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Nic Dowling
Class of 2026
During the semester, we have been given many opportunities to reflect on ourselves and the natural environment we have been immersed in. SCUBA Diving, however, has been the most effective and deep (pun intended) in terms of providing a comfortable, relaxing place to reflect. Throughout our numerous dives, I have improved my diving skills and engaged with wildlife while looking back upon the semester as both the part of being a student and everything as a whole.
*Nic is spending a semester completing hands-on research in the Bahamas
Cathedral – The Living Rock
Monday, September 23, 2024
Location: Eleuthera Bahamas
Dive site: Cathedral
The water was calm, the sky sunny, the air hot and the sea warm. Kits were prepped, air tanks on and inflator hoses connected–ready for the dive to begin. Buddy checks began, BWRAF, B BCDs inflated, W weight belts, R right hand release, A air son and flowing, F fins and final check. All set? Long stride off the stern of Reef rat and we’re in–and two by two soon all the others are too (with the exception of Jordan’s frog leap).
The light decreased as we descended but was never in question. Waiting in anticipation of the beautiful vast world of fish and coral as we equalized on the way down. The pressure built as we descended to the mound of limestone and numerous colonies perched atop their calcium carbonate skeletons.
To look at the vast colonies with all their polyps arranged carefully and intricately like stars gaze into the grand open night sky–its clusters of stars spread across the great sea of black airless nothingness. This sea however shown to be the bluest of blues, but external air is always required. The boulders bustling with life awaiting us at the bottom–coral–the living rock.
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