Patti Verbanas

Kimi Werner always felt a connection with the creatures that dwelled in the ocean. As a young child, she lived in shack in a rural part of Maui, Hawaii. Since there was little extra money for a babysitter, her father would bring her along when he went spearfishing for their dinner if her mother was busy waitressing. At first, he would tow his daughter on a boogie board in the hopes she would just sit tight as he free dove. “But I’d always jump off and swim,” Werner says, laughing. “So, we ditched the boogie board, and my job became just keeping up with him.”