‘Under the Sea, Darling it’s Better Down Where it’s Wetter’

My mind is not a steel trap, it’s more of a colander. Any information I don’t have to know drains if I don’t use it consistently. I have a BS (ok does anyone else find it entertaining that the acronym for Bachelors of Science is BS?) in Marine Environmental Science. I wish my mind was a steel trap because I’d still remember everything I learned from my classes and be able to apply it to being in the ocean. What I learned feels like this dusty book in the bottom of my mind. The knowledge is there; but, needs to be excavated. I look at fish and think, I used to know all of you. I painstakingly memorized you and for the life of me, I’m drawing a blank. 

Since I’ve started diving, my fish ID has been making a comeback. When shooting fish,or any marine life, my main focus is how to make them feel like I’m not a threat. I try to give off the thought that, ‘Hi, here’s a weird-looking floating bubble that’s making noise; but don’t worry, I’m not using it to bludgeon you for dinner.’ My dive housing doesn’t have a transformer mode where it turns into a three-prong or a spear gun. This has been an ongoing learning process with a lot of fish scaring but when everything comes together, color me fascinated.

Going out for data collection was my favorite part of Marine Science whereas, inputting the data for hours on a computer was the part I found the least enjoyment. Shooting feels like the best of that degree. Now, where you may raise a red flag with my not wanting to be indoors is editing. Editing photos takes hours on hours on a computer after shooting. There’s a difference for me, hang in there. In my case, editing photos is like working on mini art projects, seeing light acting and reacting differently in each image. Inputting scientific data on the other hand is black and white, with light and dark determined by screen brightness (I’ll pass). 

Being in the water, whether it’s shallow or deep, with countless fish thrumming around, is the environment that I’m always ridiculously excited to be part of and to eventually share. You’re welcome. 

One Funk, two Funk, red Funk, blue Funk

Dear Reader that catchy closing line is under construction because if we started calling Funks fish or fishes Funks we’d get entirely confused or it may endure the test of time, stay tuned, dun dun dun

Andre Fajardo

Flynn Novak

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Chelsey Sleznikow

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Rachel Roehl

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Andre Fajardo

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