Ben Cousins is 72 years old and is passionate about the ocean – he has surfed it, swum in it, and now free dives in and around the ocean kelp forest south of Simonstown, south of Capetown, South Africa. At the start of our conversation in this podcast. Ben quotes poet Emily Dickenson - ‘That it will never come again - Is what makes life so sweet’. Ben lives life to the full, and strives to understand this mysterious world by keeping a diary for every swim - shark, octopus, stringray, and all the creatures big and small that make up this unique ecology. 
The music links are 'On Still Waters' by John Surman, Nelson Ayres and Rob Waring; 'A Breath Away' by Ralph Downer; 'Blue in Green' by Miles Davis.