Immerse Yourself -

Immerse Yourself

Tips for Discovering What’s Going on in the Underwater World

Article by Cathryn Castle Garcia

When we’re new to scuba diving, most of our underwater time is spent focusing on important things like our depth and bottom time, gas consumption and keeping track of our dive buddy. We haven’t yet developed the capacity to notice details about underwater environment. But once we master skills like buoyancy control and breathing, we begin to develop greater awareness of what’s happening around us while we dive.

Moving beyond, “Go down, swim around, go up” is critical to our enjoyment of the sport. Sure, being weightless underwater is cool, but developing our awareness of the underwater world is what will keep us motivated to continue diving.

Developing a Connection

In previous SDI blog posts, I’ve written about sentience in the sea, and discussed how anthropomorphism has helped me relate to the marine realm in a way that I find inspires me and enriches my diving. If you haven’t read those posts, I invite you to look them up here on the website. As I’ve mentioned before, anthropomorphism is a big word used to describe the simple practice of assigning human characteristics or traits to non-humans, such as marine creatures or even inanimate objects like rivers or trees.

Another word used to describe connecting humans to nature is biophilia, which is the notion that all human beings subconsciously seek connection with the rest of life, that there exists an innate human connection to nature. Some researchers consider this an evolutionary adaptation between humans and the biosphere. It makes sense that we’re meant to feel “at home” on our home planet.

Scuba diving is considered a recreational/sporting activity. But I think it’s more than that. To me, scuba diving is literally about leaving the terrestrial realm and immersing ourselves in various aquatic biomes.

Immerse Yourself

I’ve been diving for decades and I’m still passionate about every dive I make, partly because over the years I’ve learned how to make the most of every dive.

Two sentences I often hear on dive trips that I would love to never, ever, hear again are, “Was the dive any good?” and “Did you see anything?” My answers (usually delivered with a side of side-eye) are, “Yes,” and “Yes.” For one, every dive from which I safely return is a good dive; and two, there’s always something cool to see if you know how and where to look.

The following tips introduce a targeted, mission-specific approach to dive planning that will help you cultivate a deeper connection to the underwater realm. These simple techniques just might change the way you dive – and the way you relate to the underwater world around you.

Get the proper training – Up your basic scuba skills – especially when it comes to buoyancy control and trim, streamlining, and breath control. You must be able to get close to marine life without scaring it away or harming the environment. And you’ve got to be stealthy (quiet) while doing so.

Gain a sense of place – Read guidebooks and seek out websites and YouTube videos, and enroll in specialty courses that explain various underwater habitats – sand flats, seagrass beds, kelp forests, reefs, walls, seamounts – and what types of creatures live there.

Knowing where you’re going, and what you’re likely to see there, will greatly enhance your experience.

Select a target – Here, we’re taking a page out of the birdwatchers’ playbook. Birders are big on making lists of all the birds they see – or hope to see. List-making can be a way of adding a challenge to your next dive outing. Many dive guides love this kind of challenge, and since they have expert local knowledge and a keen eye, it’s likely they’ll be able to help you find many of the marine animals on your list. Of course, there are no guarantees, but there’s no harm in trying.

I’ve got a friend who’s a self-proclaimed “nudi nerd.” He’s always on the lookout for tiny nudibranchs and sea slugs. When I asked him how he became enthralled with nudibranchs, he shrugged and said, “It just kinda became a thing. Now, I’ve got my dive buddies trained to spot them for me. I almost always spot a few. Oh, and my dive buddies also give me nudibranchs as gifts, too. I’ve got some cool nudibranch socks.”

Switch to super slo-mo – You can’t expect to see anything if you rocket around the reef. Plus, you’ll exhaust your gas supply sooner, so slow down and take it easy. If you’re doing a shore dive or diving from a moored boat, consider doing a “hover dive” during which you literally hover in one small area for nearly the entire dive. You’ll likely be surprised by the many different creatures you’ll spot when you stop moving and start really looking around. Shy creatures that retreat when you first approach might even come check you out. I’ve had cleaner shrimps climb on my hand after I’ve stayed very still while hovering near a cleaning station.

Equip for mission-specific diving – This includes having adequate gas supply and exposure protection. Consider getting a prescription mask if needed or carrying a magnifying glass so you can spot tiny creatures.

Safety accessories like an inflatable safety marker buoy and line/reel, and an audible signaling device, should be considered mandatory for every dive. There are also a few gear items you might want that will enhance your underwater experience. They include a small light and/or underwater laser pointer, waterproof fish ID cards, a slate, and a GoPro or similar small camera. Taking photos or video is great so you can identify what “that weird thing” was that you just saw.

Keep a journal – In addition to your digital or written logbook, consider using a journal to keep track of the various creatures you encounter while diving. And every time you encounter a new creature on a dive, add a new “haven’t met yet” animal to your list. Researchers believe there are several million marine species, so you’ll won’t run out of targets any time soon.

As scuba divers, we’re fortunate to have the skills we need to explore fascinating underwater realms. But learning how to use the gear is only the start. Learning about what’s going on in the underwater world? That’s when things start to get interesting.