Did You Know: PLASTICS

The #1 thing that grinds my gears is litter. How many times have you seen someone toss a cig out of their window while driving? Or leave a candy wrapper on the sidewalk? Or even just spit their gum out willy-nilly? 

Here's a little something you might not have known about plastics:

1. Plastics are the No. 1 type of trash found by Dive Against Debris volunteers, making up about 66% of the total number of debris found to date.
2. Over 700 entangled or dead marine animals have been reported in the past three years. Plastics are not only harmful substances, they're literally deathtraps.
3. Over 1400 dive surveys that report plastic litter have been submitted from more than 60 countries.

I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. This world belongs to all of us and it is not your personal waste bin go home and trash your own place if you're okay with doing that to all of us! STOP KILLING THE PLANET WITH YOUR DIRTY HABITS PEOPLE.

Interactive Diving Debris Map

For anybody interested in what lies on the ocean floor, this interactive diving debris map shows a map of many diving sites in various regions of the world and some of the items collected by divers at the sea floor!




I looked at several of the dive sites and noticed a pattern. Most of the items are not artifacts or anything interesting my any means - it is mainly plastic. 

Even in the empty open waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, there's still traces of waste and garbage due to human littering. There's plastic food wrappers in even the least most populated areas! 




This site gives insight to just how much litter humans are responsible for and advice on how we can help clean up after ourselves. We must all do our share to keep our waterways clean; it's a collective effort between all of us!

I MEAN COME ON PEOPLE DON'T BE NASTY

Welp.

Senior year is winding down and that means senior project is coming to a close... but not before practice presentations, the real presentation before the judges, and a whole lot of other stressful factors that must be squared away before I can mentally check out for the year.

During this final month of senior year I'll be diving at least one more time this coming Sunday and blogging like a madman. Hopefully more people will look at my blog so my efforts don't go to waste... Wish me luck frans.

Song #4 - Lord Huron

There is no musical group, perhaps even another song, that describes my love for adventuring and for the world quite like this. Enjoy, folks (:

The Lost Underwater Lion City

China's take on Atlantis is one of the most breathtaking underwater diving sites I've ever stumbled upon. 

Qiandao Lake, an artificial waterway located about 150 km from the city of Hangzhou, China, goes by many names and is often called the Thousand Island Lake. It is also commonly known as the Sunken Lion City, and for good reason.

The two great, ancient cities that make up the underwater site are located at the bottom of Wu Shi Mountain (Five Lion Mountain) and were built around the 2nd and 6th century. In 1959, the region was flooded to establish a hydroelectric power station and food reservoir. In order to flood the area efficiently, countless villages, cities, and residential homes in addition to the two cities were drowned and almost 300,000 people were relocated to make the project a success.

Shockingly, the Chinese government has been nothing but apathetic towards the protection of the underwater ancient civilization, and it remained forgotten until about 2001 when it was rediscovered by divers. It's a phenomenon how well-preserved the city has remained over the past 1300 years.

LOOK HOW COOL THIS PLACE IS GOOD GRIEF >>>

THIS IS AN ENTIRE UNDERWATER CITY AS IN CIVILIZATIONS ONCE POPULATED THESE STRUCTURES AND NOW THEY'RE HIDDEN BENEATH TONS OF WATER

Undiscovered/forgotten relics of the past like these are why I want to dive.

MEET MY MENTOR

Charlie Williams. Ah, what a guy (left).

My mentor, Charlie Williams, is in fact my mom's boyfriend and quite possibly the coolest MOST TOTALLY RADICAL (I know he'd appreciate my saying that) DUDE EVER. The man who sparked my interest in diving is sea-bound once again! His latest dives have been down south in Aruba where he's seen amazing sights. He originally planned to explore a sunken Nazi battle ship but due to flight delays had to make a change of plans and still saw some great sites. Instead, he saw a sunken plane ~200ft long and all kinds of underwater sea life including a seahorse and a sea turtle! Hopefully once I am certified we'll take trips and dive together!

When will I dive again?!

It's so frustrating not being able to dive since the quarry's still iced up... I just want my certification aye