OSMO Action 6 under water

I recently bought the DJI Osmo Action 6 and I’m still pretty new to using it. Next month I’m going on a trip where I’ll have the chance to snorkel and swim with humpback whales, so I’d really like to get the best possible photos and videos while I’m there.

I bought the underwater housing, but I’m still wondering whether I should actually use it. Since I’ll only be snorkeling at the surface and the camera itself is waterproof, is there any real advantage to using the housing?

I’m also not quite sure which settings would work best for whales. The distance will probably vary a lot,sometimes the whales might be relatively close, while at other times they could be much farther away.
AND I‘d also really like to get some shots where both the whale and I are in the frame.

Are there any particular settings or techniques you would recommend for all that?

I’d rather come home with a lot of good, usable footage than constantly change settings in the water, so I’m also interested in a good “set it and forget it” setup.

I also don‘t really mind having to edit the pictures and videos afterwards.

Any tips, example settings or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated! 😊