Scuba Diving
Scuba Diving is a great sport. It's full of fun and exciting adventures. You can go underwater and experience the many features of the sea like spectacular fish of different sizes and colors. They swim by you which makes the event more understanding and interesting. Coral reefs are so beautiful that it takes your breath away. With the equipment these days, you can view anything from close up, instead of from far away. To read more, scroll down!
Scuba diving was first founded in ancient times. Since those times, man has required ways to go under the sea. These people weren't aware of all the dangers in the sea, such as sharks and jellyfish. Therefore, the animals could easily injure or kill the people.
Scuba Diving, is a way to go underwater and stay under the surface for such purposes as working or investigating. People would go underwater to explore and get pearls and sponges. Did you know Alexander the Great went under the water in a machine that was in those days a primitive form of a diving bell? Aristotle spoke about different devices that permitted scuba divers to breathe underwater. Scuba diving devices were not invented until the 18th century.
Diving Bells
The British astronomer, Edmund Halley, forged one of the first practical diving bells. A diving bell is an open-bottom wooden chamber with glass windows to allow light in. Air was given to people inside the diving bell by pushing it through leather tubes.
Techniques
In scuba diving, there are three ways to jump into the water:
1. Feet first submerging
2. Head first submerging
3. Jumping into the water
When going feet first submerging, the diver takes 6 to 10 deep breaths. Then, the diver makes sure to be balanced because if not, submerging takes fairly longer. From there on, the diver jumps in.
The second way to enter the water is head first submerging. You also begin by taking 6 to 10 deep breaths. The arms are in front of the head. Then, bending over, the body becomes vertical, but the feet are still on the surface of the water. The diver straightens his/her legs and moves them quickly.
The final way is by jumping into the water. This seems pretty simple. You enter the water from a board of a ship or end of a pool. The diver faces the water and pushes the mask with one hand, and with the other, supports the snorkel. The diver's head is partially bent forward. From there on, the diver jumps in the water feet first.
There is a lot of pressure building up in your head when you are underwater. There are several ways to relieve this, such as by chewing, swallowing, and by blowing. If the diver can not do these procedures, he/she should get out of the water as soon as possible.
Devices and Accessories
Weight Belts
They are made of artificial cord or rubber and are fastened by a binding that can be unbuckled in case of a crisis. Kilogram weights are strapped on the belt to weigh you down.
Weight belts are used in scuba diving because when the body is laid open to water pressure, the weight belts reduce it so you won't float. Rubber is flexible and it shrinks well. Therefore, the belt cannot detach itself from the waist.
Underwater Watches
Underwater watches help tell the amount of time left before you run out of oxygen. These are special watches with a very high durability, which regular watches don't have. They light up and you can see glowing ciphers.
Underwater Lights
It is very dark under the water; these lights help the diver see. They are very different from regular flashlights, since they are waterproof.
Underwater Communication Devices
Underwater communication devices are achieved through unique kinds of hardwire, auditory, or non-acoustic electric wireless systems. This allows the diver (if helmet is on) to talk to the crew.
Underwater Sleds
Underwater sleds aren't exactly sleds, they are gadgets that scuba divers manipulate to swim quickly without effort of waste of activity. They have two engines that can carry up to three people. To cover greater distances, wet submarines are used. It's called wet because the diver actually stays in the water. This supports the diver from the current that the device originates. The diver can carry supplies if needed.
Equipment
Masks
Snorkels
Hoods
Regulators
BCs
Weight Systems
Exposure Protection Suits
Computers
Compasses
Tanks
Dive Knives
Booties
Fins
Hypothermia is a situation when the body temperature drops to a very low degree. Particular disabilities in the human torso happen. Here are the symptoms and suggested method to handle this.
Stage Symptoms
99-96 degrees F Shaking, "Goosebumps", blue skin
95-91 degrees F Intense shivering: beginning of amnesia
90-86 degrees F Skin blue or puffy: muscular rigidity: thinking less clear: 30 degrees F
85-81 degrees F High blood pressure: slurred speech: languid: irrationality
80- 78 degrees F Unconsciousness: cardiopulmonary: disorder in the brain, no movements
Below 78 degrees F Heart fibrillates: edema or hemorrhage in lungs. May cause death!L
To prevent hypothermia when scuba diving, you need to wear warm rubber suits. It is suggested to rub the body with different lotions before taking jumps into the water for a long period of time. It is recommended not to dive another time on the same day since you are not sure when the body reaches the normal temperature.
Dangerous Creatures of the Sea
There are many dangerous creatures of the sea. They can injure terribly or cause death. Make sure you avoid these terrible marine animals of the waters or else!!
Box Jellyfish
These organisms are one of the most hazardous marine animals. They kill more people than a shark, crocodile, and stonefish combined!
The box jellyfish comes out every year in the late summer. As a matter of fact, the creature does not actively hunt, but actually, waits for food to bump into its tentacles. A little shrimp might rip a fragile jellyfish’s tentacle, but with very strong poison, the shrimp is killed immediately.
Box Jellyfish have approximately sixty tentacles that are each about five meters in length. The tentacles are grouped into four places of a pack-shaped bell that can be as large as a basketball! Five million stinging cells also known as nematocysts are attached to each tentacle. They contain chemicals that react to the surface of fish and humans. Impact with just 3 meters of tentacles can easily kill an adult. That’s amazing!
Scientific research about the box jellyfish proves that it can see through four eyes. How it operates without a brain is still a mystery, but the creature is able to avoid its predators.
Blue-Ringed Octopus
This capable killer is very tiny though it can kill with ease. It is yellowish brown, but when troubled by other creatures it attacks harshly! Its blue rings become blazing and visible. The blue-ringed octopus is not actually hostile by nature but will bite when exasperated. Its main prey is crab, though it has bitten and killed humans.
Moray Eels
Moray Eels are very dangerous. This distinctive marine animal has bitten hundreds of divers. They have spiked teeth which to latch on and hurt prey, usually creating serious disasters. If a diver has a hand out, the eel may think it’s food and bite the hand right off. This is really scary, don't you think?
Sharks
Sharks are scary, fearsome, and big animals that can easily cause death. They attack swimmers if seen. Sharks have interesting traits that make them stand out from other sea creatures. The main difference from other fishes is that shark skeleton is made up of cartilage, not bone.
Sharks don’t even have an air bladder, which means if they stop swimming, they will sink right to the bottom. To conquer this disability, they have oil-filled livers that give them the strength to float. Without the air bladder, sharks can easily move. In fact, their fins act as descent planes and provide vast elevation as the shark swims.
Some facts about dangerous marine creatures
The box jellyfish is known to kill humans in nearly three minutes. The blue-ringed octopus in about a half an hour, and the pufferfish in seventeen minutes. About thirty box jellyfish are all over beaches among Mackay and Carirns. In the last hundred years, the box jellyfish roughly killed 65 people. The toad/pufferfish are poisonous but also can dislodge toes and fingers with their beak-like mouths. You will most likely die from a box jellyfish sting than from a shark attack. Do not carry bleeding fish in your hands and be sure not to swim after dark because you may not see a hazardous creature coming.
Quiz Questions
1. Which equipment is not used in scuba diving?
2, What is the difference between an underwater watch and a regular watch?
A An underwater watch has a much higher durability
B An underwater watch is a lot bigger
D It could tell the time in other countries
3. What century introduced scuba diving devices?
4. In scuba diving, how many suggested ways are there to go into the water?
5. How many breaths should you take before going underwater feet first submerging?
6. Who is the British astronomer that invented the diving bell?
7. Why do scuba divers wear rubber suits?
D Keeps you dry, and comfortable
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