• Question: As you study seaweed and have to scubadive at a lot are u not afraid of how deep the ocean is and animals in it ?

    Asked by leah.w to Kathryn, Chris on 10 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Chris Werner

      Chris Werner answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      I’m not the seaweed expert to I’ll have to leave the field description to Kathryn as I haven’t scuba dived!

      But the water can hold your weight when you hold your breath rather than plummeting down to the depths, just like when you’re swimming in the sea. That’s why astronauts prepare for zero gravity training underwater! However some people do still suffer from vertigo if there is a big enough drop! There’s not too many dangerous animals around Ireland though!

    • Photo: Kathryn Schoenrock

      Kathryn Schoenrock answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      When you are trained to be a SCUBA diver you practice going up and down, monitoring your air, and keeping yourself at a neutral point in the water so that you don’t sit on the bottom all the time. These skills make it so that you can stay at the same depth no matter how deep the sea… really we can’t dive very deep (below 50m) without more specialized training and gear so we always stay in what we call the photic zone- where the light still can reach.

      In terms of scary animals… I think the mammals are the scariest! Many times I’ve been counting corals in a big school of sharks and found that they have all run away because dolphin arrived! That’s saying something eh? But there’s not much to be scared of in the water, animals respond to your behavior so as long as you are nice they are too.

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