Artivist Series - Lily Niederhofer
octopus advocate
Lily Niederhofer is a competitive swimmer and octopus advocate. She conceived of an open-water swim to raise awareness and money to help stop the world’s first industrial-sized octopus farm. This preteen also speaks to students and lawmakers asking them to block the proposed octopus operation in Spain as well as other places. Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Podcast series shares the podcast with the Lewis Pugh Foundation Environmental Sports Champion.
Video conversation with Lily … click here
What Lily talks about …
Lily discusses why she became an octopus advocate even though she’s never encountered a wild octopus nor never touched one. Lily organized an open water swim in the Atlantic to raise awareness for a proposed industrial-sized octopus farm operation off the coast of Spain. The preteen, a vegetarian, doesn’t think it is right to eat the intelligent ocean creatures with nine brains and three hearts. Lily feels that the culinary traditions in Spain will make it difficult to stop the European octopus farming project. She believes it will be easier in the United States where octopus isn’t a traditional food and where there is a greater ecological sentiment for the sea creature.
Show Notes
00:00:03 Pamela Ferris-Olson So today on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast on womenmindthewater.com, I'm speaking with a remarkable young person. Lily Niederhofer is, among other things, a competitive swimmer and an octopus advocate. She conceived an open-water swim, as a way to raise awareness and money, to help stop the operation of the world’s first proposed, industrial, octopus farm.
00:00:32 The Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast on womenmindthewater.com engages artists in conversation about their work and explores their connection with the ocean. Through their stories, Wo(men) Mind the Water hopes to inspire and encourage action to protect the ocean and her creatures.
00:00:52 In 2024, Lily Niederhofer completed an open water swim in the Atlantic Ocean. The swim was conceived as a way to raise funds to halt the construction of a proposed industrial- sized octopus farm. Lilly also has spent time speaking at schools and with lawmakers as an advocate for the octopus. For her efforts, Lily was named an Environmental Sports Champion by the Lewis Pugh Foundation.
00:01:23 I am pleased to welcome Lily to the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. It is always gratifying to meet someone who has a sincere passion for a cause. Lily’s story should remind us that age, size, and gender should never rob us of our agency, or prevent us from devoting our efforts to a cause. With that said, listeners might like to know, that Lily is not yet a teenager.
00:01:51 Welcome Lily, I want to start by saying that I am inspired by what you are doing. I hope sharing your story will encourage others to follow their passions. Let’s begin by having you tell me: Have you ever come into direct contact with an octopus?
00:02:12 Lily Niederhofer No, I haven't before but it would be amazing to see one in real life. I've seen one in a small marine center and I was really excited and there was a really special bond that the octopus and I had. It was super special and its movements were really curious and elegant and it made me want to protect them.
00:02:43 Pamela Ferris-Olson So have you ever touched an octopus?
00:02:46 Lily Niederhofer I haven't actually touched one but I imagine they'd feel soft and maybe kind of silky or squishy. It would feel like touching a gentle sea creature full of curiosity.
00:02:58 Pamela Ferris-Olson Before we go much further, can you clarify for me what the plural of an octopus is?
00:03:05 Lily Niederhofer It’s actually octopuses. Octopi is based on Latin rules but octopus comes from Greek, so the correct plural is octopus.
00:03:16 Pamela Ferris-Olson Very interesting. I'll make sure I say that if I use that during our interview. So tell me more about the image you created to proclaim yourself an octopus defender. What aspects of the octopus did you feel were important when you drew the picture?
00:03:34 Lily Niederhofer I wanted to make it feel hopeful and fun. Not sad or scary. I showed the octopus with big expressive eyes and flowing arms to capture its intelligence and beauty. I wanted to show people why they're worth protecting.
00:03:51 Pamela Ferris-Olson Well, it certainly was very friendly to me. I liked it. Is pink your favorite color?
00:03:58 Lily Niederhofer Yes it is.
00:03:59 Pamela Ferris-Olson OK, so that might explain why the octopus is pink. Does the octopus in the picture have a name?
00:04:09 Lily Niederhofer The octopus does not have a name because it stands for all our octopus friends. I love calling things what they are and finding the correct word for it.
00:04:19 Pamela Ferris-Olson So how did you learn about the plan to farm octopuses commercially?
00:04:25 Lily Niederhofer I first heard about it through a website of the Ocean Born Foundation while I was doing research for an independent inquiry project in school. The idea of raising octopuses in tiny tanks just to be killed and eaten felt completely wrong. Solitary animals that need; they’re solitary animals that need space, enrichment and respect. Farming them would be incredibly stressful and cruel. I reached out to the Ocean Born Foundation and had the most wonderful connection with their founder Carolina Manhusen Schwab. She loves octopuses as much as I do. The foundation became the backbone of my project. They supported me in many ways. They helped me design posters, created an amazing logo based on my octopus doodle, and help me made T-shirts which I'm wearing today and even send me books about octopuses. Each one signed with a personal messages of encouragement from the team. They believed in me and gave me the strength to embark on the ocean swim.
00:05:34 Pamela Ferris-Olson That's lovely. And that, can you say the name of the organization again?
00:05:39 Lily Niederhofer So their name is Ocean Born Foundation, but they recently changed their name to One Ocean Planet.
00:05:46 Pamela Ferris-Olson Now this might seem like a strange question but I'm just curious. Before you became an octopus advocate/protector had you ever eaten octopus?
00:06:01 Lily Niederhofer No I haven't because I'm a vegetarian.
00:06:04 Pamela Ferris-Olson How long have you been a vegetarian?
00:06:07 Lily Niederhofer I've been a vegetarian for almost 2 1/2 years now, almost three years at the end of June.
00:06:17 Pamela Ferris-Olson And was that your choice?
00:06:19 Lily Niederhofer Yes, it was. My parents are supportive and I decided to become a vegetarian because I don't want animals to suffer, especially ones that are as smart as octopuses. I didn't feel like it's right to eat them. We have so many options of food and I don't think it's right we need to eat animals.
00:06:40 Pamela Ferris-Olson Well, that's very noble of you.
00:06:42 Lily Niederhofer Thank you.
00:06:44 Pamela Ferris-Olson So why did you think an open water swim in the Atlantic would raise attention and money to stop the commercial seafood farming project?
00:06:55 Lily Niederhofer I thought it would because the farm was based in Spain around the Atlantic Ocean. And I thought if I do it in the Atlantic Ocean, where many octopuses live, people would actually pay attention and learn and stop the octopus farm altogether.
00:07:13 Pamela Ferris-Olson So had you ever done an open water swim before?
00:07:18 Lily Niederhofer I trained with my open water coach João [Jacinto] and my pool coach Telma [Torres] for the octo swim but I had never done one before the swim that I did. I practiced for three months in the ocean in different conditions so I would be ready for anything on the day because open water can be unexpected.
00:07:40 Pamela Ferris-Olson Right. So how long did this swim take?
00:07:44 Lily Niederhofer The swimming took about 40 minutes.
00:07:47 Pamela Ferris-Olson I’d say it's not too bad but in the cold water and with waves, it can still, 40 minutes can be a long time. Did it feel a long time too?
00:08:00 Lily Niederhofer It didn't feel so long and it didn't feel very fast but I was having a lot of fun doing it. So the time just flew by.
00:08:12 Pamela Ferris-Olson Good. I'm glad to hear there was a reward; that it felt fun. So what was the biggest challenge for you during this swim?
00:08:21 Lily Niederhofer Before I did the swim I got hypothermia in the ocean training with my coach. And that made me really scared and I was worried if it was going to be really cold like that on the day of the swim; but I knew that my octopus friends were cheering me on and I wanted to do that for them. So I kept going.
00:08:44 Pamela Ferris-Olson I love that. Did you envision while you were swimming octopus below going “Yea, go Lily!”
00:08:50 Lily Niederhofer Yeah.
00:08:52 Pamela Ferris-Olson So Lily, you live in Portugal, right?
00:08:55 Lily Niederhofer Yes, I do.
00:08:56 Pamela Ferris-Olson OK, so during the school year you're there and then in California during the summer. Do you think that there's a difference in the way people living in Portugal versus those in California feel about the octopus?
00:09:10 Lily Niederhofer Yes. Only in Portugal, octopus is considered a traditional food. So it's very traditionally accepted to eat them. But in California, people are more used to seeing them as cool sea creatures. So I think everywhere people can learn to respect them more.
00:09:30 Pamela Ferris-Olson Interesting. All right. So, what are some of the more interesting questions that people ask you about as to why you want to protect octopus or octopuses?
00:09:42 Lily Niederhofer People ask me why I chose octopuses specifically. I said because they're really cool and they're not like any other sea creature. They have nine brains and three hearts and…
00:09:56 Pamela Ferris-Olson Whoa? Whoa? Whoa? What? I'm sorry to interrupt you. You said nine brains?
00:10:01 Lily Niederhofer Yes.
00:10:02 What they have one in each of their tentacles and then one in their head.
00:10:07 Lily Niederhofer Correct.
00:10:08 Pamela Ferris-Olson Wow! OK sorry to interrupt. So they have nine brains and three hearts.
00:10:14 Lily Niederhofer Yeah, it's really interesting.
00:10:16 Pamela Ferris-Olson Very interesting. Is there some reason why they need three hearts?
00:10:23 Lily Niederhofer I'm not sure why they need three hearts, but I know they need nine brains, one in their head which is like the main brain, and one in each arm. Which each arm does a different thing.
00:10:30 Pamela Ferris-Olson Interesting. Well, they are very amazing creatures. Do you have any sense about people who live away from the ocean? Do they care any less about seafood farming?
00:10:50 Lily Niederhofer Some do, some don't. But I help; I try and help them understand what happens in the ocean affects everyone's climate, food and our ecosystems, even if we don't live near the sea, the ocean health matters for all of us.
00:11:09 Pamela Ferris-Olson So what do you say to disinterested people? How do you make them see that the issue is important?
00:11:15 Lily Niederhofer I help them relate to things in everyday life and why the ocean matters so much, and if we didn't have the ocean how little of things we would have. And it's really important and why we need to protect it.
00:11:34 Pamela Ferris-Olson OK. Tell me something that we need that that the ocean provides.
00:11:41 Lily Niederhofer So for many people, it's food. But I also try to make them aware of over-fishing. And the ocean also helps clear CO2 out the air which is better for our planet.
00:12:00 Pamela Ferris-Olson What's the status of this octopus industrial complex in Spain?
00:12:08 Lily Niederhofer So it hasn't happened yet but the government is looking on planning to get it started. And the money I raised from my swim will go to a charity called Compassion in World Farming. And they're going to use it for a campaign in the Canary Islands, Spain, where the farm is going to be happening.
00:12:33 Pamela Ferris-Olson All right. So before we end, I want to ask you to talk to listeners who want might want to be an octopus defender or maybe have a different ocean creature that they wish to protect. What could you say to help them be in a more effective defender for the ocean?
00:12:53 Lily Niederhofer Start small. Learn. Speak up and take action. Use your talents. Whether it's art, science, or swimming, or anything else you're interested in to support what you care about. You don't have to be perfect or old to make a difference. Just start.
00:13:11 Pamela Ferris-Olson OK. Anything else you'd like to say before we say goodbye?
00:13:20 Lily Niederhofer Well, I'd like to give a quick shout out to Young Planet Leaders community for putting us in touch and featuring me as part of their Community Spotlight series.
00:13:35 Pamela Ferris-Olson I agree there are a lot of young people like you who are really trying to make a difference. And so I'm really glad to have met you. We're at seven hours difference so that makes quite a challenge for both of us to speak to each other. So I appreciate you, you know, taking time after dinner to talk to us.
00:13:57 Lily Niederhofer Thank you so much for having me.
00:14:00 Pamela Ferris-Olson Alright, so I've been speaking with Lily Niederhofer, a young person who has harnessed her passion and skills to help defend octopuses from industrial aquatic farming. Lily’s efforts have raised awareness and money to help stop a proposed industrial octopus farm in Spain.
00:14:20 Lily is the latest guest on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. The series can be viewed on womenmindthewater.com, Museum on Main Street, and YouTube. An audio-only version AND a transcript of this podcast are available on womenmindthewater.com, on iTunes, and Spotify. Wo(men) Mind the Water is grateful to Jaine Rice for the use of her song Women of Water. All rights for the Wo(men) Mind the Water name and logo belong to Pam Ferris-Olson. This is Pam Ferris-Olson.