Good evening fellow divers, marine biologists, and friends! Thank you so much for inviting me to the 40th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Sub-Aqua Club. I applaud your wonderful and adventurous community sharing a love of sea and diving for four decades.
I am a PADI certified avid diver myself, as are millions of Americans. In fact, did you know that the world’s largest scuba diving organization, PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) was formed in 1966 by two friends in Illinois over a bottle of Johnnie Walker? John Cronin, a scuba equipment salesman for U.S. Divers, and Ralph Erickson, an educator and swimming instructor, were concerned that scuba certification agencies at the time were not using state-of-the-art training nor upholding appropriate professional standards. So John and Ralph had a few rounds of Johnnie Walker Black Label and decided to start PADI and spread the joy of safe, accessible diving to everyone.
I obtained my own PADI license in 1999 in the cold waters off Oshima island, Japan where I was stationed as a young diplomat. Since then, I have dived in Fiji, Sharm el Sheikh, and the Great Barrier Reef. But there was a long pause after getting married, having a child, and getting busy with work where I abandoned this great hobby. So when I arrived in Sri Lanka in 2022 and attended the book launch for Dharshana Jayawardena’s book “Ghosts of the Deep: Diving the Shipwrecks of Sri Lanka,” it reignited my interest in getting back underwater after a long hiatus. I also eagerly thumbed through Arthur C. Clark’s book “Reefs of Taprobane.” This morning, I went to see the exhibit of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing at the Museum of Natural History. Did you know that in 1970, three astronauts from Apollo 12 visited Sri Lanka and gifted a piece of the moon rock here? And they went scuba diving in Trincomalee at the invitation of Arthur C. Clarke! What a rich history in exploration, to the outer reaches of space to the depths of the ocean- and the U.S.-Sri Lanka connections that bind us.So with that history in mind and the help of some friends in the Sri Lankan navy and Island Scuba, I did a refresher course and explored some of Sri Lanka’s amazing sites including: The Great Basses, Thermopylae Sierra, Nilwella, SS Sagaing, and SS Orestes. What a thrilling adventure each of those dives brought! I got a few scratches and was swayed by some large currents but saw amazing undersea creatures rusting anchors rudders ancient coins It was haunting marvelous all once imagine stories these artifacts shipwrecks must hold within them Sri Lanka has so much diving treasures share world!
In addition we launched U.S Ambassadors Fund Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2024 preserve Godawaya shipwreck oldest known Asia-Pacific region dating back approximately second century BCE We’ve helped document conserve wreck over two hundred artifacts be displayed Maritime Archeology Museum In fact Rasika Muthucumarana dived down thirty-three meters below ocean surface see wreck ourselves Sri Lanka historical role pivotal maritime hub lasting legacy even today United States proud support shared interests global maritime trade security Indo Pacific
American excellence diving only attributed heroic feats Tom Cruise most recent Mission Impossible movie real life heroes like Sylvia Earle American marine biologist oceanographer who been National Geographic Explorer Large since nineteen ninety-eight set women depth record three hundred eighty-one meters which still holds date
PADI founder John Cronin once said ”We want feel our children their children generations come able enjoy underwater world given us so much There many significant problems facing mankind but divers truly cause If scuba divers do not take active role preserving aquatic realm who will?”
Tonight applaud all unique community wish many more adventurous explorations under sea hope join few those dives Thank you