In this interview, renowned oceanographer Bob Ballard reflects on the formative influences that shaped his extraordinary career. He recounts how his dyslexia led him to visual storytelling, inspiring him at age twelve to watch Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and declare his ambition to become Captain Nemo. His parents nurtured this dream, arranging a visit to a World‑War‑II diesel submarine, which sparked his fascination with underwater vessels. This early exposure guided him toward a naval career, deep‑diving submarines, and eventually a transition to oceanography after a visit to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Ballard emphasizes the universal curiosity of children, the way traditional education can dampen that spark, and the crucial role of mentors—especially his mother—who affirmed his intelligence and perseverance. He also acknowledges the element of luck, noting that a top‑secret military mission positioned him to discover the Titanic. Throughout, he conveys an enduring sense of wonder and a refusal to quit exploring the deep sea.
Bulletproof radio, a state of high performance.
So you're. I mean, you have this, this life of achievement. You know, you're like, oh, the Titanic was cool. But, you know, the Lusitania, we'll just add that. And, you know, you've done things that are so impressive and out of the box. And in, in your book, you're. You're talking about some of the things that made you who you are. And certainly dyslexia is part of that. But you've lived a life that is so different than most people. I want to know what really made you who you are. So is this like parenting? Is this early childhood?
Like, where did this come from? Actually, it came from because I'm dyslexic. I didn't read the book 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, but at 12, I saw the movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea that Disney made. Disney, by the way, was dyslexic. And he had a little plaque that says, if you can dream it, you can do it. So all parents, you know, they're asked their kids, what do you want when you grow up? And I told my parents I wanted to be Captain Nemo. Now, thank God they didn't laugh at my dream. I mean, they didn't humiliate me. They said, what a dumb dream that is. They said, let's work on. I know they got into the next room and said, houston, we got a problem. But they didn't do that in front of me. They sat there and they said, well, tell me more about Captain Nemo. And I said, had a submarine. We were living in San Diego. Boom. The next day they got me on a submarine. It was a diesel submarine from World War II. But I then went on, as you know, to became a naval officer and spent a tremendous amount of my life in deep diving submarines. But then they said, well, a Nautilus was more than a submarine. I said, yeah, it had a window that opened like the iris of a lens and you could see the bottom. And they said, hey, that sounds like an oceanographer. They took me up the street from where I was living to pull place called Scripps, the largest oceanographic institution in the world. I went on to become an oceanographer. So fundamentally, I lived my passion. In many ways, I admit I probably never grew up. I never lost the spirit of a middle school kid. The wonderment of everything. And I had parents. And all the way along the road, I saw my biggest challenge was surviving the educational system. Because for people like me, that everyone's born with that flame of curiosity. Every child is born a scientist and yet the educational system can turn off that pilot light and kill it. And so I was lucky enough right when my pilot light was getting low someone put their arm around me and say you can do it, help me through it. I had people all the way in the book you can see all the people along the way right at critical pathways in my life were there starting most importantly with my mom who was my, my champion and she, she, she said you're not stupid. And so yeah that was fortunate. I just got lucky. I'd have to say luck had a lot, a lot to do with me sitting here. Certainly I wouldn't have found the Titanic if the military didn't want me to do a top secret mission in the same area. So yeah, just lots of crazy things have happened and I'm still at it and I'm not going to quit.
