6 Steps to a Controlled Descent - Make Descents Enjoyable, Not Stressful

The Goal:

Use your lungs and your buoyancy compensator (BCD) to keep yourself neutrally buoyant (or close to neutrally buoyant) during the entire descent. Keep in mind that:

• A diver should be able to control his buoyancy well enough to stop at any moment of the descent and quickly achieve neutral buoyancy.

• A diver should also be able to complete the descent without touching the bottom.
This type of descent is a required skill in PADI Open Water Course (called a controlled descent without a reference).

Why Learn to Control Your Descent?:

The ability to make a controlled descent is important for three reasons:

1. If a diver experiences ear equalization problems and he cannot arrest his descent, he risks an ear barotrauma.

2. A diver must be able to descend without landing on the bottom because even a gentle fin kick can irrevocably injure coral or other aquatic life. Landing on a shipwreck or cave floor can not only destroy delicate historical information, it can stir up sediment to the point that visibility is dangerously reduced.

3. A diver should be able to stay close to his buddy during descent. A diver who plummets to the bottom will be unable to assist a buddy making a slower descent.

Step 1: Understand the Use of the BCD:

The buoyancy compensator (BCD) is not an elevator. Do not deflate the BCD to go down and do not inflate the BCD to go up. Using the BCD for these purposes only causes loss of buoyancy control. The only reason to deflate the BCD is to compensate for excessively positive buoyancy, and the only reason to inflate the BCD is to compensate for excessively negative buoyancy (thus the name “buoyancy compensator” and not “depth control device”). Only adjust the BCD to achieve neutral buoyancy, not to move up and down in the water. To ascend and descend, use your lungs and, in rare occasions, your fins, but never, never, your BCD.

Step 2: DO NOT Dump All the Air From the BCD to Begin the Descent:

Do not deflate the BCD until you plummet downwards like an anchor. To control your descent, you must first establish neutral buoyancy at the surface. Deflate the BCD incrementally until you float at mask-level with your lungs full of air and sink a little when you breathe out. This indicates neutral buoyancy. With practice, you will learn to deflate the BCD to exactly this point in one shot, but for now, deflate the BCD a little at a time until you find neutral buoyancy.

Step 3: Exhale Fully to Begin Your Descent:

Once you are neutrally buoyant at the surface, begin your descent by exhaling fully. This takes some practice as you must exaggerate your breathing. Exhale all the air out of your lungs slowly (with the regulator mouthpiece still in your mouth) and then hold the air out of you lungs for a few seconds. Try this now: exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale more, more, and now hold the air out of your lungs, try to exhale even more. . . good! The exhalation process should take around 10 seconds. Expect to slowly sink near the end of the ten seconds, and be patient. If you find yourself back at the surface when you inhale, deflate the BCD a little more and repeat the process. When performed properly, the exhalation will move you far enough down in the water column that the air in your BCD compresses, and you begin to sink slowly.

Step 4: Reestablish Neutral Buoyancy:

Allow yourself to float downwards until you can no longer easily control your buoyancy with your lungs. Once you reach the point that you continue to sink when you inhale, you are no longer neutrally buoyant. When you are neutrally buoyant you should rise slightly when you inhale fully. Remember, the goal is to maintain neutral buoyancy throughout the descent, not negative buoyancy. Add a tiny, tiny amount of air to your BCD. You should be able to stop descending or rise slightly when you inhale. Take some time to find this point of neutral buoyancy.

Step 5: Regroup:

After descending a few feet and reestablishing neutral buoyancy, take a moment to check that your ears are properly equalized. Look at your depth gauge and notice if you are approaching or have reached your intended depth. Check on your buddy. If all is good . . .

Step 6: Descend by Exhaling Once Again:

Once you have regrouped, continue your descent by exhaling fully. The goal is to control your descent by working your way slowly and carefully down through the water column using you lungs to descend and your BCD to keep yourself neutrally buoyant. When you arrive at your desired depth, you should have to do very little to fine-tune your buoyancy.

At the beginning, yes. The first few times you attempt a truly controlled descent, you will find it time consuming. This does not mean that learning to control your descent is not valuable.

As you gain experience with controlling your descent, you will become more efficient and effective. Eventually, you will deflate exactly the correct amount of air from your BCD in one shot, exhale and float down, add air to compensate for the increased negative buoyancy at the correct moment, and continue quickly down.

Once mastered, a controlled descent is more efficient than dumping the all air from your BCD at the beginning of the dive because you do not waste time fighting with your buoyancy on the way down. You arrive at your desired depth neutrally buoyancy and ready to swim off on your adventure. Be patient. Every diver can properly control his descent with understanding and practice.

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Reprinted from About.com

Ask an Expert: Should Divers Reveal Their Medications?

Is the average dive professional really qualified to safeguard — never mind interpret — your personal medical history?

By Larry Lozuk

Several years ago while managing an IT project at a large health-care provider, I witnessed my team lead being a perfect gentleman.

As we returned from lunch, he held the door open for a woman who happened to be walking into the building just as we were. She introduced herself as the facility’s compliance director for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (or HIPAA), requested his badge, and asked that he accompany her.

His seemingly innocuous act of chivalry had violated a security regulation, by passing the badge-reading system and potentially allowing someone unauthorized through an employee entrance. This led to hours of retraining for the entire team, once again covering the complex tangle of rules around security and privacy of medical records. The work we were doing was only tangentially related to health care, yet we were subject to the same confidentiality and security policies as the medical professionals who dealt directly with patient-health information.

In the scuba industry, we aren’t interested in the health of our customers, or what medication they might be taking. Really, we just want them to have a good time and then go home as healthy as they were when they came in.

However, by demanding and storing medical histories and medication lists, we willingly put ourselves in the same position as doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals. We assume the responsibility to safeguard our customers’ medical information that, improperly disclosed, can affect their credit, their livelihoods and their lives.

We should all cringe to think of what is stored in those unlocked filing cabinets at countless dive shops across the world.

We also open ourselves up to liability by assuming the mantle of experts. While I can teach you all of the nuances of buoyancy, trim and different types of fins, I haven’t the slightest idea what drugs interact badly with one another, or with increased partial pressure of nitrogen or oxygen. Yet when I request a list of your medications, you probably have the expectation that I’m doing so for a reason, ostensibly to see if you have any conditions that are incompatible with scuba diving.

Would you be disappointed if I disclosed that I don’t even recognize any of the medication names?

READ MORE::

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Too Old To Learn Scuba Diving?

Reprinted from Enzine Articles

We are always told we should learn sports when we are young, when our bodies are more resilient to the bruises and bumps which can be afflicted on us when we learn a new sport. This is true to a certain extent.

Take for example, my experience learning wind surfing. I learnt the sport when I was 26. If I were to learn this sport now at age 42, chances are I would not go far and would probably give up after 1 or 2 tries. Learning wind surfing was like battling with all the forces at the same time! We're talking about trying to balance on choppy waves on a slippery wet board, at the same time maneuvering a sail which weighs more than you in the correct direction that you want to go.In the process, I contributed blood and flesh from cuts on barnacles and bruises from hitting the surf board more than once before falling into the waters.

But there is a huge difference with scuba diving. YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN SCUBA DIVING. I can never say this enough. I learnt scuba diving when I was 38. Now I'm not saying that 38 is a ripe old age but still, the body does feel somewhat less strong and less resilient. Added to that, as we get older, we also seem to have more fears. Perhaps we feel we have more to lose if something should happen to us.

I say middle age and beyond should never be a factor in learning scuba diving BUT you do need to have these:

1) an intense love for the sea

2) a willingness to learn from someone younger than you

3) relatively good health and lastly but very important

4) time and money

Now I'm assuming that you are thinking of learning scuba diving because you want to make this a sport that you can enjoy every other weekend if time and money permits and not just learning for education's sake.

An Intense Love for the Sea

To enjoy a scuba diving trip, you will have to love the sea and I mean really really love it with all its wonderful creatures large and small. You will know what I mean on your first ever scuba diving trip after you have cleared your Open Water tests.

It is unlikely that your scuba diving buddies on your first dive trip will be the same classmates in your scuba diving course. Because of time and money constraints, you will find that you may be the only one keen enough to join a scuba diving trip soon after your certification.

More often than not, your dive buddies will be a dive-crazy bunch who will do at least 4 dives a day plus another at night. This means that on a scuba diving trip, most times you will not do anything but dive, talk about the sea creatures and encounters of each dive, before suiting up for the next dive. For someone who only wants to do one dive a day and then go shopping, he/she may be disappointed as many great scuba diving spots have few of these shopping and entertainment facilities.

In case you are already getting stressed just thinking about this, don't be. Every scuba diving newbie goes through this. Just have an attitude of a newbie, be humble and you will find that the seasoned divers are more than willing to share tips and may even help you to gear up before a dive.

A Willingness to Learn from Someone Younger than You

Your scuba diving instructor is likely to be someone much younger than you. Some dive instructors have an attitude and are cocky so you may have to live with it for at least 3 weekends before you become certified - 1st weekend for classroom and theory, 2nd weekend for pool sessions and a 3rd weekend for the actual open water tests. Put aside your ego and just bear with it, it'll be worth it in the end.

Having said that, that's not to say that there are no good and kind scuba diving instructors around. I was fortunate to receive dive instruction from PC, a very kind and patient man, without whom my dive learning experience would not be as smooth and enjoyable.

Relatively Good Health

It's not necessary to be in peak fitness before you can take up scuba diving. However, you would need some strength to be able to walk with full scuba diving gear strapped on you. Once you enter the waters with all your gear, you are almost weightless. But it's the few steps you have to make to get into the boat or to cross the beach into the water that may be a challenge for a person who is not used to carrying heavy loads on them.

Having said that, some scuba diving resorts have fantastic dive staff who can help to overcome this by carrying the tanks and gear to the boat for you to suit up inside the boat. And of course if you are on a live-a-board (live, eat, dive, sleep, on board a boat throughout the dive trip), then this may not be relevant.

Time and Money

This is probably the 2 most deciding factors of whether someone continues to enjoy scuba diving after passing the Open Water tests. Getting certified through a scuba diving course is very fast, just 3 weekends basically. And not too expensive, probably about $300 to $400, including an out-of-the country dive trip for the open water tests. But unless you live near a scuba diving area, you are most likely going to have to travel a distance or even out of the country to do a good dive.

Now just think how much each trip is going to cost you and multiply that by how many times you would love to do scuba diving in a year. When you do the sums, it can be staggering. So you cut down the number of dives you want to do in a year, and then calculate and cut down some more.

In our scuba diving class, my husband and I were the only ones who continued to dive after the class was over. Even then, we did not manage to do the number of dives we would really have loved to do in a year. That's how it finally ends up that we are doing an average of 1 dive a year. This more or less ensures that we will always be diving as a "scuba diving newbie" (hence the blog's name). A scuba diver gets "rusty" when the interval is too long between each dive trip. Ideally, we should dive at least once each quarter.

I have not even gone on to calculate the other "investments" to personalise your gear such as your own BC (buoyancy control), your own octopus (breathing appartus) and your wet suit.

Having said all this, I still believe it's never too old to learn and enjoy scuba diving. Even with our limited dives since we were certified and diving as scuba diving newbies, we enjoy each and every one of our dive trips. Find the right people to dive with, find a fantastic dive spot that suits your preferences (whether macro, to check out small sea creatures, or see bigger fish) and nearby spa facilities to sooth your body aches after a dive - it's a wonderful combination that will almost always ensure a great scuba diving experience!

A scuba diving newbie can still enjoy happy diving!

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/296755

Recognition is Essential

Reprinted from AlertDiverOnline

The Diver

The diver was an experienced 48-year-old female with more than 300 lifetime dives. Her medical history included hypertension that was well controlled with a single medication. She also took a prescription drug to manage her cholesterol. Her general health and fitness were otherwise good.

The Dives

The diver was on a trip at a popular Caribbean island. The first four days of diving consisted of two morning dives each day. None of these dives was deeper than 80 feet, and all bottom times were within her computer's no-decompression limits. Her second dive each day was to 60 feet or shallower, and she breathed air on all the dives. On the fifth day, her first dive was a multilevel one to a maximum depth of 85 feet for a total time of 40 minutes. The dive was uneventful, and she exited the water at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Within five minutes of surfacing, the diver began to feel slightly short of breath while she was removing her equipment. This was followed by soreness in her middle and upper back. As she was moving her equipment she noticed reduced strength in her right arm. Almost simultaneously both of her feet began to tingle, and the sensation progressed up both legs to her waist. Fatigue accompanied all these symptoms.

She reported the situation to the dive boat crew. They did not act alarmed and suggested that oxygen was not necessary because the reported weakness in her right arm resolved on its own within 15 minutes. The diver chose not to participate in a second dive. The other divers were in the water for an hour. During that time her symptoms seemed to resolve, except for the tingling in her feet.

READ MORE::

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Picture is From Stephen Frink

How to Do SCUBA Dive Calculations

By Edwin Thomas, eHow Contributor

One of the dangers of scuba diving is the absorption of nitrogen into the bloodstream, as too much nitrogen causes decompression sickness. For this reason, dive table calculations are taught in any basic scuba diving course. Through these calculations, a diver can track how much nitrogen her/his body has absorbed on a given dive, and therefore plan her/his time on the surface and her next dive within the bounds of safety.

Instructions

Monitor your bottom time on your first dive, taking note of both the deepest depth and the time spent there. Either you or your dive buddy needs a dive watch to do this.

Round up the depth and time figures to the nearest 5 for safety and utilize these numbers to determine your nitrogen class on the dive table. A dive with 18 minutes of bottom time at 95 feet should be rounded up to 20 minutes and 100 feet, yielding a class of "F."

Monitor your surface interval, or the time spent between the first dive and the second dive of the day. Utilize this number to determine your new, reduced class. After two hours on the surface, you should have dropped to class "D."

Inquire about the maximum depth of the day's second dive and utilize this figure (rounded up for safety) to determine how much bottom time is safe for the second dive. If you spent two hours on the surface and the next dive bottoms at 65 feet, round up to 70 feet. In this example, the table indicates a maximum safe bottom time is 25 minutes and a residual nitrogen time of 20 minutes.

Add your residual nitrogen time to your actual bottom time to determine your new nitrogen class. With 20 minutes of residual nitrogen time and all 25 minutes spent on the bottom, your total nitrogen time is 45 minutes. Fed back into the table, this indicates a new nitrogen class of "I."

Repeat the procedure in Steps 3 and 4 to determine the safe diving parameters for a third dive.

Tips & Warnings

This guide is tailored to match the tables used by the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). Other organizations, such as the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) or Scuba Schools International (SSI) have their own tables, but all are based on almost identical principles. Adaptation to another organization's dive table should only require studying how the table is organized and not changing the calculation method.

Dive computers perform the same calculations and with greater accuracy. However, a given dive computer might use a more liberal margin of safety than others. Check a new dive computer's algorithm by comparing its results against those of your dive table calculations for the first few dives, just to see where the dive computer stands.

Thanks to Edwin Thomas, eHow Contributor

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Diving in Rough Seas – When and how to dive in bad weather

SOMETIMES DURING A DIVE, CONDITIONS ARE JUST PERFECT. SUN IS WARM, SKY IS CLEAR, SEA IS CALM. OTHER TIMES, NOT SO MUCH. THEN WHAT?

First, just to make sure there are no misunderstandings: diving should be both fun and safe. If you’re ever in doubt as to whether a dive will be either, due to rough conditions, always err on the side of conservatism and cancel the dive. Never dive in a situation where you feel you’re outside of your dive skill range.

That being said, as you increase dive experience, the definition on non-divable conditions will change, as your increased skill and experience will make it possible for you to dive in conditions a newbie would not. To make diving safe in situations where the conditions are less than optimal, there are a few precautions you can take.

CHECK WITH LOCALS BEFORE DIVING

If the conditions are rough, the first thing you should do, unless you know your dive very, very well. Is to check with local divers and dive shops to get an idea of what conditions you can expect.

One thing is what the conditions are above the surface, but what you need to find out is what to expect below. Some places are less susceptible to rough conditions, and while the surface may see waves and strong wind, the dive site can be perfectly tranquil at only a few feet of water.

So find out by consulting the locals. What will it likely be like out there? Currents? Swells? When is the area non-diveable? What are you backup and exit options? If in doubt, ask a local divemaster to join you as a precaution.

Read More:::

Kathy Dowsett


www.kirkscubagear.com


Diving in rough seas, Great Inagua Island, Bahamas from YouTube

Tips For Beginner Scuba Divers: How To Control Panic or Anxiety Attacks Underwater

Although under water anxiety attacks are common events in scuba diving, most beginner scuba divers may not know how common they are until they start taking their training classes. So, instructors who want to keep their classes safe from harm usually advise their students of the frequency and how to handle them if they occur while they are under water.

Divers who have had these experiences may describe the attacks as a sudden panicky feeling when they realize that they are under the water and a great distance away from dry land. In many cases, these fears are often unprovoked since there are no real threats surrounding them. Therefore, it is important for each diver to know how to handle the anxiety attacks if or when it happens to them. According to Dr. Richard D. Telford, author of Take Care of Yourself, one of the most important skills an individual may have in life is controlling the anxiety instead of letting it control the individual. By taking control of the anxiety, it will prevent the stressful situation from progressing into a full-blown panic attack. Listed below are some invaluable tips that people can use to remain safe.

Confront the Anxiety Before The Dive

Beginner divers should start by controlling their fears before leaving home. This can be accomplished by asking numerous questions that relate to the individual's capabilities and desires. For instance, is the person mentally and physically prepared to make the dive? Or, is this really the individual's idea of having fun? If the person finds that they are having problems with responding appropriately to these practical questions, they should not make the dive. Specifically, in cases where the person may feel that the dive is beyond their physical capabilities.

Express Feelings to Divemaster

If the beginner diver decides to take the dive but they are still feeling a little anxious, the individual should let the divemaster know what they are feeling. Since the divemaster's role is to keep the divers safe, they can pair these divers with a buddy so that they can assist. One of the buddy's primary functions is to help with carefully walking the person through the dive. For instance, the buddy may start their dive off by checking the reliability and safety of the scuba diving equipment. While this strategy may appear to be insignificant, the purpose is to help allay the fears of the individual because these are normally some of the actual thoughts that race through their mind.

Preventing Anxiety Underwater

The real test, however, begins when the individual is under the water since this is where the actual panic attack normally happens. Therefore, one of the best ways the buddy can help to keep the anxiety at bay is to focus the individual's mind on enjoying the diving experiences. One of which is looking at all of the beautiful scenery that surrounds them when they are swimming around. Also, to make the experience completely trouble-free, the buddy diver should not take the beginner in caves or other places that can provoke normal fears to occur. Instead, buddy divers may want to leave the cave experience until the diver becomes more comfortable under the water. In fact, future dives will always allow time for branching out into the deep.

While underwater anxiety attacks are common among many beginner scuba divers, there are ways to minimize the impact and keep the beginner safe from harm. One of the most common methods used is pairing the diver up with a buddy so that they can walk the person through these experiences.

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8020916

Decompression Sickness vs Nitrogen Narcosis - What's the Difference?

Both Are Caused By Nitrogen, So What Is the Difference?:

During the open water certification course, student divers learn about both nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness. I have noticed that students tend to get the two conditions confused because both decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis are caused by nitrogen gas. Nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness have very different symptoms and must be treated in very different ways.

What Is Nitrogen Narcosis?:

Nitrogen narcosis is an altered state of awareness caused by breathing a high partial pressure (or concentration) of nitrogen. The deeper a diver goes, the greater the partial pressure of nitrogen, and the stronger the diver's narcosis will be. Some divers have compared the feeling of nitrogen narcosis to being pleasantly drunk, while others find it terrifying. Nitrogen narcosis is one of the factors that will limit how deep a you can dive.

What Is Decompression Sickness?:

Decompression sickness is a physical condition caused by the formation of nitrogen bubbles in a diver's blood and tissues. Although they are generally quite tiny, these nitrogen bubbles can block blood flow to various parts of the body and may irreversibly damage tissues.

The Differences Between the Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Sickness::

1. The Causes of Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Sickness Are Different:

• Nitrogen narcosis is caused by breathing such a high concentration of nitrogen that the gas functions as a mild anesthetic. The nitrogen causing nitrogen narcosis remains dissolved in a diver's blood and tissues and does not form bubbles.

• Decompression sickness is caused by nitrogen coming out of solution (no longer dissolved in the body) and forming bubbles. Where do the bubbles come from? During every dive, a diver's body absorbs nitrogen from his breathing gas. As he ascends, the nitrogen expands according to Boyle's Law. Normally, the nitrogen travels in the diver's bloodstream until it reaches his lungs, where it is exhaled. However, if a diver stays underwater too long (past his no-decompression limit), or ascends too quickly, his body cannot eliminate the nitrogen effectively, and the excess nitrogen trapped in his body forms bubbles.

2. The Symptoms of Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Sickness Are Different:

• Nitrogen narcosis is most commonly described as a state of intoxication, similar to drunkenness. Fuzzy thinking, incoherent reasoning, confusion, and impaired manual dexterity are all symptoms of narcosis.

Divers experience nitrogen narcosis while underwater during deep dives.

• Like nitrogen narcosis, the symptoms of decompression sickness may include confusion and impaired thinking, but also may include pain, loss of feeling in an isolated area of the body, tingling, visual disturbances, vertigo, and paralysis (among many other symptoms). A bubble may even block blood flow to the point that body tissues and organs are permanently damaged.

Divers typically experience decompression sickness a few hours to one day after a dive, or during ascent from a very deep or long dive. Unlike nitrogen narcosis, the symptoms of decompression sickness are not noticeable during the deepest part of the dive.

Learn more about decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis:
• Decompression Sickness
• Drunkenness and Confusion: Nitrogen Narcosis Part 1
• Sobering Up (Eliminating Narcosis): Nitrogen Narcosis Part 2

3. Procedures for Dealing With Narcosis and Decompression Sickness Differ:

• Nitrogen narcosis is related to a diver's depth. To treat nitrogen narcosis, a diver should simply ascend at a safe ascent rate until the symptoms abate. As long as he feels normal, the diver can continue diving, but should not return to the depth at which he experienced narcosis.

• Decompression sickness is caused by nitrogen bubbles. To treat decompression sickness, a diver must eliminate the nitrogen bubbles by undergoing re-compression therapy in a hyperbaric chamber. The longer the bubbles remain in a diver's body, the more damage they will cause. Decompression illness is dangerous and sometimes life-threatening.

Decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis are often confused because they are both caused by nitrogen gas. However, when the specifics of each condition are understood, it is easy to see that the two conditions are very different!

Thanks to About.com

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Follow Your Head :: An Easy Tip for Maintaining Good Buoyancy and Swimming Position

Thanks to Natalie Gibb

When I was learning to drive a motorcycle, I had the tendency to jerk the bike's handlebars to the left or the right when maneuvering around a turn. I had trouble turning because I tried to separate the motion of the handlebars from the rest of my body. I didn't understand that a proper turn involves the driver's whole body. Not only should the driver turn the handlebars, he should lean into the turn and look where he is going. It sounds simplistic, but once I learned this rule the bike would effortlessly go wherever I looked. Now that I teach diving, I see many divers making the same mistake that I made learning to drive a motorcycle - they forget to follow their heads.

The basic idea is simple - if a diver looks up and kicks, he is going to go up. This makes sense because by looking up, a diver orients his body into a feet-down, head-up position. Even a slight fin motion will propel him towards the surface.

The most common situation in which a diver make this sort of error is when clearing his mask. During the open water course, a student diver is taught to look up while breathing out through his nose to empty his mask of water. When this skill is practiced in the pool, the diver is usually kneeling and unable to kick. However, when floating mid-water, it is not uncommon for a diver to unconsciously kick while clearing his mask, propelling himself upwards. An easy trick to avoid this mistake is to have the diver cross his legs at his ankles or knees before looking up, preventing inadvertent kicking.

Divers also tend to orient themselves vertically when observing turtles, sailfish, and other creatures that swim towards or along the surface. On many occasions, I have watched a diver discover a turtle near the ocean floor, kick along with it for a minute, and then tilt his head (and therefore his body) upwards to enjoy the view of the turtle surfacing. More often than not, this results in the diver slowly rising towards the surface with the turtle until I call his attention to the fact that he is beginning to ascend. Once a diver knows that looking up to watch a creature above him has the tendency to make him lose his position in the water, he can take actions to avoid the problem such as deflating his buoyancy compensator or crossing his ankles.

When ascending at the end of a dive, divers are trained to swim towards the surface in a head-up position. In this case, this is a positive habit because it helps a diver to move efficiently through the water and allows him to make small adjustments in his buoyancy using his fins. Once a diver reaches the safety stop depth, however, a vertical position can make maintaining a constant depth more difficult if the diver habitually makes small fin movements. Again, awareness of the fact that a diver in a head-up position will move upwards with almost any fin movement will help a diver in this situation to keep his level in the water. Carefully monitoring a reference (such as a depth gauge, dive computer, or ascent line) is usually the best way for a diver to train himself to maintain a constant depth during a safety stop, despite a vertical position.

Once a diver understands that his body will follow his head, he can use the fact to his advantage. Although most buoyancy adjustments should be made with a diver's buoyancy compensator and lungs, small adjustments can be easily made by swimming. If a diver finds himself moving slightly up every time he starts to kick, looking down while swimming will help him maintain his level in the water.

Look up, swim up. Look down, swim down. It is a simple concept, but one that is commonly over-looked by beginning divers!

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Making the Most of Your Day on a Dive Boat

Arrive at the boat well before departure time. If the crew says it’s okay to board, climb on and take advantage of your punctuality for an unhurried look around. Check out the boat’s layout, find a good spot for your gear that’s out of the way or close to the gate or that offers protection from the sun.

- If you don’t need it, leave it in your dive locker. On a busy dive boat there’s not much space allotted for each diver, so bring only what you’re going to need for the morning or afternoon dives. That way you can stow all your gear at your dive station without it overflowing into your neighbor’s space. If you can’t carry everything in one trip, you’ve probably got too much.

- As soon as possible, assemble you reg and BC on your tank and give them a quick test to make sure the tank is full and all systems are go. That way, if you got a short fill or if a gear failure occurs you still have a hope of getting a replacement. Also, do a final inventory check to make sure you have everything you need for your dives, like both fins, your mask, maybe a trusty pocket light for checking out the holes in the reefs, and, if the boat requires it, a safety signal tube.

- Don’t be shy about asking questions. All dive boats have their own rules and routines, so if you’re unsure about how to secure your tank, where to stow your weights, or which bucket is for mask rinsing and which is for cameras, simply ask. A good crew will always choose answering easy questions up front over scrambling to catch a tank that’s about to topple over or tripping on an errant dive bag. Knowing the proper boat procedures makes life easier for everybody.

- When you arrive at the dive site, resist the temptation to start obsessing on your gear and instead pay close attention to the pre-dive briefing. This is when you’ll learn about bottom contours, prevailing currents, depths and compass directions. Having this info tucked in your head before the dive will make all the difference in your comfort level and confidence during the dive, plus it can avoid having to be retrieved by the dive guide when you get lost, which is always embarrassing.

- Don’t forget to bring some cash for tips. A top-notch boat crew and dive guide who have both skills and sunny attitudes are instrumental in delivering to you a really enjoyable day in the water. Show your appreciation; they’ve definitely earned it.

From Sport Diver

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Ask an Expert: Should Surface Markers Be Mandatory When Diving?

Con, by Chris Parsons: Dive-training agencies should teach SMB use, not mandate it

When I was asked to be the “con” on this topic, I almost said no — I rarely dive without a surface-marker buoy. After some thought, though, I realized that while there are definitely times when an SMB — or other type of surface marker — should be considered essential, mandating its use doesn’t really solve the problem.

One easy argument against mandating surface markers is that some dives simply don’t need them, and they might, in fact, get in the way — ice diving in a Minnesota lake comes to mind.

So who should mandate surface markers? Government? No, thank you. Training agencies? They don’t teach SMB use in the basic classes; it would be a huge jump for them to suddenly mandate them.

That really just leaves dive operators.

Operators can and sometimes do require SMBs. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that a diver is able or even willing to use an SMB properly. I’ve seen many divers in situations that clearly indicated a surface marker ought to be deployed, but the SMB often remained clipped to their BC. When I asked later why they didn’t inflate it, despite being a mile away from the boat, I generally got a puzzled look rather than an answer.

There is a larger point here, and it is that divers simply need to be better prepared, and moreover, to take responsibility for their own safety. If conditions or a location prescribe that a diver should have a surface marker, it should be incumbent upon the diver to have one. Mandating a piece of gear doesn’t train the diver, nor does it prepare them.

I’ve been on boats where SMBs are required and seen divers show up without one. The dive operator will typically loan the diver one, and often the diver needs a quick lesson in how to use it. Note that this represents two strikes against the diver already — they showed up without an SMB, and they don’t know how to inflate it. Worse, they don’t understand when to deploy it — if the boat is a mile away, it might be too late. Strike three.

When there is boat traffic or significant current, the prudent diver might deploy the SMB from depth using a reel or spool. Once on the surface, the diver should be focused on boat traffic, not fumbling to inflate a surface marker. To do this, divers need to be trained and able to practice the skill. To my knowledge, SMB deployment from depth is not taught in Open Water or Advanced classes. Rather than mandating its use, perhaps the training agencies should teach its use — and its importance.

I understand why dive operators feel compelled to require SMBs. Ideally, they shouldn’t have to, but too many divers show up unprepared. That shouldn’t happen. Divers who show up at a dive operation should take the time to get trained, understand the consequences of diving in that area, and arrive with the gear needed for the dive.

This one should be on the diver.

Pro, by Alice Darwent: You never really know when you might need it

Ending your dive safely and getting back on board the boat are undoubtedly the most important aspects of diving, especially if you’re drift diving. This is why every diver should carry a surface-marker buoy and be shown how to use it safely.

In Tobago, where the majority of dives are done as drift, guides carry an SMB so the boat captain can monitor where they are at all times. The currents around the island can be strong, which is why the Association of Tobago Dive Operators recommends that you dive with a guide and not on your own. All ATDO member dive shops make sure their guides dive with an SMB. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors even runs a specialist course to teach divers the knowledge and techniques required for the safe use of SMBs.

There have been well-documented cases of divers going missing; happily, most of those divers are found. Inves- tigations into what went wrong usually reveal that the dive leader was either not carrying an SMB or that the SMB was not large enough to be seen by the boat captain. In cases where divers do go missing, having more than one SMB to blow up and wave around on the surface of the water will greatly increase their chances of being found. This is why every diver should have an SMB in his BCD pocket when he dives — to use in case of an emergency. You can be the world’s most safety-conscious diver, but sometimes Mother Nature throws you a curve ball, and you find yourself in an emergency situation. Carefully planning every dive you do will minimize risk, and that careful planning should include what you do if you get lost and what equipment you need — an SMB is part of that equipment.

SMBs also identify you to other marine traffic. Underwater, it's hard to determine the direction of sound, such as the noise of a boat propeller. Bear in mind too that the captain of the vessel will not know you are close to him. He might see bubbles, but by then it could be too late. Carrying an SMB, which is usually bright orange or yellow, clearly identifies where you are and warns marine traffic to stay away.

Personally I never dive without an SMB, even if it’s a shore dive. You never know when you might need it.

Chris Parsons is an underwater photographer, boat captain, rebreather diver and former PADI instructor. He is the rep for Nuticam and Zen Underwater photo gear.

Alice Darwent has been affiliated with the dive industry for 25 years. President of the Tobago Dive Association, she is owner of AquaMarine Dive, Speyside, Tobago.

Thanks to Scuba Diving

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

Scuba Diving – An Enjoyable Experience For The Two Of You

Thanks to Turismo Chino

Usually in tropical places or in interesting diving sights, scuba diving has become a popular activity for couples of all ages. This is a rather amazing feeling in which anyone can enjoy the wonders of the ocean which will not be seen under any other circumstances. If the person is passionate about photography, there is the possibility to use an underwater camera. The photos takes will be precious memories of the creatures of the sea.

The places for diving are many and sometimes the most popular ones are around vessel wrecks or underwater caves. Here the mystery of the complex ocean life is lived to the full. Scuba diving is much fun for the entire family, but it requires the people to have good diving gear and a little bit of swimming experience.

The benefits for all

Besides all the entertainment and fun of this activity, scuba diving is known to be a good therapy for people. Under the water there is not much noise and the sound produced by the bubbling equipment is rather soothing. The world met underwater tends to be rather alien looking. The creatures met have an entirely different perspective and it can be a really powerful life experience. The thrill of diving is an intense feeling and sometimes people prefer to put themselves in danger and dive together with creatures like whales or sharks. In order to do that, you will likely stay inside a protective cage. The instructor will take care of your safety. Diving with the sharks will in many cases prove to be a lot of fun, while people begin to understand these lovely sea creatures, rather than fear them.

Bonding together

Scuba diving is seen as a great change to stay connected to the loved ones. This is why it is recommended to try the experience with your family. These thrills will unity the couple more. The beauty of the ocean can totally be admired in places like the delicate coral reefs. The reef is a real organism and near it a myriad of other creatures live and thrive. The fish will sometimes to curious and will get really close to the divers. This will prove to be exciting and something to tell to your grandchildren.

In order to benefit from this great experience of scuba diving in two, you should visit the website intotheblue.co.uk. Here you will be offered all the information needed for an exciting experience.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Eunice aphroditois aka 'bobbit worm'

Eunice aphroditois :: apparently given the nickname by an underwater photographer two decades ago.

It snares its prey using a complex feeding apparatus with two sharp mandibles which snap shut like a pair of scissors

The ocean floor is home to many weird and terrifying predators, many of which could discourage anyone from ever setting foot into the sea again.

This creature is Eunice aphroditois - also known as the Bobbit worm, apparently after an underwater photographer decided two decades ago that its hunting methods were similar to the Bobbitt family incident of 1993.

That incident involved Lorena Bobbitt slicing nearly half her husband's member off. E. aphroditois is similar, according to a 2011 paper in Revista de Biologia Tropical, 'because either the widely open jaw pieces resemble scissors, or because the exposed portion resembles an erect penis.'

The nickname is inaccurate - Mrs Bobbitt inflicted the grievous injury on her husband using a knife rather than scissors - but it has stuck nevertheless.

And it is perhaps a close enough comparison to dissuade any man from skinny dipping in warm waters near the sea floor at depths of 30 to 130ft, where the long-living nocturnal worm is generally found.

The creature, which spends its life mostly buried beneath the sand of the sea-floor, sticks just a portion of its body up into the water where it has five antennae to sense its prey, usually smaller worms and fish.

Mammoth: A scientists poses with the 10ft-long E. aphroditois discovered in Japan's Seto Fishing Harbour in 2009.

It snares its prey using a complex feeding apparatus called a pharynx which can turn inside-out, like the fingers of a glove, and has sharp mandibles on the end which snap shut like scissors.

Unlucky creatures are sometimes sliced in two because of the speed and strength of the worm's attacks, and it can dish out nasty bites to any humans who stray too close.

One the prey is caught, the worm shoots back into its burrow to feed. When prey is scarce it also feeds seaweed and other sea plants, and will scavenge for morsels around the surface of its burrow.

Noted for its unusually large body size and length, E. aphroditois is found in warm waters all over the world.

Since the 19th century, marine biologists have recognised it has having one of the longest bodies among polychaetes - a class of segmented, mostly marine worms.

They average a length of about one metre, but specimens measuring as long as three metres have been discovered.

The creature, which spends its life mostly buried beneath the sand of the sea-floor, sticks just a portion of its body up into the water where it has five antennae to sense its prey, usually smaller worms and fish.

It snares its prey using a complex feeding apparatus called a pharynx which can turn inside-out, like the fingers of a glove, and has sharp mandibles on the end which snap shut like scissors.

Unlucky creatures are sometimes sliced in two because of the speed and strength of the worm's attacks, and it can dish out nasty bites to any humans who stray too close.

One the prey is caught, the worm shoots back into its burrow to feed. When prey is scarce it also feeds seaweed and other sea plants, and will scavenge for morsels around the surface of its burrow.

Noted for its unusually large body size and length, E. aphroditois is found in warm waters all over the world.

Since the 19th century, marine biologists have recognised it has having one of the longest bodies among polychaetes - a class of segmented, mostly marine worms.

They average a length of about one metre, but specimens measuring as long as three metres have been discovered.

A report by Hiro'omi Uchida, assistant director of the Kushimoto Marine Park Centre in Japan, describes one such mammoth worm found hiding in one of the floats of a mooring raft in Japan's Seto Fishing Habour in 2009.

'[I]it is uncertain when the individual first entered the mooring raft and fish corral during the 13 years the structure sat in the harbour,' he writes.

'It is also uncertain whether the worm arrived by larval settlement or at a semi-adult stage of development. Nonetheless, the individual surely had been living in its comfortable floating home for a quite a long time.'

At 9ft 10in long, about a pound in weight and with 673 segments, the worm they discovered was one of the largest specimens of E. aphroditois ever found.

That same year, a report in MailOnline Science detailed how a 4ft-long specimen was unearthed in a Newquay, Cornwall aquarium that was attacking coral and prize fish.

Workers at the attraction had been left scratching their heads as to why the coral had been left devastated and - in some cases - cut in half. After staking out the display for several weeks, the last resort was to completely dismantle it, rock by rock.

Matt Slater, the aquarium's curator, said: 'Something was guzzling our reef but we had no idea what, we also found an injured Tang Fish so we laid traps but they got ripped apart in the night.

'That worm must have obliterated the traps. The bait was full of hooks which he must have just digested.'

Staff believe the beast - which they nicknamed Barry - arrived by hitching a ride into the aquarium hiding inside a piece of coral when it was young and grew enormous over a number of years.

Mr Slater added: 'It really does look like something out of a horror movie.

Thanks to the Daily Mail

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Scuba Diving: How to Perform the Open Water Skill "proper Weighting"

Imagine swimming  through a watery paradise, soaring through the ocean like an eagle through the sky. kirkscubagear scuba gear provides an excitement few activities can replicate, however you must master the skills before you can move with ease and agility. One such skill, proper weighting or a buoyancy check, is performed before you even descend. It is crucial for both your protection and enjoyment.

Before you learn how to properly weight yourself, you must first understand the principles behind it. Scuba divers should be able to descend easily into the water, but not be so weighted that they are pulled down to the bottom. They should be able to swim with ease, and not use too much air.

Establishing the proper weight, which depends on the diver's body, suit and equipment, creates such buoyancy. Weighting yourself is exactly as it sounds - placing weights upon your body so that you can accomplish an ideal buoyancy in the water. The difficult part of the skill is deciding how much weight to add.

There are formulas you can follow to weight yourself, which will give a general idea of the required weight, however it is best to perform a check yourself. Weights can depend on body composition in addition to size, which is difficult to measure within a formula. Before you weight yourself, you must decide which type of weighting system to use. Weight belts are the simpler type and consist of nylon or fabric belts with spaces for weights to be added. A more comfortable device is a weight system integrated into a Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), the device that allows you to control buoyancy by adding and deleting air into a bladder. Such a system does make you a little heavier outside of the water.

When you are ready to weight yourself, follow the following steps:

1. Position yourself in the water. You should not be able to stand and it should be the same type (saltwater or freshwater) as the water where you are planning to dive. Make certain that you are wearing exactly what you will wear during the actual dive. If your cylinder is full, add two pounds to account for additional buoyancy during the dive. Relax yourself. It is important not too move as this can serve to lift you and give a false impression of being under-weighted.

2. Inhale a normal breath and hold it. With the deflator over your head, push the deflate button to release the air from your Buoyancy Control Device.

3. The goal is to float steadily at eye level. If you are sinking, then you are too heavy. You must remove weight and restart the process with the first step. If you are floating too high, then you are too light. Add weight, and begin the whole process again.

4. Release your breath. Now you should sink. If not, try to breathe out more. If you still do not sink, then more weight is required. Add the weight and restart the procedure from the beginning.

It is important to weight yourself before any dive in which you have changed any aspect of the dive, such as using different equipment or diving in a new location. You should also check if some time has passed since your previous dive since subtle changes in your body could affect the amount of weight necessary.

Many factors affect the proper weight needed. Even the difference between salt and fresh water can call for a change in weight of almost six pounds. Incorrect weighting will make it more difficult to swim through the water, can cause you to crash into coral at the bottom of the sea or can use up your air too quickly. With proper weighting, you will soon be soaring amongst the vibrant creatures of the sea.

Thanks to Suzanne Rose @ yahoo

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com

How to Identify and Avoid Scuba Diving Risks

Scuba diving is a risky sport. While most people will have a very good dive and never have a single problem, there are still scuba diving risks that can occur at any time. It is very important that you pay attention and are aware of the risks that you could face during a dive.

There are many hidden risks in scuba diving. Some risks can come from nowhere, like a shark attack or bad weather. Others can happen due to errors, like running out of air or having other equipment failure. No matter what causes scuba diving risks, your best defense against them is to be alert and be prepared every time you dive.

Risks involving your equipment are something that are usually easy to avoid. You should always take training classes and be sure that you have the necessary skills to handle a dive. It is important that you also learn about the equipment that you are using. Know how it works and what must be done to prepare it for a dive.

Risks that you can't control, like the weather and shark attacks, can be avoided simply by being observant. Before you dive you need to check out the spot where you will be diving. Check for reports on shark activity and weather reports. Also find out about the water conditions. Doing these things will help you to avoid possible risks in your chosen diving area.

Many scuba diving risks occur because the diver is not in good health. If you have a cold or are suffering from allergies then stay out of the water. You also should not dive if you are taking medications. Being sick or on medication can put you at risk for all sorts of problems because you will not be as alert and focused as you normally would be.

Many scuba diving risks are an issue because they are something divers simply are not aware of or that they do not consider. One such risk is dehydration. Being in the water does not mean you can't become dehydrated. Diving is quite a physical activity, so be sure you are well hydrated before you go out.

Divers can often prevent risks from becoming life threatening situations by diving with a partner. It is a simple rule that you should never dive alone. If you are with someone else they will be able to help you if something goes wrong. Diving alone is a risk itself and one you should never take.

Scuba diving risks do not have to be a part of your diving experience. If you prepare and take all the necessary precautions then you should end up having a great diving experience. If you pay attention and are a smart diver then you should be able to avoid many of the risks of scuba diving.

Articles Base

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

What Are the Cautions for Pregnant Women on Scuba Diving?

Many women wonder if it is safe to go scuba diving when they are pregnant. The short answer is that women should not go scuba diving when pregnant. There are some serious concerns about scuba diving, pregnant women and harm to the baby. It is important that if you are pregnant, you learn why it is dangerous and why you should avoid doing it while pregnant.

Any doctor that you speak to will tell you that scuba diving when pregnant is not advised. The main reason for this recommendation is that scuba diving can cut off the blood supply to the baby. Blood going to the baby may contain harmful nitrogen bubbles, too. These are not the only reasons for scuba diving pregnant women to be worried.

Another major concern about scuba diving while pregnant is the possibility of decompression illness. This can strike anyone and the way to treat it is with high levels of oxygen and medications. The treatment for decompression illness can harm the baby and may cause a miscarriage.

Scuba diving pregnant women have been studied. These women often have babies that suffer birth defects, including heart problems. In some cases miscarriage occurs. The possible risks simply make it unreasonable to scuba dive while pregnant.

While pregnant women should not scuba dive, there has been evidence that it is perfectly safe to dive during the first two to four weeks of pregnancy. During this time many women do not even know they are pregnant yet, so if you happened to go scuba diving during the very early stages of pregnancy then you can rest easy knowing that your baby is probably not in any harm.

The reason why the baby is not affected during early pregnancy is due to the fact the risks of scuba diving while pregnant are mainly related to the blood exchange between mother and baby. During the early pregnancy stage, the baby and mother are not sharing blood like they do in later pregnancy.

It is also important to know that there is no solid evidence that diving while pregnant poses any risk to the baby. Studies that have been done have not been able to offer solid proof. However, the recommendation of not scuba diving while pregnant is a precaution that most women would rather follow than ignore and take the risk of harming their baby.

Scuba diving pregnant women should always be careful. If you choose not to follow your doctor's recommendation to not scuba dive then you should at least know what the risks are. Staying active during pregnancy is always recommended, but most doctors will tell you not to risk the safety and health of your baby during any physical activity, especially scuba diving. Ultimately, each woman can make her own decision about whether to dive or not, but it should be a decision made carefully.

Article Base---thanks

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Scuba Diving Lessons for Life: Is Getting a Catch Worth Your Life?

Thanks Eric Douglas from Scuba Diving

Offshore oil rigs serve as way stations for big fish, which stop and hang out around the massive structures. Roy and his buddies knew this and made regular trips to nearby oil rigs to go spear fishing. It was the best local opportunity to find game fish, and they always brought home dinner.

On the first dive of the trip, Roy speared a large goliath grouper near the rig. As he began bringing it toward the surface, the 200-pound fish started to swim away, pulling Roy along for the ride.

The Divers

As a dive instructor, Roy spent hours in the water helping new divers learn the basics. He often said the feeling of watching new divers’ eyes light up when they took their first breaths underwater was priceless. He trained upwards of 100 new divers each year, guiding them through each of their open water checkout dives.

One thing that Roy loved just as much as teaching new divers was spear fishing. Every couple of weeks, Roy and his buddies would schedule a dive trip without any students. They always headed to one of the nearby oil rigs and brought their spear guns along. Once they arrived home, they’d enjoy grilling that day’s catch.



The Dive

When Roy turned on his air just before getting in the water, his hrefa moment. He slapped it against his hand and reset the diaphragm. Roy commented to his buddy that he needed to get it serviced, but he had been diving so much he hadn’t had the time.

With the reg fixed, he did his giant stride and immediately descended down one leg of the oil rig. The visibility was typical for the location — they could see 30 to 40 feet in any direction, but beyond that, the open ocean was murky.

Many of the bigger fish they wanted to hunt stayed deep. When they approached 130 feet, Roy indicated he wanted to go deeper. His buddy signaled that he planned to level off and hunt there. Roy signaled OK and kept descending.

The Accident

Roy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the size of the grouper hovering near one of the oil rig’s legs. He estimated it weighed 200 pounds or more. He quickly prepared his spear gun and moved into position. Taking careful aim, Roy shot the large fish through the side. He reeled in the cable connecting the spear to his gun and began ascending. Roy could feel the weight of the fish below him, so he focused harder on swimming toward the surface. As he passed 130 feet, Roy paused for a moment to signal to his buddy that he was taking his catch to the boat.

On the way to the surface the grouper woke up, but Roy didn’t notice at first. With a jerk, the fish suddenly attempted to escape, only to come to a stop when it reached the end of the cable Roy had looped around a D-ring on his BC. The surge pulled Roy to the side as the line snapped taut. He grabbed the cable and attempted to continue ascending, but the grouper took off again — this time, the fish pulled Roy toward the surface. As they ascended together, Roy hit his head on one of the oil rig’s cross beams. Dazed by the collision with the cross beam, Roy found himself struggling at the surface.

A diver already on the surface reported seeing Roy wave his arm over his head to signal that he needed help. As Roy appeared to lose consciousness, the boat driver started the boat engines to get to Roy as quickly as he could. Roy sank below the surface of the water before help could arrive. Roy’s buddy and another diver spent nearly 30 minutes searching for and recovering his body.

Analysis

Back onboard the boat, Roy’s buddies attempted to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital. When they found Roy’s body, his scuba cylinder was empty, his weights were in place and the grouper was still attached to the cable attached to his BC . Though Roy’s regulator showed signs of poor maintenance, this was not considered to be a cause of the accident.

The medical examiner determined that Roy had suffered trauma to his head after striking the leg of the oil rig, and this was a contributing factor in his loss of control on ascent; this, in turn, led to an air embolism that caused him to lose consciousness and drown.

Roy was in trouble the moment he speared the large grouper. In his mid-40s, Roy was of average size; the fish weighed as much as he did. Even if it had been killed instantly, Roy would have struggled to drag his prize to the surface. At the very least, Roy should have asked his buddy to help him get it to the surface. Better still, he could have attached the fish to a lift bag, inflated it and sent it to the surface, allowing him to ascend slowly and easily without struggling. When the stunned fish attempted to swim away, Roy was immediately in danger. With the huge fish attached to a cable fastened to his BC, Roy had to go where the fish wanted. At this point, he should have let go of the speared grouper.

Roy most likely wasn’t thinking clearly when he surfaced. He was probably dazed and suffering symptoms from the embolism. If he had dropped his weights and let go of the speared grouper, Roy might have survived the incident. He would have needed treatment in a recompression chamber, but he probably would have lived.

While it wasn’t a factor on this dive, Roy’s equipment was not well maintained and he was not properly equipped for a dive to nearly 200 feet. A diver depletes a tank very quickly at those depths, yet Roy had no backup or additional air supply. He also had no procedures in place for making decompression stops on his way back to the surface.

Roy made several lapses in judgment, all related to planning. If he had thought through what he would do if he speared a large fish — one too large for him to bring to the surface by himself — he might be alive today.

Lessons for Life

1. Nothing you find on a dive is worth your life. Struggling to bring an artifact or a speared fish to the surface is a recipe for disaster.

2. Drop your weights. If you feel yourself struggling on the surface to stay afloat, release your weights. You will be positively buoyant instantly and able to rest and relax while you are rescued.

3. Plan your dive according to the situation.

4. Have the proper equipment for the dive you are making.

5. Stay with your buddy.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Underwater Navigation for the Novice Scuba Diver

The new dive adventurer is similar to being a passenger on a long ride in a car.

You get to looking around and you have arrived at the destination and have no clue of the route taken to get there. The first couple of lessons you may be fine focusing on your breathing, clearing your ears, clearing of the mask and the awesome joy of the underwater adventure. The sooner you start working on your navigation skills the better, especially if you're learning in a lake that has visibility of twenty feet or less. Because just assured as you are reading this, you will be looking around and in an instant your instructor has disappeared into the darkness. Don't panic just stop for a minute and relax. The instructor will be back for you and if he or she doesn't come back ascend slowly to the surface because they haven't taken you far from the boat or shore. It happens don't worry about it, that is when you realize you need to sharpen your navigation skills.

There are some simple rules to navigation that will make it easier to find the way back to the point of entry. The first and most important is to have a dive plan before you and your dive buddy enter the water, decide who will be the lead diver. Follow the lead diver; let that person concentrate on navigating while the other diver focuses on time, air usage, distance and depth. If you are not the leader it is still important to know your dive plan for emergencies or if you and your dive buddy get separated you can get back to the entry point safely.

If the point of entry is a boat follow the mooring or the anchor line down to the bottom and familiarize yourself with the surroundings. From there follow the dive plan your group has put together. If the entry point is from the shore, swim out to the point you have planned to make the decent. Again get familiar with the surroundings and follow the dive plan.

Navigation underwater isn't any more difficult than above ground navigation. Look for markers, rock formations, sand bars and distinguishing corals of any kind or a tree stump. Anything that is memorable can aid you and your dive buddy in returning to the point of entry. These are just a few tips to make the dive more enjoyable and less stressful.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7050831

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Tips for Choosing the Best Dive Centre for Your Next Scuba Diving Holiday

If you're planning a dive trip to some exotic location that you've never been to, chances are you probably want to do some research before choosing the right diving center.

You want to make sure that your experience will be fun and exciting, but safe and well-thought out as well. As there are a lot of disreputable dive centers as there are respectable ones, it is extremely vital to make the right choice.

Moreover, choosing the right dive shop will make the difference between an awesome scuba diving holiday experience and a botched one.

That said, there are certain things to keep in mind when doing your research, several of which I've listed below:


•Read the online reviews on sites such as tripadvisor.com or scubadviser.com Although these review sites aren't 100% accurate as there have been efforts by businesses to skew the reviews, most of the time, the reviews will at least give you some sense as to whether a business is doing okay or terribly. Try to ignore the extremely bad or extremely good reviews, and focus on the ones in the middle. Those tend to be the more accurate of the reviews.

•Call or email the dive shop in advance. And remember to give yourself enough time to contact them. One of the ways you can gauge how good a dive shop is based on how responsive they are. I've seen countless people get turned off by a certain dive center simply because they never heard back from the staff. I know, I have. Usually, but not always, a dive shop that doesn't get back to you in time or simply ignores your email, is probably not going to be too concerned with the overall guest experience.

•Once you've established contact, ask if they have dive packages, and see if they are willing to offer you special scuba diving package deals. This is especially true if you'll be doing multiple dives over several days.

•Also, check to make sure the dive center is up-to-date with safety equipment such as oxygen kits, AEDs, emergency kits, as well as safety procedures. Unfortunately, there are a TON of dive centers out there lacking the basic safety equipment and standards, which makes it extremely dangerous if you end up diving with such a dive center. A simple asthma attack can turn deadly if the proper equipment and procedures aren't set in place.

•Always trust your gut instinct. From your correspondence with this dive center, do you get an overall good feeling? If something seems off or doesn't sit well with you, look for another dive center.


Taking these steps is by no means a guarantee for a fool-proof scuba diving holiday trip, however, it will help you eliminate many dive operations that are not up-to-par, and save you the headache from a completely botched dive vacation.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6973912

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Big Sharks Close Up

George Bartsch wanted to swim with Great White sharks.

He quickly came to his senses.

“I had the desire to dive outside the cage, until I saw one. Then I was glad to be in the cage,” the Simcoe, Ontario, scuba diver says of his trip in February to South Africa, where he witnessed close up the size and power of the Great White.

George, a scuba instructor who opened his own dive shop in Simcoe two years ago, went out with Shark Diving Unlimited to Dyer Island (also known as Seal Island) off the coast of Gansbaai, South Africa. There, he got in a steel cage attached to the boat that would offer protection from the giant predators.

The cage is rectangular, ten by four feet, and occupancy is limited to six people at a time. Once they enter it the lid is closed.
“They do a very good safety briefing,” says George. This includes a warning to keep all body parts inside the cage. The grid is large enough that sharks can be photographed with your hands and camera inside the cage without the bars showing. Children as young as seven view the Great Whites from the cage.

George and the others in the cage, who included his niece, did not use scuba gear at all. It isn’t needed because the top of the cage is above water and scuba bubbles tend to scare away the sharks.

“When the sharks come, you hold your breath and pull yourself down. The passes only last a few seconds, says George. “You get a fleeting glimpse. They come several times, about 30 to 35 passes. They’re very fast and agile.

“I’ve seen other kinds of sharks but this is the first time I’ve seen Great Whites. At one point we had five different sharks. The largest was five and a half metres and it would weigh about a ton and a half. It was a female and it came up right close and personal.”

On the way out, the boat operator dumps tuna blood into the ocean, creating a chum slick that the sharks follow. Once the boat is stopped and the customers are in the cage, they bring the sharks in close by throwing out a rope that has large tuna heads attached to one end. Close to the cage, they pull it out of the water before the sharks can strike.

“They are careful to make sure the sharks don’t get the tuna heads. They don’t want them to associate people with food.”
“It was breath-taking to say the least,” says George. “The mouth was right in front of us. You could see the teeth and the eyes.”
The sharks bumped the cage so hard it rocked the 22-foot, steel-hulled boat. They never did bite down on the steel bars, but large foam tubes on top of the cage had bite marks.

“The water was very cold but the adrenaline was pumping so hard you didn’t feel it,” he says of the 52-degree Fahrenheit water temperature.

While seeing Great Whites so close was obviously exciting, George also found the whole experience educational. A marine biologist was onboard the boat to answer questions. Someone wanted to know if the Great Whites’ appearance in the area was seasonal. They were told that while some of that species do migrate, those common to this particular area do not because the seals (food for the predator sharks) are there all the time. The boat operator’s success rate in finding sharks is 90 per cent.

Little is known about Great Whites, including where they breed or the length of the gestation period.

While Great Whites are aggressive, George says the much smaller bull sharks, which are at most six or seven feet long, are probably even more threatening. “You see them in Florida. A lot of the incidents (attacks) there are by bull sharks that come into the shallows.”

With the Great White experience now ticked off on his bucket list, his next project will be a trip to Utila, Honduras, to see the whale sharks. Growing up to 40 feet in length, they’re even bigger than Great Whites.

But there will be no need for a steel cage on this adventure. Whale sharks eat plankton. Not worried about becoming their dinner, divers often snorkel on the surface with whale sharks.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com