Monday, May 16, 2011

May 16 - Catalina

This is the first of a series of twenty-one journal entries I will be writing to document our three-week scientific diving trip to Catalina, Guam, and Palau. I think that I was the last one to join the class – I emailed the professors, Jim and Dave, late December asking if I could join. I had an interview the first day I was back at USC from winter break, and they told me I could take the last spot.
This will not be my first academic expedition. Last spring, I went on a trip around the world to study the effects of climate change on the environment in the major world ecosystems – we studied the environments of Alaska, Hawaii, Thailand, India, the Maldives, Tanzania, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Norway, and Spitsbergen, and passed through countless other countries. During this three-month journey, I wrote a journal entry every single day and it turned out to be the best souvenir I could have. I don’t believe in hyperbole, but one of my entries about the Maldives began: “This was the best day of my life.” My first dive was in Thailand, but the coral mountains and biodiversity in the Maldives absolutely captured me. I set up SCUBA classes the week I arrived home from the trip, and have been diving every week since in both Northern and Southern California. I love to dive more than anything else.
Consequently, the idea of diving in some of the most beautiful places in the world coupled with a semester of advanced diving training (AAUS certification, NAUI master diver certification, Nitrox, rescue, etc) and the opportunity to study some very threatened ecosystems has building my anticipation for the last four months. And today is the first day of that trip for which we have all been working and training and preparing.
The class spent three weekends in Catalina doing dive training in the last month of school before finals. Our professors tried to intimidate us with the hard work that would be necessary – the watermanship tests alone were enough to make me worry about my ability to do well in this program, despite having some dive experience. Before certification could be awarded, each student would have to swim four hundred meters in under twelve minutes, and swim for seventy feet underwater. Both tests would be challenging in a pool, but it was required that these tests to be completed in the ocean. The ocean available to us was the Wrigley Institute Harbor on Catalina. There is nothing like a misty walk down to the dock in your bathing suit in preparation for a plunge into 59°F water for a nice long swim at seven in the morning. And on that first misty morning, I told myself that I was going to pass the test because I wanted to be exempt from a plunge into the ocean sans wetsuit until we get closer to the equator. And I passed.
But then the next morning, I decided to do the swim again, along with a handful of the other people who passed the test. The next morning, the same people were still in the water swimming with those who had yet to pass. The next weekend, we were still swimming. What we considered an intimidating challenge became an enjoyable experience.
That’s one of the things that feels so nice about this program – everyone is absolutely committed to having fun, and building a friendly community. I think that the collaboration that exists outside of the classroom and on solid ground will translate into a really positive working environment when we are underwater, and gathering and analyzing data. I’m so excited to start this journey and hope that you will enjoy reading about it.

A note on the name of the blog: The name alludes not only to the depth restrictions imposed by our Diving Safety Officer, but also the desire to maintain clarity even in the face of challenging situations and problems.

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