Candice LandauLast Updated on April 26, 2024 by Candice Landau
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When the COVID-19 lockdown began in early 2020, much like everyone else, I found myself looking for ways to keep busy. I “covid baked.” I went on a lot of walks. I purchased a TG-6 camera for diving. And, I picked up a new hobby—microscopy.
If our swimming pools had not closed down for safety reasons (no more teaching scuba, at least in Oregon), I might never have spent that extra time learning to use my new camera and thus picking my way through Instagram. Fortunately, I baked those cakes, scoured the gram for stellar underwater photography, and scrolled, scrolled, scrolled.
The more I investigated macro photography (that’s the TG-6’s real strength), the more often I came upon images and videos of very strange creatures. Later, I would learn that these microscopic organisms were known as protists, or ciliates, or bacteria, or by a whole host of other names.
The images above were captured on my Motic Panthera C2 using an iPhone and a LabCam.
Somewhere along the way, I came upon a video of an amoeba. It was this video that really acted as my gateway drug into the world of microscopy. The videographer was my age, had only recently picked up microscopy, and had written a post about a very affordable microscope. As I trawled through his Instagram feed, I felt as I did when I learned to dive, a sense of excitement. Here, once again, was a new world to explore, an entirely alien world, accessible to me with only a barrier of the correct gear.
After a couple of weeks of research, I settled on the microscope I would purchase. A Swift 380T. It cost around $300 and came rapidly. It also included no instruction and so I muddled my way through figuring it out. I’d never before used a microscope. Fortunately, YouTube exists and I figured it out slowly, adding on filters as I learned and other odds and ends. I also continued learning via the people I followed.
Jam’s Germs (James Weiss) revealed the microworld in emotive detail, Tardibabe (Chloé Savard) wrote scientific posts that helped me learn, Postgraduate Procrastination (Penny Fenton) posted microorganisms partaking in fantastic gymnastics and The Joy of Algae (Dan) taught me all I could want to know about desmids, the bogs of England and microscopes themselves. I was amazed I could see plankton with only a regular light microscope.
My first live specimen obtained from a pond was a diatom. After that, moss, a tardigrade, synura, and more diatoms. I was in love. This was a way back into diving. Go on a walk, collect samples of a world no one can see with their naked eye, get home, set up the microscope, and go for a micro dive.
The images above are all from the first microscope I bought, the Swift 380T.
Of course, once you get into this realm of things you’ll realize that microscope envy is also a real thing. The better the microscope, yes, the better the photos and videos. After a long time of sitting on the thought, I decided to upgrade, and I purchased a Motic Panthera C2. It cost a pretty penny but it was a world of difference. A word of caution, however. Like a good digital camera, these higher-end microscopes are more expensive not just in outright costs but in add-on costs. Each objective can also be expensive and this one, out of the gate does not come with as many options as the cheaper Amazon purchase. You’ll need to buy those separately. A 100x objective for example, if you want oil immersion, costs $577. If you don’t think you want to see things as small as bacteria, well you can hold off on that until you’re ready (though it’s really cool to watch organisms hunt bacteria, believe me!). The objectives it does come with are good enough for your regular diatoms, protists, ciliates, etc.
Even if you don’t live near the ocean or a lake, you’ve got so much opportunity to go micro diving. Moss is definitely going to be your friend. Though I’ve yet to do it myself, I also know you can order micro organisms online. Many of the Instagrammers I follow do that when they need photogenic subject matter or when they want to guarantee they know what they’re looking at.
As silly as it sounds, I find that I get rather attached to my micro organisms and like owning fish, I feel I really want to understand how to look after something before I buy it. You do need to feed the organisms to keep them alive and look after them.
Regardless, here’s why I think you should buy a microscope if you’re a diver:
1. You’re an explorer, duh!
This is a way to explore the world all around you. Can’t see it? No problem. Grab a sample, put it on a slide and you’re in! No tank fills necessary.
2. You can test water quality at the sites you dive
Cyanobacteria bloom? No problem. With the help of “A guide to cyanobacteria” you’ll be on that ID in no time. Plus, you’ll know which organisms are thriving and which are surprisingly lacking. I personally love “dirty water” as it’s often so full of life.
3. You probably love marine life
Wait until you see how strange and oddly familiar microlife is. If you’ve ever been on a pelagic or blackwater dive, you’ll recognize some of the critters, though in obviously more diminutive form. You’ll also gain a much better understanding of the food chain as you see what eats what.
4. You’ll find the most amazing community.
Though microscopy is an increasingly popular hobby as the price of microscopes drops and access to options that allow even hobbyists to take excellent photos and videos, the community is still small and supportive. Many of the people I follow with tens or hundreds of thousands of followers have helped me understand and learn this world. We all know a little about one another. I’m still hoping for a microscope convention one of these days.
5. You’ll enhance your diving
All that stuff you see when you dive, well, now you can sample it and see what it looks like super close up! Seaweed is wicked, as is brown algae, red algae, and the plethora of diatoms that come part and parcel with your collections.
6. It’s an excuse to buy more gear
Odds are, if you’re a diver, you probably like gear. Well, guess what, here’s a way to get your gear on. There is no shortage of ways to soup up a microxcope from cameras to objectives to filters. And that’s not even talking about the pipettes and sample bottles and dyes you’ll be buying.
7. You’ll actually get to practice citizen science
It’s still the wild wild west in a lot of ways, and jsut as with diving, many of the people finding new things are hobby microscopists. There’s room for you citizen scientist! In fact, you’ll be surprised when you realize that after not too long you’ll know more about microscopes and micro organisms than even many masters students in biology. It’s a humble brag for sure.
8. It will keep you active
You can turn all of your walks into collection walks, or “land dives” as I like to call them. I’m now the proud owner of a fanny pack, or as my sister likes to tell me, “belt bag”. Apparently they’re all the rage, even though I thought I was stepping back into the height of uncool.
9. It’s always possible, regardless of where you live
You can go on a dive any time, rain or shine. Of course, if you’re a drysuit diver, you probably do that anyway. No cold water is going to stop you! And, if you become really obsessed (like me) you may want to consider buying a portable microscope. There aren’t many on the market right now though there are a couple. Souped up with a LabCam and you’re set.
10. You will have an excuse to buy more ID books
Like any good diver does, you probably own a host of fish and coral or algae ID books. Well, microscopy isn’t much different. My favorites include a Guide to Microlife, various Instagram accounts, and Ponds and Small Lakes.
11. No body of water will ever look the same
Admit it, when you became a diver, you looked at bodies of water differently. Now, rather than glossing over them as scenery you wondered what was beneath. And, rather than fear punctuating even the grimmest of pondering, curiosity took its place. Well, dirty water is about to become your friend for the first time ever. It’s often the best place to find incredible organisms. I do recommend wearing gloves, however when collecting your samples, just to be safe. Some of that blue green algae is gorgeous under a microscope but you might not want to get too friendly with it.
12. You’ll get inured to gross stuff
In much the same way that a diver stops worrying about where they change clothes, whether or not they sleep in the same room as men and women, or talking about pooping before a dive, microscopists get friendly with the dirtier side of things. And though we don’t talk about it in the microscopy community (much), I doubt there’s a single one of us who has not investigated some aspect of human anatomy/excretion under the microscope. My blood cells are a personal favorite. I love watching them bumping into one another as they stream over the slide.
On that note, I’m going to let you go out and explore on your own. Do yourself a favor and buy at least a cheap microscope then get ready to add a whole new certification to your skillset, micro diving!
