A Michigan man gets certified to scuba dive. Big deal? He’s legally blind. I’ve definitely dove with people who could’ve been legally blind, the way they were kicking everything.

A U.K. band has designed shoes to sell, with the proceeds going to a conservation fund. From the headline, Shoes for Sharks, I had hoped for pictures of sharks wearing little boots. Saving them from illegal fishing is ok too, I guess.

The Groveland, FL scuba diver is at it again! He’s making another go at the world record for longest freshwater dive. The current record is 5 days. He says he hopes his record attempt will bring attention to the poor quality of lakes in Central Florida. So that’s what he’ll think about for 5 days underwater.

A 563-foot Navy destroyer will be sunk as an artificial reef off Ocean City, New Jersey. Yeah, because New Jersey doesn’t have enough garbage in its water. (+1 me for scoring a Jersey joke)

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.

A while back, I attempted to answer this question about getting sued for not helping divers. Mainly this applies to professionals, who are trained to assist divers in distress.

The question was prompted by dive professionals (divemasters, instructors, etc.) who go on vacation, and when asked in a dive shop flash their advanced open water certification cards—not letting the shop know they have more training. The thinking is that when I am on vacation I don’t want to worry about other divers, and especially don’t want to get sued for not helping.

I asked around, and apparently there is no precedent for this. Unless you’re an employee of the dive operation, simply being there does not place a burden of responsibility on you.

Reader Steven pointed out an exception in some countries, like in the U.K. If you are a diver’s buddy, and they get into trouble, a “duty of care” kicks in and you are responsible to assist them to the limits of your training.

Even if you don’t reveal your true certification level, if an accident occurs with your dive buddy, the shop (or the family’s legal council) will look into it and discover whether you acted to the limits of your training.

As an open water or even an advanced open water diver, simply saying “the situation was too dangerous so I went for help” is a valid excuse, since your limits of training are not very high. However, as a rescue diver, divemaster, or instructor, you are explicitly trained for these situations, so you better be prepared to help.

Again, this only applies in certain countries, so check on your diving region. And it only applies to your buddy—you are not responsible for everyone in the water.

Thanks again to Steven for the additional information.

Photo by Let Ideas Compete

The other day I harped on the pains of dry suit diving. One of my complaints was that after all that effort, you’re still not all that warm.

Diving Unlimited International (DUI) read my thoughts, but only a long time before I had them. They’re introducing a new line of electrically heated insulation for drysuit diving.

Initially I was a little frightened at the thought of electrical equipment—wires, batteries, etc.—strapped to my chest underwater; who knows how batteries respond to pressure. But I suppose this is what they’ve worked out in the lab and field testing.

If you’re interested to try it out before they unveil the new line later this year, go to the next DUI DOG Rally in Portland, CT, October 2-3. Notify them ahead of time and you might be able to try out one of them.

The Wall Street Journal profiles an oil rig turned diving mecca. Placed in a prime western Pacific location, this rig is in the heart of a diving paradise.

In a cleanup day sponsored by REEF, divers removed over 500 lionfish. Combine this with the recent surge in eating lionfish and we have the makings for one heckuva barbecue!

I’ve seen scuba masks with cameras built-in before, but this headline cracked me up: camera scuba goggles mean your hands are free to punch sharks in the face. What’s better than punching a shark in the face? Catching it on camera from one foot away. I see a new scuba specialty in the future.

Rumor has it that the sequel to Avatar will go under the sea. Not surprising, given the heavy aquatic influence on the design of the first film.

I hate dry suits.

There, I said it. Now with that out of the way, let me tell you a story.

Back in May, I participated in a drysuit diving day at my local quarry. As many of you know, quarries are amazing places to dive¹, but we were there with a mission, to get our drysuit certification.

Why dry suits?

Let me answer your question with a question: why do you get cold on dives? Now let me answer my question which was an answer to your question: heat flow.

You get cold when heat flows. Specifically, it flows away from your body. This happens all the time, but it just so happens that water is particularly talented at moving heat around. (This is one of a bagillion reasons why the oceans are so important.)

When you don your spiffy wetsuit (your wetsuit is spiffy, isn’t it?), even though it fits good and snug (or should, anyway), it still allows some water in. During the dive, there is a steady, albeit slow, flow of water in and out. The cool water comes in, steals your body’s warmth, and takes it out, leaving you cold. The nerve.

Dry suits² put an end to this vicious cycle. They seal of your neck, ankles, and wrists, trapping air around your body, which helps insulate you from that sneaky cold water.

Sounds fantastic, right? Let me get back to my story.

The downside

Putting on a drysuit is a process. For one, the whole concept relies on seals to keep air in, and more importantly, keep water out. Leaks are a big deal. Seals have to be perfect³. Too loose, and water rushes in like Isengard, too tight, and you pass at before you get in the water. Even if you own a suit and have it set up, you have to check over these things.

With all that air around your body, you become much more buoyant. Thus, drysuits require a ton of weight. I think I dove with 10 more pounds than I’ve ever used in my life.

Having air move around your body makes diving trickier. Part of the reason drysuits require a separate certification is this trickiness. You have to know how to control your buoyancy using the suit’s air valves. More importantly, you need to know how to handle emergencies should they arise—from all the air going to your legs, making you hang upside-down (not so serious), to a runaway inflation valve (serious).

In short, diving in a drysuit can be a real chore. I don’t claim to be an expert after a few dives, all I know is I have no desire to become one.

A necessary evil

Which brings us to the crux of the problem. I hate drysuits, yet they are practically a necessity for cold water diving.

The thing is, I wasn’t even that impressed with the suit’s ability to keep me warm. Dry, yes. Warm, no.

I expected to be super-cozy, but in mid-50s water I was still very cold. Maybe not as cold as I would’ve been in a thick wetsuit, but far from comfortable, even with my thick insulation beneath the suit.

The one word that comes to mind after my experience? Disappointing. I expected a lot of things out of dry suits, which they failed to deliver. They did, however, live up to their name. It was a dry, suit.

Options

My solution? No cold water diving. There are a few things I’d like to see in my life that are in cold water but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, I’ll stick with the tropics.

Am I a baby? Perhaps, but scuba diving for me is a leisure activity. It’s not a job. I don’t have to do things I don’t wanna do. And you can’t make me.

Not all is hopeless, though. There is one decent alternative to drysuits for many (not all) environments. We’ll save that one for another day.

Do you hate drysuits, too, or do you just think I’m an idiot? The world awaits your input.

1. No they’re not.
2. Is it dry suits (two words), or drysuits (one word)? I can’t find a consistent answer.
3. Speaking of seal sizes, apparently I have a pencil neck. The guy had to go down to women’s sizes to find one that fit me.

Photo by TauchSport_Steininger

Photo by Beige Alert

This interesting member of the wrasse (pronounced “rass”) family is a common sighting on many a dive trip.

Physical description

Shape-wise, the creole wrasse looks like a typical wrasse—elongated body, slightly forked caudal fin, and rear-trailing dorsal and anal fins.

The creole wrasse’s colors change through its life. Juveniles are almost entirely a deep purple to violet color.

As the fish ages, it develops a yellow patch on the rear lower part of its body. The tail fin also becomes a bluish or black color.

Their bright coloring makes them a difficult sight to miss.

Geography and habitat

Creole wrasse are common through the Caribbean, southern Florida, and even up towards Bermuda.

You’ll find them living on coral reefs, often in small schools.

Further reading

FishBase
Marine Species

Some kids in the Florida panhandle helped clean up local waters as part of learning about the environment. In order to do this, they had to first get scuba certified, to clean up around jetty rocks. Lucky kids. The coolest thing I ever got to do was look at a solar eclipse through one of those holes poked in construction paper.

More records are being challenged. This time, a Florida diver is attempting to break the record for longest freshwater dive. He started out on Sunday, sitting 10 feet below the surface. He came out 2:30 last night, making it almost three days underwater. I’m not sure if he broke the record, but I bet he’s got some serious prune fingers.

The Mythbusters are going to test the James Bond wetsuit / tuxedo switch. In the 1964 movie Goldfinger, James Bond peels off a wetsuit, revealing a perfectly groomed white tuxedo. I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that they “bust” this myth. I can barely get my wetsuit off without losing my bathing suit.

A diver in England found a 60 year old German mine off Drake Island. I found an empty Jägermeister bottle once.