Whale Poo, Climate Action, and Body Confidence: Meet Science Communicator and Model Laura Wells

We all know science is fascinating, but sometimes the way it's communicated is... less than captivating.

That’s why I’m really excited to chat with Laura Wells. Laura Wells is a science communicator, presenter, environmental advocate, model, and social media professional from Sydney. Over the past 14 years, since graduating with degrees in Biology and Law, she has amassed a wealth of experience in the science mediaspace. Laura has become a regular and trusted presenter for national and international programs, campaigns, and events. She has presented science content for National Geographic, hosted a children's science TV show on Channel 7 in Australia, and is currently filming a sustainability series called Planet Shapers, among other projects.

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Transcript

Brianne
Kia ora, kaitiaki, and welcome to Now That's What I Call Green. I'm your host, Brianne West, an environmentalist and entrepreneur trying to get you as excited about our planet as I am. I'm all about taking a scientific approach to making the world a better place—without the judgment—and making it fun. And, of course, we’ll be chatting about some of the most amazing creatures we share our planet with.

So if you’re looking to navigate everything green (or not so green), you’ve come to the right place. Kia ora, welcome back! Today, I’m very excited to chat with someone I’ve known for a while, who has a fascinating career, and who has managed to mix a whole bunch of passions and beliefs into a very lucrative career.

Now, you may already know who she is. She’s Laura Wells—a science communicator, an influencer (I guess you could say), a model, and also a scientist. And it turns out she has an interesting degree I had no idea about.

Welcome, Laura! Thank you so much for coming on. You’ve had quite an eclectic career path—tell us who you are, where you’ve come from, and what you do.

Laura Wells
Right. So my name is Laura Wells. I’m from Sydney, Australia. I grew up on the coast, and essentially, I’ve had a very curvy career path, for want of a better word, to where I am today as a science communicator.

I studied marine biology and law, and I always thought I’d be a lawyer, specialising in law of the sea, and looking after our oceans that way. But then I finished my law degree and was like, that f**king sucks.

Thank you for this huge debt, now that I realise I don’t want to be a lawyer.

So I ended up working as a model, which was definitely a big 180-degree turn in my career trajectory—something I never planned on doing. But I had been scouted as a curvy model while at university, and I thought, oh well, I can give this a whirl. I had no idea what I was doing, wasn’t really that confident in my body, but this was the size my body was.

What was meant to be one year of working overseas as a model—before coming back to work as a scientist because that’s what I really loved—turned into something completely different. I really loved working outdoors, getting my hands dirty in science to protect our environment.

So, one year was what it was meant to be, but I ended up staying overseas for about five years, still working as a model and travelling all around the world. Then I moved back to Australia and got my hands stuck back into the science world—but in a way I never expected. I continued modelling, but I also became the face of a number of environmental campaigns, and that’s where my career as a science communicator started. It was a really bizarre career path to get here—a job I didn’t even know existed.

Brianne
Yeah, but the best careers are the ones that are slightly wriggly. I mean, I can assure you I had no interest or expectation of ever running a cosmetics company, because I’m just not excited about that. But it’s what comes with it, right?

Why do you care about the ocean? That should be the question. Everyone should.

Laura Wells
Yeah, I know. Why don’t you care about the ocean? That should be the question for some people.

I grew up on the coast in Australia, spent a lot of time in the surf and on the beach doing Nippers Surf Club as a kid. That built my appreciation for the ocean—its power, its energy, and its beauty—because we got to see what was underneath, something you don’t see when you’re just looking from above.

At school, I really enjoyed biology and the science of understanding the world around us—how we interact with it, how it interacts with us, and how humans and our environment are inextricably intertwined. We cannot live without it.

So I went to university, studied biology, and went down the marine biology path because I found it the most interesting. And the more I learned, the more I loved it.

I learned how to scuba dive, so getting salty became a big part of my life—and still is. Getting underwater, experiencing all those colours, textures, animal interactions—how they interact with each other, how they interacted with me, being there blowing bubbles in their face. That’s where my love grew—just experiencing the ocean in all different ways: on top, underneath, looking at it. The more I learned, the more I loved it. And the more I realised how much we rely on the ocean to survive—and how much we’re f**king it up.

Every day. All day.

Brianne
Yeah, it’s like a human motto: How much can we f**k up the environment?

Laura Wells
Yeah, like, what can we do to un-f**k it? Because we need it to survive. And if you don’t understand that, then that’s a critical flaw—not only in the education system but in humans' appreciation and connection with the environment in general.

So there are all these parts to it that I’m still learning as I go. And now, the more I learn, the more I want to explore—but also to educate people.

Brianne
Yeah, huge. Science communication. So, for those who don’t know, what is science communication?

Laura Wells
Science communication is basically taking the science that other scientists are doing—because I’m not working as a scientist now—and putting it out there in a way that’s palatable for everyday people.

A lot of scientists are amazing at what they do, but they’re also really terrible at talking. They speak in high-level, esoteric terms, and people just sit there with blank looks on their faces like, What are they saying? What does that mean? How does this apply to me?

So my job is to take that high-level stuff, break it down to the lowest common denominator, and help people understand its importance—how it applies to them and how they can use that knowledge to make a difference.

Brianne
And you just sort of fell into it. You mostly do it through social media, but you also do live talks and TV, right?

Laura Wells
Yeah, I do a lot through social media, but I also give live talks. This week is National Science Week, and I’ve got a few different talks to give. Tomorrow, I’ll be at a zoo giving talks on sustainable fishing, which is really interesting—mainly to high school students.

Last week, I gave a talk on indigenous culture around whales, which was amazing. It was a First Nations panel that I got to host, where I asked all these incredible questions and basically sat there with my mouth open in awe at how enlightening it was.

I also do documentaries and TV. I have a show called Planet Shapers, which is all about sustainability and good-news sustainability stories—from companies in Australia and New Zealand doing great things for the planet, even though they’re for-profit.

Brianne
Yeah, well, in my opinion, if you want to change the world, you change business, right?

Because politicians are dragging their heels.

Last week, I chatted with the CEO of WWF New Zealand and asked her, So all of this makes commercial and environmental sense—why isn’t it happening? And she was like, Oh, you know... politicians.

But she said it in a much nicer way. I appreciate that it’s complicated.

Anyway, what’s your favourite positive story?

Laura Wells
Ooh, favourite positive story? I have a couple.

One of my all-time favourite environmental success stories is the rebounding humpback whale populations on the east coast of Australia. The world essentially came together and said, Hey, we f**ked up. We took too many whales. We didn’t need them all.

Their numbers had dropped to around 350 on the east coast, but this year, we’ve probably got close to 40,000 migrating past. It’s absolutely incredible. Seeing whales leap out of the water—it just makes my heart jump for joy.

Brianne
Yeah. I was in the Whitsundays last year, and we saw so many whales that we stopped even pointing them out.

Just like, Oh, another whale? Yeah, whatever.

Laura Wells
It was amazing to see.

Whales—okay, a bit of science communication required from you. Whales are critical for climate change.

Brianne
Absolutely.

Laura Wells
Everything is.

Brianne
Why?

Laura Wells
Oh, because of their poop.

Brianne
I haven’t seen a video you did about this.

Laura Wells
Yes! So, if we’re looking at humpback whales, for instance—we’ll stick with those guys—they grow to around 40 tonnes. That’s a lot of whale, and that’s a lot of whale poop.

Whales eat krill—small zooplankton species. When they poop, it’s like a poonami because it’s this big cloud of shit in the water. It’s not fun to swim through, I’ll tell you that much. But that poop releases a lot of nitrogen back into the water.

That nitrogen then feeds the phytoplankton—the small photosynthetic algae and plants in the water—which photosynthesise and draw down carbon dioxide. So, they’re taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turning it into oxygen—the oxygen that we breathe.

Whales are really important for the climate in that sense because they help sequester carbon from the atmosphere in greater numbers. Also, when a whale dies, it stores a lot of carbon in its body, and we have what’s called a whale fall. That’s when a whale dies and usually falls to the seafloor, where it’s consumed by a number of other animals. But in doing so, it essentially sinks that carbon to the seafloor.

So, there are lots of great things about whales.

Brianne
Is it quantifiable how important whales are?

Because I’m sure you’ve found this, but I find people want numbers and reasons for things.

Laura Wells
It is. Don’t ask me, because I’m not the statistician, but the numbers are out there on how important they are for carbon sequestration.

There’s also an economic side to it. I think they worked out that one whale is worth about $3 million, essentially. An economist worked on this—and I could have totally balled that number up, but I’m going to go with it.

That figure accounts for both their environmental impact and ecotourism. So, whales are far more valuable alive than they are dead.

Brianne
Yeah, this goes back to the conversation about putting the blue on the balance sheet. As Dr. Sylvia Earle would say, we’d live in a very different world if people actually paid for the damage they caused.

Laura Wells
Absolutely.

Brianne
What are your biggest challenges and frustrations? You must see all sorts of frustrating shit.

Laura Wells
People. Just people.

Brianne
Do you work much with government or private business?

Laura Wells
Yes, absolutely—both.

I’ve worked with governments on a number of environmental campaigns over the last 13 years. Extremely frustrating, because it’s so slow.

For instance, one of the campaigns I worked on was the container deposit legislation here in New South Wales—getting a 10-cent refund on bottles and cans that are returned. That took 20 years to get in place.

Brianne
Jesus Christ.

Laura Wells
I know, mental. My new business is in the drinks world, so I’ve been researching a lot of this. 45% of the litter on your shores is single-use drink bottles.

Laura Wells
Yes, it’s crazy. And the thing is, we used to have this system nationwide. It was run by scout groups and different community groups. Then it was abolished, except in South Australia—they kept it going, and they’ve had it for 40 years or something now.

They had all this data proving it worked—the litter on their shores from beverage containers was almost nothing because people were returning them for money. The evidence was there: this works, why aren’t we doing it?

So, I worked on that campaign for about eight years—starting at a grassroots level, then moving up to being the science communicator for the campaign.

I worked with government, spoke to officials, and gave talks to explain, this is what’s happening, this is what people want. This wasn’t just some crazy environmental group banging the drum—this was something the public wanted. Eventually, the legislation came into place, and now we have the infrastructure run by private companies in conjunction with the government. So, it’s for-profit, but it’s working.

Not only are we seeing less beverage container litter on our streets and coastlines, but I’ve also got a guy in my street who goes through everyone’s recycling bins every week, collecting beverage containers to cash in. Especially in this cost-of-living crisis, every ten cents counts—he’s making extra money for himself while he can.

Brianne
Yeah, and that’s how you move the needle—by monetising it.

Have you heard of The Plastic Bank?

Laura Wells
Yes.

Brianne
So, what they do is financially incentivise people to collect plastic that would otherwise end up in the ocean. I mean, that’s a very simplified version of their business model, but I’d encourage everyone to check them out. Bloody brilliant.

I’d love to work with them if we can—it makes perfect sense.

Brianne
Okay, so you started at a grassroots level and moved up. How do people do that?

For everyone listening, I have no idea how you go about working on legislation, but I’d love to volunteer some time. How do you get involved?

Laura Wells
For me, I just started volunteering on campaigns that mattered to me. I wanted to work in the plastic pollution space.

When I moved back from New York—after modelling for five years all over the world—I’d seen countless beaches covered in plastic. We’d be doing photoshoots on these stunning Caribbean islands, and the producers would rake the plastic out of the way so we could take a photo.

Like, what the f** is going on?*

That really opened my eyes to the global plastic pollution crisis. So when I came home, I wanted to do something about it.

There was a local group, Take 3 for the Sea, run by Tim Silverwood. I got in touch with Tim, we had a coffee, and he said, Hey, why don’t you come along to this event I’m working on? It was a Cash for Containers event—the same container deposit legislation campaign I ended up working on for eight years. That was one of my first forays into the environmental movement in Australia.

The more time I spent volunteering on the ground, the more people I met—and they got to know me, what I was passionate about, what my strengths were. Eventually, they asked me to get in front of the cameras and start talking.

And I was like, oh, shit.

I’d been in front of cameras for years, but that was just for modelling—smiling, posing. Not talking. Being a model is very different from being an outspoken environmentalist.

So I learned on the job. But that’s how I started—literally kicking a can down the street, showing people, this is what’s happening, and here’s what we can do about it.

The key is to find organisations that align with your values and reach out. See if they need help—they always do.

Don’t expect to get paid—you’re volunteering, and the environmental movement is seriously underfunded. It gets just 2% of all global donations.

Brianne
There you go. 2%, guys.

Laura Wells
Which is crazy.

So, if you can, donate to environmental organisations. And if you have time, offer your skills—tell them what you’re good at. They might desperately need help in that area. And if the first organisation you try doesn’t quite fit, move around. Your values may change, and that’s okay too.

Brianne
Cool. Do some research, find a group, and get involved.

Laura Wells
Yep.

Brianne
As with everything.

I saw you did a poll on Instagram recently about shark nets—is something happening there?

Laura Wells
Yeah, there’s a lot going on in the world of shark nets.

Brianne
Oh, actually, before we get into that—talking about Tim Silverwood, I’m interviewing him tomorrow! So, the next episode after this one will feature Tim, and he’s also fascinating.

Brianne
So, back to shark nets.

Laura Wells
Yes, and thanks, Tim.

Back to shark nets—yes. Bloody shark nets.

Here in New South Wales, on the coast between Wollongong (where I live, just south of Sydney) and Newcastle (just north of Sydney), every summer the government puts out 51 shark nets on 51 beaches.

These shark nets are around 10 metres long, only about 6 metres high, and they sit in the water column off the beach. You can’t see them. They’re supposed to be a deterrent to stop sharks from approaching areas where swimmers are.

They’re stupid.

They’re really f***** up.

Brianne
I love that.

There is no tolerance for shark nets.

Laura Wells
They don’t work. They actually don’t work.

We have data for every year these shark nets are in place. The government collects data on what’s been caught—target species, endangered species.

We’ve just got the results for last summer. The nets go in around the 1st of September and come out in April. These aren’t the exact stats, but roughly 300 animals were caught in the nets.

About 5% of those were the target species of sharks. So, a tiny number of target species get caught, while a whole range of other sharks—and plenty of endangered species—are also trapped.

We’re talking leatherback turtles, hawksbills, green sea turtles, dolphins, and all sorts of fish. Most of those animals are dead by the time they’re retrieved. Some are released, but we don’t know their outcomes—and often, after that much stress, they don’t survive.

Brianne
So, they’ve already been swimming around where the swimmers are.

Laura Wells
Exactly.

The nets don’t stretch from the seafloor to the surface, and they don’t run the entire span of the beach. Animals can go above, below, or around them.

A shark might hit the net, turn around, and go the other way—but most of the time, they just swim right past.

One of the polls I ran on my Instagram asked: Knowing there’s a shark net at your beach, does that make you more likely to swim there, or does it make no difference?

99% of people didn’t care and wouldn’t swim at a beach with a shark net. And 100% of people didn’t know which beaches had shark nets.

Brianne
Oh, good.

Laura Wells
There are no signs at the beaches saying, Hey, this beach has a shark net. You can’t see them, so unless you go online and check, you’d have no idea.

When I ran a local poll at a public talk about shark nets—where a couple of politicians, who are actively working to remove them, were speaking—I asked the audience, Does anyone know which beaches in the Illawarra and Wollongong areas have shark nets?

Not one person knew.

So, it’s not deterring people from going to the beach.

Brianne
No.

Okay, so I was totally ignorant about shark nets until I saw your post, and now you’ve illuminated even more.

I thought they were these perfectly encapsulating little curves of net—really fine, designed so they wouldn’t catch anything but would just bounce animals away.

Which, now I’m saying it out loud, sounds really dumb.

Like a jumping castle for animals.

Laura Wells
Yeah, like a trampoline.

Brianne
And I had no idea they did that much damage.

I was on the Rodney Fox boat a couple of weeks ago, doing the Great White Shark dive, and they talked about it a fair bit—how damaging shark nets are.

So, it’s really good to see what they’re actually doing.

But it’s interesting that nobody even knows where they are.

I assume the government does it to make people feel safer about getting in the water—but if they’re not communicating that, what the f*** are they doing it for in the first place?

Laura Wells
Exactly.

A lot of people assume, Oh yeah, there’s a shark net, and I’m like, Well, not at this beach, there isn’t.

So I don’t know where they got their information from. But the whole point of the nets is for public perception of safety—it’s not actually providing any.

I think there’s only been one beach in the last 70 years—while these nets have been in place—where there was a fatal shark attack.

And I don’t even think the shark nets were out then—I think it was out of season.

So, they’re doing nothing.

This year, the state government has said they’ll be removing the nets a month earlier to try to mitigate turtle entanglements. Because turtles migrate at different times, they’re trying to reduce those deaths.

But honestly? I don’t think it’ll make any difference.

The data shows turtles are caught all through summer, not just in that one month. So, I’ll be interested to see next summer’s numbers—but hopefully, the number of turtles caught is zero.

We have other methods of shark deterrent here as well. Off the coast, we have what’s called SMART drumlines, which are basically baited hooks.

If a shark—or any other animal—gets caught on the hook, it triggers a signal, and supposedly, a boat comes to remove the animal within 30 minutes to ensure its survival.

Brianne
You say supposedly. Does that not happen?

Laura Wells
Well, the boats do go out.

But there’s drone footage from the public showing how they actually remove the sharks. And, to be honest, I’d be surprised if those animals survive.

Brianne
I’ve got to be honest—I don’t think I’ve ever said this out loud, and I hope people don’t get mad at me—but I cannot understand how sport fishers think it’s fine to just rip a hook out of an animal’s mouth with total indifference.

Like, imagine what that would feel like.

People have empathy for land animals, but when it comes to anything marine, they just don’t care.

Laura Wells
It’s baffling.

They care about whales, though.

Brianne
Whales are different, for whatever reason.

Laura Wells
Whales have had an amazing PR campaign over the last few decades.

Brianne
They don’t eat anybody, right?

Laura Wells
Yeah, exactly.

They feed their babies milk, they hang out with their kids, and they look warm and friendly. People resonate with them more.

But sharks? Oh my gosh. They’ve had terrible PR.

Thank you, Jaws.

Brianne
Yeah, the guy who wrote Jaws actually did feel bad about it.

Or did feel bad. Has he died? I don’t know.

I’m sorry if he’s alive or dead—I genuinely don’t know.

Laura Wells
Either way, he feels bad.

But sharks are so important for the survival and health of our oceans—which, in turn, means our survival.

Brianne
If sharks die, guys, we all die.

Just remember that.

I know you might not like them, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t like them.

I mean, have you seen a tiger shark? I just want to give them a cuddle.

Laura Wells
I’m very excited—I’m going diving with tiger and bull sharks in Fiji on the community-led shark dive.

Brianne
Have you done it before?

Laura Wells
I haven’t done that dive, but it’s on my list.

Brianne
How long is that list, right?

Laura Wells
Very long.

Brianne
Have you been to the Nippisan Islands?

Laura Wells
I have! I loved it. I did a couple of environmental campaigns down there...

Brianne
Greenpeace is actually working around sharks and sea lions, protecting the Great Southern Reef—which has more endemic species than the Great Barrier Reef.

It’s an incredibly important area for the entire Australian coastline and for oceans in general. It’s so diverse down there.

Laura Wells
It’s amazing.

It’s funny you mention Norway because people have this image of it being one of the most environmentally friendly places—everyone’s all sweetness and light—but they’re actually one of the biggest oil drillers and distributors in the world.

Brianne
Yeah, well, they won’t do it off their coast, but they’re happy to go elsewhere to do it.

Laura Wells
Exactly.

Brianne
Not in my backyard.

Laura Wells
Yep. Norwegians are the greatest NIMBYs of all time.

Brianne
Apparently so.

Laura Wells
We talk a lot about plastic pollution, and that’s really where you first entered the ocean conservation conversation.

That’s a hard sentence to say.

So, you saw plastic pollution on beaches—what are you doing now to prevent more of it, beyond the container deposit scheme?

Brianne
Which is also a mouthful.

Laura Wells
So, personally, I’ve done a lot over time to reduce my plastic consumption.

It definitely got a little harder after having a child, but we’re doing our best. We use reusable nappies, reusable wipes—all those fun things.

Brianne
Okay, let me just interject for the parents listening—how much harder is it?

Laura Wells
Well, you don’t know because you haven’t done it the other way, but has it been difficult?

When we first had Leo, for the first few months, we decided not to put any pressure on ourselves—we just had to learn how to keep a baby alive.

So that meant using disposable nappies to start with.

Once he turned about 10 weeks, we switched to reusables.

And honestly? It’s fine.

There’s more washing to do, obviously, but we just save up all the shitty nappies for three days and wash them in batches.

We don’t have a dryer—we only dry things outside on the clothesline, and that’s been fine too.

When it rains, we just dry them inside, and we have enough nappies to last until the next wash.

We probably have about 40 reusable nappies. It’s definitely an investment upfront, but it evens out over time.

Actually, by the time you factor in disposables and how many you’d buy over the life of a child, you’re probably saving money.

And then, of course, you can reuse those nappies for another child, or donate them to someone else.

Brianne
Absolutely, yeah.

Laura Wells
It’s been great. It’s really not a big deal, and you get used to scraping off the big human poos once they start eating solids.

Brianne
Yeah, but it’s your own child, right? It’s not like soup egg.

Laura Wells
No, it’s totally fine.

You’re already dealing with it, so you may as well just do the extra step—that’s how I see it.

Brianne
Yeah.

Sorry, I interrupted you. You were talking about other plastic-free changes.

Laura Wells
Yeah.

So, one of the biggest things for us has been buying food in bulk, to reduce soft plastic waste.

The soft plastic recycling system we had in Australia—RedCycle—collapsed, so we currently have no way to recycle soft plastics here.

Fingers crossed, that’s changing with some government intervention.

In the meantime, we’re trying to eliminate as much soft plastic as possible.

That’s really difficult, though—especially now that everything is so much more expensive.

Balancing personal finances with environmental values is tough, and we just do the best we can.

We don’t beat ourselves up if we slip up, but we do think about where we can improve.

So yeah, that’s where we’re at—reducing as much plastic as possible and making small, achievable changes.

Brianne
Just pick one and start there, right?

Laura Wells
Exactly.

It doesn’t matter what it is—just pick the lowest-hanging fruit.

Knock off the easiest changes first, because that gives you a sense of achievement and motivation to take the next step.

Then, as you go, you’ll naturally want to do more.

You might reach a point where you’ve tackled food waste, insulated your home (because our houses in Australia are so cold), bought an electric vehicle, or switched your superannuation to an ethical fund.

And then you’re like, Okay, what’s next?

Next thing you know, you’re running for office, changing laws—Supreme Leader, fixing the world.

And now you’re the Prime Minister of Australia.

It’s amazing.

That’s just the career trajectory of the environmental movement.

Brianne
That’s how it goes.

Okay, good to know—from zero waste, buying things in jars, to Prime Minister.

You guys roll through Prime Ministers pretty quickly, though—haven’t done it in a while, though.

Laura Wells
We’ve still got Albo. He’s been good so far.

We’ll see how we go in the next election.

Brianne
You mentioned superannuation—because for people reducing their environmental impact, one of the biggest things you can do is change where you bank and where your investments and superannuation go.

That money is being used for things you may or may not support.

Laura Wells
Absolutely.

And most people don’t know where that money is going.

Switching to an ethical fund is actually one of the easiest things you can do.

I changed my super over to Future Super in Australia—it doesn’t invest in fossil fuels, arms, tobacco, gambling, or anything like that.

It took me two minutes.

My money was transferred, and that was it—I no longer had to worry about my retirement savings funding industries that are ruining the planet.

It was so easy.

And then I switched my bank as well.

I bank with Bank Australia, which is by far the best bank in Australia for ethical finance.

That took two seconds, and now I don’t have to think about it.

Brianne
Yeah, it’s a super easy win.

If you’re in Aotearoa, KiwiBank is your best bet—or the Co-operative Bank, although I haven’t looked into them as much.

Being a co-op is usually a good sign.

For KiwiSaver and other investments, Pathfinder and Simplicity are the way to go.

They’re easy to switch to and just as financially robust.

(Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor. Do not take this as financial advice.)

Laura Wells
It’s a suggestion to go and explore.

Brianne
Exactly.

Laura Wells
Yeah, well, I can definitely say that since switching to Future Super, my investments have performed just as well—if not better—than before.

Brianne
Excellent.

At some point, the oil bubble will burst.

Stop investing in oil.

Brianne
It’ll burst, right? Please, God.

Give me some optimism.

Okay, before I ask my favourite last question, do you have anything else you want to tell people?

Laura Wells
Oh, well, look—what do I have to tell people?

I mean, being a mum of an 11-month-old, I feel like my brain is fried.

What’s happening to me?

Brianne
I feel like that all the time.

I don’t even have an excuse.

That’s fun.

Laura Wells
You know that age-old question—What would you tell your 15-year-old self?

I would tell my 15-year-old self that you don’t need to cut the size label out of your clothes—because it doesn’t f****** matter.

When I was 15, I was so embarrassed about my size—which was just a size 14, which is nothing—but I was bigger than all my friends.

I was taller than them, just generally a bigger person, and I would cut the labels out because I was embarrassed by the stereotype of being a size 14.

Fast-forward six years, and I became a curve model, working all around the world.

Fast-forward again, and I’m about to turn 40.

I’ve been modelling for 18 years as a professional model.

And I love my body.

I don’t give a shit what anyone has to say about it—because it’s my body.

It allows me to do all these things.

It allows me to be a mum.

It allows me to go get salty.

It allows me to talk to people about science and about changing our planet.

And it doesn’t matter what I look like.

Even yesterday, I posted some new photos on social media because I’d had some fresh ones taken—and some dickweed had to comment.

Brianne
Seriously?

Laura Wells
Yeah.

Brianne
They were stunning!

Laura Wells
Which isn’t the point at all.

Brianne
Yeah, but...

Laura Wells
Exactly.

I’m happy to put my body out there because, well—one, I don’t care what people say, and two, it’s my body, and that’s fine.

But, of course, this guy had to comment.

Which is absolutely fine, because I just fired back at him.

Brianne
I’m going to go read that.

Laura Wells
People’s bodies are their bodies.

Why does it matter to you?

It’s not stopping you from doing what you want to do—so let people live their lives in their bodies.

And what I would say is: stop judging yourself, and stop judging other people.

Because they could be perfectly happy in their body.

And by commenting on it, you could completely change the trajectory of their life.

You could stop someone from going out and meeting someone the next day because they suddenly feel self-conscious.

You could stop them from going to a job interview, from applying for a job, from enrolling in uni, from giving a public talk—because you made them feel insecure about their body.

Brianne
It’s their body.

Don’t make people worry about it.

And self-confidence is the root of everything, right?

At the end of the day, if you don’t have any—because some dickhead said something—you won’t go and do things.

And we need people to go and do things.

Laura Wells
Yes, that’s the thing.

If I had spent my life worrying about the size of my thighs in a pair of shorts, I wouldn’t have spent hours and hours on beaches around the world picking up plastic.

And then spreading that message.

And then ending up on the path I’m on today—making a difference.

And while it might be a small difference in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a difference.

It’s my path.

It’s my life journey.

And if I had listened to all the haters who have commented on my body over the years—because, obviously, I’ve been in a public space, on social media, and working as a model for a long time—if I had let those voices get to me, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.

So, learning to understand your body, learning to love what it does, what it allows you to do—no matter what it looks like—is really, really important.

Brianne
Agreed.

That’s a really lovely message.

Thank you.

Brianne
Okay, back to something light and fluffy—what’s your favourite sea creature?

Laura Wells
Oh, this is an important question.

It’s a humpback whale.

Brianne
I was going to guess that.

Laura Wells
Yes, definitely.

I just can’t get enough of them.

I spend a lot of time in the water with them.

I’ve worked with scientists from all over the world researching them, and I’ve taken group tours to swim with them in the South Pacific.

They’re incredible.

Extremely charismatic.

Super curious—they’ll come right up to you.

They’re full of wisdom.

And there are so many great facts about them.

One fact that I love, that people don’t realise, is that whales have ears—and they have earwax.

Brianne
Okay…

Laura Wells
It’s this conical wax that builds up over time.

They don’t have fingers, so they can’t pick it out.

So, it just accumulates—forming a core that scientists can study when whales wash up dead.

That earwax core contains layers—almost like tree rings—where you can see hormone levels and track how a whale’s life has been affected by different things.

For example, they took the earwax cores from whales in the Northern Hemisphere and studied their cortisol levels over time, looking at whaling pressure.

And you can literally see where a whale was—when it was in the colder waters feeding during the summer months, and when it migrated to the warmer waters to give birth.

Year by year, it’s all in the wax.

And when the whales reached the colder feeding grounds—where whaling was at its peak—their cortisol levels would skyrocket.

Then, as they migrated, it would drop a little.

And after commercial whaling stopped, cortisol levels really plummeted—you could see how much happier they were not being slaughtered.

Brianne
I had no idea that was a thing.

Laura Wells
Thank you to the British Museum for collecting earwax.

Brianne
Now you put it like that...

Lovely.

Laura Wells
Okay, my favourite question to ask everybody—

If you were Supreme Overlord—just to quantify, you have all the power, and everyone wants to do what you say (no armies, no need to slaughter people)—

What’s the first thing you’d do to make the world a better place?

Brianne
I know, I know—everyone reacts like that.

I’m sorry.

Laura Wells
What would I do...?

Laura Wells
Get rid of Donald Trump.

Brianne
I mean, that would help.

Laura Wells
That would be a good start.

And by get rid of, I just mean... move him to the side.

Laura Wells
You know what?

People used to ask me, What would your superpower be?

And I’d always say, Making people give a shit about the environment.

And I genuinely meant that.

Because if people give a shit...

Laura Wells
Then they’re actually going to do things.

So that would be one of them.

But I think, maybe—just get rid of fossil fuels.

Just get rid of them.

Let’s switch to renewables.

That’s not the silver bullet—our emissions wouldn’t drop straight away.

So maybe get rid of fossil fuels and suck all the extra carbon dioxide out of the air at the same time.

Brianne
Can you do that?

Laura Wells
Cool.

I know the technology isn’t there yet, but I don’t know how—we’ll figure it out.

Brianne
We’ll have more whales.

Laura Wells
Yeah, maybe more whales.

We need more blue whales.

Brianne
That would help.

Have you ever seen a blue whale?

Laura Wells
Yes—once, but not in the water. Just from the surface.

Brianne
Where’s the best place to see them?

Laura Wells
Oh, there are a few places.

I saw mine in California, but you can also see them off the coast of Australia—mainly south and west.

Even off the coast of New South Wales, we had some recently.

Very rare to see, though.

You can see them in Sri Lanka—they actually have swim with blue whale programmes there.

But I don’t know how sustainable they are… so maybe don’t do that.

But yeah, there are lots of places around the world.

Brianne
Blue whales—good.

Australia can do something else.

Laura Wells
Australia is the best place.

Brianne
Yeah, thanks.

I love New Zealand, please don’t get mad.

I do.

But Australia has all the wildlife.

Although—you do have all the spiders.

How many spider incidents have you had?

That’s my last question.

Laura Wells
Personally?

Yeah, I’ve been bitten by a spider—but it wasn’t anything bad.

Brianne
By incident, I mean… it was in the same room as you.

Laura Wells
Oh yeah, well—there’s probably one in here right now.

Brianne
Oh God.

Laura Wells
Usually, there are a few huntsmen and daddy long legs hanging around.

Brianne
Huntsmen are gross.

They’re massive.

Laura Wells
I know.

The worst is when you’re driving, and a huntsman runs across the windscreen.

And for a second, you think it’s inside—but it’s actually outside.

Brianne
Shit.

Laura Wells
Yeah.

Brianne
Oh God, I’ve never thought about them being on the outside.

That’s almost as bad—because they’d get in.

Laura Wells
I know they would.

Because when you get out of the car, you’re like, Where is it? Is it going to fall on me?

Brianne
Oh, you’d have to live in the car for the rest of your life.

Oh God.

Okay, you’ve made it worse.

Laura Wells
That’s why we always pack snacks and water—just in case there’s a huntsman on the outside of your car.

Brianne
Okay, that makes sense now.

I get why you’re all preppers.

Laura Wells
Yeah.

Brianne
Thank you so much, Laura, for joining me.

That was really interesting.

I had no idea you were quite so passionate about whales.

Laura does trips to places like Tonga—so if you want an introduction to the world of whales, I highly recommend following her on social media.

She also covers a lot of interesting environmental topics, some science stuff, and she’s just an all-round fascinating person to get to know.

Tune in next week—we’ve got another This or That episode for you.

And, as I mentioned earlier, the following week we’ll have Tim Silverwood from Take 3 for the Sea joining us.

See you next week. Kia ora.

And there you go.

I hope you learned something—and realised that being green isn’t about having a pantry full of perfectly matching glass jars or living in a commune.

If that’s your jam—fabulous.

But at its core, sustainability is just about using what you need.

If you enjoyed this episode, please don’t keep it to yourself!

Drop me a rating and hit the subscribe button.

Kia ora, and I’ll see you next week.

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