Sonya Lee
DIVER Canada|Spring 2023
SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR / DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER & DIRECTOR
Sonya Lee

How long have you been diving?

Almost 14 years.

What made you want to become a diver?

I wanted to be a marine biologist since I was very young and I thought diving was mandatory, so I begged and begged my parents to let me get my PADI open water. They obliged the summer after I graduated high school right before university!

What is your most memorable encounter?

I am a small creature lover so it was seeing a clown triggerfish for the first time in Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was my first time diving on a coral reef and I thought the triggerfish was the most beautiful fish in the world—and they also look like a cartoon! I still scream when I see them. I also thought it was cool that they swam with their dorsal and anal fins.

How did diving change your life?

I try to hide it, but I am a fairly anxious and fearful person. Diving is the thing in my life that has always pushed me to practice mindfulness and practice trusting myself to push past my fears and push myself to be better. When I first started diving, I hated it. I thought it was so scary. But I wanted to be a marine biologist so I had to get over my fear. Then I needed to go deeper, get my AAUS Scientific Diver cert, my occupational scuba certification, and do more technical dives. Diving makes me push myself and grow.

What does diving mean to you?

Community. It is my sure way of finding amazing people in new places. Many of my good friends are divers. I was able to stay sane and see people during the pandemic through diving. I moved to a new city on Vancouver Island recently, if I didn’t have diving, I don’t know how I would have made friends and build a new life.

Denne historien er fra Spring 2023-utgaven av DIVER Canada.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Spring 2023-utgaven av DIVER Canada.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA DIVER CANADASe alt
Fun With a Smart Phone
DIVER Canada

Fun With a Smart Phone

Compact digital cameras are fast disappearing in favour of smartphones. How about underwater photography?

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2023
An Old Encounter
DIVER Canada

An Old Encounter

The mighty St. Lawrence River, in its Quebec section, has swallowed hundreds of wrecks through the centuries, many of them still unvisited.

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2023
Al is Coming to Diving
DIVER Canada

Al is Coming to Diving

You are about to enter another dimension—a scuba dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop…no, not the Twilight Zone…but the AI Zone! Yes, Artificial Intelligence is coming to scuba diving.

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2023
Preventing heat exhaustion
DIVER Canada

Preventing heat exhaustion

Beautiful sunny days have a way of coaxing us outside for adventuring, exploring, and diving. But it’s important to be mindful during your outdoor activities of the risks of heat-related illnesses— especially in the summer.

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2023
You Won't Impress Your Cave Instructor
DIVER Canada

You Won't Impress Your Cave Instructor

I am so sorry for disappointing you!” My student apologized as he tossed his cave diving light into the gear crate and dropped his fins beside my truck.

time-read
5 mins  |
Summer 2023
THE PERFECT STORM
DIVER Canada

THE PERFECT STORM

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY NICOLE WEBSTER

time-read
9 mins  |
Summer 2023
PROTECTING NAYAANO NIBIIMAANG GICHIGAMIIN
DIVER Canada

PROTECTING NAYAANO NIBIIMAANG GICHIGAMIIN

The Great Lakes Watershed

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2023
Phil Nuytten: DIVER
DIVER Canada

Phil Nuytten: DIVER

Industry luninaries remember diving legend Phil Nuytten, OC, OBC, DSc (hon), LLD (hon): magazine publisher, engineer, innovator, artist, businessman, eccentric, raconteur, magician, writer, husband, father... and-first and foremost-diver. (1941-2023)

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2023
Phil Nuytten - SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION ADDRESS
DIVER Canada

Phil Nuytten - SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION ADDRESS

A final Soundings column from DIVER Publisher and Senior Editor Phil Nuytten, taken from his 1995 address to students in British Columbia

time-read
4 mins  |
Summer 2023
NEW DEEP CAVE DIVING RECORD SET IN CHINA
DIVER Canada

NEW DEEP CAVE DIVING RECORD SET IN CHINA

Renowned Chinese cave diver Han Ting surfaced after a 12-and-a-half-hour dive to 910.1 feet (77.4m) in Jiudun Cave, a new Asia deep cave diving record. The dive was a part of the Duan’s Juidun Cave Features (DJCF) project.

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2023