The sun shines down and his black hair flies in the breeze as senior Jerry Lu walks down to the shoreline, dressed in his black neoprene scuba gear, ready to dive into the ocean depths of Houbihu, Taiwan.
Lu grew up in a coastal town in Taiwan and was always attracted to the ocean. Scuba diving came naturally to Lu as he has been swimming since he was four and started diving at 11. Ever since then, he’s been doing it semi-regularly every few months in Taiwan with his advanced open water license.
“[Scuba diving] is one of the activities that I stuck with after trying. It’s like flying in the ocean and having close interactions with animals like sea turtles are so interesting,” Lu said.
Not only does Lu scuba dive for the fun of it, but he also uses it as an opportunity to help clean up the ocean. Lu and the other members of his local diving organization often pick up trash or other things that harm the ecosystem so they can help maintain their hobby for everyone to enjoy.
“I initially just dived because it was very fun but now, I do it because I care about the environment and I go down to pick up [and collect] trash,” Lu said. “It annoys me that in the future, people may not experience the same joy as [myself] anymore.”
His future endeavors include diving to Indonesia to see and photograph whale sharks and go on a diving expedition to conduct research.
“Some people prefer the mountains or the woods more but I just naturally like the ocean and beaches more,” Lu said.
