James Nestor’s Deep is not what I was expecting.
As someone who recently fell in love with freediving, I was looking forward to an easy read that validated my preconceived ideas about the sport. Instead, Deep challenged my bias that “freediving is amazing and therefore everybody should do it”. Nestor starts off by portraying the dangers of competitive freediving. He reflects on his personal experience witnessing freedivers resurface from deep dives with bloodless, oxygen deprived faces and others with bloated necks and bloody noses. He feels sickened by what he sees. It’s incomprehensible that people would willingly subject themselves to these extreme conditions. Yikes.
Despite the temptation to put the book down, I keep reading.
Nestor’s critical view of the sport quickly softens into a deep exploration of freediving as a mechanism to connect with the ocean and all of its life forms. Working his way down to 35, 850 feet, Nestor and a team of renegade researchers get their feet wet investigating life below the surface. This is where it gets really interesting.
I won’t spoil it for you, but if you’re interested in learning more about unlocking your biological ‘Master Switch’, how whales weaponise echolocation, how to deter sharks, and what jerking off dolphins has to do with communicating with them then this book is for you! I was also pleasantly surprised (although not really surprised) to see one of New Zealand’s top athletes mentioned – the All Black of freediving; Will Trubridge.
Deep is not what I expected, although it did exceed my expectations. Thanks James Nestor for your ongoing dedication to educate the masses about the ocean and our connection to it.