After my quick stopover in Denmark I was off to visit its historical arc rival – Sweden! Typically known for musical phenomena such as ABBA and tall beautiful blond people (yes Oscar Svennson that does includes you, haha), divers and scientists know Sweden as country of great temperate diving, dive gear manufacturing, scientific discovery, and innovation.
This year the 14th International Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) Congress was held in Lund, a small university town about 60 min train ride from the Danish border. Having studied behavioral ecology for my Honours project, the ISBE conference was what originally caused me to leave the Pacific behind and travel half way across the world to Scandinavia.Conducted every two years, the ISBE conference presents the latest research from behavioural ecologists all around the world and at all stages of their career development. The conference is thus a great platform for like minded people to meet and network.
So what is behavioural ecology?
“Behavioral ecology is the study of the fitness consequences of behavior. Research in this field poses the basic question: what does an animal gain, in fitness terms, by doing this rather than that?”
The International Society for Behavioural Ecology Website
Behavioural ecology encompasses a broad range of topics and I found myself listening to talks from foraging behaviour of fish to echolocation behaviour of nectar feeding bats, and even adaptive evolution in Hawaiian spiders.I really enjoyed the ISBE and would be really keen to take up some sort of behavioural ecology/ conservation based project in future.
Exited about the prospect of more cool water dives, I gladly took up the offer to go exploring with Johan Peterrson, a polar diver from Oceanwide Expeditions. Our destination was Kullaberg, located near the town of Molle and our dive company was the Kullabygdens Största Dykcenter. Kullaberg was a stunning place both above and below water and we were lucky enough to have some of the best weather of the year to enjoy it with.
With our gear all ready we hit the water and were treated an abundance of starfish, mussel beds and fish. Despite the low visibility, this was a whole ecosystem that I had never seen before and I really enjoyed being able to just sit back and watch. Check out the underwater signage –
Drysuits are essential for diving in Sweden and what better place to retest my Waterproof gear then in their home country!! While it is difficult to tell you how the Waterproof D10 PRO dry suit compares to other high-end alternatives (this is my first ever dry suit), I can tell you that this is definitely the most well made suit I have ever owned. Designed for extremely harsh climates such as Antarctica and the Arctic, the neoprene suit looks and feels super tough with absolutely no sign of wear after 20 dives. Comfortable, flexible and easy to get on – I am definitely a big supporter of Waterproof.
Following my day with Johan, I headed up to Gothenburg to visit two lovely and fun people. Newly married, Delia Ni Chiobhain and Johan Enqvist kindly let me stay at their apartment for a couple of days and gave me a wonderful insight into the range of different careers one can pursue related to the marine environment. Upon finishing the OWUU scholarship, Delia pursued her passion for underwater archeology and is now working for the Bohuslans Museum in their commercial underwater archeology department. As a scientific diver for the museum, Delia was busily preparing to sample objects of archeological interest in the path of a newly approved underwater pipeline. This was Delia’s first job as coordinator for her teams diving trip and from what I have heard she did fantastic job – well-done Delia.
I also got a tour of Johan’s company, Reel Diving. As a technical and cave diving instructor come dive shop owner, Johan has the perfect skill set for operating a dive gear distribution company. Specialising mainly in dedicated parts for the highly skilled diver, Johan has heaps of highly sort after pieces of equipment. When asked what his favourite piece of gear in stock was, Johan said it was easily the Silent Submersion “Magnus” scooter. According to Johan, “It is an essential tool for deep/long range cave diving, much more important then rebreathers as it limits your exposure at depth for a given dive, therefore effectively reducing your decompression obligation.” Sounds brilliant… just got to watch your speed a apparently it will “blow your mask off if you are not careful!” Johan gave me a fantastic Fourth Element backpack bag while I was in Sweden and thanks to his generosity I can now successfully transport all my gear without a trolley – yay!!
During my stay we also met up with Waterproof’s CEO, Christer Falkeborn and in continuing my European tour of ice cream we headed to Triumph Glass ice-creamery for our meeting. Christer was super funny and filled me in on Waterproof’s soon to be new and larger premises in Gothenburg. I am very honoured and proud to be sponsored by Waterproof, a company which has been making award winning products for 25 years.
Delia and Johan, thanks for everything!! You guys were so wonderful to me during my stay and I really hope to see you in New York. Also, thanks for the lesson on Swedish cakes Delia – my Swedish adventure would have been much less sweet without you ha!
