Ben Thouard’s job description is out of a movie. He’s an ocean photographer who creates books and prints from his home office in Tahiti. He also happens to be the talent behind the album cover of Deep Blue: a low-fi music compilation produced by Effortless Audio where every stream donates to The Oxygen Project’s ocean conservation efforts. Check out the album here.

So how do you get a job like that? Well, you start by spending a lot of time in the water.

“I’m obsessed with the waves and the underwater world,” said Thouard nonchalantly, perhaps oblivious to the fact that he might have one of the best careers in the world.

His boldness might seem a bit cheeky at first, but upon further revision — aided by his candid smile and jolly gaze — one realizes that Thouard is as honest as one can be; each of his words reflect the feeling of a man who has found his passion in life. When your office is the beach and instead of having coffee breaks you’re chasing breaking waves, it’s not hard to love your job. Despite seeming to be paradisiacal, not everything in his work environment is perfect.

“I’m scared of micro-plastic,” said Thouard. “I spend so much time in the ocean and it becomes apparent it’s a terrible aspect that we need to take care of.. The solution should be pretty obvious and simple — stop using plastic as much as possible.”

Micro-plastics are tiny pieces of the material that fall off from bags, wrappers, and other waste that ends up in the ocean. Over time, they start to degrade and break-down, releasing microscopic bits into the water, where animals confuse them with food and ingest them.

“If I had a million dollars, I would spend them on fighting this problem,” continued the photographer. He is chatting from his home in Teahupoo, a village on the southwestern coast of Tahiti, where the cerulean waves form almost perfect barrels (making it the official site of several surf competitions).

“All my most memorable climate-related experiences are in the ocean,” said Thouard, while highlighting some of the images he curated for the release of his books, “ANIMAL” and “SURFACE”. “I remember one overcast morning when the light wasn’t that great and only a few rays of sun started to pierce through the clouds. You could feel the storm approaching at high speed. The ocean was getting rough, but I was hypnotized by this coming storm and kept shooting until the storm got too intense. If the ocean continues to be filled with plastic, our marine life will go extinct. It’s a question of education; some people understand the project and take action, some don’t care, and others simply have no idea of what’s going on. I believe that education is key.”

When he’s not in the sea snapping captivating photos of the Pacific tides, highlighting the power of the ocean and inspiring us to honor it, Thouard spends his time supporting Coral Gardener, a project that’s seeking to protect and regenerate the reef in the islands of Moorea. Similarly to other parts of the world, the corals here are also in critical condition, affected by the rising temperatures and pollution. Thouard’s images remind us that even if we’re not immersed in the water as much as he is, we do depend on it — more than half the oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans. Just look at any of his breathtaking pictures and you’ll understand.

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Ben Thouard contributed the image on the cover of Deep Blue, a musical compilation by Effortless Audio to contribute funds that support The Oxygen Project. The more you listen to the songs, the more money we raise; have a listen here.