【GARMIN】Born to Explore the Deep Blue Ocean - Tide & Current 2018

Thank you to GARMIN for your support — your lead has inspired others and helped make our oceans a better place!
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【Garmin】Born to Explore the Deep Blue Ocean - Tide & Current 2018

The ocean, in all its moods and many forms, has coexisted with humanity for thousands of years.
Silent as she is, she has quietly borne everything that humankind has given her.

Taiwan — a nation that prides itself on being a seafaring people —
has long been held back by a mindset that kept the sea off-limits, robbing its citizens of the chance to truly know the ocean.
For most people, their understanding of the sea extends no further than the names of dishes served at the dinner table.

The transformation of fishing villages is a slogan,
and a banner that divers often raise high —
but how many have actually sat down and talked with the fishing families themselves?
Many of the elderly women in these villages had no choice but to live the lives they did.
When the government promotes local tourism,
it still so often takes the easy way out by organizing seafood festivals.
And so the transformation of fishing villages becomes, once again, a missing piece in an industry that has lost its way.

We chose to contribute in a different way.
Some poured their life savings into purchasing equipment and renovating the base.
Some gave up their weekends to come and lend a hand.
Some set aside their day jobs to help keep things running.
Profit has never been our ultimate goal.

Beyond handing over the management of the scuba tanks to local people,
we have also been actively nurturing local youth to become dive instructors in the future.
Who could possibly feel a deeper connection to this stretch of ocean
than the young people who grew up along its shores?

We had already been working hard and investing in this before the marine protected area was even designated.
Every form of collaboration and cooperation takes time — time for dialogue, and sometimes for conflict —
yet we can never fully silence the criticism and provocation of online detractors.
All we can do is turn around and keep pushing forward,
until we collapse on the sofa and greet the sunrise of the next day.
Because what we invested in from the very beginning was an ideal,
and now it has become a responsibility.

Only when you roll up your sleeves and do it yourself will you understand how hard it truly is.
The ocean grows more beautiful because of the change I make.
....................
We will continue to use our cameras to document
the young men and women of this local fishing village —
how they are taking concrete action to be part of a fishing village transformation that has no external resources to rely on.
Beyond reshaping their own life plans,
they are transforming their families, and the very ocean that nurtured them as they grew up.
We hope to inspire more people to join us.
The ocean changes because I dive.