There are many tell-tale signs that your weighting is off underwater. For instance, you may balloon to the surface near the end of the dive. There are other, more subtle clues that your weights could use some fine tuning. One of these is how streamlined you are in the water.

Streamlining refers to your ability to maintain a horizontal position in the water. When you’re overweighted, you have to compensate by inflating your BCD. This alters your center of gravity to the point that you are swimming with your chest high in the water (and your legs low).

When you’re underweighted, you have to continuously kick down to keep yourself at depth, resulting in a profile position with your legs high in the water.

See the figure below for how each of these looks in the water. Also, take a moment to make the mental connection of how you might feel in each of these positions. This way, if it happens you become aware of it. Like I said, it can be subtle.
Click to enlarge

Correcting this problem has many great effects. First of all, you can more easily enjoy your dive when you are perfectly streamlined. Secondly, it’ll improve your air consumption. It’ll also reduce the likelihood that you inadvertently kick any aquatic life.

Fixing the problem may not be so easy as putting more weights on your belt (or taking them off), although you will want to try this at first. Play around with the location of your weights and see how it affects your balance underwater. You may find putting weights in trim pockets is more helpful.

For example, I use a weight-integrated BCD with around 10 lbs of weight (in tropical water). Most people might put 5 lbs in each weight pocket. However, I prefer 3 lbs in each trim pocket on my back, and 2 lbs in each weight pocket. This took experimentation and about four dives for me to fine tune, but it was well worth the minimal effort.

Also, if you find your legs are especially buoyant, you may want to consider using ankle weights to bring them horizontal. Basically, it comes down to observing your body underwater. Remain still for a moment and feel where your balance is, then think about how you can shift weight to make yourself centered. You will be amply rewarded in future dives.

I recently watched a documentary called The Cove. You may have heard its name in the past month for winning Best Documentary at the 2010 Academy Awards. In fact, that’s what brought the movie to my attention.

Between Avatar and The Cove, 2009 was a year for hippie movies. And make no mistake, The Cove is a hippie movie. Those with any warm feelings towards oceanic creatures like dolphins—and I would assume that includes all scuba divers—will get at least a little riled up by this film. Those who don’t care probably won’t bother to watch in the first place.

The Cove’s name comes from a small lagoon in the Japanese fishing village of Taiji. This village is small. So small you’ve probably never heard of it. Yet it’s a small village with a big secret.

Dolphins migratory patterns bring them right by the coast of Taiji. They are so close that it is relatively easy for fisherman to herd hundreds of a dolphins into this tiny lagoon, as you’ll see early in the movie. They do this by banging on long submerged poles, which interferes with a dolphin’s senses. What awaits them in this lagoon? At first, the dolphins are greeted by trainers from around the world. These trainers represent the interests of just about every park, zoo, and aquarium that houses trained dolphins. The trainers pick out the “prettiest” dolphins from the bunch to be purchased at a price of $150,000 a head—not bad for a day’s work. These trainers are after the next Flipper, which leads to an interesting aspect of the story.

The documentary is centered around Ric O’Barry. O’Barry achieved success early in his life as the trainer for the dolphins playing Flipper in the US television series. This series is responsible for dolphins entering the world’s consciousness as pets more than free-roaming sea creatures. After the dolphin playing Flipper died from deep depression, O’Barry entered into a depression of his own. He had launched an industry responsible for the captivity and eventual death of thousands of dolphins, and the unspoken thread throughout this film is him dealing with this guilt by dedicating his life to saving dolphins. He is seeking the dolphins’ forgiveness.

Plenty of the movie is dedicated to O’Barry—an interesting character in his own right. He’s been one of the most active environmentalists in the world. Not your Al Gore type activitist, either. He’s been arrested more times than he can count, and is responsible for many changes in how the world’s oceans are treated and perceived. Ric O’Barry’s wikipedia page is a short account of some of his accomplishments.

Back at The Cove, however, the unchosen dolphins are herded into a secret cove that is not visible to any bystanders. What goes on over here? The movie uses a lot of CIA type spy-work to answer this question, with the fishermen going to great lengths to keep them out. We know from the beginning that the dolphins see their end here, but it is the manner in which it is done that is particularly gruesome.

This is not a film for light viewing. Be prepared to decide where you stand on things as you watch. I am far from a militant activist, but I went with this movie, and felt angry at the needless killing and destruction shown. Watch the movie, decide for yourself.

I have my convictions about various practices, like chumming water for sharks, where I’ve decided not to participate. This movie challenged me. I now know the cost of dolphin shows at Sea World and dolphinariums. What am I going to do about it? I don’t know. The least I can do is not contribute to the problem by spending my money at these places, but is there more? I’d like to. This is a hippie movie, and maybe one day I’ll be proud to be counted as one of the hippies.

I don’t have a fish ID article today, so instead I offer a link to Dive Photo Guide.

Dive Photo Guide is a pretty nifty site about underwater photography. This includes articles on photography techniques. They have monthly photo contests and a section listing underwater equipment options.

It has stuff for the non-photographer. In particular, check out the Galleries section for some great underwater photography; it can be inspiration for those of you who do take pictures.

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Monday!

I am not a lawyer, and this is not official legal advice. In addition, laws vary between countries, so the situation can always be different for your country or the country you’re diving in.

I’ve heard dive professionals (divemasters and above) talking, in person and on places like ScubaBoard, about when they are diving on vacation (as opposed to diving while working). There seems to be a common sentiment: when the shop wants to see my C-card, only show them my open water or advanced open water card. The less they know the better.

There are two reasons to do this. One is perfectly valid, while the other is unfounded.

I don’t want to be a dive leader

If a dive professional is on vacation, then they want to be on vacation. They don’t want to be responsible for other divers, even implicitly.

Now, no shop is going to ask a vacationing diver to help out with conducting classes, but it is possible that by knowing you’re there they (unconsciously) modify their behavior, shifting responsibility onto you. For instance, if grouping divers for something like a drift dive, they may arrange differently when taking your knowledge and experience into account. This could implicitly put more responsibility on you.

This is somewhat valid, since divemasters make judgments all the time based on the experience of the group they’re diving with. So you shouldn’t lie about your experience, but if a line is crossed where you no longer feel solely responsible for yourself then the vacation is over.

Another thought is that you may be expected to help in the event of an emergency. After all, you’re trained to handle these things. Some people don’t want this unexpected responsibility.

This is a valid sentiment, and so it might be reasonable to only flash your advanced open water card when asked. However, there is no reason to lie when asked about your diving experience (number of dives, types of dives, etc.). By doing that you could unwittingly put divers who are actually less experienced in a less secure position during the dive.

I don’t want to get sued

Another cited reason is that if it is known you are trained and certified to handle diving emergencies, any lack of action on your part in the event of an accident could be cause for litigation.

Let me state right now that this is completely untrue.

I’ve talked with a friend who is a lawyer, and he tells me there is no precedence for anything like this. It is true that they could file suit against you, but I could file against anyone for anything if I really wanted. The suit would be promptly thrown out, and any worthwhile lawyer the person involved in the accident consulted should advise against filing a hopeless case.

There are two cases where you could be sued. The first is if you are a shop employee and an accident occurs. This is why you have professional liability insurance. The second is if something happens, you decide to help, and you really screw it up by not following established emergency protocol given the situation. There are Good Samaritan laws in place to protect you, so as long as you follow accepted procedures for accident management and don’t attempt anything you haven’t been trained for you should be fine.

I wanted to clear up the misconception about getting sued for not helping. We could certainly debate the existence of a moral obligation to help, but we are strictly talking about the law.

One last concern is if your professional diving organization (PADI, NAUI, etc.) has any statutes for members’ behavior in the event of an emergency. For instance, a medical doctor that refuses to help a victim could face penalties from medical associations of which they are a member. Whether this is the case for pro divers, I don’t know.

If you have any further insight, let everyone know in the comments.

On a recent Delta flight I found an article in Sky Magazine. It was about environmentalism overall, but a few pages in particular dealt with the oceans.

One section was about American actor Ted Danson’s foray into activism. His page mostly focused on eating sustainable seafood and avoiding seafood with high mercury levels (like swordfish, which no one should ever eat). However, I found myself drawn towards the portion of the article about Dr. Sylvia Earle.

I’ve never heard of Sylivia Earle, but the article says she is referred to by her friends and colleagues as “Her Deepness”—an accolade that caught my attention. Dr. Earle is considered one of the world’s foremost oceans expert, with over 7,000 hours logged underwater in 50+ years of research and exploration.

She also focuses on sustainable fishing, but brings up the issue of the true cost of seafood. She notes that we’ve consumed something like 90 percent of animals like tuna, marlins, and sharks, but with nothing to show for it; we haven’t been feeding millions of starving Africans. Shrimp used to be a delicacy, a rare treat. Now, no menu is complete without it on the menu.

Dr. Earle says the prices we pay for food are not an accurate reflection of their true cost. For instance, orange roughy can live to be 200 years old, yet we can buy it in the local marks for $8.99 US a pound. These low costs demanded by the market are not indicative of the real cost to the ecosystem.

What do we do about it? One recommended approach is to only eat sustainable seafood by keeping up-to-date on the appropriate lists maintained by independent organizations. Dr. Earle has another suggestion: write a letter to someone who makes decisions in Washington or your community.

I’ve heard this a million times, and have become quite jaded to the suggestion. She adds something interesting, though. In her words, “When I served as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), staff would say, ‘Well, why don’t people tell us what they think? We only hear from vested interests—like commercial fisherman—who want to maintain their commercial rights.’ If people would express their concerns, policymakers will respond.”

I like to believe it works that way, but I just don’t know. I’m curious what all of you out there think. Is it as simple as that?

Telling people you’re a rescue diver is fun. It evokes mental images of you jumping from helicopters into frigid waters like Kevin Costner in The Guardian. While becoming a rescue diver won’t make you Ashton Kutcher, it can be a challenging and rewarding experience.

I’m coming from a PADI approach, but as we’ll see, the information here applies to most of the larger organizations.

What is it?

Like most diving certifications, rescue diver has a knowledge portion combined with an applied, in-the-water component. The knowledge portion includes

• Common causes of diver stress and dive emergencies
• Identifying a diver in need
• Dive rescue procedures and injury treatment
• First aid supplies and dive rescue equipment
• Managing a dive emergency
• Rescuer health and safety
• In-water rescue skills

In addition, you’ll have to prepare an emergency assistance plan, which includes steps of emergency management for a specific dive site.

The applied part of the course is usually split into closed water (pool) exercises and open water exercises. Rescue diver is probably the most physically demanding certification, as it includes recovering unconscious divers from the water—a challenging task.

As a prerequisite, you must be CPR / First Aid certified. These are combined through a PADI certification called Emergency First Responder (EFR) that covers the same material, but you can go to any Red Cross to get the required certification. As you’ll find out when you take this course, many people like having this certification alone to increase their confidence for handling things like ordinary household emergencies.

After learning about skills in a classroom, you’ll have to perform them in the water. There are a lot of skills to do, ranging from simple things like cramp release all the way up to a complete rescue of an unconscious diver (including removal from the water). In between are things like towing a tired diver, helping panicked divers, and carrying divers out of the water.

The Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC), which includes organizations like PADI, SDI, SSI, and YMCA, has a complete list of minimum requirements for a rescue diver course. NAUI is one of the few large organizations no in the RSTC, but I imagine the required skillset is very similar.

How long does it take?

The length of the course varies; some shops like to really take their time when teaching rescue courses. The CPR / First AID (EFR) course can be completed in a day. Expect at least one night for covering the knowledge portion, possibly including watching videos. There is also the pool work, followed by open water exercises. Including EFR, that’s a minimum of 4 days (some of which might be evenings).

Who should take it?

Now we’re getting to the real crux of this article. Most regular divers will complete their advanced certification, if for no other reason just to be allowed to do deep dives. However, most people stop here, so why should you continue?

PADI has a corny, but accurate way of describing the progression through certifications. As a beginner diver, the focus is on taking care of yourself in the water. As you progress, your focus moves from within to becoming aware of other divers. The training follows this approach, as you begin with what is basically a review of self-rescue skills, and then learn how to recognize potential problems in other divers.

Honestly, I feel the training provided by rescue certification is not so much about actually rescuing people. Most divers are probably still not comfortable with that idea even after completing a rescue course. I think the advantages are more about increasing your own comfort level in the water. It’s not until you reach the leadership levels do you really begin to feel the possibility of using your rescue skills.

In any learning situation, there is an old adage that to teach something is to really understand it. This thinking applies here as well. To feel comfortable helping others is to really feel comfortable with yourself in the water. It is for this reason that I recommend that all those who dive regularly take a rescue diver course. You could achieve this comfort level over time with hundreds of dives, but taking a good rescue diver course will get you there much sooner.

Do you agree? Is finishing a rescue diver certification worth it for most divers?

I came across this article about what entrepreneurs can learn from scuba diving. The article points you to a 128-page PDF document called “The Scuba Sutras”, written by Guhesh Ramanathan. Ramanathan is a diver and businessman who has written up ten business lessons that parallel the sea.

The ten lessons are:

1. I will never dive without a check.
2. I will maintain neutral buoyancy.
3. I will enjoy the dive, not just the fish.
4. I will be a good buddy.
5. I will not confuse expertise with certificates.
6. I will respect the currents around me.
7. I will remember that trigger fish can be more dangerous than sharks.
8. I will remember my 50 bar limit.
9. I will pass on my enthusiasm to a non-diver.
10. I will remember there is always another ocean to dive.

The document appears to be written by a non-native speaker, so some of it reads a little awkward. Nevertheless, there is some interesting stuff here for divers and entrepreneurs alike.

You can find the PDF document here, or at the bottom of the short article.

Fish are fun, but for today’s creature identification we’re going to talk about a snail (they’re not just for escargot).

Physical description

Flamingo tongues are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length. They are easy to identify, because they are all white with small yellowish splotches across their shell. These splotches are lined with black.

Interestingly, this color is not part of their shell, but rather part of the animal’s tissue that covers the shell. Divers and snorkelers like to grab flamingo tongues as “souvenirs” because of their pretty shells, only to find after the snail dies that the shell is white and fairly uninteresting.

Geography and habitat

Flamingo tongues live in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic, particularly in the Caribbean.

They can be found at most depths up to 45 ft (14 meters) on soft coral and sea fans. They are gastropods, and so they “eat with their feet” as they travel across the coral, leaving a trail where the soft coral has been eaten off.

Soapbox

Please don’t take these guys from their habitat. I hope that by informing people that the shell becomes quite plain after the snail dies it will discourage them from being taken.

Further reading

Wikipedia
Reef News, (they have an extreme up-close picture that’s much better than mine)
Beautiful Oceans