Her Dive Training Is Just Beginning...

I first learned to Scuba Dive with the Toronto Scuba Club in 2013. My Open Water Certification took place in Gulliver's Lake in Canada. It was cold and the visibility was poor, but was still very cool to breathe underwater!

My first dive trip took myself and other dive buddies from Scuba 2000 to Bonaire, in the Caribbean. This is where I achieved my Advanced Certification and Enriched Air Nitrox Certification, and swam alongside my first sea turtle and manta ray, among other beautiful fish.

I persisted in taking PADI Courses after I witnessed a fellow diver have an underwater emergency. PADI courses and continued experience improved my confidence and safety, in the event that an emergency occurred to me underwater. I also purchased a dive insurance policy with Diver's Alert Network (DAN).

I next attempted what I felt was the most challenging course, my Rescue Diver course incorporating certification in Emergency First Aid and CPR. Testing my physical and mental stamina in the cold waters in Georgian Bay in Canada resulted in me losing my mask, but learning essential skills and protocols to aiding divers in distress.

My passion for scuba diving kept me diving for fun in places such as Thailand and India until I moved to South Australia, where I live near the beach and a dive shop. After finding the infamous Leafy Seadragon, and cage-diving with Great White Sharks in Port Lincoln, I signed up for a dive trip to Bali with Adelaide Scuba. 

My passion for scuba diving has escalated these experiences and I am keen to get into the water any chance I can to learn about new ocean life and explore sunken ship wrecks. Scuba diving provides me with a feeling of adventure, suspense for what may be found, and a sense of accomplishment when skills are learned.

Having always wanting to have studied Marine Biology, I  enrolled in a Marine Veterinary Wildlife course through the University of Sydney. At the Veterinary Emergency Hospital I work at in South Australia, often I am presented with injured wildlife, including turtles and marine birds. I wanted to also have the knowledge to aid injured sea life,  should I ever encounter any diving. This idea of mixing my profession as a veterinarian with my passion for the underwater world is what made me decide to go professional.

In March of 2015, I started my intensive training with Adelaide Scuba to become a Divemaster. Learning how to map a dive site, practicing basic and advanced skills, passing fitness tests, learning how to teach skills and assist instructors was only the beginning. I have enjoyed becoming a Divemaster so much that it is my goal to eventually become a PADI Instructor once I have acquired some more experience.

Just as I can use my title as a veterinarian to promote humane animal treatment and teach compassion, it is my goal to do the same for our marine residents. Project AWARE is a non-profit global organisation that strives to keep the ocean clean and protect its inhabitants. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an animal rights group that takes direct action tactics to protect ocean life. Their efforts to stop illegal whalers in the Antarctic waters can even be watched on the television series following them, called Whale Wars. To become more involved in marine conservation groups and even Marine Science Research reminds me of the value in furthering my diving skills and professional credentials.

The ocean covers more than seventy percent of the earth and there is still so little that humans understand. I have chosen to become an ambassador of the ocean and its inhabitants. By educating myself and others, and taking an active role in protecting the ocean, the effects of climate change can help be reversed, coral reefs can be preserved, and marine species can be conserved.