<center>![Zen_ScubaScribe.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmW1DrAjREZdZ9xY8fxNferVS74wWxNW1goseKumE6oigP/Zen_ScubaScribe.jpg)</center>

<center><h3>The Philosophy of Scuba</h3></center>

<div class="text-justify">Scuba Diving is so much more than a hobby to me, it is an inspirational activity. I have been fascinated by the natural world from an early age, the instinctual nature of animal behavior brings a quieting of the mind and an escape from human complexities. I find a peace in observing wildlife and a stillness that comes close to meditation.</div><br>

> The future is in the hands of those who explore... and from all the beauty they discover while crossing perpetually receding frontiers, they develop for nature and for humankind an infinite love.<br>
Jacques Yves Cousteau<br>

<div class="text-justify">This wonderful quote from the grandfather of scuba, Jacques Cousteau, exemplifies my feelings perfectly. Scuba Diving is a synthesis between the world of wildlife and that of human complexities, after all, it is  technology that allows us to visit these amazing sub-aqua habitats. Diving is a constant journey of learning; decompression tables, buoyancy control techniques, nitrogen depletion equations, diver hand signals, safe wreck penetration, compass navigation, marine-life identification, cold water diving, dive computer use - the list goes on and on!</div><br><center>https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmSbu2HsyJpZBa2oKrpTS8VfGacBCLPeDvQ9VZjbpVzwo8</center><br>

<div class="text-justify">The specialist knowledge of these different facets of diving can be used in a myriad of ways. Compass navigation and wreck penetration are key in marine archaeology, while diver hand signals and marine-life identification are essential skills for biodiversity surveying. It is this constant evolution of knowledge which keeps my passion for diving burning strong, there is always something new to learn and new places to explore.</div><br>

<center><h3>Achieving Enlightenment</h3></center>

<div class="text-justify">To dive is to be truly enlightened, it is the closest that we can get to weightlessness while still remaining on earth.<br>

<br>My journey to enlightenment started in 2010 in a rather chilly classroom at ['Aquaventurers'](http://www.aquaventurers.co.uk/) dive shop in my hometown of Liverpool. An unlikely venue for igniting a lifelong passion but one that would lay the foundations of knowledge that has saved my life on no less than two occasions. I spent six months preparing for a backpacking trip to Thailand where I would realize my dream to scuba dive with an [open water referral](http://www.thedivingcentre.com/courses/padi-open-water-referral-course/).<br>

An open water referral allows you to complete the majority of the training in your home country and then finish up with the final open water sea-dives abroad. Prior to my trip to Thailand, I had suffered a long bout of depression and a big part of what drew me out of my comfort zone and enabled my recovery was the studying I undertook with my fellow dive students. Therapists will tell you 'that you have to want to get better', this is exactly right. The social element of studying in a group, along with the difficult tasks of performing dive skills, swimming without regulators, mask removal and clearance, all gave me that drive I needed, the will to fight those demons.<br>

Scuba diving will pull you out of your comfort zone quickly. This process of training changed me profoundly, from someone who shied away from challenges to someone who embraces difficulties and strives to find solutions.</div><br>

<div class="text-justify">The ritual of diving is a careful balance between following necessary procedures and giving in to the wonder of the experience. This balance suited me in particular in pulling myself out of that depressive mind-state where everything was too much to cope with. The routine of chart revisions and the final equipment assembly prior to diving, all center the mind, sharpening focus. This routine is the bedrock of safe diving and also, coincidentally, the perfect medicine for depression.<br>

<br>To show you the levels of safe procedure that need to be followed, I am now going to briefly run through what I do in preparing for a dive.

* First, I check and set my computer (see collage pic above) making sure to set the right oxygen to nitrogen ratio (usually 21% oxygen for air). This also serves the purpose of checking the computer's battery levels prior to jumping in the water. If I am diving enriched air/nitrox (a higher proportion of oxygen to nitrogen) I will set the required percentage and then use a [nitrox analyzer](https://www.simplyscuba.com/products/analox-o2eii-pro-nitrox-analyser) to test the air in the tank by setting the valve to release a gentle flow over the analyzer.

* Next, I attach the BCD (divers floatation jacket) to the tank and then the octopus regulators (breathing apparatus). Then the octopuses hoses need to be attached to the BCD (to allow you to control buoyancy by adding air to the jacket) before turning the tank's valve handle all the way open to activate the system. It is important to then turn the handle half a turn back, as this ensures that the valve handle won't get stuck if your buddy should need to turn it off in the case of a regulator free-flow.

* Now I test the air input and output. I add air to the BCD  by pressing the button on the low-pressure hose and then release it to check that the mechanism is working. Similarly, I take a breath from both of my regulators (first and second stage) and press the purge valves to check they are working properly.

* Next, it is time to kit-up. I put on my wetsuit/drysuit and then the flippers if there is no assistant to help. The weight belt is next, then I sit down into the BCD/tanks assembly and fastens the jacket up. The mask goes on your head or in your hands before standing up and you're nearly ready to go.

* Finally, I perform a buddy check. This ensures that both you and your buddy are competent, know the emergency procedures and that your air is actually switched on. I show my buddy where my BCD's jacket dump valves are located, in case of a runaway accent, and then I add a bit of air to my BCD to show that it's working. I then show them where the weight belt release catch is and which way to pull for release and they then follow the same procedure, running through these checks with their equipment.<br>

![Dive Kit collage.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVKsWafnu76KhFwyPsmyFbdYAHyjLdpCeUC61qBt2gevY/Dive%20Kit%20collage.jpg)
<div class="text-justify">As you can see, even the process of kitting-up for a dive is a challenge but these rigid procedures can mean the difference between life and death. Imagine your buddy is descending and passes out at 28 meters. They aren't neutrally buoyant so they will continue moving downwards and drown. My procedure for this instance would be to swim to them very quickly, secure their regulator in their mouth and attempt to make them neutrally buoyant by adding small blasts of air to their BCD. However, you may need to jettison the weight belt. An unconscious diver needs to be taken to the surface as quickly as is safe while avoiding a runaway ascent so the final buddy checks are essential to know what to do in these emergency situations.<br>

<br>There are many more procedures like these which keep divers safe and the mental challenge of maintaining them is a big part of the buzz of scuba diving. When you reach an advanced level, it really does feel like you've conquered these environments through your knowledge of how to deal with the inability of the human body to handle the extreme atmospheric pressures. It can be dangerous but it is also very rewarding.</div><br> 

<div class="text-justify">Part of what I love about Scuba is the challenge and the element of danger! Am I insane, maybe a little. As a teenager, I used to skateboard, jumping down stairs, sliding along rails and generally smashing into the concrete in a thousand different ways. I am older and wiser now, perhaps 😉. I prefer to equip myself with the knowledge to explore dangerous places and return without injury.</div><br>

<div class="text-justify">This is a big part of my passion for diving. Apart from the quiet meandering reef dives, many dives are heart thumping, adrenaline pumping drift dives. This type of advanced diving, flying over miles of reef at a break neck speed, can be very dangerous. Often, at a certain point on the reef, you have to turn and swim against the current back to the shelter of the wall to avoid being swept out to sea. It is this combination of knowledge and technique, that equips a diver with the tools to push these boundaries. The challenge of advanced diving, the adrenaline of it all, is what drives me to progress. To go that little bit deeper, to learn about shark psychology and dive with oceanic pelagic species. It really makes you feel alive!</div><br>

<div class="text-justify">This exploration of progression, learning advanced technique to overcome barriers to certain underwater environments, is driven by the desire to meet new ocean species. One of my unrealized diving dreams is to dive with the massive aggregations of hammerhead that gather in Egypt, the Coco's islands and the Galapagos. Award-winning director and National Geographic explorer James Cameron said:</div><br>

> every time you dive, you hope you'll see something new - some new species. Sometimes the ocean gives you a gift, sometimes it doesn't.<br>

<div class="text-justify">This is absolutely true, although I haven't yet seen these aggregations of hammerhead, I once encountered a scalloped hammerhead on a coastal reef in Egypt while performing a three-minute safety stop at five meters. This once in a lifetime occurrence happened with a shark species that rarely ventures above thirty meters. Every dive holds this possible promise, you never know what could happen and it is this uncertainty that makes every dive as awe-inspiring as the first. Diving fulfills a hunters instinct in many ways, except the focus is on discovering and observing rather than killing.</div><br>
<center>https://steemitimages.com/DQmev6eEVPMGZavy7PjN67QnGgFeiGvToeAruWAxySWPUG9/Me%20diving.jpg</center>
<center><h3>The Journey to Conservation Awareness</h3></center>

<br><div class="text-justify">In my personal philosophy around diving, the idea of the importance of awareness is key. I feel an almost mystical connection with the oceans marine life and I honestly believe that if more people dived or snorkeled they would also feel this connection. In one of my Scuba Scribe blog posts, I reviewed a documentary called [*Jago - A Life Underwater*](https://steemit.com/review/@raj808/scuba-scribe-review-jago-a-life-underwater-6611b210abf41). The respect and affinity that this 80-year-old Indonesian Bajau tribesman shows with his environment is utterly astounding. It shows that it is entirely possible for man to live in harmony with nature. Obviously, the modern world of technology is at odds with that simplistic tribal existence, but I think the pollution of our oceans is more a result of the application of technologies than it is of the progressive nature of man. We can make cups and straws out of biodegradable materials, but we choose plastic. We could run all of our vehicles on electricity, but we use oil.</div>

> The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.<br>
[Jacques Yves Cousteau](https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/authors/top_10_jacques_yves_cousteau_quotes)<br>

<div class="text-justify">Again, Jacques Cousteau has hit the proverbial nail on the head. The need for ocean conservation through awareness has never been greater<br>

<br>We as a species are consumers, we befoul the oceans with plastic. I have actually witnessed a green turtle choking on a shopping bag which it mistakenly ate thinking it was a jellyfish. Over [eight million tons of plastic](https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-oceans-facts-images-2436857254.html) enter the oceans each year, the combined weight of which (based on 2015 yearly amount) is the same as 900 Empire State Buildings. Yet if you asked the average person on the streets of my hometown about marine ecosystems, they wouldn't have a clue or would turn to the issue of fish stocks. This is why scuba diving is so important in raising conservation awareness. Once you have experienced the magical feeling of flying over reefs or floating in the center of a spiraling cloud of shoaling silver sardines, it is hard to remain impassive.</div><br>

<div class="text-justify">If I realize my goals of traveling as a freelance writer, I am determined to integrate my knowledge and experience of scuba diving into my working life. I want to dive all over the world and write for established diving magazines on a range of dive subjects while continuing to publish my Scuba Scribe creative narratives on steemit. Fostering awareness of these marine conservation issues is my outward expression of a very personal  passion, promoting the sport of scuba diving with a view to helping inspire a consciousness change in readers. Even if I only reach one person and inspire them to try 'flying on the wind of their breath', I will be a happy man indeed.</div>

</center><br>![divider-1024.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmb9i2KiKpKHoj63jj482Z2HpRPSbx1UyAPXrRGYxXzhEj/divider-1024.png)
<center>Thank you for joining me on this exploration of scuba diving and reading my entry into the *[This is my Hobby](https://steemit.com/contest/@anomadsoul/contest-my-2018-this-is-my-hobby-or-100-sbd-in-prizes)* competition. I would like to thank @anomadsoul for running this amazing competition and @blocktrades for sponsoring it. Without the help of the bigger fish on steemit, it would be impossible for the smaller fish to thrive.</center></center><br>![divider-1024.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmb9i2KiKpKHoj63jj482Z2HpRPSbx1UyAPXrRGYxXzhEj/divider-1024.png)

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<center> All pictures are my own property. The digital art adaptation part of the title picture was created for me by the very talented @moderndayjester, I would like to say a big thanks to him for offering to do this and allowing me to use his art, you can check out his profile [here](https://steemit.com/@moderndayjester).</center>

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![Scuba scribe logo final.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmS7fk8xszyxFmQGFhxy4fBGkBmJt2BLr4PgouNHSpoy96/Scuba%20scribe%20logo%20final.jpg)![Resteemanim.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQma1hhDxNHTCxdabgX8EBCUD8hotqQZQGvJnejGrB97saK/Resteemanim.gif)