Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Scuba-duba-doo!



Two new certified divers in the water. Kinda feels like passing your driving test. Woo-hoo!

Yesterday we passed our written scuba open water certification test. This means John is now a certified scuba diver, a goal he has had for many years! I am still not completely certified as I still have some more diving to do to with my instructor to complete my certification. However, it feels good to have passed the written test.

And, what's more, it was done Puerto Rican style with lots of fun, laughter, good food and drink, easy-going timeline and atmosphere, and good company (our friend and dive instructor, Darryl, came for dinner and brought the tests with him). John and I each scored 89%; good thing we had separate tests so it was clear we didn't cheat. We learned some things during the test as well (as will happen with any good assessment and great instructor). Seawater weighs 62.4 lbs. /cubic ft. Water cools your body 25 times faster than air. And, my favorite thing of all I have learned from scuba diving instruction is that every plastic bag picked up off the beach or out of the ocean - or, better yet, prevented from being thrown carelessly as trash - will possibly save the life of a sea turtle. Turtles are practically the only animals that eat jellyfish and they frequently mistake plastic bags for jellyfish (I understand; done it twice myself), eat them, and die as a result. I am very happy that scuba diving will and is making me more environmentally aware and a better friend to the ocean and its inhabitants.

No comments: