Sourcebooks. Earth Heroes: Champions of the Ocean. This book in the Earth Heroes series introduces great conservationists who explored the oceans and worked to save otters, whales, sharks, sunfish, and other inhabitants of the deep. In almost all cases they were scientists as well as activists and authors, and their passion made a lasting contribution to the world. This volume includes William Beebe, Archie Carr, Jacques Cousteau, Margaret Wentworth Owings, Eugenie Clark, Roger Payne, Sylvia Earle, and Tierney Thys.