Melissa Smith is a senior editor for Scuba Diving. An avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker and all-around outdoor enthusiast, she holds degrees in journalism and sustainability studies from the University of Florida. Before joining Scuba Diving, Melissa worked as the executive editor of EcoWatch and as the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a nonprofit featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral. Her work and expertise have been featured in outlets such as USA Today, The Guardian, National Geographic, Climbing magazine and MarketWatch.
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Melissa Smith Articles
YouTube stars MrBeast and Mark Rober aim to raise $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean, rivers and beaches around the world.
Wisconsin dive buddies found the 15-foot dugout canoe 27 feet deep in Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota. It is now in the care of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The online ticket-booking service joins a growing list of tourism companies to cease selling tourism experiences with companies like SeaWorld that feature animal performances.
A Florida diver’s lifelong dream to encounter sharks up close brings her to the Bahamas for a conservation liveaboard and chainmail diving.
A recently uncovered fossil shows that scorpions the size of Labrador retrievers roamed the prehistoric seas.
The film tells the harrowing story of the Thai soccer team cave rescue from the perspective of the divers who orchestrated and enacted the operation.
The diver found the three-foot sword about 15 feet deep off the Carmel Coast among other artifacts dating back between the 11th and 13th centuries.
Quintana Roo, in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, insured about 100 miles of coastline to protect the reef, which generates about $6.2 billion a year in regional economic activity.
Divemaster Rugene "Spider" Marinus of Toucan Diving and Phyllis Mihalas cut cluster of line, hooks and rope off the trapped creature.