Pre-trip blog: Intro to Snorkeling - by Stellan M.

On November 8th and 9th, we set our alarms extra early and gathered at Helene Madison pool for our fist snorkeling lessons of the year. Doing this work to familiarize ourselves with snorkeling now will help to maximize our time in the water on our trip. As it was many of our first times snorkeling, we learned a few very important things. First, we learned to prevent fogging my spitting in our masks. Once we fitted our masks comfortably, our next task was to practice clearing water out of the mask by simply pushing in the center and exhale sharply through the nose. Perhaps one of the more important lessons we learned on the first day was how to clear water from the air tube. We did this by placing our tongues in the mouthpiece and exhaling sharply through the mouth. After an informative first day working with the masks, our class spent most of our time on the second day learning how to move our bodies through the water using our snorkels and flippers. Kicking from the hip in order to utilize our flippers effectively minimizes the amount of water we displace. This is especially important as in French Polynesia, it is vital to not stir up sediment or disturb the reefs in any way as we are viewing them. Finally, we practiced entering the water as if we were on a boat, making sure to clear the edge. Of course, our class ended our snorkeling time together on both days with a delicious breakfast, courtesy of the WCC.