Keeping that Love for the Water Alive During Lockdown

For freedivers and scuba diving enthusiasts the call of the sea (or ocean) is stronger now than it’s ever been. The global spread of Covid-19 has resulted in entire cities, regions, and states implementing strategic lockdowns to stem the exponential spread of the virus.

Unfortunately, this has resulted in a halt to recreational activities like freediving and  scuba diving. If you live in an area where cases are still going up daily, here are three things you can do to stay connected to the current (pun intended).

Dive into books about freediving

There’s a wealth of literature out there for people who actually do freediving competitively or as a hobby. Whether you do you’re reading via paperback or Kindle, you’ll find autobiographies, fiction stories, and instructional books on how to improve breathing control underwater.

Here are a few titles worth diving into.

●The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness , Sy Montogomery

This book bridges the gap between humans and one of Earth’s most fascinating

underwater creatures – the octopus. You’ll come out of it learning a lot about them, facts that are cooler and stranger than you could ever imagine.

●Oxygen: A Memoir, William Trubridge

World Champion Freediver William Trubridge’s memoir is a mix of evocative and insightful. It’s sprinkled with gems of hard-won wisdom, making this book a valued reference on any free-diver’s shelf.

Immerse in documentaries and films about the deep

Films that chronicle the experiences of professionals or provide insight into how they prep and do their dives are both instructional and engrossing.

Online streaming provider Netflix has a few documentaries worth watching.

●Blue Planet

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, this critically acclaimed documentary that trains lenses on the teeming yet mainly undiscovered species residing in the deep. It takes the viewer from various coasts to the poles to examine watery denizens — from the gigantic blue whale to microscopic coral polyps.

●Last Breath

A docufilm recounting the experiences of a diver stranded on the bottom of the North Sea with only five minutes of oxygen and no chance of rescue for at least thirty minutes. Last Breath is intense and raw, showing the challenges around  commercial diving.