Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars and a large amount of their spare time on recreational activities in and on the oceans. Among others, popular ocean-based activities include swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, fishing, and surfing.

In the Ocean

Swimming is one of the most popular forms of ocean recreation. Millions of Americans visit the beach every year to swim in the ocean. While swimming, beachgoers participate in snorkeling. Snorkeling, or skin diving, is a form of diving in which the diver swims at or near the surface of the water. Skin diving is simply holding one's breath underwater for as long as possible. The diver can remain underwater for long periods by breathing through a snorkel, which is a hollow tube attached to a mouthpiece. The snorkel juts out above the surface of the ocean, allowing...