Gador Muntaner

What do you enjoy most about diving? COEXISTING. I feel like we’ve lost this ability living in the modern and urbanized world. Out of the water we feel like we rule the world, and underwater we remember that we actually don’t own it and that there’s so many other living beings with the same rights we have. Diving is the closest I can feel to nature. When I’m down there I feel like one piece of the puzzle, coexisting in peace and balance. That’s something which is getting more and more difficult to experience in our everyday lives on land.    

How do you approach non-divers to get them excited about learning to dive? I tell them that ¾ of the world are made of water, so how can we say we know our planet if we don’t cross the surface line? I also tell them about all the benefits you can get when you dive! Relaxation, stress relief, learning, happiness, emotional well-being, visiting beautiful places, getting to know amazing people, helping marine conservation….it’s a never ending list! 

What steps are you taking to improve the health of our oceans? I use science as a marine conservation tool to generate data and studies to change protection strategies. I believe that science must go hand in hand with communication, which is probably the most powerful marine conservation tool in my current work. Informative lectures in schools, universities, documentary projects, citizen science trips, social media, collaborations with companies... all of this helps to spread the message of the importance of caring for and protecting our oceans, on which our survival and that of the entire planet depends. 

Personally, I also try to live an increasingly sustainable lifestyle, reducing consumption of everything (plastic of course, but also clothes, technology, etc.), recycling and reusing as much as possible, and trying to have the smallest footprint possible.