Ever since my camera case sprung a few leaks a couple of weeks ago, I've been far less motivated to post anything about diving. Spotting new types of fish has been a bittersweet experience, a mix of excitement and appreciation tainted with a doleful regret that I'm unable to capture any evidence.

Sunday, for instance, I swam along the northern shore of Coco's bay in areas that I've never explored before. I was lucky enough to see a couple of Eagle Rays, a new kind of (unidentified) crab, some truly gargantuan Trigger Fish and Parrot Fish, and a huge, man-sized Hawksbill Turtle. Oh well, I should have a new, higher quality camera case in the next month or so.

In the meantime I've learned something important about my own training style; namely, that I tend to improve more easily in the realm of counting steps or kicks than seconds. What I mean is, that instead of holding my breath and counting the seconds, I find it easier to hold my breath and count the amount of steps I can take walking (~140) or kicks made while swimming (~100).

There's something a little more proactive about counting steps and kicks than just counting seconds. Even though I work to keep each step or kick slow and rhythmic, it still feels like something that I have a little more control over, something I can *do* instead of *wait for*. It's amazing how preoccupying and panic inducing the desire for air can be when you're simply counting seconds, whereas while counting kicks it feels like you hardly even think about it until ten *kicks* beyond involuntary diaphragm contractions. By then, you're so close to the latter end of your capabilities that it's simply more worth it to continue the dive than to give up.

Right now, I'm hovering right around 1:40 of moderate-speed swim time in one breath. I'm hoping that I can push that to 2:00 over the next few weeks one *kick* at a time.