to end up in pretty crazy situations, and I always seem to be filming them

03

Hook-Driven Ad Creative

Short-form content built to stop the scroll. I understand what performs because I live and breathe the experience.

Brands I've worked with

Red Equipment Craghoppers TrueStart Coffee Surf Trip

Selected work

Craghoppers × Peru

Wildlife field content

Platform: Instagram + TikTok
My role: concept · filming · on-camera · editing · delivery
Made: short-form video + photography of their field gear at a wildlife rescue centre in the Amazon
Result: reposted by @craghoppers, grew engagement, and they came back to commission a second collaboration.

Red Equipment

Product content that sells

Platform: Instagram + TikTok
My role: concept · filming · editing
Made: short-form content featuring best-selling products in real beach & ocean settings
Result: drove traffic to their store and converted. Two sales immediately.

TrueStart Coffee

Launch campaign

Platform: Instagram + TikTok
My role: campaign concept · filming · editing
Made: a creator campaign launching their new coffee line "in the wild", with a review and highlight
Result: drove traffic and supported the product launch.

Surf Trip · Ambassador

Brand ambassador

Platform: Instagram + TikTok
My role: ambassador: new-product showcases + lifestyle footage
Result: 20+ affiliate sales across their product range.

Ideal brand fit

Surf & Water Sports Dive & Snorkel Gear Outdoor & Adventure Conservation Orgs Tourism Boards Travel Brands Sustainable Lifestyle GoPro & Camera Gear Wetsuit & Surf Apparel
Commission Content →

Writing

Words that make
people feel.

I write across conservation journalism, field storytelling, brand copy, and personal essays and poetry. My work turns real science and wild places into stories people actually feel, and act on.

My science background means I research properly. My life in the ocean means I write from the inside out. My surf instructor years mean I know how to get through to people.

Hire Me To Write →

The future isn't fixed in stone.
It simply hasn't been written yet.

What changes your future
is what you do now.

Make yourself magnificent
in every tiny thing you do.

Shower with gusto.
Spread your butter with elegance.

Dance in that kitchen
with such ferocity
the house threatens
to dance right alongside you.

Keep your eyes on the stars, fool.
You're shining too bright
to be dimmed by clouds.

Be incandescent.

Read all poetry →
Conservation journalism

684 Fins, One Lab, and a Species Running Out of Time

Two-thirds of traded shark species are heading for extinction, and it starts with a label that says almost nothing. Shark-fin DNA barcoding and the gaps in CITES.

Read on Substack →
Science storytelling

Deep Sea Drama: Octopus Combat Tactics

Like a leviathan she burst from her den. The gloomy octopus, caught throwing debris in targeted, startlingly well-planned ways. The first behaviour of its kind ever recorded.

Read on Substack →
Ocean & hope

Why Jackapoodles Might Save Our Oceans

Coral reefs are warzones, but there's hope in the strangest place: selective breeding. On Attenborough's Ocean, bleaching, overfishing, and a personal plea for the sea.

Read on Substack →

The Journal

Dispatches from
the wild

Writing from the road. Ocean reflections, poetry, personal development, and the occasional dispatch from somewhere without great WiFi.

Joe watching sunrise over the Amazon rainforest
Poetry

"Be Incandescent"

On making yourself magnificent in every tiny thing. From the way you shower to the way you dance in your kitchen at 7am.

Read →
Ocean
Ocean

What the jellyfish taught me about going viral

213,000 people watched me swim with dangerous jellyfish. Here's what I learned about authentic content, and about the ocean.

Coming soon →
Adrift
Personal Essay

Adrift

On finishing university, drowning in everyone else's advice, and the moment you decide to take the reins back.

Read →
Latest from The Tide Line

684 Fins, One Lab, and a Species Running Out of Time

On DNA, deception, and what's really for sale in Singapore's shark fin markets.

The Tide Line · joekerven.substack.com Read on Substack →

Work With Me

Three ways to
work together

Content creation
01

Content Creation & Storytelling

Short-form video content shot where most creators aren't. Underwater with sharks, in the Amazon, on Atlantic surf breaks. If your brand belongs outside, I can put it there.

  • Underwater & ocean filming
  • Adventure travel integrations
  • Hook-driven TikTok & Reels
  • Product placement that fits
  • Available globally whilst travelling

Filmed by a PADI certified scientific diver & First-Class Conservation Biology & Ecology graduate

Enquire →
Writing
02

Copywriting & Brand Writing

I write from the field, not about it. 3am wake ups. Minus 40 temperatures. Reefs dying in my hands, sharks cut free from netting. The science is right because I did the work, and the writing lands because I was there.

  • Website & landing page copy
  • Email sequences
  • Social media captions
  • Blog & long-form content
  • Brand voice development

Written by a First Class BSc graduate, surf instructor & ocean professional

Enquire →
Brand partnerships
03

Brand Partnerships

Long-term work with brands that live in the same world I do. Ocean conservation, outdoor adventure, sustainable travel, surf culture. If that sounds like you, let's talk.

  • Ambassador partnerships
  • Campaign creation
  • Conservation & ocean brands
  • Tourism boards & travel brands
  • Surf, dive & outdoor gear

CSIA Level 1 Ski Instructor · 6+ countries lived & worked · conservation researcher

Enquire →

Get In Touch

Let's make
something worth
talking about

Whether you're a brand looking for content, a person who wants to talk about the ocean, or you just want to say hello, my inbox is open.

TikTok Instagram
Joe Kerven