If you want to know what ageing well really looks like, you won’t find it in a supplement aisle or a self-help book.

You’ll find it offshore on a small boat, with a 90-year-old man at the helm.

Ben Cropp isn’t slowing down. On his 90th birthday, the pioneering Australian filmmaker and ocean explorer is doing what he’s always done, heading out to sea in search of the unknown.

“I’m still searching,” he said. “I’ve got to do it.”

Long before the internet, Cropp became a household name, producing nearly 150 wildlife documentaries and discovering more than 100 shipwrecks in dangerous, remote waters.

Now in his 10th decade, that drive hasn’t faded, even if his body sometimes has.

“You try to convince yourself you’re younger,” Cropp said. “But getting tired … that’s very common.”

So what’s his secret?

Purpose.

“Don’t stop until you really can’t,” he said.

At 90, he’s still chasing a long-lost Spanish shipwreck. A long life isn’t just about how long you live — but how healthy you are to be able to enjoy it.