Purple Dive
Sep 14, 20232 min
My name is Janis Argeswara. I'm a project leader at MMF and a master's student at Florida International University. I am Indonesian, and I was the first Indonesian research assistant at MMF! Some random things I love underwater: good drift dives, large animals, baby boxfish, and cuttlefish! I also do talks from time to time about the mysterious life of manta rays for divers or anyone who is interested.
I started diving back in high school in Jakarta, Indonesia. However, I wasn't as active as I am now because SCUBA diving is an expensive sport and I couldn't afford it. When I moved to Bali eight years ago, I started to do SCUBA diving and freediving more (thanks to university and internships), and I finally now have it as part of my occupation.
I just really wanted to be able to swim and interact with marine animals, especially large ones.
Meeting a manta ray named Dr Evil, whom I've only seen in pictures, in person at Komodo National Park.
My rescue diver course. I learned not only to be aware of myself and my surroundings but also of other people. I learned how to 'read' people's body language underwater to make sure they are alright.
- Constantly improving their dive skills
- Calling out when someone does something inappropriate
- Open to learning new things despite already being experienced
- Following the codes-of-conduct and ethics when encountering animals
- Respectful of nature and other divers
SCUBA diving has always been seen as a dominantly male sport because it's classified as an extreme sport. But plenty of women are diving, proving that gender doesn't matter when it comes to sports! Anyone who's willing to do it can do it.
Respect the ocean and its inhabitants. We are exploring someone else's home.
Find out more about the organisation( MMF) Janis works for and their projects here: www.marinemegafauna.org
and specifically about Janis here: https://marinemegafauna.org/team/janis-argeswara