Five Things Ive Learned.....

editor@diverwire.com (Julie Morgan)

Underwater photo pro Julie Morgan has been all over the world enjoying the SCUBA-lifestyle. A new contributor to DiverWire, Julie shares "Five Things I`ve Learned from SCUBA diving".

Learning to dive was a pivotal point in my life. I made a direct 360 from my normal life, headed for the sea and didn’t look back. My intro into the underwater world began with what newbies fear the most….. a night dive. I remember it well.

On a late afternoon in Cozumel, I waited for my Mayan dive guide (known as ‘Divin’ Ivan). He was late and my apprehension grew as the clock ticked away. Finally he showed around 5:30, with a Corona in hand. It was clearly evident it wasn’t his first. It was the 1980’s, and before DAN or anyone else were concerned with drinking and diving -- so things seemed perfectly fine to me. I knew nothing about diving except I wanted to do it.

As Ivan swigged on his beer he told me about the equipment and SCUBA. The sun eventually set and it was finally time to get into the water. There were octopus, crabs and eels or that is what he told me when we got out. I loved it and he promised another ‘lesson’ tomorrow. The next day I asked him what happened to his arm as it was covered with bruises. Ivan just smiled.-- What I learned….No Fear.

I eventually became an instructor and was doing an open water class off a boat in West Palm Beach, FL. Anyone that has dived this area is familiar with the “Dive, Dive, Dive” call to get the divers into the waters as fast as possible so they don’t miss the float ball in the heavy drift. Five Brazilian students, giant strided off the boat where I was hanging on the drift line to take them down for their first open water dive. They couldn’t get down - too much neoprene, air in their bc’s, not enough weight, anxiety… whatever, it was not working. While trying to coax them down below the surface, I’m trying to keep my eye on the divemaster carrying the float ball and on the surface locked students, back and forth, back and forth, when I notice not five feet below me are two giant manta rays. So close I could have touched them.
What I learned…. being an instructor isn’t that great.

Rodney Dangerfield was one of my favorite underwater friends that lived at the Town Pier in Bonaire. He was a scorpionfis Dee Scarr and

h. Dee Scarr of Touch the Sea named him this because as we all know scorpionfish don’t get much respect because they are… well, scorpionfish. When diving at the Town Pier, Rodney would hop around and follow me as I was taking photos. The first time I met him he surprised me by jumping up on my arm so I gave him a little tickle under the chin. This became a part of our greeting from that point and I would introduce him to other divers by doing this. I think they gave him more respect after that.

One Christmas day I was shooting a video for my friends Haines and the late Sue O’Neil and family. They knew Rodney well and their daughter, Jennifer thought it would be a good idea to bring Rodney some finely sliced turkey to for his Christmas. As I was videoing Jen trying desperately to get Rodney to take the turkey, Rodney became bored and hopped over to me. I quit filming and reached out to tickle him under the chin. He opened his mouth and tried to take my hand in his mouth. The shiny ring I had on that hand had attracted him and he thought it must be better than the turkey Jen had offered. He immediately pulled back and I know he looked at me with eyes that said I’m sorry. Each time I backed up he would pursue me moving his mouth. I honestly think Rodney was trying to tell me he was sorry.
Lesson learned….. don’t feed the fish, even if it is Christmas

Throughout the world there is a species of fish known as triggers. Beautiful to watch but around the full moon the females and the males become a bit irritable and protective of their territory. Divers are warned to be careful, as they are known to attack divers especially when they are protecting their eggs.

While working at Manta Ray Bay in Yap, I was shooting a video of a group of U.S. Navy guys at a dive site called Lionfish Wall. This beautiful dive has a gorgeous wall and a plateau where the dive is ended. With the video camera plastered to my face I headed up over the wall to the plateau when I felt a sharp stab on my leg. I looked down to see a female trigger over a nest of