More than 85% of Australians live within 50 km of the Coast
What is our obsession with the Ocean? What draws us to it? Is it the life force, is it the rhythm of the tides, is it the fact that we are comprised of 70% water ourselves and therefore we are naturally drawn to it? Or is it the raw beauty and ever changing nature of it? One thing for sure, you can NEVER step into the same ocean twice, not even in a whole life time.
If you dive as often as I do, you quickly come to that realisation.
Many people ask if I get tired of diving the same places, these are usually the box tickers, the ones that like to dive a site once, tick it off and move on, never really understanding that the ocean is a dynamic force, everytime you enter it , it is different, it changes with the tides, the winds,the moon and the seasons.Whether we have had a rainy season or we are in drought make a massive difference to the marine life we see on a day to day basis.
For the box tickers I suspect it is something different altogether, they are always after the “magic moment” don’t get me wrong, so am I, but I “live” in the magic moment the whole time I am in the ocean, if I see the Whaleshark or the schooling Hammerheads or get to dive with the Dolphin or Manta Ray that we so often do at Cocos Keeling , that is a bonus, it is not a deal breaker on whether or not I enjoy the dive. I have dived with people in some of the most magical places and seen amazing things, lived in the moment and been truly humbled by the whole experience, being able to share this with others is exceptional, but for every person it is a different experience. I think that this is one of the fantastic things about our sport.
I love to listen to people after the dive and hear about their personal experience, they are all different! We could all be on the same dive yet no one “see’s” the same things, while someone is talking about the Grey Nurse Sharks they saw, another will be excited about the flatworm or the anemone and while they were looking at those someone else got to see the 40 or so golden cow nose rays that flew over everyone while they were looking at something else! It is such a multi dimensional environment, it excites all of our senses and awakens some that we never even knew existed.
We share this feeling with all Ocean lovers, Apnea divers, Surfers, Jet skiers, even the person who loves to walk along the ocean edge without even entering it, who enjoys sitting on the point at Burleigh Heads, pondering life’s mysteries. They all “get it”.
The Ocean is something that we go to in times of happiness, strife, when we need some solitude, when we want some excitement, it is a constant in our lives.We are drawn to it. We share some of these experiences with friends, some we experience alone.
The Ocean puts a smile of your face and helps you keep things in your life in perspective. It covers 70% of the planet. and supply’s most of the O2 that we breathe, it feeds us and nurtures us, is it any wonder that we feel this “connection”.
As a Scuba Diver we get to “share” the ocean with all of the living things that inhabit it, we are enveloped by it and supported by it, it is our second “home” It doesn’t matter if the vis is 30 meters or 2 meters, we just live for that feeling of being buoyed up by the ocean. If the vis is great we swim a but further and look out into the blue for the bigger animals we always hope to catch a glimpse of, if the vis is down we go looking for the smaller critters, discovering things we have never seen before, things that movies like “Avatar” draw their inspiration from. There is always a sense of adventure before, during and after every dive.
Things we see, no one else on earth will ever experience, it defines us.
About the author
