Jill Heinerth

Jill Heinerth
Jill Heinerth (picture: Robert Mcclellan)
Born	1965 Toronto, Canada
Occupation	Cinematographer, explorer, cave diver
Spouse(s)	Paul Heinerth, Robert McClellan
Website	www.intotheplanet.com

Jill Heinerth is a Canadian cave diver, underwater explorer, writer, photographer and film-maker. According to Outside Online, many consider her the best female underwater explorer in the world. She has made TV series for PBS, National Geographic Channel and the BBC, consulted on movies for directors including James Cameron, written several books and produced documentaries including We Are Water and Ben's Vortex, about the disappearance of Ben McDaniel.

As a child, Heinerth was inspired by Jacques Cousteau's television series. In 5th grade, she gave a Science Fair project about mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. She gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications Design at York University, and ran a small graphic design agency in Toronto while teaching scuba in Lake Huron's port of Tobermory in the evenings.

In 1991, Heinerth sold her business and moved to the Cayman Islands to dive full-time, honing skills in underwater photography. She then moved to Florida to work on cave diving, where she was mentored by documentary filmmaker Wes Skiles. She collaborated with his Karst Productions, based in High Springs, Florida.

In 1998, Heinerth was part of the team that made the first 3D map of an underwater cave. Heinerth became the first person to dive the ice caves of Antarctica, penetrating further into an underwater cave system than any woman ever In 2001, she was part of a team that explored ice caves of icebergs. where she and her then husband Paul Heinerth "discovered wondrous life and magical vistas" and experienced the calving of an iceberg, documented in the film Ice Island.