Scuba – Page 2 – Open Water Saga

Scuba Comic: Fire Coral

ow… I was trying to show another diver something cool on the reef, and I didn’t even feel my hand touch anything! There was just a sharp, painful burn on my finger. I thought it was a jellyfish at first, but when I examined the wound later it looked like a nasty 2nd degree burn. I correctly guessed fire coral was the culprit.

Fire coral is horrible! The pain lasted a week, went away, and then came back worse than ever. Sea water, isopropyl alcohol, steroid cream, and vinegar are all said to help the burn but honestly nothing worked as effectively as I hoped it would! With time it’s definitely healing, but wow. That sucked.

Divers aren’t supposed to wear gloves on this particular reef, but I think I could have gotten away with it without getting in trouble.

I ended up not wearing gloves because… I was doing my Divemaster course! I was having enough trouble managing everything going on around me, plus attaching/reattaching the 6 different tools clipped to my BCD that I had to constantly remove and use… it was just easier without gloves.

Well, it made handling my tools and BCD a little easier, but was it really worth it when the trade off is a multi-week burn…?

Scuba Comic: Bull Sharks

Exhilarating stuff!!

I visited Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya (Mexico) for a few days, and saw a dive shop advertising bull shark dives. It was a little expensive– the cost of two dives in one– but it was well worth it. The sharks get in your personal space, which I loved. I would feel something jostling my fins, and every once in a while a shark would cruise overhead a little too close and bump my head.

Something else was getting up close and personal too…!

Divemaster: Decompression Theory

This is a crazy one, folks! I had some scuba theory I had to learn, and I think drawing it all out helpped me remember the principles.

I accidentally drew on both sides of this paper. Marker bleeds through this brand of drawing pad so no colors this time!

I didn’t even get to the Haldanean Model before I ran out of time. I had a limited amount of time I could study, and drawing was just taking too long!! Modern recreational dive planning tables are based on a LOT of research and theory developed over decades. Haldane was a man who theorized that different organs in our bodies absorbed and released gas at different rates, when put under pressure. Lungs absorb a lot of gas fast; brains are the opposite and take up gas relatively slowly.

Ol’ Hal (that’s my nickname for him now) made a chart and some calculations for determining how fast a diver will become saturated with gas (nitrogen gas for example) and how quickly the diver will release that gas.

This information isn’t very practical. Nobody needs Haldeanean (how many different ways will I incorrectly spell this…?) tissue compartment gas saturation tables to dive. You can use your dive computer and/or dive tables that someone else already programed and designed.

It’s probably useful to know because understanding the theory and details behind why something works can help a person understand the whole thing better. Or maybe someone at PADI really likes Ol’ Hal and doesn’t want his name to be forgotten. Maybe it’s both!

Divemaster: Equalization

I’m sick! I think it’s a head cold that could turn into a sinus infection if I’m not careful. Unfortunately, this means I can’t dive while I’m ill.

I’ve met plenty of divers who still go out when they’re feeling under the weather– and they’ve been fine– but the potential for complications and injury are high when you’re sick in certain ways. Anything involving your sinuses or inner ear could more easily lead to an injury that ends your diving career.

A traumatized sinus will eventually heal, but it will take a long time and it might be too sensitive in the future to handle the kind of pressure changes that happen during scuba. A blown-out eardrum on the other hand doesn’t heal or repair itself, so a diver will need surgery. Even then they probably won’t be able to dive in the future.

Don’t dive sick! It sucks to lose your deposit, and its a pain to change your plans, but in the end it’s worth it not to suffer through a major injury that could stop you from diving forever.

Scuba Comic: The Seattle Aquarium

I had the good fortune to be able to visit some good friends, and they took me to the aquarium! While I didn’t actually scuba, I did get to see some cool creatures and learn some new animal facts.

I had been to this aquarium once before with a different friend, several years ago when the second half of the aquarium was still under construction. Its very well done, with lots of great-looking habitats and interesting critters.

I hadn’t been able to see the Northern Fur Seals the last time, and I fell in love with Flaherty at first sight on this second visit. He looks like a disaster, with scraggly hair and bloodshot eyes… but he’s perfectly alright. I think fur seals just look like that.

I spotted a nudibranch! The water in the Seattle Aquarium comes in through the Puget Sound, so little creatures will get sucked into some of the tanks and often make their new homes in the exhibits. Nudibranches are often seen in one area of the octopus tank, and I made it my life’s mission to find one… and amazingly, I did. They are absolutely tiny. The picture below of the nudibranch is probably twice as big as the real thing.

How fabulous! I know very little about these guys but I think this is an Opalescent Nudibranch. You can check my work using this handy guide from Emerald Divers!

Guitar Sharks, aka Guitar Rays or Guitar Fish, are absolutely fascinating creatures. I’ve seen a couple on dives in Cabo San Lucas, though they were much smaller than the behemoth at the aquarium!

We were told they are very, very rare and many people go their whole lives without spotting one. I feel lucky having seen two or three in my lifetime out in the wild!

Scuba Comic: Gordo Banks

I was finally able to dive at Gordo Banks! 3rd time’s the charm. The first time I cancelled because I was afraid I’d get too cold, and the second time I got sick…

Scuba certifications, depending on the area, are sometimes strictly followed and sometimes ignored completely. For example, I’ve heard Egyptian dive shops are notorious for bringing divers to sites with conditions/depths that are far too advanced for a diver’s certification level as long as the diver is willing to pay!

In Baja California, it seems like familiarity is very important to dive shops and guides. If they don’t know who you are, they’ll stick closely to your certification level and depth rating. But if you get to know the people more personally, they’re willing to do more exciting things (safely!).

In the United States, it’s a completely mixed bag in my experience. Some guides have been very lax about things, while others have been very strict.

When it comes to approaching the limits, I do try to be careful. I have a dive computer that has features that are super useful for these circumstances, and I’m good at monitoring my air consumption. I like to think I’m pretty good under pressure, literally and figuratively (I think I’m funny).

130ft is the absolute maximum for recreational diving, because once you go farther down, the risk of injury dramatically increases. That’s not even taking your air consumption into account: at 130ft, you use it up really fast!

Of course, a girl can dream about going even deeper… Technical Diving certification courses teach you how to go past that limit. I guess I’ll put that on my To-Do List too.