After I had been working for four years, my friend enthusiastically invited me to start going diving. Swimming is not my strong point and I really had no interest in the ocean, so I wasn't that interested. One of my friends at work would boast about the wonders under the sea when we would sometimes meet. I was finally moved to act by my friend's repeated invitations and I finally went to a diving school and got my certification. This is what made me fall in love with the charm of the ocean.
(YumikoS)
Why I started diving
Posted by: nacos (Admin) Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:38:14 GMT
Ice Diving
Posted by: nacos (Admin) Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:34:37 GMT
I will tell you about ice diving. Ice diving means scuba diving under a thick ceiling of ice.
In the past, I was invited by my friend to go ice diving. I had gone diving many times in the cold winter sea of Izu so, without hesitating, I decided to go. The place was Utoro in Hokkaido. The seas of Hokkaido were covered with ice 2-3 meters thick.
First, before diving, I was given the information I would need for the dive. Divers had prepared a hole for the dive several months before. Because the gear we usually use would freeze in these conditions, most of the people rented gear. Also it was necessary that we dive with a buddy. A rope called a lifeline was tied around the divers; this rope would send signals we were taught to another person on the ice. Also, because the hole which was the entry and exit for the divers would freeze over quickly, someone had to constantly keep scooping out the ice that formed over the hole with a shovel.
My impressions of going ice diving were that; even though we wore dry suits, we became numb with cold after only 15 minutes and couldn't relax under the water. However, because the sunlight couldn't reach us under the sea, I couldn't see anything familiar and there were a lot of colorless, gray fish. Also, from the dark depths, I could see the sun hitting the ice above and it was like a beautiful chandelier. If my friend asks me to go again I think I will refuse, but it was a very good experience.
(YumikoS)
Meeting the dolphins
Posted by: nacos (Admin) Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:29:32 GMT
I first encountered dolphins about seven or eight years after I had started diving. In Ogasawara, which I visited to go diving, I happened to have some free time so I went on a dolphin swim tour and encountered dolphins. Until then, I had only gone to the ocean to go diving, so I wasn't that good at swimming without dive gear. So, wearing a life jacket, I floated on top of the ocean and was happy just to watch the dolphins under the sea. However, I saw one of the participants practically dancing under the water, swimming around with the dolphins like she was a dolphin herself, and was impressed. Watching this, I thought to myself, " I want to swim with the dolphins, too!"
Soon after I got back from my trip to Ogasawara, I started going to the pool. This was to take a dolphin swim course in order to be able to swim with the dolphins. I continued going, enduring many hardships, until I was able to swim like the dolphins. Two years after my encounter with the dolphins at Ogasawara, I left for Ogasawara again in order to see the dolphin. This time, I swam with the dolphins that I had only watched before and, if they met my eyes, dive with them, and they played with me under the sea to my heart's content. I was so happy. That day, I thought to myself, " I really want to be a dolphin!" Next, I, who had come to feel more and more strongly about the dolphins, studied yoga to learn breath control and took a free-diving course in order to be able to dive deeper and longer with the dolphins. Now, I have become one with the dolphins under the water.
(YumikoS)
The dolphins and I
Posted by: nacos (Admin) Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:03:12 GMT
There are many kinds of dolphins, and certain types of dolphins live in certain oceans. For example, places in Japan that are famous for dolphins that love to swim with humans are Ogasawara and Mikura-jima. These islands are part of Tokyo.
I am riding a boat to a place where I can see dolphins. When dolphins come within arm's length of you, anyone would be excited. However, there is something that holds me back. In the ocean, if a dolphin comes close enough that I can reach out and touch it I want to touch it, I want to take pictures of it, and I want to go after it with all my heart. However, for the things that live wild in the sea, being touched by a human can make them sick. This doesn't only apply to dolphins. I can't always expect them come and swim with me. I feel humbled thinking that we humans are intruding into their ocean. Also, we shouldn't put our desire to play with the dolphins first. We should first consider how the dolphins feel.
(YumikoS)
