Not only is Jena Goldsack a successful model who has appeared in Vogue Paris alongside Bella Hadid and Taylor Hill, Love magazine and campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Iceberg and Versus Versace; she is also passionate about the environment.
It was growing up in the peninsula of Lizard, in southern Cornwall that she developed a love for nature. "The area has a subtropical climate," she tells HFM when they speak to her following her cover shoot.
"Palm trees can grow, turtles and whales are seen quite often, there were dolphins here, just yesterday. Then, at the moment there are huge barrel jellyfish, that are literally bigger than a human. And there are basking sharks."
VIDEO: Watch Jena on her HELLO! Fashion cover shoot
So when Models 1, Jana’s London agent, approached her about becoming involved with a charity, Sea Life Trust was an obvious choice. "I immediately picked that, as it’s the one I’ve known since I was a kid. Their Seal Sanctuary is quite close to where I lived."
As a dedicated ambassador her involvement has seen her visit the world’s first open water reserve for beluga whales, based in Klettsvik, Iceland - the same bay that Free Willy’s Keiko was put into before he was finally released.
Earlier this year Jena was shot by a photographer friend with Little Grey and Little White swimming in one of the sanctuary’s special pools. The two Belugas were flown in huge air tankers from an aquarium in Shanghai to the Beluga Whale Sanctuary, for retirement.
"When I got into the water with them they were a bit territorial of me. Splashing each other with their tails," she says.
"I was wearing a wetsuit and there was a clip that was loose. The handlers had said before to make sure everything is tucked in, as the whales will want to nibble – and there is a photo where one of them is nibbling on a clip and it looks like she’s biting my butt. I didn’t realise, as I was too focused on shooting underwater with whales around me."
The full interview appears in the November issue of Hello! Fashion, which is out now…
