u/amiabot-oraminot

Hi! I’m a casual fanfiction writer who’s wanting something a little more challenging. I wanted to write a fic about a character who does freelance scuba diving. He meets a selkie (for the unfamiliar, that’s a folklore being which is a human who can turn into a seal— he meets it as a seal) underwater and gets close to this seal which visits him on his diving trips to help him with his work. I intend to have quite a few scenes of the diver meeting the selkie and doing stuff underwater, preferably together.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of jobs divers do other than pick sea urchins and clean hulls and whatnot, and even then, I have even less of a clue what a seal might be able to help with.

my only ideas are:
- monitor kelp replanting site for urchins & clear whatever urchins he finds. A seal could help him pick urchins, right?
- clean hulls of barnacles and algae and whatnot (Maybe it’ll be able to bite algae off?)
- maybe taking videos and photos? he’s quite artsy so maybe that could be something. Is it a thing to hire freelance divers to help people film stuff? Wouldn’t that be a special job itself? like “underwater videography specialist” or something..
- and maybe other mechanical/repair related stuff but i’m not sure about getting a seal to help with that other than maybe holding tools while he works, plus i know nothing about boat maintenance and repair. he’s also not much of a mechanic so it would be pretty out of character. I’m a little hesitant about that one.
- maybe marine biology related things? Samples of stuff on the reef..? Do the marine biologists usually collect this kind of stuff on their own? I don’t know how any of it works…

Anyone have any ideas on what i can get this guy to do? Or anyone who can help me describe how the work is like for the above mentioned activities? I have never dived in my life no matter how much i want to. I love the ocean, so that’s where this idea came from, but I just know so little. I need help here :(

EDIT: I also need ideas for two other things:

1: he hates sea creatures because he keeps getting into negative encounters with them. So far he’s been fondled by an octopus, harassed by a remora, bitten by a curious juvenile tiger shark, bitten by a moray eel and chased + bitten by an aggressive triggerfish. If you have any other ideas let me know!

2: Disaster! The selkie needs to save his life from some kind of accident. I’m thinking something to do with currents dragging him away from his dive buddy, sudden stormy waters, something like that. Or some kind of pressure change that causes him to sink further than he should? I’m not sure. He’s kind of anxious so i think he’s triple check quadruple check his air supply, so i don’t think he’d run out of air? but maybe a leak or something could be possible… Give me suggestions?

Thank you in advance!!! I’d really appreciate some help on this and I wanted to ask the experts :]