Farewell, Lenka

It is not very often that you find people with whom you share the same hobbies but, luckily, from time to time it happens, and in these cases a very special personal connection is established. We become part of their world, and they become part of ours. Lenka Juskaničová was one of these people.

Lenka Juskaničová

Lenka Juskaničová. Picture by Tony Juan

Over the years many of us have shared several hobbies with her: scuba diving, underwater photography, sea slugs, countless underwater old stories … This infinitely friendly, nice, restless and adventurous woman was known to many of us for her intense relationship with the sea. In her own words she told me, not long ago: “Underwater your soul and mind are a thousand light years from evil.”

Her insatiable curiosity was often rewarded by observing things that usually go unnoticed to people, and in these moments her face was illuminated by a ray of illusion. Her generosity was legendary, she was always willing to share her underwater findings with others, to the point that she had been named as the most active person in the Sea Watchers citizen science network.

But Lenka left us, the night from July 23rd, 2020, doing what she liked the most: Scuba diving. She left us sad, speechless, thinking about what must have happened so that, after starting just another dive, it went terribly wrong and ended so tragically.

Lenka, you have left a deep mark on everyone who knew you. I hope there is a sea wherever you are.

Pontes, Miquel

Informático de profesión, es fotógrafo submarino y naturalista aficionado. Submarinista desde 1994, su “logbook” cuenta con centenares de inmersiones en el mar Mediterráneo, mar Caribe y mar Rojo y en los océanos Atlántico, Índico y Pacífico. Fundador del Grupo de Estudios M@re Nostrum en 1996, socio fundador de Grup de Recerca en Opistobranquis de Catalunya en 2010, socio fundador del Grup de Recerca VIMAR (Vida Marina) en 2012. Co-autor y webmaster del web dedicado a los moluscos opistobranquios del Mediterráneo e Iberia OPK - Opistobranquis, co-autor del libro "Els nudibranquis del mar català" publicado en 2020 por Brau Edicions, descubrió el interesante mundo de los opistobranquios en 1997 de la mano de sus compañeros de inmersión y desde entonces ha sido una línea de trabajo continuada, aportando fotos submarinas, observaciones hechas en el medio natural y colaborando en la difusión de este área del conocimiento. Autor y co-autor de múltiples publicaciones científicas sobre moluscos opistobranquios (y otros grupos animales), ha participado y participa en todo tipo de proyectos divulgativos (libros, revistas, webs, conferencias, exposiciones …) como medio para difundir su interés principal: proteger los mares y los seres que los habitan. Desde 2019 es coordinador del grupo VIMAR (Vida Marina) y es webmaster de esta página web.