REMEMBERING
JARROD J NABERHAUS A dive shop poster led to his devotion to conservation BY AMANDA MARTIN
70 | GuyHarvey.com
arrod Naberhaus was drawn to the ocean at a very young age. His mother, Angela, recounts that he could swim before he could walk and started freediving and entering fishing tournaments when he was 10 years old. On his family’s first trip to the Florida Keys, a young Naberhaus saw a poster of the Christ of the Abyss in a dive shop. He asked an instructor about the poster and learned that the underwater sculpture was located in John Pennekamp State Park, just around the corner from where they were staying. Inspired by the poster, he enthusiastically told his father that his goal was to get certified as a diver. Jarrod shared his dream with his grandmother, Sara Heckman. At Christmas she gifted Jarrod and his father, Mark
Naberhaus, a scuba certification course. It just so happened that one of their open-water checkout dives was at the Christ of the Abyss. At the impressionable age of 12, Naberhaus could barely contain his excitement as he tried to describe to his grandmother the amazing sights he had seen. She was fighting terminal colon cancer, and Jarrod decided that the best way to share the reef with her and other cancer patients in treatment was to photograph the underwater world. He worked mowing lawns and saved the money for his first underwater camera. Shortly after his dive at Pennekamp, Naberhaus met Emmy-award-winning cinematographer Frazier Nivens, who is now the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation’s director of production. Nivens was working on a piece for National Geographic at the time. Naberhaus, with his extremely outgoing personality, asked if he could shadow Nivens and learn more about underwater photography. This mentorship lasted several years, and Naberhaus learned valuable lessons about editing and enhancing his images. In support of Naberhaus’ passion, his family purchased a boat, computer and professional camera equipment, thereby launching his dive career. His photos gathered a lot of local attention, and his story was picked up by several newspapers. He was interviewed by Kelly Ring, a reporter for Fox television, and was featured on What’s Right with Tampa Bay. He was invited to participate in multiple art shows, and his work began selling. He founded a nonprofit and donated the money from the sale of his pictures to the American Cancer Society, donating more than $5,000 in honor of his grandmother. Naberhaus graduated high school with honors and three days later started classes at Florida Atlantic University. After his freshman year, Naberhaus completed his certification as an open-water scuba instructor. He then added his emergency first responder and first responder instructor certifications and was hired by Sea Dwellers
