A citizen of the world, raised on three continents, and a polyglot (she speaks six languages), Claire studied History at the Sorbonne. She spent 6 years traversing the world shooting wildlife documentaries for the French television production company Télé Images Nature. It was when on a reconnaissance mission for a documentary in 2001 that Claire discovered images of fabulous deep-sea creatures and so began her obsession with the deep sea. Apart from the oceans, Claire loves art, classical music and sailing, to name but a few of her inspirations.

In November 2007, in a special issue dedicated to the heirs of Cousteau, the magazine Géo named Claire Nouvian ‘the planet’s guardian angel’. The article emphasized her extraordinary character and acknowledged her total commitment to the protection of the oceans, which, despite being absolutely essential to the planet’s equilibrium, are particularly misunderstood and vulnerable. 

A quick backtrack… in 2001, whilst on a reconnaissance trip for a film at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States, Claire discovered incredible images of creatures of spectacular shapes and astonishing colors. These were unidentified animals, some of which had been filmed at a depth of 4000 meters. Captivated and dazzled, she sought to learn more about them, perplexed by the fact that there was no synthetic document about the deep sea available to the general public. 

Her feelings quickly turned to outrage on discovering that the deep sea had been exploited by industries for nearly 30 years, and that no treaty or law protected international waters, even though they cover two-thirds of the planet. Consequently, coral reefs that can take up to 10,000 years to form are razed in a matter of minutes bygigantic nets dragging ballasts weighing several tons, irreversibly destroying a biologically diverse landscape that is still virtually unknown to man. 

This flagrant injustice spurred Claire Nouvian to launch, body and soul, into a race against the clock. The aim: create a collective conscience to tip public opinion in favor of the protection of the deep sea. The method: utilize all existing means of communication to familiarize us with an environment that is, in its very essence, distant, foreign, unfamiliar because Claire believes that it is only what we know and love that we protect.  

So, Claire set up BLOOM Association, which is a cornerstone of all her marine education and lobbying projects. She decided to tell the rest of the world all that she had discovered about the deep sea, in the form of a book and an exhibition entitled The Deep. Both have since become platforms for her marine conservation work.