Exhilarating stuff!!
I visited Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya (Mexico) for a few days, and saw a dive shop advertising bull shark dives. It was a little expensive– the cost of two dives in one– but it was well worth it. The sharks get in your personal space, which I loved. I would feel something jostling my fins, and every once in a while a shark would cruise overhead a little too close and bump my head.
Something else was getting up close and personal too…!
This is a crazy one, folks! I had some scuba theory I had to learn, and I think drawing it all out helpped me remember the principles.
I accidentally drew on both sides of this paper. Marker bleeds through this brand of drawing pad so no colors this time!
I didn’t even get to the Haldanean Model before I ran out of time. I had a limited amount of time I could study, and drawing was just taking too long!! Modern recreational dive planning tables are based on a LOT of research and theory developed over decades. Haldane was a man who theorized that different organs in our bodies absorbed and released gas at different rates, when put under pressure. Lungs absorb a lot of gas fast; brains are the opposite and take up gas relatively slowly.
Ol’ Hal (that’s my nickname for him now) made a chart and some calculations for determining how fast a diver will become saturated with gas (nitrogen gas for example) and how quickly the diver will release that gas.
This information isn’t very practical. Nobody needs Haldeanean (how many different ways will I incorrectly spell this…?) tissue compartment gas saturation tables to dive. You can use your dive computer and/or dive tables that someone else already programed and designed.
It’s probably useful to know because understanding the theory and details behind why something works can help a person understand the whole thing better. Or maybe someone at PADI really likes Ol’ Hal and doesn’t want his name to be forgotten. Maybe it’s both!
I’m sick! I think it’s a head cold that could turn into a sinus infection if I’m not careful. Unfortunately, this means I can’t dive while I’m ill.
I’ve met plenty of divers who still go out when they’re feeling under the weather– and they’ve been fine– but the potential for complications and injury are high when you’re sick in certain ways. Anything involving your sinuses or inner ear could more easily lead to an injury that ends your diving career.
A traumatized sinus will eventually heal, but it will take a long time and it might be too sensitive in the future to handle the kind of pressure changes that happen during scuba. A blown-out eardrum on the other hand doesn’t heal or repair itself, so a diver will need surgery. Even then they probably won’t be able to dive in the future.
Don’t dive sick! It sucks to lose your deposit, and its a pain to change your plans, but in the end it’s worth it not to suffer through a major injury that could stop you from diving forever.
This is an illustration I submitted for a for-charity zine, Polar Lights. The publication focused on Arctic and Antarctic flora and fauna, and proceeds are donated to an Arctic environmental charity. The stuff everyone produced is so gorgeous, it should be in a museum. It made me want to rise to the occasion and make something equally amazing.
Each participant submitted plants or animals for consideration; I was approved for the Giant Phantom Jellyfish.
I am not usually frightened by sea animals, but to be perfectly honest, this thing freaks me out haha! I think it’s because it’s just SO BIG. The Giant Phantom Jellyfish can get as long as 33 ft/10m…
That’s just too big, especially when it looks like a UFO. Happily I will never see it, because it’s only been spotted about 100 times, in the last 100 years. I haven’t seen proof that it’s ever been sighted near the surface either– all sources describe it around the 5,000 ft/m depth. I’m safe!
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
I initially had a papercraft idea for this piece, which I eventually scrapped. I think it could have worked as a standalone piece, but not against the other submissions in this particular publication. I need more practice with this style before it’s ready for human consumption!
If you want to see all the gorgeous art and see your purchase go towards a good cause, you can download the full zine Here for $2USD. Enjoy!
I joined a charity zine in December ’25 called Polar Lights. It’s focused on Arctic and Antarctic life, and participants can submit written and visual works based on an appropriate animal.
Someone wrote a very cool piece about Spotted Seals, and last minute asked if anyone in the group would be able to create some spot pieces for their story.
Spot pieces are small works of art that accompany text. They’re placed on the pages with the text, rather than being a separate illustration on a separate page.
I whipped these up and submitted them for consideration. I adore seals and sea lions so this was very fun for me!
Polar Lights was published on April 6th, 2026 and you’ll be able to see my full art piece I made for it, plus my spot pieces accompanying a wonderful written work! You can:
Find the publication [here] for a cool $2 USD
Find past issues [here]
That $2 goes to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition , so in addition to viewing some amazing art you’ll be donating to a good cause. Neat!
Yep, I got scammed trying to buy scuba equipment. It was a really interesting experience, and while I’m happy to say I got my money back, I never want to go through that again! I also got my money back in a rather unexpected way.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened:
I bought a BioSeal Neck Gaiter listed for $20USD, but when I was charged through PayPal, it said I had been charged $300USD.
Then, when I checked my actual PayPal account, the total was 45k Japanese Yen. That’s about $285USD.
Then it gets weirder! The amount charged was increased to 51k yen.
And then… when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, I got a notification that my package had been delivered… in the past! It was the 25th of December (what an awful Christmas present, am I right???) when the scam happened, but the package was instantly delivered on the 9th of December to an address that’s not mine. Christmas Magic!?
I immediately reported the seller and started a claim through PayPal, and once the holidays were over I called my bank for advice. The seller didn’t get access to my banking information because I didn’t put in my card/bank info when making the purchase– I used PayPal as a proxy– and I think that saved me a LOT of trouble.
Unfortunately, the PayPal claim was ruled to be not in my favor! They determined that the charges had not been made fraudulently. Er, so what about the magical, instantaneous delivery and the unauthorized price increase? Or the fact that $20 somehow turned into $300?
Fortunately, the seller refunded my money! I submitted a ton of screenshots to PayPal and described exactly what happened, and made a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission:
All of that was shared with the seller. Maybe they got scared and decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. My next step would have been to call my bank and all to dispute the charge, but I didn’t need to do that.
So, buyer beware! Be careful when purchasing stuff, especially when it seems too good to be true. Also if something bad does happen, act immediately, don’t panic, and don’t back down.
Here are some links that have good info on online scams:
Better Business Bureau: Fake Websites
Better Business Bureau: Scam Reporting
Federal Trade Commission: Scam Reporting
Quorum: Spotting Consumer Scams
Yikes! Stay safe out there!
I had the good fortune to be able to visit some good friends, and they took me to the aquarium! While I didn’t actually scuba, I did get to see some cool creatures and learn some new animal facts.
I had been to this aquarium once before with a different friend, several years ago when the second half of the aquarium was still under construction. Its very well done, with lots of great-looking habitats and interesting critters.
I hadn’t been able to see the Northern Fur Seals the last time, and I fell in love with Flaherty at first sight on this second visit. He looks like a disaster, with scraggly hair and bloodshot eyes… but he’s perfectly alright. I think fur seals just look like that.
I spotted a nudibranch! The water in the Seattle Aquarium comes in through the Puget Sound, so little creatures will get sucked into some of the tanks and often make their new homes in the exhibits. Nudibranches are often seen in one area of the octopus tank, and I made it my life’s mission to find one… and amazingly, I did. They are absolutely tiny. The picture below of the nudibranch is probably twice as big as the real thing.
How fabulous! I know very little about these guys but I think this is an Opalescent Nudibranch. You can check my work using this handy guide from Emerald Divers!
Guitar Sharks, aka Guitar Rays or Guitar Fish, are absolutely fascinating creatures. I’ve seen a couple on dives in Cabo San Lucas, though they were much smaller than the behemoth at the aquarium!
We were told they are very, very rare and many people go their whole lives without spotting one. I feel lucky having seen two or three in my lifetime out in the wild!
Phew! I’ve been doing a lot of travel and moving as of late, but not as much art as I would like.
If only I had a little octopus helper to do all the scheduling and packing for me…
I was finally able to dive at Gordo Banks! 3rd time’s the charm. The first time I cancelled because I was afraid I’d get too cold, and the second time I got sick…
Scuba certifications, depending on the area, are sometimes strictly followed and sometimes ignored completely. For example, I’ve heard Egyptian dive shops are notorious for bringing divers to sites with conditions/depths that are far too advanced for a diver’s certification level as long as the diver is willing to pay!
In Baja California, it seems like familiarity is very important to dive shops and guides. If they don’t know who you are, they’ll stick closely to your certification level and depth rating. But if you get to know the people more personally, they’re willing to do more exciting things (safely!).
In the United States, it’s a completely mixed bag in my experience. Some guides have been very lax about things, while others have been very strict.
When it comes to approaching the limits, I do try to be careful. I have a dive computer that has features that are super useful for these circumstances, and I’m good at monitoring my air consumption. I like to think I’m pretty good under pressure, literally and figuratively (I think I’m funny).
130ft is the absolute maximum for recreational diving, because once you go farther down, the risk of injury dramatically increases. That’s not even taking your air consumption into account: at 130ft, you use it up really fast!
Of course, a girl can dream about going even deeper… Technical Diving certification courses teach you how to go past that limit. I guess I’ll put that on my To-Do List too.
This year has been an exciting one for scuba! I’ve gotten back into diving after a 10-year break, taken 5 PADI specialty classes, reached 50 total dives, and seen some incredible locations and wildlife. So what better way to celebrate than to make themed Christmas cards for friends!
Unfortunately the color and glitter don’t come through well on camera, but I swear they look awesome in person.
From top to bottom, we have the vaquita, the thresher shark and common seahorse, the humpback whale, the hammerhead shark, and the orca. Most of these are the favorite aquatic animal of the friend receiving the gift. I always love hearing what people’s favorites are– I think mine are tied between sea lions and gobies.
Merry Christmas and Keep Diving!