Peu de personnes plongeaient dans l’océan glacé près de St. John’s, Terre-Neuve, Canada, durant l’hiver 1986. J’avais encore ma combinaison Poseidon Unisuit, que j’avais utilisée pendant plusieurs années lors de plongées commerciales en Colombie-Britannique à la fin des années 1970. Je n’étais pas allé dans l’eau depuis plusieurs années, mais je voulais m’y remettre.
Les plongeurs s’attendent à vivre une expérience agréable, empreinte d’aventure et de plaisir. Ce sont des explorateurs qui conservent un esprit d’optimisme, quel que soit le nombre de plongées qu’ils ont effectuées. Et même si nous plongeons avec de grandes attentes, des incidents surviennent — souvent au moment où l’on s’y attend le moins.
Nitrogen narcosis can lead to deadly consequences. Understanding the risk factors and ensuring that you and your dive buddies have discussed how to mitigate risk can potentially save lives. If you are stung by a jellyfish, watch for symptoms associated with Irukandji syndrome. If symptoms develop, know that it is a potentially deadly condition that doctors can help treat. Pay attention to local marine life bulletins and announcements. The best ways to mitigate jellyfish envenomation risk are to wear full exposure suits and avoid jellyfish when they are prevalent in the water.
Have you ever asked yourself, “What is my biggest fear in diving?” My fear has always been getting lost at sea. I am a technical diving instructor with almost 4,000 dives, and I’ve done plenty of boating, drift diving, and dealing with current.
I REMEMBER SITTING AT MY COMPUTER while thinking about all the ibuprofen I had been popping for the past 18 hours and wondering why I still had the dull, aching pain in my shoulder. Could this be more than soreness from carrying gear back and forth from our shore entry point or exertion from a […]
While growing up I had two lifelong goals: become a diver and join the military to be part of the elite Special Operations Forces. I became a certified diver in […]
I TAKE A GIANT STRIDE off the back of the boat and splash into a cascade of tingling, magical bubbles. The sea’s embrace is chilly; I can feel the 74˚F water through my 5 mm wetsuit and thick 4 mm hood. My vision clears as the …
DAN EMERGENCY SERVICES RECEIVED A CALL via satellite phone from a liveaboard anchored off a remote island in the Galápagos. A DAN member was concerned about their bunkmate exhibiting symptoms following the day’s dive activities. The diver had completed four dives that day. Although she began to show symptoms following the second dive, the inexperienced […]
A COMMERCIAL DIVER FRIEND TOLD ME YEARS AGO that people like me — recreational divers who do commercial diving work — are often referred to as yahoos.
I was always comfortable underwater and, at 78 years old, still am.
Ma première confrontation avec la réalité en tant que professionnel de la plongée a eu lieu après une semaine de travail avec un couple. Chaque jour, ils demandaient des guides de plongée privés et une assistance personnalisée.
