Photo Stories

Photo Story by @forceofajedi

I’ve been fascinated with the ocean since I can remember, and I’ve always wanted to work with the ocean and marine lives. However, life took an unexpected turn that led me to start a career in engineering, abandoning my dreams of becoming a marine scientist. A couple of years later I visited Hawaii for a wedding, and thought I should do something fun and adventurous like swimming with sharks. I decided to book a trip with One Ocean Diving because they support shark conservation and research, and I didn’t have to be stuck in a cage. That was one of the best decisions I’ve made and truly impacted my life for the better. A couple of months after that trip, I became a One Ocean Global Ambassador and have been advocating for shark and ocean conservation.

Sharks are like the white blood cells of the ocean, they prey on sick and dying animals and prevent diseases from spreading. They are essential to the health of our ocean, the source of over 70% of the oxygen we breath today, and yet we are hunting them to extinction. Humans kill 73 million sharks every year just for their fins, that’s about 1/4 of the U.S. population. The sad reality is, many people don’t care about sharks because of the a false mindset that sharks are man-eating monsters. Shark attacks are rare and they are almost always an accident, they are not out there to kill us. The first step is to realize that sharks are our ally, and have a healthy respect (not fear) for them. They don’t have a voice in this world, so let’s be their voice and prevent their extinction.

Photo Story by @alexliu100

Looking back to when I first started, I would have to say that it was the fish and corals that really drew me to put on my BC for the very first time. Now, I can also add that not only the elegance of these marine life but the serenity, peace and quietness is what keeps me going under.

Scuba diving has been a big part of my life: I started 12 years ago when I was just 16. It was a cool experience and I knew right away that I was addicted to this amazing hobby. Years later, I've gotten the chance to dive with many people who became life long friends.

After marriage, it took a very long time to convince my wife to try diving. But I am happy to say that I was able to not only convince her to try, but I also got her to go for her open water certificate. In this particular picture, my wife and I were diving in Curacao and this is her first official picture that she took of me after getting her passing her open water cert.

One unfortunate thing that I've realized from the years I've been diving is that the amount of garbage and plastics have increased exponentially from 2006 to 2018. In the future, I want my children to be able to see what, in the first place, got me mesmerized and addicted to this hobby. This is why I believe we need to protect the ocean.

Photo Story by @margarethung

My husband loves scuba diving. Last year, we planned a vacation to go to Curacao for the New Years. Because there are a lot of cool diving spots there, I decided to give it a try.

It wasn't easy but I was able to pass the certification and the attached photo was taken by my husband on my last open water dive during the certification.

The Aha moment for me that we need to protect the ocean was actually during this very dive. We were enjoying a particular coral reef when I saw my husband dive further down to the floor. It wasn't until later that I found out he picked up a Coke can to recycle when we were back on land. It's a shame to see such a beautiful reef littered with garbage and I want to be part of the next generation that will help clean and protect the ocean and all its organisms.

Photo Story by Karthik Sridhar

I went to Hawaii for a week long trip, and this was taken from a helicopter off the Nepali coast. We were able to see the most beautiful rainbow with the whole coast filled with marine life and beauty below us.

On top of that in the trip we got to see turtles and dolphins up close and personal. Seeing these creatures up close and personal (specifically the turtle) is akin to seeing a legendary Pokemon as their existence takes your breath away.

I hope that we can all pull together to do whatever it takes to preserve images like this for future generations to witness directly.