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

6 Tips for Transitioning to Cold Water Diving

Image via Wikipedia

Transitioning to cold water diving after years of Caribbean diving was challenging but manageable. Here 6 tips for warm-water divers considering cold water diving.

1. Cold Water Diving Requires Additional Weight:

Divers use thicker, more buoyant wetsuits (or drysuits) in cold water, which requires the use of more weight. This is obvious, and most cold water dive centers will assist divers in selecting the appropriate amount of weight for thick exposure protection.

However, there is an additional aspect of cold water diving that a diver should consider before deciding on the amount of weight to carry on his first few cold water dives. Until a diver gains experience in cold water, the initial surprise of cold water on his face may make normal breath control difficult. In my case, I was not able to exhale fully at the surface to begin my descent as I normally would, and I has to grab an extra few pounds from the captain to descend. An experienced cold water diver my size would need eighteen pounds of weight. I needed twenty pounds on my first few dives because I couldn't get the air completely out of my lungs.

2. Gearing Up for Cold Water Diving:

Plan ahead. Once a diver is wearing his gloves, it becomes very difficult to make small adjustments such as tucking mask skirt under the hood. On my first dive, I looked like a bit of an idiot when I put on all my gear but my mask, hobbled over to the entry platform, and then had to ask the divemaster to tuck my mask skirt into my hood because I waited to put my mask on until the last moment and couldn't get the skirt under the hood with my gloves on. This sort of humiliation would have been avoidable if I had simply planned ahead.

3. Be Prepared for the Initial Cold Water Shock:

Divers transitioning to cold water diver should be prepared for the short initial, shock of entering cold water. For the first few moments in the cold water, a diver may feel that he cannot breathe easily. This is a physiological reaction known as the Mammalian Diving Reflex, and it is perfectly normal when a person's head is submerged in cold water. It will pass. I managed my reaction to the cold by floating on the surface with my face in the water until I could control my breathing and felt comfortable. After about twenty seconds I felt great, and was ready to start my dive.

4. If a Diver Feels Cold, His Air Consumption Rate Will Increase:

When a diver's body becomes cold, he will burn more calories to keep warm. He will use more oxygen and his breathing rate will increase. If the diver becomes very cold, he will shiver and his air consumption will increase more from the extra work of shivering. Thicker wetsuits and drysuits, as well as the extra weight necessary to compensate for this thicker exposure protection, will increase a diver's drag, and thus his air consumption rate. I used a thick wetsuit for my dives, a noticed an increase in my air consumption rate as I became chilled near the end of the dives. What is the solution to this problem? Wear proper exposure protection. I would have done better to use a drysuit or to end the dive once I became chilled.

5. Use Regulators Appropriate for Cold Water:

Most dive shops servicing cold water diving destinations rent or sell regulators appropriate for cold water diving. It is vital to use a regulator approved for cold water diving, as the first stage of a a non-cold water regulator may “freeze” due to normal cooling from gas expansion combined with chilly water, causing a free flow. Divers should also be sure to review standard protocols to avoid causing a regulator free flow, even when diving with cold water regulators. The divemaster on our boat recommend that the divers avoid purging the regulator or inflating the BCD while inhaling. These actions cause increased demand on the regulator first stage and may trigger a free flow. Also review the procedure for handling a regulator free flow.

6. Mask Clearing in Cold Water – Be Prepared:

Most divers find that the shock of cold water on the face makes exhaling to clear a mask difficult in cold water. This reaction can be overcome with practice, but divers must experience the cold water shock a few times before they learn clear their masks easily. It's not fun, but practicing mask clearing in cold water is essential to being safe on cold water dives. The first time I cleared my mask in cold water, I was taking a drysuit certification course and the instructor had all the students practice clearing their masks in about 3 feet of very cold water. We all thought this was ridiculous given our level of experience until we tried it. About half the class panicked and stood up. After two or three attempts, however, we became accustomed to sensation of cold water on out faces, and could clear our masks easily.

I work and dive in warm water. When the subject of cold water diving comes up, my clients frequently shudder and claim, “you will never get me in into that cold water!” This is silly! With proper preparation and gear, a diver shouldn't be cold – even in cold water. When it is done correctly, cold water diving should be just as comfortable as warm water diving, and equally as enjoyable.

Thanks to Natalie Gibb About.com

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Cold Water Diving

As winter starts to set in and the temperature drops there is more that we need to bear in mind before each dive.

I certainly don’t want to put anyone off but diving in cold water creates a new set of challenges that need to be prepared for before actually going diving. Every piece of equipment that you use needs to be considered, checked and corrected/upgraded if it isn’t up to scratch. As always your kit is life support equipment, if it fails or isn’t up to the job you put your life in danger every time you get in the water. This is no more true than when we, as divers, encounter extreme conditions.

If you think about it, its not just the obvious kit either like your regulators and thermal protection. What about the battery status of your dive computer? The cold can seriously affect the chemical reactions within the battery, reducing the performance of the battery in cold conditions. When you check it prior to the dive the battery will probably be nice and warm after you’ve travelled to your dive location but once you’ve jumped in and shocked it with the temperature change its not uncommon for the dive computer to report a low battery status and possibly even shut down as a result of insufficient current.

All these little things can massively affect the outcome out your dive, if you even get in. So what are some of the main things to remember?

Regulators

Your regulators should be cold water certified when diving in water temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius
Avoid excessive testing on the surface, especially using the purge button as this causes significant temperature drop in the first and second stages which can allow any moisture to freeze.
Avoid breathing from or exhaling through your regulators whilst on the surface to prevent exhaled moisture freezing on the second stage components.
Reduce the load on your first stage by avoiding excessive breathing and inflating your BCD / wing / drysuit whilst inhaling.

Thermal Protection

Proper thermal protection is essential with a drysuit and appropriate thermal layers being an must, especially if you want to be in the water for any length of time. The best way to protect yourself is to layer up, ideally at least three. Three layers provides a base layer which is usually a fast wicking material to draw moisture away from the skin, then your primary insulation layer with your outer layer as the drysuit. Obviously the suit you wear will affect the other two layers as a neoprene drysuit will provide better thermal protection than a membrane suit. There are alternatives that break this mould such as the Waterproof D1 Hybrid drysuit which uses a non-compressible layer to maintain the air space around your body and also the Fourth Element Halo 3D undersuit which uses similar technology in key areas.

It also goes without saying that you need to protect your extremities as well. Your hands and feet can quickly get cold which in turn starts to lower your core temperature as the cold blood returns to your heart. The body tries to counter this by restricting the flow to these cold areas to maintain core temperature but its definitely good practice to wear high quality, well fitting and thick gloves in cold water. Don’t forget your head as well, up to a third of your body heat can be lost through your head so make sure its well protected with a good thick hood.

The Little Things

As mentioned before the cold can affect your dive computer, reducing the performance of the battery and possibly shutting it down. The same goes for any other battery operated devices like your torch, make sure you carry a small spare in case your main fails.

Try to avoid leaving your cylinder laying on the cold floor and prevent even the smallest drop of water getting into the regulators when fitting them.

With all the extra layers on you’re likely to need extra weight, make sure you perform a buoyancy check before you set off on your dive. Being light towards the end of the dive is dangerous.

Thick gloves make donning and doffing fins harder, similarly pressing and releasing clips is the same. Make sure you are able to operate all of your releases comfortable and safely without the need to remove your gloves. If you can’t handle a vital clip underwater because of your 5mm or thicker gloves things could get a bit sticky.

Generally be prepared for the cold. If you lose or need to replace your mask for whatever reason it can be a real shock to the system to have that cold water on the face and can cause divers to lock up, struggle to breathe or even panic.

If you’re diving in a fresh water lake and the temperature is low enough for ice to form on the surface be sure to reel off from your entry point so that you always now where a safe exit point is.

At the end of the day the idea is to be safe, plan your dive and stick to it. If you do that and bear in mind the conditions it should lead to a very enjoyable (though chilly) dive.

Thanks to Simply Scuba

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Diving Newfoundland's World War II Shipwrecks

I plunge into the 32-degree waters off Bell Island, Newfoundland and descend with my dive buddy to the S.S. Saganaga. This former iron ore carrier -- along with the S.S. Lord Strathcona, S.S. Rose Castle, and the PLM-27 -- was torpedoed by the German submarine U-513 during World War II. All four ships now lie in a little over 60 feet of water completely upright and intact except for where the torpedoes hit them.

We swim through a torpedo hole around the huge hull and over decks teaming with corals and anemones and lumpfish. I've been told the funnels and lifeboats are gone, but I had no idea that everything else would be so well preserved. The exception is the anchor, which was blown off to the stern and now sits in the sand, home to a blowfish. Giant crabs and starfish have taken up residence on the bridge and corals and sea anemones cover a gun, the hull, the radio room, and the captain's quarters.

On September 4th, 1942, the S.S. Saganaga lay at anchor awaiting orders to set sail for North Sydney with a load of iron ore. That night, the U-513 slipped into the bay and waited to strike. The next morning at 11:07 am, the Germans fired two torpedoes, but they neglected to set a battery switch and the two torpedoes sank to the sea bottom. After the first salvo, the U513 fired two more torpedoes. Both hit amidships on the port side and the S.S. Saganaga sank beneath the waves in less than thirty seconds.

Of the forty-eight crew including three naval gunners, thirty were later reported missing.

Today, the S.S. Saganaga, S.S. Lord Strathcona, S.S. Rose Castle, and the PLM-27 are considered some of the world's most memorable cold-water dives. I chose the Saganaga because it is the most beautiful of the four ships. Fortunately, no one is around but us: We have the entire wreck to ourselves.

Part of me hopes we'll find something new. A couple of years ago, someone discovered a second Marconi Room on the SS Lord Strathcona and someone else found the Safe Room on the SS Rose Castle. In Labrador, recreational divers located the missing wreck of a World War II seaplane in Battle Harbor, solving a 65-year old mystery.

Last night at dinner, local dive and adventure operator Rick Stanley admonished me: "Remember, take only pictures, leave only bubbles."


When you dive with Stanley, nothing comes out of the water and nothing gets left behind, which makes perfect sense because one of the key draws of Newfoundland's shipwrecks is how pristine they've remained. Many of them still have personal effects in situ, and Rick Stanley hopes to keep it that way. Stanley has become the steward of Newfoundland's waters because shipwrecks are offered little in the way of protection. Stanley and his staff make sure that the artifacts remain on deck and in holds instead of finding their way into private collections. To accomplish this goal, Stanley co-founded Ocean Net, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the ocean and which organizes beach and underwater cleanups.

I don't want to leave the S.S. Saganada, but according to my computer it's time to ascend. We make our safety stop, then surface and climb back onto the dive boat. My dive leader helps me out of my BCD.

"How was it?" he asks.

How do you describe what it's like to float around a pristine World War II wreck? I can only grin stupidly.

"Come get warm," says boat captain Bill Flaherty who is from "around the bay," meaning, outside the country. The Captain has cooked up a big steaming pot of moose and barley soup; it's delicious and exactly what I need to warm up.

"I've got something for you," says Rick Stanley, and hands me an Ocean Quest T-shirt which reads: "The Bell Island Wrecks, Newfoundland, Canada." All four wrecks and their torpedo dates are listed on the front. On the back is a "Diver's To-Do List" with a picture of each wreck and a check box. I borrow Stanley's sharpie and check off the S.S. Saganaga.

I won't have time to do the other three ships this trip, but I know the draw of Newfoundland's 10,000 shipwrecks will bring me back.

Follow Margie Goldsmith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/margiegoldsmith

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Related articles

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Cold water dive heats up enthusiasm for scuba

Fraser Debney didn’t get cold feet for winter diving when his alternate air source froze open in the St. Lawrence River, forcing him to abort a Boxing Day dive at Cardinal Ontario. On January 2, he was back at it in the same river, this time at Morrisburg, exploring the lost villages that were submerged during the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway almost 60 years ago.

He was down 58 minutes with six other divers, visiting the submerged Lock 23, the houses and foundations left behind on the river bottom and the old Highway 2, now covered in silt but easily identified because no seaweeds grow along its ribbon-like path.

There were no equipment problems this time. Fraser had upgraded to a more environmentally sealed primary regulator designed for colder water temperatures than his former one. He said a lot of dive gear is designed for southern climates and while some will say it is cold-water ready, “cold to California is different than cold water in Canada.”

But the piece of equipment Fraser really was interested in testing was his dive suit. Unlike the other six divers, who wore dry suits (preferred for cold water because of their warmth), he was wearing a wetsuit. Beneath it, he wore a fine thermal type of underwear. It got wet, but it stayed warm in that layer between his body and the wetsuit.

Before they entered the water, a couple of his diving mates joked that he was making them feel cold, just seeing him in a wetsuit on a winter dive.

“One of the divers is a doctor and at the end of the dive he said he was absolutely amazed I did the entire dive,” said Fraser. “He was watching me under water.”
He felt cold for two or three minutes when he first got into the water but quickly got used to it. But cold water (its temperature that day was 30 degrees Fahrenheit) has the benefit of clarity. There was a lot to see.

“Some of the old locks were big ones. The railings were still there where people walked on the top of them. This one was 35 feet down but in some of the areas they were deeper, dredged out for bigger ships.”

The buildings from the old original power stations had been taken away but a lot of the machinery was still under water.

Earlier, on the Boxing Day dive, which involved four divers, two of them experienced similar freeze-up problems to Fraser’s, but not as quickly. They got to see some of the underwater sights at Cardinal. There, the attraction was the wreck of the Conestoga, a freighter carrying a cargo of wheat that burned and sank in the 1920s.

The dive site was chosen for its “large safety factor” (shallow water and the current is not strong). This is why the Conestoga wreck is the location of many training dives.

Now that he has determined his equipment can withstand cold water temperatures, Fraser may expand his winter diving experiences even further. He is contemplating taking an ice diving course.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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The Ice Diving Experience

This is an awesome video about ice diving in Antarctica!!!! Enjoy!!!!!



Interested in Ice Diving?

Arctic Kingdom Marine Expeditions Inc.
3335 Yonge St., Suite 402
Toronto ON M4N 2M1 Canada

+1 (416) 322-7066
(888) 737-6818
+1 (416) 887-0529

+44 203 393 7727
+49 308 967 79101

adventures@arctickingdom.com

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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The Truth About Cold Water

Image via Wikipedia

It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing flotation, because without flotation – you won’t live long enough to become hypothermic.

Despite the research, the experience, and all the data, I still hear “experts” – touting as wisdom – completely false information about cold water and what happens to people who get in it. With another season of really cold water approaching, I feel compelled to get these points across in a way that will change the way mariners behave out there on (or near) the water.

What follows is the truth about cold water and cold water immersion. I know that you think you know all there is to know about hypothermia already (and maybe you do), but read ahead and see if you aren’t surprised by something.

When the water is cold (say under 50 degrees F) there are significant physiological reactions that occur, in order, almost always.

You Can’t Breath:

The first is phase of cold water immersion is called the cold shock response: It is a stage of increased heart rate and blood pressure, uncontrolled gasping, and sometimes uncontrolled movement. Lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes depending on a number of factors, the cold shock response can be deadly all by itself. In fact, of all the people who die in cold water, it is estimated that 20% die in the first two minutes. They drown, they panic, they take on water in that first uncontrolled gasp, if they have heart problems – the cold shock may trigger a heart attack. Surviving this stage is about getting your breathing under control, realizing that the stage will pass, and staying calm.

You Can’t Swim:

One of the primary reasons given by recreational boaters when asked why they don’t wear a life jacket, is that they can swim. Listen up, Tarzan; I swam for a living for the better part of my adult life, and when the water is cold – none of us can swim for very long. The second stage of cold water immersion is called cold incapacitation. lacking adequate insulation your body will make its own. Long before your core temperature drops a degree, the veins in your extremities (those things you swim with) will constrict, you will lose your ability control your hands, and the muscles in your arms and legs will just flat out quit working well enough to keep you above water. Without some form of flotation, and in not more than 30 minutes, the best swimmer among us will drown – definitely – no way around it. Without ever experiencing a drop in core temperature (at all) over 50% of the people who die in cold water, die from drowning perpetuated by cold incapacitation.

You Last Longer than You Think:

If you have ever heard the phrase, “That water is so cold, you will die from hypothermia within ten minutes.” then you have been lied to about hypothermia. For that matter you can replace ten minutes with twenty, or thirty, or even an hour, and you’ve still been lied to. In most cases, in water of say 40 degrees (all variables to one side), it typically takes a full hour to approach unconsciousness from hypothermia, the third stage of cold water immersion. But remember, you must be wearing flotation to get this far.

We are all different in this regard, but I once spent an hour in 44 degree water wearing street clothes and my core temperature was only down by less than two degrees (I was not clinically hypothermic). It was uncomfortable to be sure, and I wouldn’t recommend finding your own limit, but it probably would have taken another hour to lose consciousness, and an hour after that to cool my core to the point of no return. The bodies efforts to keep the core warm – vasoconstriction and shivering – are surprisingly effective. The shivering and blood shunting to the core are so effective, that twenty minutes after jumping in (twice the “you’ll be dead in ten minutes” time), I had a fever of 100.2.

Rescue Professionals Think You Live Longer:

There is a good side to the misconceptions about hypothermia. Should you ever be in the water in need of rescue, you can be certain that the Coast Guard is going to give you the benefit of every possible doubt. When developing search criteria – search and rescue coordinators use something called the Cold Exposure Survival Model (CESM): It is a program wherein they enter all the available data about the victim (age, weight, estimated body fat, clothing, etc.) and about the environment (water temp, sea state, air temp, wind) and the software spits them out a number that represents the longest possible time you can survive under those conditions. I plugged my own information into it once and it said I could survive for over 4 hours in 38 degree water wearing nothing but a t-shirt and jeans and no flotation. I can tell you from experience that the CESM is full of it – I’d give me 35 minutes tops – but the error is comforting. If the program that determines how long I might live is going to be wrong – I want it to be wrong in that direction.

Out of the Water is Not Out of Trouble:

I lost count of the number of survivors I annoyed in the back of the helicopter because I wouldn’t let them move. I had a rule – if they came from a cold water environment – they laid down and stayed down until the doctors in the E.R. said they could stand. It didn’t matter to me how good they felt or how warm they thought they were. Because the final killer of cold water immersion is post-rescue collapse. Hypothermia does things besides making everything colder. Victims are physiologically different for awhile. One of the things that changes is called heart-rate variability. The hearts ability to speed up and slow down has been effected. Getting up and moving around requires your heart to pump more blood, being upright and out of the water is also taxing, then any number of other factors collide and the heart starts to flutter instead of pump – and down you go. Victims of immersion hypothermia are two things; lucky to be alive, and fragile. Until everything is warmed back up – out of the water and dry is good enough – mobility comes later.

Did You Learn Anything?:

If you did, then hopefully you’ll use it to make good decisions when it comes to being safe on and around cold water; good decisions like these:

1. When working on deck, wear flotation. This includes, especially, all fisherman in Alaska. I couldn’t find more recent research, but the 31 Alaskan “fell overboard” casualties in 2005 died from drowning, not cold water. Not one of them was wearing flotation. Many couldn’t stay above water long enough for their own boats to make a turn and pick them up…..over a life jacket.
2. If you witness a man overboard – getting the life ring directly to them is critical (vital – step one – must do it). Make certain that all-important piece of safety gear is not just on your vessel, but readily available and not tied to the cradle.
3. When working on deck – wear flotation. I said that already? Well, when I quit reading search reports that end with “experienced” mariners dying because they thought they understood cold water – I’ll come up with better advice.

For more advice about how to handle an accidental immersion into cold water – please watch Cold Water Boot Camp below – it is one of the best 10 minutes on immersion hypothermia ever produced.

Thanks to gCaptain

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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Throwing cold water on winter dive doesn’t cool enthusiasm for scuba

Image via Wikipedia

While Boxing Day shoppers were chasing hot bargains, Fraser Debney and three of his scuba diving friends were into something much colder – the frigid waters of the St. Lawrence River.

For Fraser, who is beginning his third year in the sport, the dive at Cardinal in Eastern Ontario was primarily to test his ability to withstand cold water without the gear normally used in such water temperatures.

“It gave me an opportunity to push the limits of my wetsuit,” said Fraser, who lives in Montreal. “The other three more experienced people had dry suits (preferred for cold-water dives because of their warmth).”

Fraser improvised by wearing a fine thermal type of underwear under his wetsuit. “I found that it works well. It gets wet but still stays warm in that layer (between the wetsuit/underwear and his body).”

He had no problem staying in the water for 25 minutes or more. Unfortunately, almost all that time was spent standing near shore helping the others with their gear because his alternate air source froze open as soon as he entered the water. “The air runs continually and there’s no way to shut it off.”

Fraser aborted his dive but the other three divers went down to the wreck of the Conestoga, a freighter carrying a cargo of wheat that burned and sank in the 1920s. Two of the divers experienced similar problems as Fraser did and had to surface. The fourth was fine.

The dive site was chosen for its “large safety factor.” The Conestoga wreck is the location of many training dives. It’s shallow (the ship is within 20 feet of the surface) and the current is not strong. A bonus in winter is that there are fewer particles in the cold water so visibility is better. This helps underwater photographers capture good wreck pictures.

On Boxing Day the river was especially cold (one degree Celsius), which contributed to the freezing problem. Fraser said a lot of dive gear is designed for southern climates, adding that some will say it is cold-water ready, “but cold to California is different than cold water in Canada.”

There is cold-water gear designed to withstand the conditions but it is more expensive. While Fraser found he could get by in cold water without a dry suit, he also learned the temperature limitations of his regulator. “My local dive shop is going to run an ice diving course and I was thinking of participating. Now I know my equipment would not sustain doing that course.”

Kathy Dowsett


www.kirkscubagear.com

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Basics of Ice Diving

Image by asbjorn.hansen via Flickr

Ice diving is the practice of diving under ice. It is one of the more dangerous forms of scuba diving because of the extreme temperatures and the fact that there is generally only 1 exit, in turn it requires special training. Different scuba diving agencies have different ideas on what type of diving ice diving is, PADI for instance refers to ice diving as a form of recreational diving while NAUI and others refer to ice diving as a form of technical diving.

There are some basic procedures which are taught during ice diving training, without going into detail some of these would include: determining whether any given area is safe for diving, how ice is formed, dive site preparation, safety drills and equipment requirements.

Other topics covered during training include: Emergency situation procedures where divers will learn how to react should they become displaced from their line tender, dealing with frozen air supplies and how to handle the impact of the underside of the ice during an unexpected or uncontrolled ascent. Unlike most forms of scuba diving where gearing up, debriefing and a boat ride is all that is required to reach your destination; Ice diving requires a lot more effort and preparation- Divers will seek an area of potential and conclude whether the area is suitable for diving and if the ice holds the right requirements to perform a dive, next the divers will, in many cases, have to shovel the area clear of snow to reach the bare ice, this is then followed by cutting a hole in the ice using either a chainsaw or an ice saw. The final steps typically involve organizing the line tenders and gearing up.

The line tender which is attached to each diver is an important safety item in ice diving, this is because without them, divers could easily become lost. Should a diver lose sight of the exit/entry point he is likely to become extremely disorientated and could eventually lead to being unable to return to the surface (this has been a common cause of death in ice diving in the past), this is especially the case when diving in an area of low visibility, where you are more likely to lose sight of the exit/entry hole.

The scuba equipment used when ice diving is typically similar to normal scuba diving, although dry suits tend to take priority over wetsuits... And gloves, hoods and boots are definitely mandatory. One addition would be the line tender which tends to fit over the divers body between the wetsuit and the BCD, allowing for divers to shed their equipment if needed during an emergency and remain attached to the line.

It is very important that divers have reliable gear which is known to withstand the temperatures they will be facing. Some items on the market just can't keep up and fail under the freezing temperatures, make sure you do proper research into what gear is reliable for ice diving. It is also very important that all divers use regulators and not rebreathers, the rebreather has been at the center of ice diving deaths in the past.

Ice diving is definitely not for the weak and ice divers will tell you that straight. You need to be able to think clearly under stressful conditions, you need to be determined and you need to understand the risks. Though for those already involved in ice diving, they can vouch for the unique atmosphere present under the endless ceiling of ice with only their line tender holding them back from the abyss. Ice diving during the winter months will also, in some locations allow for water visibility that surpasses the imagination.



Thanks to Dive Time for this article

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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