Snorkeling

~Simply one of the best ways to see, discover, and appreciate the intriguing underwater
life. (It allows people to grasp the amazing beauty of marine life, and be able to swim
with them as well.)
~Snorkeling is made possible with the aid of a snorkel and mask. It lets you be
underwater for a longer period of time, without constantly resurfacing and with less effort
in doing so.
~This activity is not only used for recreational purposes. It has also been used by rescue
teams (water-based) and in water sports such as underwater hockey, underwater rugby,
and spear fishing.
~Other than having fun underwater, doing flutter kicks and diving tones and trims your
body, that is why it is considered to greatly help the overall fitness of your body while
swimming. And above all, it builds better lung capacity (as one is forced to hold his/her
breath underwater for some period of time. It also helps your aerobic fitness (oxygen
uptake) and is also good for your cardiovascular workout (increases heart rate and
strengthens the heart muscle).

Hollow Reed (3000 B.C.) – Skin Divers of the island Crete in the Mediterranean used
hollow reeds to breathe while submerged in water as they collected sponges.

Animal Skins were filled with air (9000 B.C.) – An ancient bas-relief dating 9000
B.C. depicted divers in Assyria using the animal skin filled with air to lengthen their stay
underwater

Diving Bell (300 B.C.) – Alexander the Great encouraged the development of the first
diving bell, which was a cauldron designed to trap a pocket of air when it was lowered
into the water. This instrument allowed divers to take breaths without needing to go all
the way up to the surface to gulp air, but also limit their mobility. Aristotle mentioned on
one of his writings divers using a tube connected to the surface to the snorkel remarking
that it worked like “the trunk of an elephant.”

Eye goggle/s from shells of tortoises (1300s) – The shell of the tortoise was used
to develop a gadget to protect the eye as well as to see more clearly in water. The shell
was sliced very thinly until it became translucent then polished for vision clarity. It was
then used by the Persian divers.
Hollowed tube and sketch of webbed swimming gloves (1400s) – Leonardo de
Vinci proposed and created the first contemporary snorkel, a hollow tube designed and
attached to the leather-head helmet of the diver, allowing to breathe even when the face
was submerged underwater. He also had a sketch of webbed swimming gloves, an idea
that led to the modern-day fins.

Wooden Paddles (1717) – Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of using wooden
paddles attached to the hands and feet to help swimmers to swim faster.

Modern Fins (1912) – These were invented by Frenchman Louis de Corlieu

Basic Equipments in Snorkeling

~The basic gears needed in snorkeling are the snorkel, goggles, and fins. Other essential
or optional for some are the floating vest and the rash guard.

A.