Hereiti, 17, lives on Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. She says the ocean is the “lifeblood” of her community, and that when it is “healthy”, the people are too. But she worries that rising sea levels and pollution are threatening the health of the ocean.
“Life Below Water” is goal 14 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a set of targets announced in 2015 to transform lives around the world by 2030. The UN wants to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, and significantly reduce marine pollution by 2025.
This video is part of Project 17, a BBC World Service series produced in partnership with the Open University, in which 17-year-olds look at progress on the UN’s 17 goals.
Find more programmes and videos from BBC World Service here.