Episódio 31: Under the Sea (No fundo do mar)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Na primavera de 2001, a exploradora Jill Heinerth tava num barco muito perto da Antártida.

Ela fazia mergulho, ou scuba diving.

E ela não ia só mergulhar no meio do oceano… Ela ia pra uma caverna, ou cave, que ficava dentro de um iceberg.

E a verdade é que ela quase não saiu viva de lá.

My team and I were near the coast of Antarctica.

We were exploring an iceberg the size of a small country when we saw a possible cave.

We grabbed our cameras and scuba diving equipment…and we started to dive down.

But we had no idea where this cave was going to lead us.

Tava muito escuro dentro da caverna, um verdadeiro breu, e por isso eles tiveram que ligar as lanternas pra poder enxergar.

A água tava tão fria que dava a sensação de estar a ponto de congelar.

As we were swimming, we heard a loud noise… We turned around and saw that the entrance of the cave was gone! A piece of the iceberg fell and blocked the entrance.

We couldn’t get out of the cave!

Welcome to “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Hoje temos duas histórias de pessoas que exploraram o mundo embaixo do mar.

Jill Heinerth demorou pra perceber que queria ser mergulhadora.

Foi só na faculdade, quando tava estudando artes em Toronto, no Canadá, que ela resolveu fazer uma aula de mergulho pra se divertir.

E aquilo logo virou uma obsessão.

Depois que se formou, Jill passava todo o tempo livre mergulhando.

I loved it! I worked during the day and taught scuba diving lessons at night and on the weekends.

But I started to realize that I was spending a lot of my time doing it — and I enjoyed it much more than my full-time job.

Nessa época, Jill tinha sua própria agência de publicidade em Toronto.

A empresa ia bem, mas não era tão apaixonante quanto mergulhar.

I was 25 years old and I already had a successful business, but I decided to quit and become a professional diver.

It was the bravest decision of my whole life.

My parents thought I was crazy! They didn’t understand how someone could have a career as a scuba diver.

I planned to teach diving lessons to make money.

But eventually, I wanted to take underwater photographs.

It was scary, but I really loved diving, and I had to try to make it work.

Conforme os anos passavam e Jill ganhava experiência, ela começou a aceitar propostas de mergulho cada vez mais interessantes.

Jill mergulhou em cenotes, um tipo de poço natural bem conhecido no México, em fontes no deserto do Saara e no maior sistema de cavernas submarinas do Canadá.

Mas tinha um lugar onde ninguém tinha mergulhado antes que ela queria explorar: o interior de um iceberg.

I really wanted to do a story with National Geographic Magazine about icebergs in Antarctica.

I was so fascinated by that place.

I didn’t know a lot about diving inside icebergs — in fact, no one did! I wanted to be the first person to explore that unknown world.

A verdade é que Jill nem tinha certeza se era possível mergulhar nas cavernas de um iceberg.

Mas, como exploradora, ela sentia que tinha que tentar.

Suddenly, on the news…

“A crack more than 120 miles long…”

…there were reports that the largest iceberg in history broke away from Antarctica.

“Scientists are calling it the largest iceberg in the world.”

The iceberg was like an island.

And I knew that it probably had caves to explore! So, National Geographic agreed to send us to Antarctica.

We hoped to dive inside the iceberg and film it, so that the world could see it too.

Jill e uma pequena equipe foram pra Nova Zelândia em janeiro de 2001.

Lá, eles embarcaram num navio rumo ao sul durante 12 dias, nas águas mais agitadas que já tinham visto.

Quando chegaram perto do iceberg, tiveram que ter muito cuidado pra não bater nos pedaços de gelo que tinham se soltado.

When we finally saw the iceberg, we couldn’t believe it.

Above the water, the iceberg was 60 meters tall, but it was 7 times bigger under the water! And it was many, many kilometers long — it was literally the size of Jamaica! I felt so small next to that iceberg.

I felt like I wasn’t even on the same planet anymore.

Jill tava hipnotizada pelo iceberg.

Olhando de perto, ela percebeu que ele não era como os cubinhos de gelo do congelador, que tinham todos a mesma textura.

O iceberg tinha camadas, ou layers.

The iceberg had so many different, colorful layers.

Each layer was made of snow from a whole year.

It was like looking at a time capsule.

A tripulação tinha um pequeno helicóptero pra procurar fendas que pudessem levar até uma caverna submarina.

E finalmente encontraram uma que dava pra explorar.

Aí eles entraram num bote e foram pra perto do iceberg.

When we jumped in the water, the cold was shocking.

It was the coldest water I’ve ever felt.

But we started diving down, and we noticed marine life swimming around us, including many colorful fish.

After diving for a few minutes, we saw the entrance to the cave and we swam inside.

Jill e sua equipe tavam a mais de 30 metros abaixo da superfície.

Tava escuro, e a única luz era das lanternas.

Perto do iceberg eles viram um monte de criaturas marinhas, de diversas cores.

Peixes, esponjas, vermes marinhos… Era todo um ecossistema que ninguém tinha visto antes.

The entrance to the cave was wide.

But after I entered, it became more narrow, and the tunnel had lots of turns.

While I was swimming, little creatures that looked like spiders kept falling and landing on my shoulder.

I felt like I was in a horror movie!

Jill e seus colegas de mergulho continuaram entrando na caverna, nadando com a corrente, ou current.

Aí, de repente, ela escutou um barulho muito alto que fez o corpo todo dela vibrar.

I turned around and started swimming back to the entrance, against the current.

When I arrived, there were giant pieces of ice blocking the entrance.

We needed to get out of the cold water soon.

But I wasn’t going to panic.

That’s one of the first rules from my dive training: if you panic, you’ll die.

Eles tinham que achar outra saída, então foram tentando uma passagem atrás da outra pra conseguir escapar.

Finalmente, depois de 15 minutos, eles viram uma abertura.

I slowly started swimming back to the boat.

When I got there, my colleagues were extremely happy.

After they pulled me onto the boat, they told me they thought we were dead.

They explained that a huge piece of ice fell after we entered the cave.

That caused huge waves to crash into the boat.

They were so strong that some of my colleagues almost fell into the water.

It was really dangerous, so they thought it was probably more dangerous below the water.

That’s when I realized that I was lucky to be alive.

Mesmo depois dessa experiência, Jill ainda não tava pronta pra ir embora.

Ela tava na Antártida, fazendo uma coisa que ninguém tinha feito antes.

Jill achava que era sua responsabilidade coletar o máximo de informações possível.

Então ela decidiu pular na água de novo, mas em outra parte da caverna.

As I was swimming around in the cave, I felt like an astronaut on another planet.

It was such an incredible feeling to explore that unknown place and capture it on video.

We swam deeper into the cave because we didn’t know what we were going to find.

But as I swam deeper and deeper inside, I kept feeling this strong current pushing me.

I started to worry, so I decided it was time to go back.

But at that point, the current became even stronger…

Jill e a equipe tentavam voltar por onde vieram enquanto lutavam contra uma corrente que ficava cada vez mais forte.

It took a long time to get back to the cave’s entrance.

The current was so strong, but we fought and fought, and finally, after three hours, we got out of the water.

When I got onto the boat, I remember saying, “The cave tried to keep us today.”

Apesar de ter visto a morte de perto duas vezes no mesmo dia, Jill tava pronta pra continuar mergulhando.

O conjunto de cavernas era enorme.

Tinha tanta coisa pra explorar… e eles não tinham muito mais tempo de missão.

Então, ela e a equipe combinaram de descer mais uma vez.

Mas quando ela sentou pra jantar com alguns colegas, eles ouviram gritos vindos do convés.

The part of the iceberg that we explored was breaking and falling into the water.

We were in the cave only hours before it was completely gone.

I was in shock!

Jill sabia que tinha sido sorte.

Felizmente, ela não teve que decidir se voltava pra água ou não.

A equipe não teve tempo de encontrar outra caverna pra explorar antes que o barco tivesse que voltar pra Nova Zelândia.

Aí eles arrumaram as coisas e foram embora.

I was sad that the diving was over, but so grateful to be alive.

Diving inside an iceberg was a rare and amazing experience.

Not many people have the opportunity to explore a place where no one has ever been before.

I’ve done a lot of diving in my life, but that experience has a very special place in my heart.

It made me feel so small, and it helped me remember that we live on a wild and incredible planet.

It’s a very inspiring feeling.

Dentro daquele iceberg na Antártida, Jill Heinerth descobriu um mundo que ninguém tinha visto.

Isso fez com que ela apreciasse as maravilhas do oceano de um jeito completamente diferente.

Já pra Zandi Ndhlovu, entrar no mar e ver tudo o que tem lá ajudou ela a valorizar a vida – principalmente quando ela mais precisou.

Antes de começar a contar a história de Zandi, uma observação rápida sobre o sotaque dela.

Zandi é da África do Sul, por isso você vai notar que ela não pronuncia o “R” no meio de algumas palavras:

I’d always wanted to snorkel.

Ela também não pronuncia muito o “R” no final das palavras:

I jumped in the water.

Agora, vamos pra nossa história.

I grew up in Soweto, a community in the city of Johannesburg, which is the capital of South Africa.

The closest beach was six hours from my town.

I was 12 years old when I stepped into the ocean for the first time.

Zandi disse que muitas pessoas negras na África do Sul têm medo do mar por razões históricas, inclusive por causa do tráfico de escravos, que acontecia pelo oceano.

Além disso, tinha o apartheid, que foi um sistema de segregação racial que discriminava os cidadãos negros.

Por décadas, os sul-africanos negros tiveram os direitos negados e o acesso a muitos lugares, como as praias, proibido.

Como consequência, o medo do mar foi transmitido de geração pra geração.

A mãe de Zandi sempre dizia pra ela e pros irmãos ficarem na parte rasa da água.

Black South Africans generally did not have access to the ocean as a place to relax and have fun.

My mother always made sure that the water did not go past our ankles.

We were told there were snakes in the sea, and if we went swimming, the white waters would take us away…

Zandi nadou pela primeira vez quando tava na escola.

E não deu muito certo.

My classmate knew how to swim, so the plan was to ride on her back across the pool.

But when we got to the deep part of the pool, she made a turn, and I fell off her back and she kept swimming.

My teacher had to pull me out of the pool.

After that happened I taught myself how to swim!

Mas, apesar de ter aprendido a nadar, o mar ainda era algo distante na vida de Zandi.

Ela não só não pensava muito no oceano como também morava a seis horas de distância do litoral.

Mas aos 28 anos, quando o casamento dela começou a desmoronar, o mar entrou com tudo na sua vida.

My husband came home one day and said he didn’t want to be married anymore.

After that, I needed to go away and clear my mind.

So I called the local travel agent.

I told him how much money I had, and I asked where I could go for two weeks.

O agente de viagens sugeriu Bali, uma ilha na Indonésia.

Zandi fez as malas e entrou no avião uns dias depois.

It was the first time that I left Africa by myself.

But I was ready to go anywhere.

The place didn’t matter, I just knew I needed to get away.

When I arrived, I knew Bali was exactly what I needed.

It was relaxing and far away from my stressful life.

Then one morning, I was riding my bicycle to the beach and I heard a man on the side of the road shouting, “Snorkel trip, snorkel trip, sign up here!” And I stopped my bike and thought, I’d always wanted to snorkel.

So, I signed up for a trip that day.

Apesar de ter curiosidade, Zandi nunca tinha mergulhado de snorkel na superfície.

When I got on the boat, the instructor told me to put on the snorkeling equipment.

I just looked at everyone on the tour and did exactly what they did.

Ela colocou a máscara e as nadadeiras, ou flippers.

After I put on my mask and flippers, I climbed over the side of the boat and jumped in the water.

And then I panicked, because I couldn’t touch the ground.

I started screaming, “I’m drowning, I’m drowning!” The other people on the tour just looked at me.

It was obvious that I wasn’t drowning because I was still able to scream.

So, I told myself to calm down, and I started to float.

Depois da crise de pânico, Zandi decidiu imitar o instrutor em cada detalhe.

E em pouco tempo ela já tava vendo o fundo do mar.

Tinha enguias, recifes de corais em tons de rosa-brilhante, amarelo e laranja, e toneladas de conchas, ou seashells!

It was incredible! The water was crystal blue, so you could see everything.

There were lots of fish with vibrant colors.

The wildlife was amazing! I swam to the bottom with my guide and picked up some small seashells.

After that day, my relationship with the water changed, and I fell in love with the ocean.

Durante o mergulho de snorkel, Zandi esqueceu completamente os problemas do casamento.

No mar, nada disso importava.

Foi aí que ela percebeu que tinha descoberto um novo propósito na vida.

When I returned to South Africa, I wanted to be in the ocean all the time.

I signed up for scuba lessons, and I even tried free-diving.

Free-diving is a unique experience.

You explore the ocean without an oxygen tank.

You dive deep under the sea, but the best part is when you come up to breathe.

You swim to the top of the water and take a deep breath.

It makes me feel so present.

When I’m free-diving, my mind is clear and all my worries disappear.

Depois que descobriu o mergulho livre, Zandi soube que era isso que ela queria fazer.

Então ela se inscreveu num curso pra ser instrutora.

O treinamento durou alguns dias e exigia muito mergulho de profundidade.

Zandi tinha pulmões fortes e conseguia prender a respiração por muito tempo, mas mergulhar tão fundo deixava ela apavorada!

To become a certified free-dive instructor, I had to be able to dive past 30 meters.

But I usually started to panic when I reached 23 meters, and I had to swim back up.

I tried and I tried, but I couldn’t dive past 23 meters.

Mas desistir não era uma opção.

Ela foi até uma pedreira próxima que tava cheia de água e começou a mergulhar sem medir a profundidade.

A few months later, I was on a dive, when I finally reached 34 meters.

I did it! I officially became a free-dive instructor.

After I became certified, I found out that I was the first Black female free-dive instructor in the whole country.

I had no idea that I was breaking barriers.

Mesmo sem saber que tava quebrando barreiras, ou breaking barriers, Zandi tinha consciência de que não existiam muitas pessoas negras mergulhando.

Então ela decidiu fazer algo pra mudar essa realidade.

After that day, I decided to make the ocean more accessible for my community.

Whether it’s free-diving, snorkeling, scuba diving, or just regular swimming, I was going to make sure that the ocean wasn’t a scary place for Black South Africans anymore.

Em 2020, Zandi criou sua própria organização sem fins lucrativos, a Black Mermaid Foundation, que significa “Fundação Sereia Negra”.

When I was growing up, I never saw anyone like me in the ocean.

And there still aren’t many Black people doing water activities like diving.

I want to change that.

For my foundation, I travel to towns on the coast and work with the communities there.

I take kids out into the sea, I give them a mask and a snorkel, and then I show them that the ocean is a magical place.

For many people, it’s the very first time they’ve ever been in the ocean.

I love seeing their happy faces.

I hope that in 10 or 20 years, I won’t celebrate when I see a Black person in the ocean.

It will just be… normal.

Zandi Ndhlovu mora na Cidade do Cabo, na África do Sul, perto do mar.

Além de trabalhar na sua fundação, ela dá aulas de mergulho e tá escrevendo um livro infantil pra ajudar a tornar o oceano mais inclusivo.

A primeira narradora, Jill Heinerth, continua mergulhando em cavernas.

Esse episódio foi produzido por Paige Sutherland, uma jornalista de Boston.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!