Raising Fins is a campaign funded by the Millennium Campus Network’s Millennium Oceans Prize. This initiative came as a result of the research project “Achieving Conservation through Sustainable Marine Tourism: Synthesizing Social-Ecological Outcomes of SCUBA Diving.” Using a literature review of scientific literature about the outcomes of recreational scuba diving, the research clearly indicates that divers cause significant harm to the environment.

As a PADI-certified dive master with over 100 logged dives, and significant time dived in the Caribbean Ocean off the coast of Colombia, a high-altitude volcanic caldera in Guatemala, and the chilly shores of Boston, this was quite a heartbreaking revelation of the data. From breaking coral, to raising sediment, interacting with wildlife and manipulating the environment to suit our entertainment, it was clear that the net impact on the environment is significantly deleterious.

However, as I searched deeper in the literature, I found that there are several aspects of diving that have the potential to make it a redeemable activity: the inexplicably deep connection with the underwater environment, an awareness of how climate change is affecting marine life, and the potential for an esteem based on activism to emerge.

Searching for ways to create an initiative that could amplify these potentially redeemable qualities, I found a parallel in the Leave No Trace movement in the backpacking industry. With a set of seven principles that guide green behavior while hiking through the wilderness, Leave No Trace has revolutionized the expectations for how national parks are treated in the US. I believe we need this for divers, and more.

Raising Fins is a campaign dedicated to creating a set of responsible diving behaviors and principles that will guide divers both in the water and back on land. It will turn every diver into an advocate for the ocean.

Conducted by Jodi Robertson, the project was advised by Steven Scyphers, Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine & Environmental Sciences and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Northeastern University. The support and funding was awarded by the Scholars Independent Research Fellowship from the University Scholars Program at Northeastern University. My deepest gratitude and appreciation is to both Professor Scyphers and the University Scholars Program for their continued enthusiasm and support of my dreams, curiosities, and passions.