By AJ
In 2014 I left my home in London to start a new underwater chapter in my life. My aim was to become a SCUBA instructor and discover a way to help constructively conserve the ocean. So when a teacher approached me about the possibility of introducing 3, 4 and 5-year-olds to ocean conservation at an international school in Egypt I was thrilled. I could hardly believe such an exciting possibility had arisen and so unexpectedly.
I was a water baby. At 6 weeks old my mum took me to the local swimming pool, blew in my face and dunked me straight under. By the age of 3 I was telling my swimming teacher I didn't want to wear armbands and at 13 I was doing my first open water SCUBA dive. After completing my degree in Human Geography I decided if I was going to make a positive impact on this planet I needed to submerge myself in it. I become a SCUBA Instructor in beautiful Dahab and this became my home. When the plane crashed over the Sinai during October 2015 diving work started to subside and a friend suggested I started That Fish Blog to document my love of the ocean and underwater photography. This led to me working in schools, running workshops which educate children about our underwater world and marine conservation. And so it began. I managed to find a way to combine my love of the ocean with my dreams of making a positive impact. Now based in the UK as manager of a dive centre I continue to live by my passions, publishing articles to raise awareness for our oceans and promoting marine education. My impact is only small, at the time of writing this I have shared my passion with roughly 200 customers, educated around 160 kids, forced 39 friends to become followers of my blog and persuaded 2 parents and my brother to stop eating tuna. But I believe ‘in a gentle way, you can shake the world’ (Mahatma Gandhi) ...so I may as well try.