Fun Fact: The Mariana Trench

The world-famous Mariana Trench is a wonder humans have yet to fully understand. As it currently stands, the Mariana Trench holds the record for the deepest ocean depth at 36,201 feet (or 11,034 meters).

Venturing down below water this deep puts an immense amount of pressure on a vessel or a human body so high that we cannot explore beyond a certain point, so how was this depth measured? Much like dolphins using echolocation, oceanographers used sound waves. Sound waves were projected from the surface and bounced off the ocean bottom, the time it took to bounce back was recorded, and the distance to the bottom was recorded.

Strange and even frightening creatures dwell in the trench, such as the Angler fish.

What's in your sunscreen?

A good number of sunscreens, cosmetics, and fragrant body soaps contain a chemical called benzophenon-2, or BP-2, which oceanic scientists now claim is incredibly harmful to ocean reefs. Through the innocent act of protecting your skin, you could be unintentionally furthering the destruction of our worlds' reefs!

How much damage are we actually doing? Read the article here.

Song #3 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

I said I'd post songs that convey an island vibe to listeners but ya know I've just been posting songs I've had stuck in my head as of late, so enjoy this Hawaiian ballad by one of my favorite artists. Israel was actually the inspiration for the name of my ukulele Izzy (:

POOL DIVE UPDATE

As I stated in my most recent post preceding this one, I'm back at diving again! At least temporarily...

Dis muh cru don't mess don't hate

Even though I was restricted to a 10ft deep YMCA indoor pool and couldn't complete a REAL dive (considered 20ft or deeper) it was great just to reacquaint myself with the gear and get back to diving. My instructor, Twink, helped me brush up my skills in preparation for my final dive (to be scheduled at a later date once the weather warms a bit) and we were done within an hour. I never even had to swim in the cold!

Now don't be fooled by my dashing good looks, scuba diving is not an attractive hobby.

Back at it! ....finally

Today I'm driving two/three hours from Cincinnati to Wapakoneta (or however it's spelled) to practice diving at the Y. It's been too long! Pics posted later (:

Fun Fact: Dolphins

Dolphins communicate and navigate underwater by means of echolocation. They send out messages through clicks which assists them in underwater navigation much more than sight alone.

Song #2 - Radiohead

Nothing boosts my confidence like understanding physics, and that only happened because my teacher started talking about scuba diving and the bends haha. I had to share this song after it got stuck in my head

Journey to the South Pacific

I went to the Cincinnati Museum Center OMNIMAX last night and this movie succeeded in lifting my spirits! With all the snow we've had it feels like winter will last forever, but his movie instantly transported me to sunny shores and warm breezes. Informational and uplifting, I'd highly suggest any and all to go to their local OMNIMAX theater and watch Journey to the South Pacific (:

Song #1 - The Paper Kites

This song just makes me happy and spreads all-around good vibes 

Slow Beginnings

I've been dive training since October and I've never even made a post yet! I shame myself.

Technically I'm almost done with training. I have one dive left to go before I am tested for certification. I can't wait to get out into the world and explore beneath the waves (:

Under the instruction of Twink Miller from Long Lake Diving in Lima, Ohio, I've learned the basics of scuba diving and I've already completed four successful dives. It was freezing cold when I first began training in late October, so unfortunately in mid-November when I completed my fourth dive, it was my last for the year ): The water was a mere 38 degrees Fahrenheit and she said we shouldn't risk hypothermia and call it quits until spring.

Well it's March 3rd and Cincinnati's experiencing a bit of an ice storm... Nothing unusual this winter... I'm so tired of all this cold weather! I used to love winter but hell froze over this year -___- It's ridiculous how much snow we've gotten... When will it be warmer?! I NEED TO GET OUT AND DIVE AGAIN!!!

Introduction

My name is Diana and I am a senior at Seton High School here in the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio!

The primary purpose of this blog is to document my progress in my senior project. I've chosen scuba diving as the focus of my project and I am working one dive at a time towards an end goal of diving certification. (: