Jacques Cousteau, a French seaman, is credited with creating the first Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA), which he called the Aqualung, in 1943. Though Cousteau is given credit for the invention, Leonardo da Vinci had drawn up plans for a leather scuba suit about 300 years earlier.
Ever wonder why everything appears blue in underwater pictures and movies? The water above divers filters all the red and yellow light, making everything appear to have a blue hue. Diving with an artificial light source will allow you to see true color under water.
If you decide you really like to dive, it is possible to get married underwater!
Humans kill close to 100 million sharks per year, while the number of shark attacks of humans resulting in death is only 8-12 per year.
Don’t expect to be able to tell where sounds come from underwater. Sound travels four times faster under water than in air, so we are unable to hear the minute variations in the sounds in each ear and determine the source.
The world record for longest dive is 69 days and 19 minutes and is held by Richard Presley. He completed this dive in 1992 in an deep-water module at Key Largo, Florida.
Certain scuba courses can be counted as college credit at some schools. Talk to your scuba instructor and academic adviser to see if this is a possibility for you.
In World War II, Navy frogmen wore an “oxygen re-breather,” which they called a “SCUBA” to attack enemy vessels underwater. The military advantage of an oxygen re-breather is that, because it is a re-circulating system, there are no tell-tale bubbles at the surface, and duration of the dive is greatly increased.
Over 90% of all volcanic activity happens in the ocean! Scientist estimate that up to 80% of all life on earth is found under the ocean surface.
The ocean contains 99% of all living space on the planet, and only 10% of that has been explored by humans.
85% of the area and 90% of the volume constitute the dark, cold environment we call the deep sea. The average depth of the ocean is 3,795 m. The average height of the land is 840 m.
Earth’s longest mountain range, the Mid-Ocean Ridge, is underwater, and is four times as long as the Rockies, Andes and Himalayas combined.
The largest living organism on earth is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It has a larger surface area than all of England!
The Blue Whale is the largest known animal on the planet, with a heart the size of a small car.
Most “Sea Serpent” sightings are just sightings of the massive Oarfish, the longest bony fish in the world, growing up to 45 feet and having a horse like face.
Fish can change sex during their lives, and some even have both male and female sex organs.
Intrigued? Come explore the ocean with us to see for yourself!
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