1. The oceans occupy nearly 71% of our planet’s surface.

2. The High Seas – areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction – cover almost 50% of the Earth’s surface.

3. More than 97% of all our planet’s water is contained in the oceans.

4. The top ten feet of the ocean hold as much heat as our entire atmosphere.

5. The average depth of the oceans is more than 2.5 miles.

6. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the four primary oceans on Earth.

7. The Pacific is 64 million square miles.

8. The Atlantic Ocean is the most traveled ocean. Scores of ships travel across the Atlantic Ocean, carrying goods between the Americas, and the European and African continents.

9. More than 90% of the trade between countries is carried by ships and about half the communications between nations use underwater cables.

10. At about half the size of the Pacific, the Atlantic is 32 million square miles.

11. The Indian Ocean is 28 million square miles, and is located in an area bordered by four continents: Asia, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia.

12. The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and coldest of the oceans and is about 5 million square miles.

13. The Antarctic ice sheet that forms and melts over the ocean each year is nearly twice the size of the United States.

14. Antarctica has as much ice as the Atlantic Ocean has water.

15. The average temperature of all oceans is about 39 degrees F (3.8 degrees C).

16. There are mountains, volcanoes, and deep trenches in the ocean.

17. 90% of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans.

18. The speed of sound in water is 1,435 m/sec – nearly 5 times faster than the speed of sound in air.

19. Currents flow like rivers, carrying warm water from the tropics, and cold water from the north and south poles.

20. Tides change twice a day, all over the world, as the oceans rise and fall along the shoreline. Scientists say this is caused by the pull of the sun and moon on our earth.

21. The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia.

22. Coral reefs are vast, rocky areas located in shallow, tropical waters and are formed from the bodies of small sea creatures called polyps.

23. Although coral reefs comprise less than 0.5% of the ocean floor, it is estimated that more than 90% of marine species are directly or indirectly dependent on them.

24. The Great Barrier Reef, measuring 1,243 miles, is the largest living structure on Earth. It can be seen from the Moon.

25. Tropical coral reefs border the shores of 109 countries, the majority of which are among the world’s least developed. Significant reef degradation has occurred in 93 countries.

26. There are about 4,000 coral reef fish species worldwide, accounting for approximately a quarter of all marine fish species.

27. Nearly 60% of the world’s remaining reefs are at significant risk of being lost in the next three decades.

28. The major causes of coral reef decline are coastal development, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices, pollution, tourism and global warming.

29. Studies show that protecting critical marine habitats – such as warm and cold water coral reefs, sea grass beds, and mangroves – can dramatically increase fish size and quantity.

30. The oceans provide 99% of the living space for the Earth’s inhabitants.

31. More than 90% of this habitat exists in the deep sea known as the abyss.

32. Less than 10% of this living space has been explored by humans.

33. Scientists tell us there are millions of marine species that have yet to be discovered.

34. Mount Everest (the highest point on the Earth’s surface at 5.49 miles) is more than 1 mile shorter than the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean, at 6.86 miles.

35. The longest continuous mountain chain known to exist in the Universe resides in the ocean at more than 40,000 miles long.

36. The Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon is deeper and larger in volume than the Grand Canyon.

37. Water pressure at the deepest point in the ocean is more than 8 tons per square inch, the equivalent of one person trying to hold 50 jumbo jets.

38. The Gulf Stream off the Atlantic seaboard of the United States flows at a rate nearly 300 times faster than the typical flow of the Amazon river, the world’s largest river.

39. The world’s oceans contain nearly 20 million tons of gold.

40. The blue color of the oceans comes from microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, drifting in seawater.

41. A new form of life, based on chemical energy rather than light energy, resides in deep-sea hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges.

42. A swallow of seawater may contain millions of bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of thousands of zooplankton.

43. The blue whale, the largest animal on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest dinosaurs) still lives in the ocean; it’s heart is the size of a Volkswagen.

44. The gray whale migrates more than 10,000 miles each year, the longest migration of any mammal.

45. More oil reaches the oceans each year as a result of leaking automobiles and other non-point sources than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.

46. Fish supply the greatest percentage of the world’s protein consumed by humans.

47. Most of the world’s major fisheries are being fished at levels above their maximum sustainable yield; some regions are severely over-fished.

48. The Grand Banks, the pride of New England fishing for centuries, are closed due to over-fishing.

49. 80% of all pollution in seas and oceans comes from land-based activities.

50. Three-quarters of the world’s mega-cities are by the sea.

51. Nearly 80% of people live within 60 miles of an ocean coast.

52. Death and disease caused by polluted coastal waters costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year.

53. Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic remains in our ecosystem for years, harming thousands of sea creatures everyday.

54. Over the past decade, an average of 600,000 barrels of oil a year has been accidentally spilled from ships, the equivalent of 12 disasters the size of the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige in 2002.

55. Less than .05% of marine habitats are protected – compared with 11.5% of the global land area.

56. More than 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean for their primary source of food. In 20 years, this number could double to 7 billion.

57. Populations of commercially attractive large fish, such as tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin have declined by as much as 90 per cent in the past century.

58. “By-catch” – unintended destruction caused by the use of non-selective fishing gear, such as trawl nets, longlines and gillnets – amounts to 20 million tons a year globally.

59. The annual global by-catch mortality of small whales, dolphins and porpoises alone is estimated to be more than 300,000 individuals.

60. The tallest iceberg ever measured was off western Greenland. At 550 feet, it was only 5 feet 6 inches shorter than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

While the word SCUBA came from an acronym (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), it has since been accepted as its own word.  The first successful scuba diving took place using air pumped from the surface to the diver below.  Today, almost all scuba involves a diver carrying his or her own source of air with them.  This allows for a lot more mobility and freedom while underwater.

But even before the old method of pumping air from the surface became the norm, there were several attempts to come up with a way for people to dive and move around underwater for extended periods.  The first scuba divers used what were called “diving bells” to submerge under the waves.  The way these “bells” worked was that the diver would hold his head in the compressed air that was in the bell and then be able to leave the bell to explore the ocean floor, etc. When he needed to breathe, he would then return to the bell to take another breath. While diving bells were successful in that they allowed a person to go underwater, they allowed for little mobility and were cumbersome to say the least.  So people kept trying to come up with a better solution.

One such attempt happened in the 1770’s when a French inventor, Sieur Freminet, developed a “rebreathing” device.  This apparatus did what it sounds like – it recycled a person’s exhaled breath, which was captured in a barrel.  What Freminet didn’t know that we know now was that exhaled breath is mostly carbon dioxide and doesn’t contain enough oxygen to support a diver.  So Fremine died about 20 minutes into his test of his device, from lack of oxygen.

Fast forward about a hundred years to 1876, and we find another ambitious inventor, by the name of Henry Fleuss.  Fleuss, an Englishman, thought that the “rebreather” idea was on the right track, but the recycled air obviously didn’t contain enough oxygen.  So he had the idea to pump pure oxygen through to the diver, increasing the oxygen content of the exhaled breath.  Seems like a sound theory, unless you know that breathing pure oxygen will kill you – which is what happened to poor Mr. Fleuss when he tested his device.

While it is sad that these brave forerunners to modern scuba had to sacrifice themselves, it is because of people like them that we have the ability to dive today.  By the early 1900’s, we had figured out what didn’t work, and great advancements had started to take place in the sport of scuba.  Around 1930, Guy Gilpatric invented rubber goggles with glass lenses.  Then scuba fins were developed by Louis de Corlieu in 1933.  He called them “swimming propellers,” but they were very similar to the fins we use today.

The biggest advancement in scuba had to wait about ten years though.  In 1943, Jacques-Yves Cousteau (yes, that Jacque Cousteau), with the help of Emile Gagnan, came up with the first “aqualung.”  This invention was similar to the open air circuit we use now, and it delivered compressed air to scuba divers upon the slightest breath.  The breath is then exhaled into the water – not recycled.

There are still rebreather systems in use today, however.  They use either a semi-closed or closed circuit and remove the carbon dioxide from the exhaled breath.  These systems are not typical for recreational diving and are used for military and technical diving.  They are especially useful for underwater photography and covert military dives, as few or no bubbles are created by the diver breathing out.
Diving today of course is a lot easier and a whole lot more fun than in centuries past.  Today, pretty much anyone can learn to dive, and those who try it almost always love it!  If you’re ready to give scuba diving a try, get in touch with us to book your Catalina Island dive.

Diet

Many people who are about to go on a dive are traveling, and it might be tempting to hit the hotel breakfast buffet and load up on a lot of the fried or sugary foods there.  It’s a better idea to stick to complex carbohydrates the day of your dive though.  These foods, such as oatmeal (without a lot of sugar on it) or bran cereals, will help you to feel fuller longer and will maintain good blood sugar levels to keep your energy up during your dive.  Greasy and spicy foods are not good choices, as they can make a diver uncomfortable while under water.

Once your dive is over, it will be time to fuel up after burning a lot of calories.  Within an hour of your dive, be sure to have a decent meal to avoid feeling over-tired.  Some will down an energy drink after a dive, but make sure to read the label and choose something that doesn’t have a lot of sugar or high levels of caffeine.

Hydration

Even though you’re completely surrounded by water while diving, it isn’t doing your body any good from a hydration standpoint.  Just as with any physical activity, it’s very important to remain properly hydrated before and after scuba diving.  It’s important to drink plenty of water throughout the day, making sure to increase the amount if the weather is hot.  Drinking at least two quarts of water throughout the day of your dive will help reduce muscle cramps and fatigue.

General Precautions

Getting plenty of sleep before and after diving day gives your body an opportunity to recharge, and helps you avoid feeling rundown.  Remember, diving can be a physically demanding activity, so getting plenty of rest on both ends of a diving day will definitely pay off.

It’s also important to put off diving if you have a cold or a cough.  These conditions can make it difficult to equalize while diving, and that can be dangerous.  Also, while decongestants might make you feel like you’re ok to dive, they can impair your performance while underwater, so it’s best to avoid them prior to a dive.

Scuba diving is a blast, and you certainly don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy it.  Just be aware that it does take a certain amount of physical exertion. Follow the common sense tips above, and you’ll get the most out of every dive experience!

1. Use the Light – Light is the friend of every photographer or videographer.  Underwater is no exception.  And you don’t need to invest in a fancy light setup to get great underwater video shots.  The best tip for using light well underwater is to simply make sure the sun is behind you.  The exception to this is if you want to get fancy with silhouette shots.

2. Focus! – Get to know your camera well, and determine when it makes sense to use manual focus, versus auto-focus.  Generally, auto is best for closer shots, while manual focus is the best choice when shooting medium to long distances.  Also, when focusing on something in the distance, making sure there is coral in the foreground will add color to your shot.

3. Avoid “Firehosing” – This is a term for aiming your camera in the general direction of something interesting and moving it back and forth in hopes of catching the action and the surrounding area.  The results are never good.  A better technique is to frame an object of interest, hold for at least ten seconds, and then move to another interesting shot.  Holding the camera steady in one place, as often as possible, makes the resulting video much more enjoyable to watch.

4. Don’t Take Snapshots – If you’re using a video camera, take full advantage of that fact.  Rather than using your video camera to take snapshots consisting of quick captures, count to ten on every shot, unless there is something interesting happening, and then keep shooting!

5. Zoom Sparingly – When you’re shooting underwater, zooming looks pretty cool on your camera’s viewfinder, but it rarely translates into a good quality video.  Use your camera’s zoom feature sparingly.  And if you want to zoom in on a particular object, zoom while not recording, and then record once you’ve zoomed to how you want the shot to look.

6. Stop Jogging – Jogging, in video terms, happens when there is too much camera movement.  In underwater video, this is usually the result of swimming.  Try to float or stay still whenever you have the “record” button pressed.  If you do move while recording, be sure to keep the camera as steady as possible.  You don’t want viewers of your video getting seasick!

Someone who is a professional photographer might have a lot more to add to the above list, but these basic tips will help you get the most out of your diving videos.  And if you’re looking for a fantastic location to shoot those videos, there’s no better place than Catalina Island’s own Lovers Cove.  Get in touch with us today, and we’ll get you set up for your next amazing underwater adventure!