Eerily Beautiful, I

Red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus)

Petr Myska

Introduction:

You can now read the Underwater Exploration Magazine in bite sized chunks. Consider this one the first. Link to the full magazine can always be found at the bottom. Have a good Sunday!

In 1980 I decided to become a scuba diver. I just finished reading my first Cousteau and couldn’t imagine any grander adventure than exploring the world’s oceans from a cool ship full of brave scientists, who plunge into the depths in black neoprene suits with fashionable yellow stripes.

When I drew this scene at school for my art class assignment named “My future occupation”, my teacher thought there was something seriously wrong with me. We were living under the communist regime in land -locked Czechoslovakia and I was 7 years old.

It took me decades to fulfill my childhood dream, but I finally arrived. I brought on this quest my second passion - photography and found them to be an excellent combo.

This first edition of Underwater Exploration evolved from my National Geographic Open Explorer blog written under the title “EERILY BEAUTIFUL” and covers my Canadian diving adventures of the summer of 2019.