Photo by Jim Abernethy

Lazaro Ruda

As a kid, there wasn't a day that I didn't spend it fascinated with the little intricacies of the natural world around me. Whether it was watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon or seeing eye to eye with a tiny bird on a branch, everything about nature has always delighted me.

Spending my summer vacations in Key West, I soon learned about a whole new alien world that I had yet to discover — the ocean world. Seeing this world for the first time aroused my curiosity beyond anything else. Intrigued by its splendors and its mysteries, there wasn't a day that I would miss out on spending it with my head dipped below the ocean's waves.

Almost twenty years later, this love affair for the ocean has developed into an obsession. Taking advantage of every free moment and many late nights, whether I am swimming in the ocean or reading books on its natural history, few things capture my attention with such an invigorating passion. Every time feeling like that small boy who back in Key West some years ago dipped his head underwater for the very first time.

This website is a labour of love in which we hope to share with others the beauty and awe of this amazing world. Our hope is that, through our images and messages, we can instill that same passion and love we have for our ocean planet in our readers.

Fritz Hayes

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After years of seeing the ocean through aquarium glass while growing up in landlocked Indiana and after several near drowning attempts at snorkeling while on cruises, Fritz finally figured out that taking an air tank with him might improve the chance he would survive the ordeal of getting into the world he found so fascinating. Obtaining his certification in 1990 was the start of the ultimate adventure for him.

As the appeal and interest of the oceans and their health continued to grow through repeated dive trips through out the Caribbean, he came to the realization that the money and time wasted on flying to Miami could be better spent on additional diving trips. Sped along with the blessing of fate, the move was made relocating 35 minutes north of the Keys to accommodate both the need to eat and yet have the reef in his 'backyard'. Having the opportunity to be close to a world that helps keep life in perspective added to his reaching the realization that a responsibility came with the enjoyment.

The recognition of having a responsibility for representing, presenting, advocating, educating on and the sharing of the excitement and needs of the normally unseen and often overlooked world surrounding us is what he found in common with his now inseparable 'habitually addicted' dive buddies.

He continues to strive to share the enjoyment and concerns of the reef whether it be on a dive boat with someone truly experiencing this awesome opportunity for the first time or with someone with years of diving getting to see something fresh or previously overlooked. Getting involved with TheLivingSea and the talented Lazaro was an extension of that effort. He feels whether you see and experience his ocean world first hand or through the eyes of an artist with Lazaro's skills and perception, the relevance of our world's mutual interdependence and well being will be self-explanatory.