Last summer I became a certified diver. I was super excited during the whole experience and had a blast. The best thing was when I first reached the ocean floor. I was diving in Mexico, where the water is super clear. It has high visibility, and one can literally see 30-40 feet away clearly. The location was at the Cancun Underwater Museum. This is a location where there are a lot of submerged statues. On these pieces coral is growing and a ton of fish like to hang out around these corals and peck at them. Even better, because so many divers pass by everyday, they will not flee when the bubbles rise up from the regulator.
Earlier, I had been snorkeling at this site. This location seemed pretty fun while snorkeling, but the diving experience was even better. When you touch the floor, you can see a lot of different types of sea life that are not as accessible from the surface. One example was this little crab. It was about the size of my palm (I have small hands)! It lived in little holes in the sand, and dug itself many tunnels to travel around in. The guide who was with us showed us many other animals, such as this rainbow colored snail as well as multiple Barracuda sharks. These fish were almost as big us! As the dive went further on, I soon realized that no matter where you step, tons of marine life is there, it is just that most of them are invisible. Just lifting a rock will cause tons of tiny little fish to swim out from under it.
It was this that got me thinking that how everything in the environment is a small piece of a giant interlocking puzzle. Most of the pieces are invisible to the casual watcher, but if one investigates further it is possible to see some of the links. And each piece is important. Otherwise the puzzle is missing a piece and certain consequences that are unwanted could occur.
After this realization, I was much more careful about where I put my gear and fins. I realized how careless I was earlier and that discretion was important when one is diving. I did not want to be responsible for killing the last of a certain species, or breaking up a family of some marine animal. I was just a visitor and I did not want to disrespect them.
Diving is a super fun sport, and I am glad that I got this opportunity to explore a new area. It was interesting and I got to see things that I would not have been able to see otherwise. And I also learned a lesson on respecting the environment around me! All in all, it was a really good experience and I cannot wait to dive again.
Here are some cool pictures of the Cancun Underwater Museum I found on the internet:
It was this that got me thinking that how everything in the environment is a small piece of a giant interlocking puzzle. Most of the pieces are invisible to the casual watcher, but if one investigates further it is possible to see some of the links. And each piece is important. Otherwise the puzzle is missing a piece and certain consequences that are unwanted could occur.
After this realization, I was much more careful about where I put my gear and fins. I realized how careless I was earlier and that discretion was important when one is diving. I did not want to be responsible for killing the last of a certain species, or breaking up a family of some marine animal. I was just a visitor and I did not want to disrespect them.
Diving is a super fun sport, and I am glad that I got this opportunity to explore a new area. It was interesting and I got to see things that I would not have been able to see otherwise. And I also learned a lesson on respecting the environment around me! All in all, it was a really good experience and I cannot wait to dive again.
Here are some cool pictures of the Cancun Underwater Museum I found on the internet:
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