Why Aren't There Scuba Celebrities?

[CT-Rich]

I don't know, I don't really buy this celebrity just needs "a great personality / willing to talk to the media and create a buzz". In some fields maybe, but not scuba. Just not a wide enough or unified enough demographic. Plus, what buzz? I learned to scuba dive over 30 years, and the slightly painful truth is that not a massive amount has changed in the sport over that time. Sure we got nitrox and dive computers, and the gear is better made and more comfortable these days. But buzz is hard to come by - "Wow, that is cool!" moments are pretty rare. Our scuba diving celebrity would be more like a bit of a lame infomercial - "But wait, there's more!"

If I am going to tune in on TV or watch somebody's podcast about scuba diving, there needs to be something interesting going on, and I don't mean some marketing fluff about some dive destination or the Mk III brand of some regulator. I need something with a bit of action to it. In scuba that pretty much means either exploration of something new (preferably wrecks, but I can settle for caves), finding marine life that no one knows about, or something which creates human drama.

I just don't see any scope for Kim Kardashian type "please stare at my ass and wonder at my cluelessness" figure as a scuba celebrity.

D
I don't think selling scuba is about selling Kim K's ass. Can't stand the woman (Jessica Alba though....). However, look at astronomy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking are all rock star personalities in a fairly abstract realm of science. Hawking engages people partly because of his personal story, the others because they could communicate their interest to a wider audience. None of them are Nobel Laureates, but they can make science accessible, much the same way Cousteau could, and he was also not the greatest of marine scientists.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I vote DrBill too.. great personality, good connections, lots of publications. Didn't he get voted into California's Legends of Marine environment last year. On top of that he is a genuine nice guy who promotes the sport and environment!

I'll throw in a couple more names. Dr Carl Edmonds recognized by DAN USA for his contribution to dive medicine. Watch Dr Simon Mitchell he is a phenomenal speaker and sits on SPUMS. I will predict with confidence that he will continue to gain notoriety in the field of Dive Medicine and Tech diving.

The there are the ones who are writing the Marine ID books. Unfortunately we lost Nevile Coleman last year but Rudy Kueter and others are worthy of note.

I won't mention those already named but I can't believe nobody mentioned Phyl Nuytten yet! Home - Nuytco Research Ltd. His accomplishments are legendary in diving and developments of marine technology. Oh and working with astronauts as well.

 

[Octopusprime]

Another problem is that scuba is a very wide variety and very few do them the all. There is Recreational diving, tech diving, wreck diving, cave diving, deep record divers. Some like to see wild life others are about history, others about discovery etc.

Some divers right off the other types of divers and do not follow the other types.

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2015 at 09:41 AM ----------

I think YouTube would be the place a scuba celeb would be made. However 90% of all of the YouTube scuba videos are just diving. If people would have a little higher production value and include a surface interview with the dive video. This would help people connect to the diver.