Tord Eriksson - Flying divers
Tuesday April 18th, 17.00-18.00
Interview by: Karl Hallström and Erik Junkers
Location of interview: Adolf Edelsvärds Gata 11, SE-414 51 Göteborg
Background
Tord Eriksson is the owner of the diving center and shop Flying Divers located in Gothenburg. It is a PADI certified center, PADI is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, and it has just under ten instructors in total and Eriksson is one of them. Flying Divers is not only a shop, but also has education and training and they arrange trips all around the world as well. Eriksson himself has been a diver for around 18-19 years.
Environmental threats to diving
Eriksson makes it clear that the threats do exist and it is definitely something they, as divers, observe. These types of changes in the climate are discoloration of corals, waste such as plastic to just name two of them. These threats however, do not affect the diving community and market overall negatively, Eriksson suggests the opposite. More people get engaged and want to explore and see things while they still can, and the market has been growing in the later years. Divers want the ocean environment to be enjoyable and therefore many also want to help and have a strong say in environmental issues. Eriksson explains further that both researchers and sports divers are interested in helping when it comes to the state of the ocean climate.
Data and measuring
Divers always need to keep track of how the dive is going, therefore they need to have some measuring instruments. Eriksson says that the biggest things that all divers measure are depth, time and temperature. To do this, divers have a small computer-like device on the arm which also measures the amount of nitrogen that the body has binded. Otherwise, sport divers don’t normally measure any other parameters in the water. They always log the data that they collect, and this is mostly done all individually but PADI also has an application where you can log and store your dives which some divers do. Eriksson definitely thinks there is a possibility of integrating another instrument, such as a pH-sensor, to the others. Attaching a separate sensor to the other equipment is not something that would affect the dive and the experience itself according to Eriksson. He further explains that many divers are interested in having new gadgets and equipment and like to spend money on this.
Citizen science
When asked about citizen science, Eriksson explained that he believes this is an open door when it comes to divers, because of the fact that divers are engaged in the ocean and the environment, but also in data. He says that they are often in contact with researchers looking for help and that divers collect data for them for fun but also because of the importance of it.
Divers impact on the environment
There is a saying in the diving community which is that “the only thing we leave behind is bubbles”, according to Eriksson. He means that diving does not really have any impact on the oceans, and divers have great respect for them. They do not leave anything behind or bring something with them and they don’t touch anything. Divers rather help instead by picking up waste that has been thrown into the oceans.
The diving market
In the late era of new technologies developing around the world, diving has basically been the same as always. Eriksson explains that the function or design of the equipment has not really changed over the years. This also goes for the price of the equipment, which Eriksson explained, has been roughly the same. He says further that the diving market is not a market where your goal is to make money, but rather to help more people get into diving.