Diving isn’t always pristine coral reefs, calm seas, and a relaxing day at the beach. In fact, most days – for those of us living the life aquatic – it’s anything but.

From sewers to koi ponds, there are and forever will be the need for people to get down and dirty to unclog pipes, clean up filters, and turn a valve or two – and that is just scratching the surface. Those environments turn me on just about as much as deep trench because the art in those environments is a degree of composure, coupled with constant problem solving…its real innovation in action.

One of the unfortunate realities of those earning their living the hard way is that we are, at this point in time anyway, very temporary guests in a very wild world. This recent story on CNN highlights that very point:

https://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/07/24/dnt-9-foot-gator-bites-golf-ball-diver.wsvn.html

Its bad enough to contemplate a shark attack in relatively clear water, but just imagine a monster gator snapping at your hand at the bottom of a muddy pond! I’ve been in those muddy golf ponds myself, and the thoughts of big snapping turtles, water moccasins, and alligators haunt every small move. On one hand, your guard is up – on the defensive. On the other, you must remain composed, as these animals can taste the fear in the water which just triggers the inevitable.

It takes a special kind of person to intervene the subaquatic realm day by day. Every environment, even the pond in the golf course down the street, may as well be an alien world just awaiting more routine exploration – both of the environment itself, and in better appreciating the human conditioning required for more efficient intervention.

As for the poor gator who got trucked away – well, we [humans] certainly have some problems with overstaking our claim. let’s just hope this guy was relocated and not exterminated.

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