Funny how something as simple as diving can be so powerful. I've written about this before, but the article prompts another repeat.

Two years ago, amidst all the sadness of going through a divorce, I decided it was high time my children got a fresh perspective and that a little fun was in order. My oldest daughter was away at college but it was my other three who needed this more so than her. I wanted to take them somewhere they'd never been before, so I booked a short escape for a long weekend to the Caribbean. Keep in mind that the Jersey shore was the only ocean these kids had ever seen in their short teenaged lives.

I know that I speak for them as well as myself, when I say that a single stellar memory of that trip will forever stand out. It was the moment right after we had just gone underwater, just seconds into that shimmering sea of turquoise. My three children were floating in a sort of semi-circle directly in front of me, and even though they were all in scuba masks I could clearly see their faces.

I will never forget how each of them looked to me at that moment - each taking in the surreal kalideoscope & spectacle of a thriving undersea life - hundreds of brilliant-colored tropical fish swirling around us, the gorgeous orange of the coral further down below, the deep clear blue of the water, each of them looking at me so wondrously as if to register "is this for real?"

Joy was what all of us felt, at that moment. Maybe for purely selfish reasons I don't want to believe the author of this article could possibly be right about the coral disappearing forever. I don't ever want to deny families of future generations from experiencing what my family experienced.

No one should ever be denied that kind of natural Joy.

What a poignant message for us all. Indeed, the coral reefs of this world are disappearing at such a fast rate that it will take a sea change to turn back the clock. I spend each day working for the US government to help protect and manage our oceans and find myself constantly challenged to get the budget support I need to further my new initiative on sustainable dive tourism. I want every diver, snorkeler, ocean recreationalist to experience what 'topazz' and his children experienced under the see. To see with ones own eyes the brilliance of the underwater environment and the intricacy of delicate systems that support ocean life....is to love it. But to see it, and minimize your 'finprint' or 'footprint' while in the ocean, on the ocean, or on the shore is the key to sustaining these systems for future generations. It is quite possible to love our oceans to death....and to forget about our stewardship responsiblities.

My dream is to build a program that promotes best practices in coastal and marine tourism by educating user groups, businesses and local communities about the intrinsic values of a pristine (not degraded) marine environment. If anyone has ideas of ways to encourage our federal government to care more about this topic, let me know!!

Being part of the system, and working from the inside, I'm hopeful that with the right funding, I can help drive the changes we need in federal legislation to take better care of these oceans, corals, fish, and underwater environment that we all love...divers, tourists, surfers, kayakers, and even fishers! But we all need to do our part!

Let's win one for the oceans!

Your thoughts make it really care what is most important. Surrounding yourself with people who care and doing things which bring joy into your life. I've found this to be true in my own life and diving is something I want to explore in the coming days.

Thank you.

Tim

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The Dolphins after Dark a group out of San Diego area have a submarine in the area of the islands you wre in. Did you ever try that. The submarine probably has a glass bottom to see the great and small creatures of the sea.

we had it all

a song on the internet

I have been a sailor

a song on the Internet

wasting away again in Margarettaville

fruity cocktail time

a song on the Interent

Yellow Submarine

a song on the Interent

I'm always surprised when it still gets an occasional reply.

Although I admit a ride in a submarine would be pretty cool (my father was a WWII Submarine Vet) the glass bottom boat thing cannot begin to come close to the feelings that spring up inside you with a genuine dive experience.

That does it. I'm taking my arthritic hip and going home. Last time I did that the months of pain disappeared in two days. My home is right next door to St Vincent. Barbados, "21 miles long and 14 (s)miles wide!" for a serious and complete description of the place "joy" has in human development go to: CLCKing.com , seriously though. Its under construction but the piece on joy is there.

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