Drift Diving - a Rollercoaster Ride Underwater

Speed. It has to be one of the most typical ways adrenaline junkies get their thrills, and really get their juices pumping. It could be motor racing on a track, flying a plane, or driving a speed boat, or it could be base jumping or hang gliding. What speed is not usually associated with, is scuba diving.

Scuba diving is a slow-paced, relaxing activity where you have plenty of time to take in the underwater scenery and enjoy the weightlessness of your body as you calmly glide along, mentally listening to whatever music it is that Buddha would listen to on his quieter moments. And that's good. That's how it's supposed to be. But theres' also another way to dive...

Leech (Hirudo medicinalis)

Last summer, on a family trip to the lakeside, I spotted a leech near the waterline where we were snorkeling. I was startled and disgusted. The last thing I'd want was a leech hanging on my skin, sucking blood. That was the end of

Big Fish at the Abandoned Quarry

Just the other day, being that it was particularly warm and sunny that morning, some friends and I got together to go for a swim at an abandoned quarry nearby. The quarry had filled up with ground water ages ago, when digging for stone ended there. The place is perfect for swimming because the water is clear and warm, and hardly anyone ever goes there, so we have the pond all to ourselves most of the time.

Springtime Baltic Sea

Snorkeling in the freezing cold Baltic Sea, trying out underwater macro-photography

Bladder wrack

I took my first dip of this year in the Baltic Sea a few days ago. Spring has arrived, and beginning new life is blooming underwater, too. I packed my underwater camera and wetsuit on the boat and headed out to the Finnish archipelago. The idea was to experiment with underwater macro-photography in shallow water.