Scubapro Deep Elite Team – Dr. Andrea Marshall

Dr. Andrea Marshall

Location: Vilanculos, Mozambique, Africa

Occupation: Marine Biologist, Professional Underwater Photographer

Scuba Diving Since: 1991

Favorite Local Dive: Bazaruto Seascape, Inhambane

Favorite Dive Location: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

 

 

An Interview with Dr. Andrea Marshall

Why did you decide to take the giant stride into the oceans?

I have been obsessed with the ocean since I was a very young girl. I wanted to be a marine biologist, specifically a shark scientist, since I was 5 years old and I pursued this career with a singular focus that intimidated many people. I just knew what I wanted from a young age. So the natural first step was to want to get underwater. I started dive training at 11 and sat my Jr. Open Water test on my 12^th birthday (the minimum age at the time)! I took up underwater photography a few years later. Learning to dive in California was heaven. The kelp forests remain one of my favorite ecosystems. Plus it made me a strong diver- cold water drysuit diving really toughens you up and I still credit these years of cold water diving and shore entries for paving the way for my scientific diving career.

 

How has diving changed your life?

All aspects of my life have been influenced by diving in one way or another. I dive for work. I dive for pleasure. I dive for mental health and physical fitness. Being underwater is everything to me. It stoked my passion as a conservationist which provided me with my life’s mission to help ‘Save Our Ocean Giants from Extinction”. It is hard to imagine my life without diving or think about what my life would have been if I hadn’t become a diver at such a young age. Diving helps to foster a sense of community. There is a growing network of divers around the world that you can tap into almost instantly. Divers can just inherently relate to one another, there is almost an unspoken bond. It is amazing to have this instant common ground with other divers and I love building my own network of passionate water-loving people around the world that I can reach out to and rely on- my diving family.

 

What kind of diving do you like to do?

I am an explorer at heart, so I am a pretty intense diver. Diving is not really a leisurely experience for me. If I am underwater it is because I want to go somewhere, see something and learn something new. I love feeling like I got a workout on my dive, that I got the most out of my tank and that I covered ground. I love to use technology to constantly push the limits- find new places to explore, animals that I can spy on and study.  It is no real surprise that I started to experiment with technical diving when I was young but many find it interesting that I only got into freediving late in life. Freediving has also opened up a whole new world for me and it is something I really like to do now. Underwater, sometimes less is more, and while you can’t stay down for long while freediving, sometimes being unincumbered, seeing things from a different perspective and approaching from a different direction can  helps you connect with the animals in a new way. I think there is a time and a place for different types of diving. It is like having different tools in your bag for a job.

 

Tell us about one of the most amazing experiences you have had underwater?

Well, by far the most exciting dives I ever had have been with manta rays (obviously) or cetaceans (dolphins or whales). I love to engage with intelligent species that seem to like to interact with you, that show a curiosity and certain level of trust.  While it is always amazing to be surrounded by large groups of animals, I actually prefer to be one on one with an animal in the water. When I am with a single individual, I can focus on them, the nuances of their behaviour. I often feel as if I make a deeper connection with that animal because I can focus my attention and typically learn more from these experiences. Some of my most memorable encounters have been with giant manta rays in Mexico, Ecuador and Mozambique. To be midwater with an enormous animal and have them interact with you, even ‘play’ with you, is extraordinary. My most humbling and memorable moments however come when I am involved in some kind of rescue. There is nothing more rewarding that saving an animal’s life or helping to prevent harm to an animal. At the end of the day that is the most rewarding experience you can have underwater.

 

Where are some of your favorite places underwater?

I love Indonesia. So many islands, so many places to explore. The place is teeming with life. It is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, it is full of endemic species and it is just postcard-beautiful. I also love the people. They are kind, welcoming and always have a smile for you. It is just one of those places that makes you feel at ease, like you are home with family. The underwater scenery and the marine wildlife in the country are just awesome. In terms of standout regions, Raja Ampat is hard to beat but the Komodo National Park actually has some of the most exciting dives sites and I have certainly had my most memorable dives in this National Park.

There is only one Galapagos. If you have not been to Ecuador’s premier national park, it should be on your bucket list. It is such an incredible ecosystem. It is remote and isolated and it is teeming with life from the bizarre to the sublime including many unique and endemic species. For me there is nothing like being dwarfed by a 15 meter whale shark at Darwin Arch, being surrounded by hundreds of hammerheads at Wolf or staring into the face of a Mola in the frigid waters off Isabella Island. It is also a great example of a national park that is working hard to blend sustainable tourism with wildlife management. It is not perfect, but they are working on it and it is a great example of government, NGO's and stakeholders all working actively together to find a balance in order to preserve one of the greatest marine heritage sites in the world.

Africa, particularly coastal east Africa. Africa in general will get under your skin. I traveled  there 20 years ago and never left! It draws you in. It is so raw, so wild, so authentic. There is nothing like it. It is also off the grid still and relatively easy to have experiences without mass tourism. There are hundreds of kilometers of unspoiled beaches without a single human footprint, where you could walk for hours and not see a soul or a building. The seascapes there are completely unspoiled, I can dive for months without seeing another diver on any of the reefs I go to, which is unheard of these days- something that I never fail to treasure or appreciate. Southern Mozambique where I live is the Marine Serengeti of Africa and is home to some of the densest and most diverse concentrations of marine megafauna in the Indian Ocean- whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, rays, dugongs, billfish, etc. It is such an unique and exciting place to spend time underwater.

 

What is your advice to someone considering diving?

Just get in the water. It will change your life. It provides people with an entirely different perspective on the world. Gravity goes out the window, you become more connected to your body and in tune with your breath, you learn to really look and listen- since you can’t talk- and the encounters you will have underwater with animals will impact you in ways you would not have thought possible. It is one of the only sports you can do as well at 10 as you can at 80 and it is an activity that you can never grow tired of. There is no reason not to try it!

 

What would you tell people about the oceans?

Oh man. I could go on for days about our oceans. The underwater world is the most fascinating part of our planet. But conversations with me always naturally wander to the need for aggressive conservation of our oceans. I can’t help it. These days I think many people are starting to understand how important the health of our oceans are. The reality is that we live on a blue planet- a fact that only really sunk in when we left our own atmosphere and looked back on our world in the1950’s. Perhaps at that moment, like never before, we realized the true vastest of our oceans and perhaps it’s what gave us the impression that they were inexhaustible. But people are quickly learning now how wrong we were about that and just how finite the resources in our oceans really are. They are also starting to realize how dependent on them we are- that they supply most of our breathable oxygen, dictate world weather patterns, and help to feed the majority of humans on earth. The oceans represent life- our life. When they are disturbed and move too far away from their natural balance, the impacts affect everything on the planet, ourselves included. We are already starting to see the imbalances and feel impacts now. Our fish stocks are dwindling, coastal habitats are becoming dangerously polluted, the looming threat of ocean acidification stands to decimate our coral reefs and weather patterns are swiftly changing, affecting climate, agriculture and sea levels globally. Future generations will now have to bear the repercussions of our actions. Still, I believe strongly in the power of the oceans to heal and restore themselves, given the space and time to do so. But to mitigate our current marine related problems we need to focus on protecting between 30-40% of our oceans. By doing so we will create refuges for vulnerable species, help to regenerate depleted fish stocks, safeguard critical habitats, preserve genetic variability and promote biodiversity. We are currently nowhere near this target and we need to aggressively move towards this target like our life depends on it, because it does.

 

What does diving mean to you?

Spending time underwater is essential for me. I feel like I’ve spent half of my life underwater, and in actual fact, it is where I feel most comfortable. I am not sure what my life would be like if I didn’t dive. The sea grounds me. It is the place that I go to get away from it all, a place where I feel unrestricted and at one with nature. As an explorer, it is an exciting frontier full of limitless adventures. Being a diver and spending time underwater is also an essential part of my job as a marine researcher. My life would not work without it. I can’t even go for long periods of time without being around the ocean. Lucky for me, I have a partner that loves the ocean and diving as much as I do. It is a relief to have someone understand my connection to water and who enjoys ocean exploration like I do. I look forward to many ocean adventures with him and my daughter, who at 6 is already starting to learn how to dive.

 

What's your favorite thing in your dive bag?

Being underwater is second nature to me, but in many ways the reason I feel so comfortable underwater has a lot to do with my dive gear. I have spent the last 30 years perfecting the items in my dive bag so it is hard to choose a standout item. I am certainly a minimalist. Let’s face it, I swim after the largest fishes in our oceans so I can’t be dragged down by heavy gear or accessories. My SCUBAPRO Uwatec dive computer is a must have. The kind of diving that I do requires an extremely high level of accuracy because we are always pushing ourselves to the absolute limits.  I simply will not get into the water without it. I have been using these computers for over 20 years and they have NEVER let me down. I don’t have to stress about my profiles or worry about pushing the limits because the algorithms in that computer are working overtime to keep me safe. ‘Deep down you really do want the best’ and I trust it with my life. My Hydros BCD is another item that I really can’t dive without. I have always dreamed of having a BCD that stays in place no matter how I move in the water and now I have one and it makes a massive difference in the way I am able to interact with big animals and conduct fieldwork. It doesn’t matter where I have to lug it, it always goes with me. But I suppose it is my mask that I am most attached to. Let’s face it, masks are such a personal item. It has to feel comfortable. It has to fit right. It simply cannot fog while you are in the middle of a dive. If something is going to ruin your dive, it is a bad mask so I guess I am going to have to say that my mask is likely my favorite thing in my dive bag.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES/ LINKS:

Andrea Marshall (Public Figure) @QueenoftheMantas (Facebook)

@queenofmantas (Instagram)

@queenofmantas (Twitter)

Marine Megafauna Foundation @marinemegafauna (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)