Let's Dive In!

As with any type of knowledge that we want to build on, it's best to start with the basics.

Some of you may already know these facts, but some of you may not, which is why it's important to go over them so we can all start from the same basis of knowledge AND so that when you go to teach someone who knows nothing about the ocean, you know exactly where to start!

This course is just as much about you learning as it is about the knowledge that you'll be sharing with others.

Let's dive in...

When teaching others, it's important to remember that humans have a tendency of only caring about things which directly affect them/their life.

It's definitely one of the flaws of human nature, however, once you are aware of this, you can use it to make people more likely to care by bringing the facts back to situations which will affect humans.

For example, I love to use the explanation of plastic and marine life. Why do we care if plastics end up in our oceans? Because once it enters the food chain, WE will eat it and it'll end up in our systems, which can't break it down. This doesn't just affect marine life, it affects us in a major way, too.

Here is a great fact that you may want to share when teaching others:

'Oceans cover nearly 71 percent of Earth's surface.' We truly live on a BLUE planet!

Have you visited the Bahamas? If you have, you may have noticed that the water seems denser and a little more salty than you may be used to. It actually is!

Who recognizes that guy in the photo? That legendary diver is Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Here's the rundown.. he was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung and pioneered marine conservation! Whew! What didn't this guy do?!

We owe so much of our understanding of the ocean and the sport of diving to that man. Did you know that most people had no idea what the underwater world even looked like until he started filming and they aired the images on TV?

Talk about 'out of sight, out of mind'. It was very hard before then to get anyone to care about the state of the ocean, because they'd never seen it.

Thanks in large part to Cousteau, all of this changed.

Did you know that, to this day, approximately five percent of the ocean has been discovered, which leaves 95% of the ocean unexplored?

This is because a large portion of the ocean is between scuba diving limits and the depth that submersibles, such as the one pictured above, begin exploring to make the cost of using them worth it.

The ocean is like outer space, except it's on our planet!

Now that you know more about the conditions of humans and conservation, do you think we've really only begun looking into this because it will eventually have a great affect on humans and our survival? I definitely think that's the case.

Carbon emissions are a hot topic in conservation, but this always seems like a task that's too big for individuals or even small groups to take on...

Be thinking of ways you could limit your carbon emissions personally in your day to day life and we'll circle back to this...