If a shark is sighted, stay calm and maintain your position in as quiet a manner as possible. Most sharks merely are curious and will leave on their own accord. Enjoy your opportunity to see one of nature’s most magnificent predators.
If you have been spearfishing or abalone gathering and are holding your catch, release the catch and quietly exit the area. It is likely that the shark has been attracted to the sound and smells associated with your activity and it is aroused and interested in consuming your catch. Let it have it – no catch is worth the risk of personal injury.
If a shark begins to get too interested in you by coming closer and closer, the best strategy is to leave the water – swim quickly but smoothly, watching the shark all the time, with your dive partner close at hand. Sharks are less likely to attack a “school” of divers than a solitary individual.
If a shark is acting overtly aggressive – making rushes at you, hunching its back, lowering its pectoral (paired side) fins, swimming in a rapid zigzag course, or swimming with rapid up and down movements (sometimes rubbing its belly on the bottom) – look to back up against whatever structure (reef, rock outcropping, piling) is available, thereby reducing the angles with which the shark can approach you. If you are in open water, orient back-to-back with your dive partner and gradually rise to the surface and the safety of your boat. If you are shore diving, gradually descend to the bottom so you can find cover.
Use whatever inanimate equipment (speargun, pole-spear, camera) you have with you to fend off the shark (when diving in known shark-inhabited waters, it is always good to carry a pole or spear for this purpose). If a shark attacks, the best strategy is to hit it on the tip of its nose. This usually results in the shark retreating. If the retreat is far enough away, then human retreat is in order – again, swim quickly but smoothly, watching the shark all the time, with your dive partner close at hand. An aggressive shark often will return, however, and each subsequent hit to the snout will be less effective, so take advantage of any escape opportunities. If you do not have anything to poke with, use your hand, but remember that the mouth is close to the nose, so be accurate!
If a shark actually gets you in its mouth, we advise to be as aggressively defensive as you are able. “Playing dead” does not work. Pound the shark in any way possible. Try to claw at the eyes and gill openings, two very sensitive areas. Once released, do all you can to exit the water as quickly as possible because with your blood in the water, the shark very well could return for a repeat attack.
If you had but 30 seconds to teach someone to scuba dive, what would you tell them? The same thing Mike did — the Golden Rule of scuba diving. Breathe normally; never hold your breath. The rest, in most cases, is pretty much secondary.
For divers following the rule, one third of the gas supply is planned for the outward journey, one third is for the return journey and one third is a safety reserve.
Good divers are always aware of the impact they can have on the marine environment,and act to minimise the adverse effects of their presence there. They do this by maintaining good buoyancy and control skills to ensure that they don't come into contact with marine growth or habitats.
Hence, a diver must pay attention to the “no-decompression limit” for each depth. A common mnemonic is the “120 Rule” which states that 120 minus the maximum depth (in feet) will equal the number of minutes that can be spent there.
There is an old and questionably reliable rule, known as the “120 Rule” that says if you subtract your max depth from 120, you'll get your no-deco time. So an 80-foot dive gives you 40 minutes before it's time to head back to the surface.
1. Never hold your breath. This is undoubtedly by far the most crucial of all safety rules for diving because failure to adhere could result in fatality. If you hold your breath underwater at the depths at which scuba divers reach then the fluctuating pressure of air in your lungs can rupture the lung walls.
“Martini's law” compares having a martini every 10m of depth you descend. This means by the time you are at 30-40m (3-4 martini's) depth it's no surprise you may feel a little tipsy! Narcosis is actually caused by the increased solubility of gases into body tissues when diving at higher pressures at depth.
Women should add 4 to 5 pounds of weight (about 2 kg) if they are diving in saltwater or subtract 4 to 5 pounds (about 2 kg) if diving in freshwater. Men should add 6 to 7 pounds (about 3 kg) if diving in saltwater or subtract 6 to7 pounds (about 3 kg) if diving in freshwater.
Buoyancy. The PADI Open Water Diver course covers positive, negative, and neutral buoyancy; nevertheless, training on this topic continues in the Advanced Open Water course and more subtly in all following courses. ...
Water pressure. You do not go very deep before you have well over 100 atmospheres of pressure on you from all sides. This has been known to swiftly and destructively crush subs that went too deep. The human body was not made to dice deep on its own.
The average age is 41 for dive resorts and 52 for liveaboards. 38% earn above $100K per year for dive resorts and 78% for liveaboards. About 60% are at least college graduates, in both cases.
It's undeniable that breathing is the key to safe and enjoyable diving. From the very first scuba dive experience instructors repeat — keep breathing slow and calm – this way you won't panic.
Always breathe continuously. Never hold your breath. As I mentioned earlier, this is arguably the “number one rule” of scuba because breath holding while scuba diving can lead to serious injury, even death.
1. Never freedive alone. Select an evenly matched partner who will be your safety diver and familiar with the safety and rescue procedures and is able to render assistance if required. Dive under direct observation of your dive buddy.
2. Equalise early and often while descending. Never go deeper than you can comfortably equalise. It is common sense, but many divers forget this rule and take the risk to burst an ear drum.
Air becomes denser (more pressure) as you descend underwater. A diver will use more air due to increased (more) pressure. He's going deeper…more pressure. A diver will use less air due to the decreased (less) pressure as he ascends.
Introduction: My name is Carlyn Walter, I am a lively, glamorous, healthy, clean, powerful, calm, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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