A Hernando County student recently received the opportunity of a lifetime.
Cole Kolasa loves to spend time underwater and it's more than just something fun to do. He loves the ocean and wants to protect it.
"I go out there and I get to study things and look at how things are changing and what's really happening to our ecosystems," he said.
As a middle schooler, Kolasa started doing his own underwater research. After the Gulf oil spill in 2010, he realized nobody was really monitoring things off Hernando County, so he decided to do it himself.
"That's when I started getting into things and looking at the environment and realizing it needs to be protected," he said. "I also have my certification as a science diver."
Kolasa, a 17-year-old who will be a senior this fall, was recently invited to Washington D.C. to share his expertise. He was one of only five students chosen nationwide to speak at this year's Capitol Hill Ocean Week. He joined other speakers like foreign leaders, White House advisors and members of Congress.
"I really talked about oceans awareness and education to the public," he said. "Humbled by it. To be able to be up there and talk to all those people and have then actually listening to me and understanding and caring what I was talking about."
Kolasa says he was glad to learn there are things being done to restore and protect our oceans.
He wants to take his love for the ocean to the next level. His plan is to go to college and study environmental engineering or marine biology.