Hello all! My name is Sofia Grabiel Butler, and I am incredibly excited and grateful to be the 2025 Boston Sea Rovers Intern! I’ll be posting on this blog to record my experiences and the people I meet this summer, but my hope is that it is also a window into what being the BSR Intern is like.
I live in Boston, and after graduating high school last spring, I decided to take a year off before college. My gap year has been very marine-focused, as I’ve been trying to dive as much as I can while I’m not juggling school (for those of you who haven’t tried to squeeze some diving into a school schedule, it’s tricky!). I’ll be starting at the University of Rhode Island this fall, studying marine biology.
I got scuba certified in 2019, when I was 13 years old. Neither of my parents were divers at the time, but I’ve brought them over to the dark side since then! Most of my dives so far have been tropical, but I’ve started exploring cold-water and New England diving in recent years — for my senior project last spring, I actually made a portfolio of mixed media art based on my New England dives to introduce my classmates and teachers to what sea life off the East Coast looks like! I had a lot of fun doing that project, so I can’t wait to explore more facets of drysuit and cold-water diving this summer, and to start my journey as an underwater photographer.
I’ve just kicked off my internship this week, so stay tuned! I’ll be regularly updating this blog with all my experiences, but I’ll also be posting on the BSR Internship instagram (@bostonsearoverintern) and my personal Instagram diving account (@sofiagb.diving). Feel free to follow along on whatever platform works best for you. Please also don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi!
– Sofia