It’s interesting, how different people pay attention to different things during a dive. We may dive all together, but every person has a bit different experience. Wreck diving enthusiasts focus on wrecks and their hidden little “treasures”. Animal lovers notice abundance of life on the site, especially the tiny organisms, which remain hidden for other divers. Photographers see beautiful light reflections and frames for perfect pictures, even if they don’t have cameras with them.
While diving with archaeologists from the University of Split on the ancient wreck near the island of Šćedro (Croatia), I noticed, they focus on finding clues to tell a story about how the life looked like 2000 years ago. They pay attention to various shapes of amphorae, look for stamps on them and any other signs, that may fill in the gaps in known history.
Although I find it very interesting, when I dive with them, I see a completely different story. A story of not past, but present life. Marine life. I see a habitat teeming with life, as during the last 2000 years the wreck has become a reef providing shelter for various animals – fish, sponges, hermit crabs, nudibranchs, octopuses… Here you can see a few of them, which I managed to photograph while 3D-scanning the wreck
