IT sounds like the plot of a horror movie: a group of ocean divers surface to find their boat has disappeared. As sharks circle, they scan the horizon frantically. Their only option is to swim to a coral outcrop 1km away, trailing their heavy diving equipment and twisted ropes behind them.

Swimming with sharks is all in a day’s work for leading maritime archaeologist Lucy Blue, presenter of the BBC series Oceans and senior lecturer at the University of Southampton.

Her nerve-racking encounter on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef came at the beginning of her career and, thankfully, everyone swam to safety without incident.

“Looking back I know sharks don’t often randomly attack people but they get such a bad press we were all quite panicked,” laughs Lucy, head of Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology.

“Jaws has a lot to answer for!

“Hopefully I think we’re moving forward in our understanding of how humans occupy the oceans and live alongside the creatures that inhabit the seas.”

Millions of viewers tuned in to watch Lucy and a team of three other marine experts – including Southampton University graduate Tooni Mahto – explore the world’s oceans.

From the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic to the near-boiling waters of the San Andreas fault line, the team regularly brought the might and beauty of the oceans into our living rooms. They swam with sperm whales in stormy seas, explored a shipwreck in the Sea of Cortez, negotiated a perilous network of submerged caves in the Mediterranean and dived among the sunken remains of a medieval village in the Indian Ocean.

For Lucy, 43, the biggest challenge was convincing the viewing public – and sometimes the crew – to share her passion for archaeology.

“I had to compete for air time with the lure of natural history,” says Lucy, from Portswood.

“Do people want to look at my pile of rubble when Millions followed her aquatic adventures on BBC series Oceans.

Now Southampton University’s Lucy Blue talks to PAULA THOMPSON about her passion for the sea and her transformation from maritime archaeologist to television presenter All pictures courtesy of BBC/IAN KELLETT Seal of approval Looking back I know sharks don’t often randomly attack people but they get such a bad press we were all quite panicked there’s a whale shark swimming by?

“I wanted to bring archaeology to life, to show that connection between people, the sea and the submerged landscape.”

A series highlight for Lucy was exploring a medieval settlement, dragged into the Indian Ocean by a cyclone.

“The crew went to have a recce and said there was no way I’d find anything interesting. When I went in, I found these amazing ceramics from the Persian Gulf. In the end the crew didn’t want to leave!”

Exploring the “skull caves” of the Mediterranean was another high point. “Cave diving is quite intimidating and it’s probably the kind of thing I would have said no to before, but these caves had the lure of early settlers’ bones. And it was beautiful – really peaceful, and the clarity of the water was amazing. I’m very glad I pushed myself.”

The series also highlighted man’s devastating impact on the oceans.

“We all know about climate change and global warming but seeing things like shark finning (hacking off the fin to make soup and throwing the live shark back in the sea), and the shrinking Arctic ice – really struck home.”

Remarkably, Lucy and her fellow Oceans team mates – expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto – received no formal presenting training.

Having trawled the UK looking for four experts with academic brilliance and presenting potential, the BBC asked 20 hopefuls – including Oxford graduate Lucy – to attend a selection day.

“They made us tackle an assault course. I don’t think they were just looking for ability. They wanted people who could work as a team and not be prima donnas.

“We were filming on and off for a year and the days were pretty full. The schedule was at the hands of the elements and the crew were learning along with us because nobody had filmed in these sorts of conditions before.

“I’d never done anything like it but I’ve always been interested in getting archaeology to a broader audience and I loved communicating my material.”

In fact, Lucy has already spoken to Tooni about making more programmes together in the future.

“When I’m not around the sea I miss it,” says Lucy, who inherited her love of the ocean from her boatbuilder father.

“There’s an element of the unknown there – only five per cent of the oceans have been mapped. It also has this power that makes us feel insignificant and humbled yet presents a challenge.

“I particularly love night diving. It’s very cocooning, almost like being in the womb I suppose.You feel very protected.

It’s comforting. All you have is your vision from the torch and it’s like having a blanket wrapped around you. And it’s so beautiful – the unexpected things you see.

“The sea is an awesome thing for me – the lure of it, the smell, the sound. I love it.”