Ocean’s Little Girl: 12YO Thaaragai Aarathana's Mission To Protect The Sea

At an age when most children are still learning about the world, T A Thaaragai Aarathana has already taken responsibility for protecting it. Inspired by her father, a scuba diver and environmental activist, she has been exploring the underwater world since before she could even walk! Today, the 12-year-old girl is one of India’s youngest PADI-licensed open water divers, a trained long-distance swimmer, and a committed environmentalist. She is popularly known as the “Ocean’s Little Girl”. 

Thaaragai has played a key role in removing more than 7,000 kilograms of plastic waste and ghost nets from the sea through underwater clean-up drives. 

By completing challenging sea swims and creating awareness through record-setting underwater activities, Thaaragai has turned her passion into a meaningful mission. 

In an interview with SheThePeople, Thaaragai Aarathana talks about her journey as a young ocean conservationist and open water diver, and her mission to protect marine life and inspire environmental awareness.

T A Thaaragai Aarathana in conversation with SheThePeople

STP: When did you first start going into the sea, and what made you love the ocean? You started scuba diving when you were very young. Were you scared the first time?

Thaaragai: My father says I was introduced to water on the third day after I was born. At six months old, I was taken to the ocean as part of my water adaptation. By nine months, I had started floating, and at just two and a half years old, I was already swimming in the ocean.

From the very beginning, there is always a special bond with the sea. That’s why people lovingly call me “the ocean’s little girl.”

I always dive with my father, and because of that, I have never been afraid of the water.

STP: What is the first thing you learned while scuba diving?

Thaaragai: The first thing I learned while scuba diving was to appreciate the calm, beauty of nature and the silent harmony of marine life. There is no pollution, no sound, no traffic, and all marine life is friendly.

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STP: How do you stay physically and mentally prepared for unexpected circumstances underwater?

Thaaragai: I stay physically and mentally prepared for unexpected circumstances in scuba diving through regular fitness training.

I go to sleep by 8:45 p.m. every day and wake up at 5.30 a.m. I don't use a mobile phone. I focus on continuous skill practice, proper equipment checks, calm breathing, situational awareness, and mental discipline underwater.

STP: As a young diver, how do you balance your academics, diving, social life, and rest time?

Thaaragai: It is challenging. If we want to do something special for the environment, we have to balance academics.

My school also supports my environmental work; my parents and friends support me a lot. I maintain a structured routine and ensure proper rest to balance academics, diving, social life, and rest through disciplined time management.

STP: How did you first start ocean conservation work, and how has this journey evolved over the years?

Thaaragai: I have been diving since the age of five. I got certified at 10.When I went for my first dive, what I saw under the sea shocked me, not just colourful fish or coral reef, but plastics, a lot of plastics, floating bottles, and ghost nets. That is not what our ocean should look like. I needed to do something.

Also, I saw a mother and baby dugong tangled in a large ghost net. Unfortunately, the mother dugong died in the ghost net itself, and the baby dugong's flipper got hurt and was struggling for life. We saved the baby dugong.

Marine life, like turtles, fish, dugongs, and seabirds, often mistake plastics for food. Eating plastic can block their digestive system, leading to starvation or death. Marine life can become trapped in ghost nets and plastic, which can cause injury, drowning or suffocation, so that day I decided to save the ocean from plastic pollution.

They are not just sea creatures, they are our ocean friends who need our voice.

As a baby step. Dad told me to keep my house clean from plastic, and then the streets and then gradually move to the shore.

While cleaning the streets, people used to tease me. That time, I was only 5 years old and could not even understand what they were saying. My dad used to say don’t care about what others say,you just do your part.

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Then I dived frequently to do the underwater plastic cleanup and free entangled marine life from ghost nets.  

As of now, I have collected 7,000 kg of plastic waste from the bottom of the ocean.I have also given over 100 awareness and community talk programmes.

STP: Do you think climate change is affecting marine life differently?

Thaaragai:Climate change affects marine life differently in shallow and deep waters. Shallow waters experience faster temperature changes, coral bleaching, and habitat loss, while deeper waters show slower but long-term impacts like altered species distribution, reduced oxygen levels, and ecosystem imbalance.

Climate change is due to ‘man-made errors’. It is our mistake, and we have to repair it.

STP: What do you want people to learn from you, and how do you want to help the ocean when you grow up?

Thaaragai: We should all help them, no matter our age. Say no to plastic, carry your own bottle and bags, and keep our area clean. Be the change you want to see. Your small change today can lead to a cleaner, safer planet for future generations.

Educate others, be a part of the solution, not the pollution. I have chosen one endangered species (dugong), and I am working on it. I want everyone to choose one species - Not necessarily marine life, it could be any animal, bird, or tree or even reptile - and create your own area clean up.

There are millions of people around the world to do shore clean up, but very few thousand divers to do underwater clean up. Divers have their depth limits to do dive clean up, so educate the next generation to do new clean up projects.

STP: If the ocean could speak to humans today, what do you think it would ask us to change immediately?

Thaaragai:Nature is a very loving thing, but we should not be cruel to nature. If we take care of our environment and nature, the environment and nature will take care of us.