Under the Sea

I’ve always loved and feared the sea at the same time. I may not know how to swim, but I love paddling in the waters. I’m not into pools since its stagnant and pees and saliva could really get mixed in, that the pool ends up looking murky. Ugh. Gross. I’ve also experienced almost drowning in the past, thus, my fear of the deeper waters.

Ever since the pandemic, a lot of plans had all been delayed, including family vacations. My family and I love going to the beach even we’re not all that good at swimming. After a year of not being at sea, we finally got the chance to last weekend with some family friends.

I’ve always loved the sea but never got the chance to appreciate the life underwater. I just love swimming around with the sea breeze blowing me cold till my skin burned under the sun. I love floating face up as the waves swayed me like a lullaby. But when I do try to swim underwater, my eyes sting *well what do you expect the sea’s salty* and can’t clearly see whatever that is there, so I’d rather close my eyes as I swim. I mean aside from my blurry eyes; I didn’t usually use snorkel. My dad bought one years ago and never even cared using it, not when my brothers monopolized it.

The beach that we went to may not be as luxurious as the others, nor as sandy, yet the clear waters were more than enough to suffice the need to be at sea. Before taking a dip, my brothers, friends and I went on for a walk in the waters while the tide was low. The urge to take a plunge was intoxicating, that after eating an early lunch we just walked to the further part of the sea and swam despite it being at low tide.

Despite the tide, little fishes swam around below. That’s when I decided to use the snorkel until the high tide *just the mask though without the tube*. I was just on the sea level where my feet could still feel the sea bed, though not a hundred percent clear, I still got the chance to see what’s underwater without stinging my eyes. With a little life underwater, there, I finally understood why some people love the underwater so much that they’d go the distance to scuba dive or snorkel.

It felt utterly beautiful. It was like another world for me, seeing those little fishes swimming around, hiding beneath those stones. What I saw might not even half of what scuba divers and snorkelers see down the deeper parts of the sea, but I felt a bit of that world with me when I snorkeled. I felt like I was being drifted away from the reality of a chaotic world, as if it was just me and the life underwater. I felt the calmness of the sea embrace me underneath that I didn’t even wanna bring myself up to the surface (though I can’t really last that long underwater.) It was fun and addicting that we always took turns using the snorkel mask. If that little life I saw out there was already beautiful to begin with, how much more if it was the deeper waters that I swam through (though I can’t really go to deeper waters).

The beauty on the surface of the sea isn’t half the beauty underwater. It is scary sometimes, one moment its calm, and then least expect it as it casts its storms. Its mystery draws us in with its beauty. Now I understand why Moana sings “see the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls meeee.” Lol it feels pretty much like that.

the garbage that I was talking about

However, seeing that sanitary napkin’s packaging being drifted away from the sea to the shore is quite disappointing. As clear the waters seemed, we really can’t deny that garbage is being thrown into the sea by careless people. Makes me think, how can the life underwater last for more years if people keep this up? Has it ever crossed their minds that this could destroy the ecosystem? And they complain on floods when they can’t even throw garbage properly. I know I’m not some heavily advocated environmentalist, but I do think we need to know more what “common sense” and “responsibility” mean.

The point is, what would the future generations see years from now, some garbage filled and murky waters? What would even happen to the life underwater? I know I won’t be swimming in deeper waters soon, not even years from now, but I do hope that people would still see and appreciate what’s under the sea, even the children in the future.

P.S. Just throw your garbage properly and not be a bitch about it, you’re already being a bitch by throwing it anywhere.


Writer,

Thin Girl