I give the okay signal and roll back off the boat; the water engulfs me. Submerging below the ocean surface, I become one with the sea. With slow steady strokes from my fins pushing me forward, and the loud reassuring sound of the dive regulator filling my lungs with oxygen, I am able to take in all of the reef’s ecosystem. Tablet in hand, I document everything I see, from the white tip reef sharks, to the plankton floating around me. With my newly gathered data and water samples, I return to the surface, eager to analyze my new data.

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

SCUBA diving at Bocas Del Toro, Panama

    
Becoming a Marine Biologist can be both rewarding and challenging. Diving and hands-on field work are part of what attracts people from all over the world to this career. But it isn’t all swimming with dolphins and rescuing sea turtles, as popular stereotype would make you think. Marine Biologists spend a large majority of their time applying for grants, writing research papers, and working in the lab. “For every hour I log at sea, there are probably at least five to spend in the lab back on land,” says Maddalena Bearz, in her recent book Dolphin Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist. Marine Biology requires a lot of passion and dedication. But it isn’t all bad - the sea is one of the most unexplored places in the world. With over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface being ocean, there is still much left to be discovered. That means that by being a Marine Biologist you could travel the world, explore the unexplored, and make a difference. Whether that difference is studying the intelligence of killer whales in the wild or the decay of coral reefs, every piece counts.

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Although the long hours, and little pay can be a downfall. The adventure of studying the unexplored draws me into this interesting career path, igniting me with a desire to explore ever little detail to this beautiful unknown world just below the ocean’s surface.

 Sea Turtle at Isla Coiba, Panama

Carleigh Pierce is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

All photos courtesy and copyright Shelby Lewis