Ilaria Molinari on when she saw her first real mermaid, and Jillian Morris on why sharing is caring

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Season four of the Deeper Blue Podcast is brought to you by Sunto. Finnish engineering, piloting adventure from mountaintop to ocean floor since 1936. Welcome to the Deeper Blue Podcast. Your weekly guide to everything that is happening around the world underwater. My name is Jason Lis, and I'm producer of the Deeper Blue Podcast, the podcast for DeeperBlue.com, the world's most popular diving website. Every week, the Deeper Blue Podcast covers everything that is happening in Scuba, free diving, dive travel, and ocean advocacy world. So join us as we explore the deeper blue. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Deeper Blue Podcast. We all hope you had a great holidays. This is Jason Lee's producer, and I'm here with Stephen Wheelan.

SPEAKER_04 1:06

Happy New Year, everyone. Steven, I hope you had a great holidays. It was all lovely. I hope everyone, all our listeners, have all had a good holiday too.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Me too.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

I'm not going to ask you, Jason. We spent about an hour before the show talking about it. Uh, spoiler alert, everyone, he had a good holiday.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

I didn't tell you this. I got a keyboard for Christmas, and so um expect the album in two months.

SPEAKER_04 1:25

Okay. I still have to learn to play it.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

I have to learn to play it. But there is some news from the last few weeks. And Steven, you wanted to start us off?

SPEAKER_04 1:32

It's some interesting news, actually. So Scuba Schools International, or SSI, as most people know them, um, have announced a partnership with uh Virtual Divers International, which I mean the name kind of gives it away a little bit. It's all about VR and this kind of real trend of the moment around you may have heard things like Facebook going metaverse and those sorts of things, which is all about how you can do things in the virtual reality. You can sit on your couch and go scuba diving, which seems cool in one respect. Seems a bit of a shame in the other respect, I think, which is you know, uh that the joy of actually going diving, you know, it really is about trying to help the diving industry reinvent itself, get people still to be connected with the oceans and diving, even if you can't go and do it.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

So SSI partner with VDI, Virtual Divers International, and Virtual Divers International has this app that allows you to dive virtually, but it's not just a game, it supposedly allows you to do a lot of training, like clearing your mask, how you put your BC on, all that kind of stuff. And I will say, you know, metaverse is not something that I want to join, but this is actually if there was a way for me to entree into this world, this might be it.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

Right. You're hoping to be able to see Mark's like a battery, you can punch him in underwater.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

What is interesting about it is so if you go to the VDI website, the app actually has a lot of interesting things in there. And again, it does do a lot of the training, and there's a lot of courses that you can take on that. Very interesting, very interesting idea. There's much worse ways to spend time on your phone, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

So continuing on the theme of agencies, there was a little news snippet we saw this week. Some of the continuations talked a little bit uh on the last episode, it's before Christmas, around the fact that Raid, another one of the agencies, Paul Toomer, uh, who was on the show back in season one, they announced that they're they dropped all membership fees, so you didn't need to be able to pay an annual fee to be a member of Raid to make their money through selling courses and so on. So the little snippet was that Paddy has been taking a big financial hit, which is obviously Paddy is the largest of the dive agencies out there, and they've raised their annual instructor member renewal fee. So these are people who are your instructors when you go to a dive center, those sorts of places, to now more than 400 US dollars a year. Substantial. Which is substantial. Which is, I I mean, and to a lot to some people, right, especially normal consumers who have nine to five jobs doing something else, you know, $400 may not seem very much. But the thing you have to mind, there was actually a study done by the um business of diving institute uh that I was reading about the other day, which the average dive professional earns about nine thousand dollars a year.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Oh my god. So we're talking about something that's almost five percent of your income going towards your certification.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

Yeah, I mean, crazy, right? Absolutely crazy. And uh, I mean, there's fundamental problems with how we approach the diving industry and professionals and how we need to make those professionals be able to earn a decent wage and living to be able to do it, and that's a that's probably a whole podcast in itself. But obviously what's happening, Paddy in response to the pandemic and the loss of financial revenue has put up their membership fees, whereas other agencies, like for example, RAID, have completely abolished all their fees.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

You can't blame any certain agency for trying to figure out how to make it through such a challenging time for the industry. Isn't Paddy a publicly traded company or doesn't it have a it's part of a larger conglomerate, right? Outside of diving world?

SPEAKER_04 4:49

Yeah, it's it's owned by a private equity firm. So um so there is a keen view, and this is the this is the big difference, right? So RAID, it now is privately owned. So that's why they may take different decisions to perhaps say private equity and think, which can take a very uh that you know, they're gonna cut costs as low as possible, drive revenue as high as possible. So that's the way their behavior is, whereas a privately owned company may choose to do something very different.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Right. Very interesting. It's uh again, there's the cascading repercussions of pandemic have had so many impacts on the world, and it's fascinating to see how they play out in the dive industry as well. So something to watch for sure as we kind of go through this true time of turbulence and see what ends up shaking out, how the agencies all sort themselves out. But just we wanted to put that on your radar as some news to watch. Onto some better news. Let's go to sunny Hawaii. Maui has banned coral-killing sunscreen. So Maui officials have banned the sale of more than 80 types of sunscreen which contain ingredients contribute to coral bleaching, oxybenzene and octinoxate. Those sound dangerous. Any sunscreens that have that uh have been banned from Maui, I think this is a huge step in the right direction. We had Autumbl, founder of Scream2C on the podcast, who has worked specifically around this area trying to create um sunscreens and all types of products that are safe for the ocean. And it's nice to see that the corporate side and the governmental side are now working in tandem for these kind of things, recognizing the fragility of the reefs and doing all we can to save them. So that's really, really good news.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

Yeah, I think it's fantastic. And I I think generally the reef-safe sunscreen part of the industry is fantastic. And yeah, Autumn's been, apart from being a super nice person, she also is been leading the efforts around all this sort of stuff. And and it's really hard to tell people that the thing that helps protect you from skin cancer, right? Is something that's killing the oceans and you should do something about it. It's not something that people necessarily think about.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

And this is also one of the specific places where we as ocean people can make a direct impact because we are on the front lines as we are the people that get in the ocean the most often and have the most passion for it. It is so simple just to make a different buying choice when you're gonna go buy your sunscreen, and you can have a direct impact on the places that we're going to see. So just wanted to say kudos to Maui for doing that, and maybe it's things are turning in the right direction in that way.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

Yeah, hopefully. So, next up, since we can't get on the plane, well, most of us can't get on a plane at the moment, uh, put our little VR helmets on and travel uh virtually to the Maldives. You're quite lucky to see a whale shark to begin with. You'd be even luckier to see 20 of them in the water. You'd be even luckier still to see all 20 having a shark feeding event. There's a lucky photographer, Martin, and I apologize completely.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Stromiska?

SPEAKER_04 7:36

Strominska. Yeah, I we we you know we're probably getting a strongly word letter from him uh or email from him in due course, but he caught this at around 10 or 11 o'clock at night, which was pretty amazing. You can see this video on Instagram if you go to his Instagram uh page, and it's absolutely beautiful. Never seen anything like it.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

I've seen plenty of you know on Instagram and and social and on video of Wellshark, never seen this many doing there's also the thing about this video that's very interesting is because it was shot at night, it has a very dramatic feel to it because the basically the field is black and there's lights from the boat up above, and and you see these kind of ethereal gigantic creatures coming in and out of the light as they are doing this kind of feeding underneath the boat. And I believe they said there was over 20 whale sharks feeding at one time. It's a video just well worth seeing. Uh very, very dramatic.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

Instagram Martin Strominska S-T-R-M-I-S-K-A. Come on then. Do your do your d- d- news from the dive world. So a little bit of travel news going on.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yes, this is my favorite part of the show every time.

SPEAKER_04 8:38

Your eyes light up every time you do.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Uh my eyes light up talking about travel the way Steven's light up about spreadsheets. The reason I love talking about travel is because it's a way to think about being out in the world when some of us can't do that right now. So just for all the people that are going diving, we love to keep you updated. We do again remind you that before you travel, to always check to see what the local requirements are, even just the day before you go, and also check with all the operators that you're going with what their refund policies are in case something happens. But that being said, there is some great news. The Philippines is open once again. The country's diving industry is ready to welcome foreign visitors as more than 95% of workers in accredited dive establishments have received their vaccine against COVID-19. I have a good friend who just returned from diving in the Philippines. He happens to be a Filipino, so he went back to visit his family, but he did some diving while he was there, and he said it was fantastic. So that's good news. Fiji is also opening up again. They opened up on the first of December, and we talked about this right before the holidays on the show. But we have a little more information on what you need to do to go there. First, you do need to be fully vaccinated 14 days prior to entry. You do need to have travel insurance, you need to have a negative PCR test on arrival. Two days after you arrive, you have to take a rapid antigen test. So there are a number of hoops to jump through to do it. But again, it is possible to do. And this is good to know because my wife is up for a big job. And if she gets that job, we've talked about taking a trip to Fiji.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

So you're taking me to Fiji. That's lovely, Jason. Thank you. That's uh very great card.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Well, it's I'll be taking you to Fiji the same way that that virtual diver is taking to the Fiji is now.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

And then finally, virtual postcards.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Finally, uh Thailand has called its sandbox program, which means that they've put some boundaries around what you can do. And once you get into the sandbacks, you're free to operate. So it allows fully vaccinated visitors from 46 approved countries to enter by air with no quarantine requirements. Visitors will be needed to show that they are COVID-free at the time of travel with the PCR test, taken before they leave their home country and do a test in Thailand, after which they will be free to move around the country in the same way that any Thai citizen can. So once you're vaccinated and you're able to take your tests and get into the country, free to roam. That's pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

So there you go. No, it's fantastic. And the one thing I just done on the Philippines since uh since I mentioned it, is I think it's really important that we try and you know support the Philippines as well if you're able to travel, because they got hit by the super typhoon ray or rye. Um, and obviously that devastates a lot of the country. And I know that Molchranov Freediving, the uh free diving equipment manufacturer, is doing a crowdfunding campaign to support people in the Philippines, particularly free diving education establishments. So what's next there, Steven? Well, travel related as well. Talking about COVID, you've given all the good news around COVID, and let me give you a piece of bad news. One of the biggest trade fairs in the world to do with diving is the boat show or boot show in Düsseldorf. There's several European shows that happen January time. So you have the Paris show, you have boot in Germany, you have the UDI show in Italy, and so on. Boot has been cancelled this year due to Omicron. They just cannot support having large numbers of people. It is one of the largest boat shows, let alone dive shows, one of the largest boat shows in the world. 19 halls of all crazy, absolutely crazy. And then the Paris dive show has been postponed till later in the year, subject to what goes on with the latest variants going around. So a bit of a bit of sad news around things. I know a lot of people are very interested in going to these events. I've been to boot many, many times. It's a great show. Nine days, though. My liver doesn't survive that long.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Uh well, on to some more uplifting news. James Cameron just did an interview with Entertainment Weekly talking about his long-awaited Avatar sequels. Two and three are coming at or they've been shooting on both of them for a long, long time. And we had Kirk Kroc on the show, who worked on Avatar with James Cameron, trained, I believe he trained the actors in diving. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_04 12:43

He was the underwater free diving specialist because uh most of the underwater acting scenes are done on breath holds. They're actually done free diving, they're not using scuba or anything of those sorts of things. So he taught all the actors, gonna be people like Kate Winslett to dive and free dive.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

He mentioned this last year. And I know that I worked on those stages a few years ago when they were converting them to shoot for Avatar 2 and 3. And the what they did on those stages is incredible, even to start with. So it was I was very excited to see what ended up happening. But they they have a release date. It is coming in December 16th of this year, 2022. Avatar 2 is coming out. And the reason we're bringing this up is because this is Kirk has mentioned this, but also uh James Cameron talks about this. This is gonna be the most complex and immersive dive movie ever put onto film.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

Like so many people absolutely can't wait for this to come out. And even more exciting that the Navi, which is the new species of people, it's a water planet. So they're all gonna be free diving. It's gonna be absolutely fantastic. If there's any movie event that's all about a positive thing about diving, this should be it. You know, the amount of money that's gonna be behind it promoting it. As divers, we should all be excited.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, I'm very excited. Uh, I have crossed paths with James Cameron a couple of times. The most recently I was shooting for a shark week in Tahiti, French Polynesia. I was on a little outdoor skiff motorboat, which is about the budget that I work at most of the time. And as we were the you could call him captain, or I could guy say the guy that had his hand on the motor pointed over to a giant yacht across the lagoon, and that was James Cameron's yacht because he was spending some time. So just uh just an awareness of like our difference in our career paths and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

But if but a flotsum floating past his yachts, basically.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

I uh I think they just blew their horn to get us out of their way. Um okay, on to our last story. This is from the UK tabloids. Steven always puts his stories in, and I just apologize.

SPEAKER_04 14:48

Uh live hats on fire.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

But this uh the reason I actually put this story in, because it's just kind of a fun story, is a the story is scuba diving pizza boy, 59, started deliveries after losing his job to COVID. And what it really is, is there's a guy named Thane Milhone, who is the Habitat Operations Manager at Florida's Jules Undersea Lodge. And one of the things that he does, he took this job during COVID, is that he delivers pizza in a pelican case to your room. Now, the reason I put this whole thing in here is one, it's kind of fun that someone delivers pizza to an underwater hotel. But two, I've actually been diving at this hotel. I was actually on a shoot there many, many years ago. And for those of you who don't know what this place is, it's essentially a lagoon in the Florida Keys where they have sunk a couple of rooms down at the bottom of this lagoon that you can spend the night in. And it's a really interesting experience to do for any divers out there. It's a really fun thing to do where you can go to your room and you actually have a porthole into the lagoon where you can see kind of things happening. So really just kind of a fun story. And, you know, when I decide to give it all up and decide to um get out under the yoke of the deeper blue podcast, I think maybe I'll become the pizza guy number two at the uh Jewels Undersea Lodge.

SPEAKER_04 16:03

You know, when we have our Deeper Blue team meeting, you will we'll order the pizza and you can come deliver it. Uh Jason, is that the role?

SPEAKER_00 16:09

But uh if you I will say, having been at the Jules Entersee Lodge, it was a really unique experience. And I and if anyone ever gets a chance to do it, something fun to try.

SPEAKER_04 16:16

So agreed. Well, I think uh Jason, that's it for this week. It's good to see you again, Jason. Good to see you, buddy. Um and uh to all listeners, as always, you can catch up on the latest news at deeperblue.com. And we've got some exciting stuff coming up on the rest of the show. So on with the rest of the show.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

On with the show.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Guideline number three. Hi, I'm Paul DeGelda from Discovery Channel Shark Week. And you're listening to the best 30 minutes of our diving, the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_08 16:53

How exactly does one go from being a scuba diver to a four-time Italian record-setting free diver to transforming into a half-fish, half-woman? Well, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rome, Italy-based Elaria Molinari, who shares exactly how this can happen. Elaria, thank you so much for being here on the Deeper Blue podcast with me today. It is an honor to speak with a fellow mermaid who is also a freediver and a very accomplished free diver. I would love to hear how did this come about that you became a freediver and then ultimately a professional mermaid.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Freediving, I think for people living nearby the sea, it's something very interesting. So it's something you do, you go free diving since you're a baby, since you're a child, because you live by the sea. So it's something absolutely coming from your heart, from your body requires to go into the water. And then slowly you you find out what free diving is. Growing up, you actually know also what free diving means. So you learn to breathe properly, to move properly, and sometimes you become a professional free diver. So that's more or less what happened to me. And I actually fell in love with the tea as a child, as a baby, and then I fell in love with the depth, scuba diving. So I I began kuba diving to find out the depth of the tea of the ocean, and I absolutely fell in love, but something was missing. I felt like I wanted something more, and that something more arrived discovering free diving, and that happened in 2000 actually in Sardinia, uh, where I went kuba diving in a diving center with a bed to be side. That was his diving center. And he went free diving with us while we were scuba diving. So I I looked at him at like 40 meters just swimming freely between us, no tanks, no jacket, nothing, just fin and wetsuit. And I was like, that's exactly what I need, what I would like to do. And so from there on I started to free dive in a more professional way. I attended a court and then I started with the competition achievement records. It was very, very fun.

SPEAKER_08 19:10

I can only imagine what it must have been like, and from an outsider's perspective, having you know read Umberto's books and and to see this fish of a man suddenly appearing as you're scuba diving around in the ocean. What an incredible way to really be introduced to the possibilities of the sport of free diving. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah, and actually I started from perhaps from that point of view because I didn't know him or the pre-diving world. So afterwards, I found out who he was and all the pre-diving worlds, pre-diving movement in Italy and abroad. But the first time I saw him, it was really a surprise. And I said, So there is someone else actually doing what I try to do. And it was very, very fun. And then after the competitions and uh being an instructor for many years, I kind of got sick of competitions, not because of competitions themselves, it's just it is just that I was getting a little bit uh tired of competing, training, competing, training. I just wanted to have fun. And so after the after stopping competing, I trained for myself, so just for purely for the pure joy of free diving. So for a few summers, I just removed the the rope, the rope, you know, professional direct. I'm I'm telling this for those who listen, but because you know, of course, professional divers go towards the depth following the rope with in or without end. And so I removed that and I went freely. So turning and sweeping backward, forward, and just discovering the depth the way I wanted, expressing myself freely. So that's where I kind of felt like a mermaid, so that the the creature we can imagine to be nearer to when we are in the teeth. And I actually felt like a mermaid also, or a dolphin also where when I first were a monopene. So the monofin gets you so near the that movement, that kind of pre-rapid movement that dolphins and mermaids have in the teeth. So that was the first feeling I had of being a mermaid. But then when I stopped competing and did that, so I felt free to express myself in the water just for myself, just for my body, for my soul. That's why I actually I think I became a mermaid, even though nobody walked, even though I didn't have a tail, I already was a mermaid. And then I saw you in the Bahamas, and that was so inspiring.

SPEAKER_08 21:31

We met in 2009, didn't we? At Vertical Blue at William True Bridge's event in the Bahamas, and at Dean's Blue Hole, you did have your your monofin, and you just were so graceful in the water as it was. And I remember talking to you about being a mermaid, and I was thrilled when I saw you finally got a tail, and then you were diving in the Y 40 and became basically their ambassador.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yes, and actually, when I saw you, I was very inspired and admired you very much because you Your way of being a mermaid was so natural, so spontaneous. So when I saw other mermaids, I saw a woman with a tail just posing somewhere underwater. When I saw you, I saw a sea creature. Oh I saw a real mermaid. Oh, you are so sweet. It gives me chills, really. But then when I saw you, I did not even think about being myself, like wearing a tail. I just watched you and I said, Oh, she's so lovely. I like the way she is in the water and she's big, she's actually a mermaid. And then in 2014, when they asked to swim for the opening ceremony for the Y40, that's where something clicked in my mind. I said, wait, I could be a mermaid as well. As wing them. So a very spontaneous, natural mermaid, not posing underwater, but actually moving like a mermaid, free diving like a mermaid and living underwater like an ocean creature. And so that's where the real transformation happened. And it was so emotional. It was so fun to go underwater and feeling the emotions of the people watching, because in that pool you have all the channels and the windows underwater. So people can actually feel light when you perform when you die. And I could feel their energy, and people were trying. I've been told some people were trying. And it was not just because of me, it was because of the dream. So this pool was unique in its own way when it was built, was the only one in the world with that kind of architecture. So people for the first time, people who never put a single or never went deeper than one meter in their life, could actually see someone dancing underwater and dressed like a mermaid, so resembling a sea creature. And they were so moved by this, as I was, because I could feel it myself. And I think we both transmitted it to each other. So people watching a me moving underwater. It was totally new for me. Because being watched during a competition, a competition is, of course, totally different. You think about other kind of feelings. When you have no worries about the movement and the technique, you are moved and driven by your passion, your heart, and so it gets completely different. People can can feel that. I think they can see it and they can feel it. I always get emotional while I swim for the underwater shows. So sometimes I have a little fear. As if as in the sea, when I happen to swim with big animals like dolphins, whistles are beautiful animals. I have a little tear of joy coming out of my eyes.

SPEAKER_06 24:47

You're listening to the world's only weekly podcast for scuba diving, tree diving, dive travel, and ocean at sea. I'm Liz Parkinson, a shark conservationist and underwater stunt woman. And this is the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Welcome back to the Deeper Blue Podcast. Today, for our top tip, we have Gillian Morris, president and founder of Sharks for Kids, an organization based in Florida that teaches kids how important sharks are. Jillian, do you have a top tip for us?

SPEAKER_07 25:23

I do. I think my top tip is to share your ocean story. You don't have to be a professional photographer, videographer. You'd be amazed at your friends, your family. Share your adventure, share your stories and your love for the ocean and inspire others. Inspire others to start diving, to explore. And I think it's so simple, but it's so important and it can really make an impact.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

Hi everyone. I have to say, you know, Jason, I I um uh you know, I've been watching some of the adverts for uh for Cinto and I just cannot nail the Finnish accent because they're a Finnish company. They have a really it sounds really cool when it finished.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

I would drive and people would be like, I think that's more Danish. So I'm driving.

SPEAKER_04 26:21

More Danish. Wow. So you ever dive with a Cinto before, Jason?

SPEAKER_00 26:26

It was actually one of my first dive computers for my for my wrist, which was fantastic. And I remember being kind of into it in a huge dial, which was fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 26:34

Was it a big bright yellow one?

SPEAKER_00 26:36

No, I don't get anything that's not black. So this one was black. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:41

Well, that's true. My most diverse, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:43

That's right. Well, I just dressed in black all the time, anyways. But so we're talking here about the Sunto Heritage, which is the so this is the first, not only was it my first dive computer, but they were the first to introduce uh dive computers, profile memory, ascent rate, monitoring, scrollable user menus, backlights, watch sizes, and a compass.

SPEAKER_04 27:00

Well, you know, the compass thing is really interesting because I'm not sure you know that I didn't actually know this until I I spoke to some of my friends over in Cinto, but they uh pioneered some of the compass, nothing to do with diving. The guy behind Cinto actually created this, you know, the the compass that floats around in in Liquid. He he pioneered that and that's where Cinto came from. And um they part Was that Mr. Cunto?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Uh Jerry Cunto, was that Jerry Cunto?

SPEAKER_04 27:26

It might have been. I'd have to look up his name. That's really terrible about uh not remembering his name, but um it's a very it's a very fit.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

I think Jerry very Finnish name.

SPEAKER_04 27:37

And that's what he created, and and that's where the the whole company came from. And they they then went beyond that to create all sorts of outdoor activity stuff. And I'll be honest, I've been a Cunto diver for pretty much my whole diving career. I've always had a Cunto uh dive computer attached to my uh wrist store. I did have some air integrated stuff on my regs and stuff before that. But I I you know you probably cut me in half and it'll probably read Cunto.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Uh right, sure. Well, I gotta say that um uh all all of these things we're talking about, Cento the Heritage, that's actually pretty cool. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of history. So the idea of like these were the first people, I believe. Although I gotta say the compass part for me underwater, I know this is this is sacrilege to say, but I don't need the compass. I just follow the dive master. I'm just looking around at the what's going on around me. I know that's terrible to say because I'm a recreational diver. I'm not like uh super hardcore like a lot of the people we talk to on this podcast. Uh so as long as the dive master's compass is working, I'm okay. But everything else, um I but everything else, that's actually really cool. I really I love heritage. I love the idea of the fact that they started this kind of stuff. That's very cool.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

It is very cool. So listen, I think everyone should go and check out the uh Cinto Heritage stuff on dwell and you know, read from a bit more about Cinto because they have a very cool background. Cinto.

SPEAKER_09 29:03

Finally, in every episode, we share a story from you, the dive community, where we ask you to tell us about your best dive ever.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

My name is Alan Sharp. I've been lucky enough to have been diving for over sixty years. First as an amateur and then professional, and now as a senior citizen, back to enjoying warm water diving whenever possible. I've experienced many things underwater, some awe-inspiring, some hilarious, and some downright scary. However, my first dive was the best that I can recall. Back in 1960, at the age of nine. I was brought up an Aidan and practically lived in the city, snorkeling every day after school. My dad was something of a diving pioneer in the days, and I finally persuaded him to teach me to dive, and on my ninth birthday he offered to take me with him and expect damage to a large oil tank anchored in the outer harbour. Equipment was a little different. It consisted of an old toweling shirt of protection against barnacles, a makeshift webbing harness, which I think came from an old plane seat, and a small cylinder with the obligatory Stevie Gorman twin hose on top. There were no BCDs there. And as a last minute adjustment, my dad fastened a couple of steel shackles onto my harness for good luck. The tanker was huge, and as we passed the waterline, clouds of small fish were feeding on the weeds prolific over the first few feet of sunlight. Then as we dropped lower from the intimidating dark slab side of the tanker, I could see large shoals of fish sheltering in the semi-dark, quietly avoiding exposure to the dangers of trawling in the sunlight. I was vaguely aware of my depth and buoyancy, even breathing, it was also fantastic. Then I felt a firm hand on my harness and was dragged over to the enormous bronze propeller. I was unceremoniously tied off to the rudder shaft. With that, my dad gave me a cheery wave and headed off to inspect the kill damage, leaving me dangling alone, surrounded by so many fish in a friendly grouper, just keeping an eye on me as groupers always know how. Once settled, I could now sit back and see the patrolling hunters all around. We were trying to look nonchalant and then darting quickly into the groups of fish and disappearing in a cloud of scales. It's hard to believe in the sixties most ships just dumped waste over the side, so sharks were always in the water. But as found out over the years, they certainly were not interested in me. All too soon it was over, and with little help countering the shackle weights, I was back on the surfers, jabbering excitedly while my dad started the boat and headed back to the inner harbor. It was my best dive for so many reasons.

SPEAKER_09 31:36

We'd love to hear about your best dive ever. So please head over to deeperblue.com slash best dive ever to share your story about your best dive ever.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Thanks for listening to the Deeper Blue Podcast. Find out more about all the stories you've heard, plus connect with the world's largest dive community at deeperblue.com. If you like what you've heard, please share, like, and rate our show wherever you get your podcasts, as those shares and likes really make a difference. Thanks so much, and see you next week.