All posts by "Mermaid Ekena"

Swim long, live long —   like Jack LaLanne



Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru of the era of black and white television, swam a half hour almost daily — he passed away in 2011 at age 96 ! As a child this man was addicted to sugar and junk…

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POOL TIP: Keep warm in the water



To keep warm, squat down in the water to keep shoulders at or below the water surface (if you’re cold from standing in water), especially if you’re with kids. If the kids are cold, ask them to bob or keep…

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Sand eggs



Philinopsis pilsbryi is related to nudibranchs and variable in color. They live in sand and are responsible for laying some of the egg bubbles often seen attached to sandy surfaces. Photo by Jeanette Johnson, www.underwaterkwaj.com

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POOL TIP: LOCKER LOGISTICS



To keep your belongings clean in your locker, put on your flip flops when you first get to the locker room and put your shoes on the bottom of the locker.   Bring a lock for public pool lockers.  Use…

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POOL TIP: Enjoy yourself at the pool



To enjoy yourself, leave your fear of others looking at you at the door (they are already worried about themselves). Be comfortable in your swimwear, knowing that you are doing something great for yourself.

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Feel lighter in water



When you enter the pool, the pressure and resistance of the water displaces your body weight 75 to 90% depending on how deep you go.  

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Native Swimmers



Hidasta Tribal members here pictured swimming, with a description of the crawl stroke in wild rivers while the “civilized” relied solely on the breast stroke. Painted by George Catlin in 1832, Hidatsa village on the Knife River with summer earth…

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The Ocean & You Are Alike



Waiting to be born, you floated in the ocean-like amniotic fluid of your mother’s uterus. Your blood plasma composition is similar to ocean water. At the turn of the 20th century, several people were revived from near-death using sea water….

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Tunicates



This small colony of tunicates (20mm) that had taken up residence on a clump of algae. Tunicates have the distinction of starting out in a free swimming stage with a “notochord” which is related to a backbone but once they…

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Eats Sleeping Fish



Kogomea Ovata (3-4mm) is a tiny shell species that feeds on sleeping fish. You may see over a dozen of them on a single fish at night. Photo by Jeanette Jonhson, www.underwaterkwaj.com  

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