If you were able to attend Beneath the Sea this year, you would have witnessed an amazing presentation done by Cristina Zenato, a shark and cave diver. In my opinion, her lecture was the most memorable and engaging one I have seen in the 3 years of attending BTS.
Her dedication to shark conservation and education left me in awe, and you could see in her eyes that she truly wanted to inform us of the astounding nature of the sharks, of which she called her family. Many of the spectators, including me, at first said “heck no!” when she suggested diving with sharks. But as the presentation went along, I noticed she spoke of the sharks as if they were nowhere near as scary as we thought they were. It was like she was talking about a small pet, not a dangerous killer animal like many people had imagined! Cristina also showed a video where she was surrounded by 20ft sharks, and rather than be panicked, like I would have, she petted them! All of the heck-nos turned into heck-yeahs and I was ready to fly to the Bahamas and experiencing shark diving with Cristina!
Cristina Zenato is a member of Women Divers Hall of Fame and is a huge inspiration for me. After reading this, I hope she becomes yours too. 
Courtney B.
Professional Diving 