Article by Gregorio Cañellas, Founder of Meet the Sea
The impact of the sea on our minds has been a subject of fascination for centuries. Sea and psychology or the benefits of the sea to our personal lives will come under scrutiny in our new boat experience. This summer Meet the Sea will offer children and adults an opportunity to improve mental wellbeing through an innovative boat trip. We join forces with University of Oxford’s Msc in Medical Anthropology student Ivory Wang. Her extensive research and personal and professional experience will complete our sea worthiness.
Over the past five years our Family boat trip has boarded more than 8,000 children and adults in a daily sea adventure. A trip to the Natural Reserve of Sa Conillera or Conejera. A stunning island off the coast of San Antonio, Ibiza Conejera offers a quiet bay and shallow and pristine waters. Once anchored, swimming and snorkelling are organised in groups. Our tour leader then shows a rich underwater biodiversity to an excited group of international families.
The Family boat trip offers the opportunity to children (and adults!) to see through their masks many local species in total freedom. Roaming in the sea are sea urchins, cucumbers, neptune grass, eels, rainbow wrasses, etc. Learning about biodiversity and appreciating the priviledged environment is of great educational and plastic value to all. But is there something even more important?
Swimming pool heroes… at sea!
Most days I have moms or dads approach me to warn me about their son’s or daughter’s apprehension or fear of the sea. This happens practically everyday. And moments later, while we fit children with life vests, mask and snorkel, last-minute jitters appear. Why does this happen? Apparently most children are comfortable with swimming pool environments: shallow waters, instructors, limited confines. And all of these contribute to a sense of security and safety that reassure young swimmers. But is this creating a new breed of swimming pool heroes unable to replicate their courage in open waters?
The unpredictability of the ocean floor seems to affect young swimmers as well. A swimming pool does not feature dark areas in its mostly blue floor and sea plants and seaweed are certainly not a factor. Before making contact with sea water and exploring through their masks, many children see only threatening dark and ominous shadows. Lack of experience in swimming in open waters and an overdependence in the reassuring environment of a swimming pool can be detrimental to a child’s comfort at sea.
Scary videos and ADHD
The digital age has brought visual content about any subject within our children’s reach. And in most cases, this is a welcome circumstance. However, sea education has been second to scary sea creatures and marine predators. And this has led to children that are scared of sharks and jellyfish coming up to my crew prior to anchoring and asking about them. Are there sharks? Are we going into the water if we see jellyfish? While these questions and fears abound prior to snorkelling, in more than five hundred boat trips I have never been asked that question…after the boat trip! First hand experience in open waters contributes to stabilising the relationship of children with the sea and their own fears.
Children with autism and ADHD are often with me on the boat, practically every day. I have noticed an increase in mothers approaching me on the boat to ask me to pay special attention to their children due to their condition. Perhaps the increase is due to the rise in reviews written by parents whose children experimented a positive episode at sea during snorkelling. I continue to share very special moments with children who ask for additional or extra time in getting into the water. Nothing makes me happier than the child who overcomes and gradually joins me into a snorkelling session as we leave our boat and their fears behind.
The reason for a Sea and Psychology boat trip for children…and adults!
The last five years have presented countless episodes of children whose fears of the sea disappeared with adequate guidance. It is precisely the rise in families arriving with concerns to our Family boat trip that has propelled us to investigate further. Over the past few months we have conducted a series of internships with university students in the UK that have led to our current cooperation with Ivory Wang. Our mutual aim is to produce a boat trip that will address many of the issues our audience experiences through a sound theoretical framework.
We want to share with you a very unique sea experience that supports the role of the sea in improving our mental wellbeing. Details of our new 2025 summer boat trip coming up soon!
