Sharks, camera, action! STEVE & RILEY'S OCEAN TALES

The daring dad has inspired his girl to dive in and join his underwater crusade

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Steve Hathaway is a father of four and an accidental underwater cameraman, who turned out to be so good, his footage for BBC series Blue Planet II won a BAFTA award.

And for the past 12 years, he's been sharing his love of marine life with daughter Riley, filming their adventures for the educational school programme Young Ocean Explorers that they founded together.

"I'm so lucky to have grown up with this kind of passion in my house," smiles Riley, 24, who fronts the videos and delivers in-person presentations to schools.

"It's a scary time for nature, but dad is inspiring and it brings me hope.

We want every kid in New Zealand loving and learning about our moana."

The idea for Young Ocean Explorers first came in 2012, when Steve and then 12-year-old Riley made a video together about turtles for a school project.

As Riley presented it to the classroom, Steve watched on, stunned to see how captivated the students were.

"I saw these 30 kids, their eyes wide open and deathly thought, 'Wow, this is powerful,'" says Steve, 55. "I've always been more connected to the ocean than the land.