UW Photographers - What have you done for the ocean lately?

[DivePhotoGuide]

This is the question we ask this Earth Day. Got any answers? Please share them here.

The ocean is our playground, it feeds our underwater photography passion. So let's reflect and try to give back - "Ask not what your ocean can do for you..."
​

Here are our top 5 suggestions, #5 is particularly aimed for us underwater photographers:

1. Stop accepting plastic bags when you shop for groceries or other items. Plastics often end up in the ocean and we can do our small part not to contribute to that. Convince as many of your friends and family to do the same.
   
   
2. Start using non-toxic organic and biodegradable cleaners and soaps. Eventually all of this wastewater ends up in the ocean.
   
   
3. Only eat sustainable seafood. Get a free pocket guide or use Blue Ocean Institute's text message service to understand the threat levels to the species you will consume. If you still eat Chillean Sea Bass, Shark, Bluefin Tuna, or imported Shrimp, as but a few examples, you are consuming seafood that is unsustainable.
   
   
4. Reduce your carbon footprint. The oceans are warming and acidifying. You can do your part by being efficient with your energy consumption - switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, maintain your vehicle properly, and purchasing carbon offsets.
   
   
5. Keep diving and shooting. Share your images with as man non-divers as possible. Help them understand the beauty that lies in the delicate balance of human overpopulation and over-consumption. Your underwater photos and videos are the eyes and ears of the ocean, and the ocean thanks you for being its ambassador.

So, what have you done for the ocean lately? Please share them here.

 

[diver 85]

In answer to your title(only), didn't pee in it about 30 minutes ago in front of Aldora's Villas...

 

[FrankPro1]

1. Check; Always use paper, never plastic
2. Check; I use ECOS Earth Friendly Soaps and Detergents
3. Check; Haven't ate any type of seafood since I was a pin head on a local sport fishing boat and had some very gruesome, horrifying experiences.
4. I am a bit of an electricity hog, but I don't use air conditioning in my home and I do drive a partial zero emission hatchback.
5. Check; Almost every dive, I'm bringing back photos which I share with friends and family. I always get that "wow, I never thought there was anything like that down there" response

I also try to snatch up the trash I come across when diving and comb the beach before I leave "if time allows". As a whole this country has done a lot since the ultra polluting, over harvesting 50's-70's, but there is still a lot of room for more.

This is the question we ask this Earth Day. Got any answers? Please share them here.

The ocean is our playground, it feeds our underwater photography passion. So let's reflect and try to give back - "Ask not what your ocean can do for you..."
​

Here are our top 5 suggestions, #5 is particularly aimed for us underwater photographers:

1. Stop accepting plastic bags when you shop for groceries or other items. Plastics often end up in the ocean and we can do our small part not to contribute to that. Convince as many of your friends and family to do the same.
   
   
2. Start using non-toxic organic and biodegradable cleaners and soaps. Eventually all of this wastewater ends up in the ocean.
   
   
3. Only eat sustainable seafood. Get a free pocket guide or use Blue Ocean Institute's text message service to understand the threat levels to the species you will consume. If you still eat Chillean Sea Bass, Shark, Bluefin Tuna, or imported Shrimp, as but a few examples, you are consuming seafood that is unsustainable.
   
   
4. Reduce your carbon footprint. The oceans are warming and acidifying. You can do your part by being efficient with your energy consumption - switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, maintain your vehicle properly, and purchasing carbon offsets.
   
   
5. Keep diving and shooting. Share your images with as man non-divers as possible. Help them understand the beauty that lies in the delicate balance of human overpopulation and over-consumption. Your underwater photos and videos are the eyes and ears of the ocean, and the ocean thanks you for being its ambassador.

So, what have you done for the ocean lately? Please share them here.

 

[syonker]

1) Sorta - we use cloth, paper and plastic...but we use the plastic specifically with multiple reuses in mind for storage, packig material, etc.
2) Yup - We use Dreft exclusively.
3) Yup - I carry the Monterey Seafood Watch and Sushi Watch cards with me (and a few extras for people/proprieters when applicable).
4) Building out home-automation even now that controls sprinklers on a "needs-and delivery capability" basis, lighting controls and better timers, and controls HVAC much more effeciently than a traditional (or even high-tech) thermostat. Looking into replacing vehicles with higher-economy and/or hybrid models, too. How does one purchase a "carbon offset" per se?
5) Definitely will. I would like to add that as photographers, the best skill we can learn and apply is absolutely precise buoyancy control. I see too many folks just grab on to the reef or set down on the bottom to "get the shot" when our skills should be better or we shold make the choice to abandon the shot. There are *lots* of things to take pictures of within our respective skill levels...sometimes we're meant to enjoy what we see and not necessarily have it as anything more than a memory.
6) More of an extension to number 5, we should all consider bringing the message more actively to the public...particularly the "next group of leaders". A professional friend and I have put together several compelling grade-school to high-school level presentations/programs involving multimedia (photo/video/3D modelling/animation) and offer this for free for our local schools. The topics so far include: Marine Biology as it roughly follows the food chain, Shark Conservation, and an instroduction do SCUBA diving (what's involved, how to certify, etc.). We live in the Denver, Colorado area, so if anyone knows teachers/schools that are interested, please feel free to send me a personal message and we'll work together to help raise awareness.


All the *serious* things out of the way, here are a few fun photos for you to enjoy!

-S

A regular trunkfish in a regular sponge...I like the pic, so sue me.

Ok, so it's not a *dangerous* shark (Nurse Shark), but hey, it's *still* close....right? RIGHT?

This is my version of "Angel in a Garden". Sooooooooo original, huh?

Interesting shot only because I took it arm extended, camera pointed backward at me, and up (the Crayfish was beneath me at the time on the side of the cowl of a sunken twin-engine plane, and crawling away). Alright, so can someone explain to me just how something as unexpressive as a little ol' mud bug can have an *expression* on its face? I had no idea they could turn their eyes on the ends of the stalks.

Last photo - this is me, overinflated between dives last weekend to stay warm. Yep, that's snow in the background...however the water was a toasty 45ish degrees.