Divers use custom Snapchat Spectacles to explore deep underwater
Snapchatting deep in the ocean sounds like it could be a watery mess, but three divers are doing just that with a special mask that works with the messaging app's Spectacles video glasses.
This week two divers plunged into the coast off the Mexican island of Cozumel to show off sea life normally only caught with special underwater equipment.
Cruise line Royal Caribbean used Snapchat Spectacles to create a modified mask that can last for 30 minutes underwater and apparently make it down to 150 feet below the surface.
The custom scuba goggles, called SeaSeekers, let divers snap while swimming. There's currently just a limited run of prototypes, but the company hopes to roll them out to customers by the fall if it secures a patent.
For the trial this week, two divers, marine biologist Gabriela Nava and wildlife photographer and conservationist Roberto Ochoa, gave the underwater Spectacles a spin.
Nava took viewers on a tour of a coral reef restoration project and planted some new coral while gliding by various fishes.
Ochoa also discovered some marine life below the surface.
He was hoping to spot whale sharks migrating, but looks like the weather didn't make it possible, however plenty of other colorful fish were caught on camera.
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Free diver Ashleigh Baird is also plunging into an underwater sinkhole in Belize on Sunday. The Great Blue Hole is believed to be the largest in the world.
We're used to snaps of friends showing off beautiful ocean sunsets and splashing in the waves, but the new underwater cameras are opening up a whole new world to capture and inspire FOMO.
Royal Caribbean cruise-goers could be snapchatting their travels underwater on their vacations in just a couple of months. The rest of us will have to follow along on our phones -- no wetsuit required.
Correction June 26 1:49 pm PT: An earlier version of this article stated that Royal Caribbean teamed up with Snap Inc., while the company was not involved in the creation of the mask. The location for the final dive was also changed from Belize's Great Blue Hole to the country's Hol Chan Marine Reserve after the original article was published.
Topics Snapchat
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
