Cristina grew up in the African rain forest where she developed a passion for the outdoors and wilderness. Through her family, she acquired an equal passion for the oceans and has always been drawn to the water from a very young age. Over twenty-five years ago she journeyed to the Bahamas to learn how to scuba dive and immediately made The Bahamas her home and diving her life. Cristina is a PADI Course Director, NSS-CDS Advanced Cave diving instructor, TDI Technical Instructor and specializes in shark diving and shark behavior. Cristina speaks five languages, Italian, English, German, French and Spanish. Some say she speaks a sixth one “Shark”. Cristina works in the wild with sharks. She has met and worked with different scientists, behaviorists and handlers in the Bahamas, South Africa, Fiji, Rhode Island, California, Florida, North Carolina, China, and Mexico. While she has worked with over a dozen different species in different locations, her primary work is with Caribbean Reef sharks in her home in The Bahamas. Cristina is one of the first in the world to have been able to induce a state of relaxation in the Caribbean Reef sharks through gentle touch. To the observer, this looks like the shark is falling asleep in her lap. Sharks know her and her touch and seem to seek the connection and contact. Witnessing this interaction, directly while diving with Cristina or remotely by watching her numerous contributions to television documentaries and reading about her work in magazines, has created a change in perception from the general public. It has helped dissolve misconceptions and preconceptions about sharks. Cristina and her sharks have become ambassadors for many other species and animals in the world. Through her work, she helps her sharks by removing hooks from their mouths and parasites. She helps scientists collect data to support research and has developed a Caribbean Reef Shark Diver Distinctive Specialty. Cristina was the initiator of the movement that resulted in the full protection of sharks in the entire Bahamas. Cristina is an active cave diving instructor and a passionate explorer. She has conducted and completed the survey of dozens of cave systems in the Bahamas, has completed the exploration and connection between a land-based cave and an ocean blue hole, a goal many deemed impossible to. Cristina is constantly working on the exploration and record of caves, to determine their location, connection to the surrounding eco-systems and promoting their conservation. Her fieldwork with sharks and caves allows her to bring to the surface a unique perspective on life with a conservation approach to our relationship with this planet and other people. Cristina is still a very active and passionate diver and educator while dividing her attention between expeditions, managing a full operation, working on cave exploration and mapping, An active and prolific speaker she is an inducted member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, The Explorers Club, The Ocean Artists Society and a recipient of the Platinum Pro 5000. Cristina is the founder of People of the Water, a 501c3 non-profit organization designed to widen the conduction and distribution of training, education, research and studies relating to water, oceans and environmental issues affecting both the people and the animals of said environments. She still actively supports other non-profit organizations such as The Bahamas National Trust, the Women Divers Hall of Fame scholarships and training programs, the American Shark Conservancy and she is a dedicated individual to the education of local students in the Bahamas. Cristina believes that each one of us can make a difference and that “One small action is better than no big action”
About Cristina
“Water flows through every aspect of our lives, following that flow makes us realize that everything is so vitally interconnected” CZ
Background
Sharks
Caves
Currently
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