About Southern Belle Scuba

Biography

Mercedes was born and raised in Mississippi, by parents who loved the water, and passed that passion on to her. Family vacations were always to ocean-based destinations, which only continued to nurture Mercedes' love for all things ocean-related. As soon as Mercedes and her two siblings were old enough, they obtained their scuba certifications and have been scuba diving ever since. In undergraduate school at The University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast, Mercedes began on the road to her NAUI instructor certification, in addition to her marine biology studies.

Mercedes' passion for the ocean, and sharks in particular, have kept her close to coastlines since graduating. She studied sharks at Bimini Biological Field Station in Bimini, Bahamas; Taught children at Newfound Harbor Marine Institute as a science instructor in the Florida Keys; Studied sharks again at Mote Marine Laboratory's Center for Shark Research (CSR), first as an intern; Started her master's studies at the University of Guam, while working as a graduate research assistant, and once returning stateside, went back to CSR to work as a Biologist for a period of time before moving to Miami to work as a scuba instructor.

In addition to her leadership certifications, Mercedes has certifications in Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Rescue, Cavern, Intro to Cave, Deep, Technical, etc., which include training by PADI and IANTD, as well as NAUI.