THE LISA BLUE STORY
A few years ago Lisa Burke, founder and designer of Lisa Blue swimwear – traveled to Tonga with the sole purpose to swim with humpback whales. She came face to face with these 15 meters, 20 tonne, gentle, ancient giants of the ocean.
‘No words can describe this experience. The mother and baby whale approached me’ Lisa says.
The baby came so close to me as though to touch me that I backed up. The eyes, only a foot away, looked straight into my soul. My heart burst open. In that moment I promised that I would do what I could to help protect them and their environment. In spite of the history of humans killing these angelic beings they look at us with such immense unconditional love.
Two years later, in Byron Bay, after Lisa had been ill for several months and so had not been in the water, she saw whales near the horizon about 6 kms away. At the time she had no fitness, was frail, underweight (due to having been seriously unwell) and was very sad.
Lisa decided to paddle out on my surf board to get a closer look. She paddled out about 2 kms and at that point could see the whales breaching a couple of kms away. From her heart she began to call the whales and longed to be close to them. After about an hour of being out there she decided that she was kidding myself and began to head back to shore.
Lisa turned to paddle and wondered how on earth she got out so far.
After several strokes she stopped to rest. And for some reason she turned her head around. About 3 metres from me a whale surfaced and looked directly at her in the eye. She screamed with joy!
An eagle circled above and a stingray appeared also.
Lisa was so elated and powered back to shore.
‘I got my sign.
I remembered my promise.
It was time to take action’
Lisa decided to not give into her illness and flew to Bali to surf.
After having surfed two seasons in Australia she felt ready for Bali. Dropped off by a canoe 2 kms into the ocean (high tide) at a reef break, named Airport Middles, and faced with 15 foot waves, she was shaking with fear and excitement.
Lisa managed to ride a ten footer and then got wiped out. It felt like she was under water forever. No wonder there were only five other surfers out there….
‘It was one of the greatest moments of my life’ Lisa explains.
And the fact that she was a 37 year old, single mother beginner was sensational. That day she felt she could do anything.
‘I thought about my promise to the baby whale.
Sitting out on my board in the ocean I pondered “Surfing, fashion, whales, dolphins, swimwear, modeling…”.. hence began my plan to create a swimwear label that could help protect the whales and the dolphins. From the Blue was born my dream. One of our pro female surfers in Byron told me that the greatest female surfer in the world will be the girl who can surf the big waves and be feminine and sexy at the same time. I see ‘surfing’ as a metaphor for life.’
Lisa Blue represents the girl of the future who can be sexy, beautiful, powerful and environmentally aware at the same time. She is not afraid to share her beauty with the world and so shows other girls that they too can shine.
