Coral Reefs: An In-Depth Description

coral reefs
Coral reef habitats play a major role in the ecosystems of the world’s oceans. These thriving marine environments create biodiversity and provide homes, protection and a food source for ocean animals as well as protect the coastlines and contribute to the world’s health, medical, tourism and recreation industries.

Biodiversity
Reefs are among the most diverse and valuable ecosystems in the world. They support more species of fish, plant life and aquatic animals than any other marine environment. It is estimated that nearly 4,000 species of fish, 800 species of coral and millions of other undiscovered types of nature live in and around the reef systems of the world.

Marine habitats
Perhaps the most important aspect of reefs is the protection and shelter that they provide for marine animals. The colorful coral, hidden nooks and intricate swirls of brain coral, anemones and plate coral give fish, shrimp, eels and seahorses a place to live and eat, raise their young and hide from natural predators. Likewise, reef fish and mollusks provide food for millions of people a year.

Contributions to the world
In addition to playing a major role in the environment of the ocean, reefs contribute a great deal to the world itself. Reefs protect the coastline from strong currents and waves caused by storms, hurricanes and tsunamis by slowing down the waves before they get to shore. Barrier reefs do just what the name suggests. They provide a barrier between the water and the shore. This results in protection from on-shore erosion and property damage. Reefs also protect the wetlands along the coast, as well as ports and harbors.

Corals also help control how much carbon dioxide is present in the ocean water. When coral polyps turn carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate, the sediment falls to the floor as limestone sediment. Over time, this process may raise up from the floor as dry land or be dissolved back into the water or air as carbon dioxide. Without this chain reaction, the amount of carbon dioxide in the water would rise, which would affect every living thing on Earth.

A variety of drugs have been developed from reef plants and animals for use as treatment in areas such as cancer, viruses, arthritis and other conditions. Secosteroids, used by corals to protect themselves, have been used to treat inflammatory issues such as asthma and arthritis. Bivalves are being studied to learn more about the aging process, metabolic activity and certain environmental stressors. Yondelis, or trabectedin, is a soft tissue sarcoma treatment derived from the marine organism Ecteinascidia turbinata, a sea squirt found in the shallow waters of Florida, the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico.

Scuba diving
Since reefs are located in exotic and desirable destinations around the world, including the Pacific, the Florida Keys, Southeast Asia, Hawaii and the Caribbean, it is only natural that their tourism draw would be an asset to the local economy. Travelers are contributing to the economy and providing jobs to local people by participating in diving tours and fishing trips, booking hotels, dining at restaurants and visiting other businesses near the reefs.

Consideration of the delicate reef ecosystem is a top concern when scuba diving in any area of the world’s oceans. The buoyancy compensator worn by divers allows them to get close without actually touching the coral, which could potentially harm the coral polyps. Be aware of where the boat anchor is being dropped, or use reef mooring buoys if they are available.

Plunge below the surface of crystal clear water into a world filled with the brilliant colors of anemones, blue sponges, chili sponges and firecracker coral set against intricate spirals and wavy spires of bleached white tree and plate coral. This magical setting is inhabited by urchins, seahorses, crabs, yellow tang, gobies, parrotfish and clown fish as well as neighboring marine animals such as sea turtles and sharks.

Whether it is a natural, man-made or artificial reef such as a ship wreck, coral reefs provide some of the most breathtaking scenery a diver will ever experience.

Vancouver’s First Major Artificial Reef

by Rick Wall – Director, Communications – The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia:
HMCS AnnapolisVancouver BC, 12 May 2015. The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) successfully completed its latest project on 4 April, 2015 when the former Canadian warship ANNAPOLIS was finally sunk in the Halkett Bay Marine Provincial Park, creating the first major artificial reef in the Vancouver area.

Since 1989, the ARSBC has sunk more ships to create marine habitat than any other non-profit group in the world. The ANNAPOLIS Project which started in 2008 with the purchase of the former HMCS Annapolis (110 metre helicopter-carrying destroyer-escort) from the Canadian Government turned out, however, to be the most complicated and controversial project ever undertaken by the Reef Society. Financial issues, changing federal government regulations, emerging environmental concerns and legal challenges all forced the Project timelines and costs to be extended. In the end, the work to prepare ANNAPOLIS took almost seven years to complete, involving more than 1,000 volunteers from the local dive community and consuming almost 20,000 person-hours. Once all the federal permits had been issued and legal challenges put aside, a six-week window was identified to complete all the final preparations for the sinking. A dedicated team of specialists agreed to come onboard and complete this work, which included:

  • Detailed surveying of the ship to assess the stability of the ship;
  • Identifying locations for explosive charges;
  • Identifying requirements for venting arrangements;
  • Mapping diver access arrangements;
  • Preparing towing arrangements for moving the ship to the sink site;
  • Preparing anchoring arrangements at the sink site to ensure accurate positioning of the ship; and
  • Ensuring safety for all spectators.

annapolisThree days before the sink day, the ship was moved to Halkett Bay and positioned over the small shelf that had been designated as her new home and final preparations completed. With tide conditions deemed optimal, an air horn sounded and the bay echoed as fourteen charges were detonated in the ship. Two minutes later, all that could be seen was a cloud of smoke hanging over the water where ANNAPOLIS had been floating. Society President Howie Robins commented:

“This was by far the best executed sinking operation for the Reef Society. Divers are already enjoying the experience”.

Divers started visiting the ship on 6 April, after it had been inspected by the safety divers. To date it is estimated that 95% of the ship`s interior has been explored. Here are some common comments that have come back to us (courtesy of Sea Dragon Charters):

“The Annapolis sits perfectly upright on the bottom at about 105 feet. This is great as it allows for extra bottom time compared to some of the other artificial reefs in BC”

“The Annapolis has a multitude of swim-throughs – all at various deck levels. This is exciting, even if you are not wreck certified. You can safely see inside the wreck without entering”

From Deirdre Forbes McCracken, owner of Ocean Quest Dive Centre, who has made two dives to the ship:

“On our second trip back to the ship, the school shiner perch had grown to be several hundred! Tiny shrimp now hopped along the exterior decks of the ships in numbers far too great to count! On our first dive out, other teams of divers had reported seeing red rock crabs at the base of the stern, and now we find more crabs taking up residence [in the operations room]! In just a few weeks to see so many creatures already finding this new reef home was a very rewarding and emotional moment!”

ANNAPOLIS is the most comprehensively prepared naval ship in the ARSBC fleet of artificial reefs and has been designed for the enjoyment of divers of all skill levels. Equally importantly, though, is that after only one month ANNAPOLIS has already begun its transformation to a viable marine habitat.

Acknowledgements:

This project was truly a team effort, involving a large number of people, without whom it would never had been completed. In addition to the long hours put in by the volunteers from the local dive community in preparing the ship for the various environmental inspections, additional thanks must go out to those specialists who contributed both their time and unique expertise in executing a text-book perfect conclusion to a long and complicated endeavor. Those companies include:

Crosby Marine Services, Gibsons, BC
Reliant Marine Services, Gibsons, BC
Mountain Towing and Recovery, Maple Ridge, BC
Pacific Blasting and Demolition Ltd, Burnaby, BC
Damet Services Ltd, DeWinton, AB
Accurate Energetic Systems, LLC, McEwen, TN
Dyno Nobel Industrial and Mining Explosives Manufacturing
Artificial Reefs International, Key West, FL
Derek W. Davis, Inc. Naval Architect, Victoria, BC
Seaspan Marine Corp, North Vancouver, BC
Sea Dragon Charters, West Vancouver, BC

See photo and video footage here:
Article & aerial pictures
CTV Newscast – 4 Apr 15


Rick Wall – Director, Communications
The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
c/o Vancouver Maritime Museum
1905 Ogden Avenue
Vancouver B.C. V6J 1A3
Web site: www.artificialreef.bc.ca
E-mail: rwall@artificialreef.bc.ca

7 Reasons to Get Scuba Certified

Scuba diving is a sport that allows people to first learn about the sport, and then carry education and experience down various pathways of adventure.

Equipment Similarities in Public Safety Diving and Firefighting

Each day, firefighters use specific gear designed to keep them safe in hazardous environments. This equipment includes items for exposure protection, breathing, and performing tasks.

Guidelines of the National Fire Protection Association

by Darrell Adams:
NFPA drill
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards have become the most widely accepted standards for agencies that are responsible for providing technical search and rescue services in the United States. These standards provide a framework to help agencies more effectively manage their operations, reasonably ensure they have competently trained personnel, and limit liability by conforming or adhering to consensus based standards that have been developed by the search and rescue community, product manufacturers, training organizations and other technical rescue professionals. The NFPA standards address many different professional qualifications for the technical rescue disciplines such as water rescue, rope rescue, confined space, vehicle and machinery extrication, and several more. There are NFPA standards that also cover other aspects like the health and safety of response personnel, as well as working equipment and the personal protective ensemble of the response personnel. NFPA standards are reviewed periodically to address the changes within the search and rescue communities’ methodology and to address manufacturer changes and advancements.

There are two standards that address the majority of the aspects of technical rescue with the first being the NFPA 1670 (Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents 2014 edition) standard that identifies and establishes the level of “functional capability” for organizations who respond to technical search and rescue incidents. The 1670 Standard outlines how to conduct technical rescue operations safely and effectively while minimizing risk to rescuers. The 1670 Standard is intended to help the “Authority Having Jurisdiction” (AHJ) assess technical rescue hazards within a given response area, identify the level of operational capability, and establish guidelines for incident operations and training. Within this standard it addresses thirteen different technical rescue disciplines (Rope, Structural Collapse, Confine Space, Vehicle, Water, Wilderness, Trench, Machinery, Cave, Mine, Helicopter, Tower, and Animal Search and Rescue). An organization can determine the level of operational capability to each of these disciplines as they apply to their agency based on an individual needs assessment. These different levels of operational capability address specific concerns that are associated with the specific environments. Rope rescue however is one of those disciplines that blends and crosses over into the other disciplines and is not limited by environment. Therefore, it should be considered when an agency is developing programs in these other areas. The levels of operational capability for the disciplines in NFPA 1670 are listed as:

The Awareness Level that “represents the minimum capabilities of organizations that provide response in technical search and rescue incidents.”

The Operations Level that “represents the capability of organizations to respond to technical search and rescue incidents and to identify hazards, use equipment and apply limited techniques specific in this standard to support and participate in technical search and rescue incidents.”

The Technician Level that “represents the capability of organizations to respond to technical search and rescue incidents, to identity hazards, use equipment, and apply advanced techniques specified in this standard necessary to coordinate, perform, and supervise technical search and rescue incidents.”

The second standard is NFPA 1006 (Standard for Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications 2013 edition). This standard identifies the minimum job performance requirements (JPRs) for technical response personnel who perform technical rescue operations. This standard does not limit an organization on training but it does establish a “minimum level of competency for a rescuer” within each rescue discipline. It is aimed at the rescuer’s ability to demonstrate skill proficiency. The job performance requirements defined in chapter five “shall be met prior to being qualified as a technical rescuer relative to the discipline specific chapters.” The subject matter addressed in chapter five is: Site Operations, Victim Management, Maintenance, and Ropes/Rigging. The chapter-specific disciplines of NFPA 1006 are: Ropes, Confine Space, Trench, Structure Collapse, Vehicle Rescue, Surface Water, Swiftwater, Dive, Ice, Surf, Wilderness, Mine and Tunnel, Cave and Machinery Rescue. Within each of these disciplines there are two levels of qualifications:

Level I. This level shall apply to individuals who identify hazards, use equipment, and apply limited techniques specified in this standard to perform technical rescue operations.

Level II. This level shall apply to individuals who identify hazards, use equipment, and apply advanced techniques specified in this standard to perform technical rescue operations.

Some of these rescue environments are low frequency events for a lot of technical rescue organizations and are considered high risk events. So one has to remember that this standard again only establishes the “minimum level of competency for a rescuer” therefore, retention of knowledge and developed skill sets are very fragile. These skill sets must be maintained to ensure that a rescuer is able to perform when the need arises. Monthly, periodic and annual currency and proficiency training is a must for agencies providing technical rescue services. With some disciplines there may be OSHA regulations that also require annual training like confine space and trench.

Some other relevant NFPA standards to the technical rescue arena are:
NFPA 1983 (Standard on Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services – 2012 Edition)

NFPA 1951 (Standard on protective Ensembles for Technical Rescue Incidents – 2013 Edition)

NFPA 1855 (Standard for Selection, Care and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Technical Rescue Incidents – 2013 Edition)

NFPA 1952 (Standard on Surface Water Operations Protective Clothing and Equipment – 2015 Edition)

NFPA 1936 (Standard on Power Rescue Tools – 2015 Edition)

NFPA 1561 (Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System and Command Safety – 2014 Edition)

NFPA 1410 (Standard on Training for Emergency Scene Operations – 2015 Edition)

NFPA 1401 (Standard for Fire Service Respiratory Protection Training – 2013 Edition)

NFPA 471 (Standard on Recommended practice for Responding to Hazardous Materials Incidents – 2002 Edition)

NFPA 472 (Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents – 2013 Edition)

NFPA 473 (Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents – 2013 Edition)

NFPA 1500 (Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program – 2012 Edition)

NFPA 1521 (Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer Professional Qualifications – 2015 Edition)

NFPA 1583 (Standard on Health-Related Fitness Programs for Fire Department Members – 2015 Edition)

NFPA 1584 (Standard on the Rehabilitation Process for Members during Emergency Operations and Training Exercises – 2015 Edition)

NFPA Standards on the horizon:
NFPA 1952 (Standard on Protective Ensembles for Contaminated Water Diving – Proposed future date 2016)

NFPA 1986 (Standard on Respiratory Protection Equipment for Technical and Tactical Operations – Proposed future date 2017)

The NFPA Standards exist to provide an organization with a foundational framework for agency operation and incident management as well as training guidelines. While these standards are not regulatory, they have been widely accepted among those in the technical rescue arena as a consensus-based standard. They should be considered when an agency is looking into organization development and training programs. One really should obtain copies of the standards that are and will be relevant to them, and really dive into them to grasp a better understanding of them. The training programs of ERDI have been, and will continue to be, researched to make sure they achieve adherence to the relevant NFPA standards as they apply to agency programs. “There are no walls in the ocean to hold onto, no time-outs can be called, and re-dos are not granted when things are not going as planned.” Proper planning prior to an emergency is paramount. So grab some coffee and sit back with the Lil’ red books of NFPA.


Darrell Adams
SDI/TDI/ERDI Instructor Trainer with Air Hogs Scuba in Garner, NC, Captain with the Harnett County Underwater Search & Recovery Dive Team and technical rescue instructor for NC Fire and Rescue Commission

Swift-Water Training

ERDI Training

The County of Henrico, Virginia hosted an ERDI Non-Diving Swift Water Instructor Course May 18th through the 22nd bringing out Instructor Trainer Eric Brooks of ProTech Scuba LLC to run the course. During this 40-hour course, five members of the Chesterfield Fire District, five members of the Richmond Fire District, and five members of the County of Henrico Fire District participated in the instructor level activities. In the first three days of the course, candidates honed their academic presentation skills, before completing their swimming requirements and dry-land training on day four. The final day was spent at “Pipeline,” a swift-water training site located in the heart of Richmond, VA. During this final day of training the instructor candidates demonstrated their superior watermanship and technical level skills. All of the candidates did a fantastic job and as new instructors are a welcome addition to the ERDI family. Gentlemen, good luck with your first swift water course!

Picture 1, Back row from left to right: Pierce Brinkley, Gene Ledlie, Colin McCaffrey, Mike Possanza, Bruce Ivey, DJ Jennings, Mike Burnett, and Sean Labadie. Front row from left to right: Devin Creamer, Brian Van Drew, Riley Gorman, Kevin Knight, Cpt. Brian Turnage, Mike Goodman, and Tyler Lowery.

Picture 2, Instructor candidates gear up in the parking lot just east of the Pipeline training site.


Eric Brooks is a 16-year member of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Posse, and owner of ProTech Scuba LLC in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

A Recap of the TDI Try Dives & Intro to Tech Success at TecFestNZ!

by Richard Taylor:
TecFestNZIn May 2015, sixty eager technical divers, instructors, and members of the New Zealand Dive Industry met at Lake Taupo for the 3rd Annual TecFestNZ. An annual celebration of diving’s camaraderie, TecFestNZ is the key place for New Zealand’s keen and growing number of technical divers to meet, share stories, and try new gear and plan travel & training for the next year. For the third year in a row TDI has both supported, and been supported by, the event with an ever growing number of people undertaking Try Dives or completing their TDI Intro to Tech program.

This year’s TecFest included two half days of Try Dives with divers getting the chance to try a range of equipment including twin tanks, sidemount, full face masks, scooters and rebreathers. An afternoon of dry workshops and two evenings of presentations ensured a busy but relaxed atmosphere and allowed all participants to mingle, discuss diving and get some valuable tips from the many TDI instructors present. This year’s presentation theme was Dive Travel with talks on the great tech diving at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve off the north coast of New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and Scarpa Flow as well as a taste of technical diving in Australia, Vanuatu, Truk, Wakatobi and Sri Lanka.

As part of TecFest, TDI Australia again provided free Intro to Tech programs for interested participants, with 10 divers taking up the offer and starting their technical dive training adventure. TDI Instructors ran various dives for the group with stage tank use, twin tanks, sidemount, buoyancy, fin techniques and SMB deployment skills covered. As in previous years the interest to proceed further with additional TDI training was strong with many of the divers keen to talk about the next step.

Rebreathers are no stranger at TecFest with Inspirations, rEvos, JJs, KISS and an ISC Megaladon and Pathfinder being dived. CCR Try Dives was again on offer for the KISS, ISC and JJ units with the OC Tech Divers talking to instructors about courses and unit availability. Add to this the dry suits, scooters and other tech hardware on show and available for dives and it really showed the benefits to the supporting manufacturers in attending the weekend’s events. Boat dives were offered for attendees with many undertaking decompression, extended range, and CCR dives at some of the deeper sites available at Lake Taupo.

Organised by Go Dive Marlborough’s Owner, and SDI/TDI Instructor Trainer, Brent McFadden and Dive Wellington’s TDI Instructor Chris Clarke, TecFest is without doubt New Zealand’s premier Technical Diving Event. The strong supporting TDI Instructor group included NZ based SDI/TDI IT Richard Taylor, Go Dive Marlborough’s Instructor & the Mikhail Lermontov’s Sidemount Guide Brent Robinson, NZ Diving’s SDI/TDI IT Neil Bennett & SDI/TDI Instructor Philip Walker, Global Dive’s TDI Tech & Cave Instructor Jamie Obern, TDI CCR Instructor Sean Muller, NZ Sea Adventure’s TDI IT & CCR Instructor Tony Howell and SDI/TDI IT & CCR Instructor Paul Trainer. A fantastic collection of some of New Zealand’s most experienced technical trainers and a great opportunity for those attending TecFest to engage with and learn from them in a relaxed and social environment.

A great video run down of the weekend by Frontline Photography is available for view on vimeo at https://vimeo.com/127451915

TecFest 2016 is already set for 06-08 May next year and all details & booking information can be found at www.tecfestnz.com.

With a small but expanding number of cave diving sites, impressive dives at the Poor Knights Islands and the world famous Russian cruise liner the Mikhail Lermontov, New Zealand offers the technical diver a wealth of opportunities, and is the perfect place for both a diving holiday and a tour of one of the world’s most beautiful countries. More than just the home to Hobbits and Middle Earth, NZ diving includes sub tropical reefs, numerous wrecks and great spearfishing. Add game fishing and hunting for the adventurous, or hot pools, geysers, world famous wines and some of the best food, beer & coffee you could find. Mixed in with bungee jumping, jet boat trips and 5 star spa lodges, New Zealand is truly a magical place to visit, and with TecFest2016 already set for next year now is the perfect time to plan your stay!

So You Want to Become an IT?

by Dr. Thomas Powell:
become an instructor trainer

Many people around the world hold hopes and dreams about accomplishing big goals in life. For some, the idea of becoming a doctor or lawyer is the ultimate objective. For others, becoming an educator is the greatest goal to achieve. Education has many realms. These realms include academic settings such as classrooms, wondrous facilities such as museums, the natural outdoor world, and various others. As children, many of us remember the class trips to the park, the beach, the mountains, or even some swamp somewhere to look at plants, natural formations, or regional “critters.” For a few people, leaving this outdoor experience was not an option. This group of people may have consisted of individuals who chose to become park rangers, researchers, or environmentalists. All of these job positions allow people to educate others on the outdoor world.

For one small niche , there is nothing better than sharing the underwater world with others. The underwater realm is one that consists of a massive variety of flora, fauna, natural formations, and unique experiences. This realm may include the oceans, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, submerged caves, and any other place where a person can get below the surface. The idea of sharing these experiences with people is something that never gets old. Those who choose to become scuba instructors may travel the world teaching, or simply stay in a local home-town region and share experiences with friends, locals, and family members. Some may even take on very unique teaching capabilities that allow them to train public safety divers to help keep others safe, or to venture deeper, or farther into overhead-type environments.

For a very small number of dive professionals, there exists one final step to take. That step is to become an Instructor Trainer. Instructor Trainers (IT) are individuals trained to teach new instructors. Essentially, an IT gets the opportunity to mold the instructors who may train the divers of the next generation. Becoming an IT is no small task. Candidates must have a strong teaching history as an open water instructor, and then attend an intensive eight day training program put together by an examiner under the direction of International Training Headquarters.

As an IT, you can train new instructors, conduct crossover programs for instructors coming from other agencies, and staff future Instructor Trainer Workshops with the examiners from headquarters. At the same time, becoming an IT means you have reached the top of the training side of the scuba industry. You may get the chance to help develop new programs or work with experts from around the world on improving the scuba industry.

For some individuals working to reach the pinnacle of training capability is the ultimate objective behind becoming an IT. For others, the ability to “teach the teacher” makes the IT educational pathway worthwhile. The one thing to remember is that education never ends. IT professionals may still have the opportunity to move up the technical or public safety food chains and continue to earn diver, instructor, and even IT certifications in those advanced educational areas.

During the Instructor Trainer Workshops held in Jensen Beach, Florida, all students get the opportunity to interact with headquarters staff members and see how International Training operates. At some point in each program, the executive team at headquarters takes time to sit down with candidates and discuss the future of diving, International Training, and dive education. This event means that every new IT gets the opportunity to sit face-to-face with Brian Carney to discuss what is coming, what may need to be improved, and what he or she hopes to see in the future.

If you are interested in learning more about the IT program contact International Training World Headquarters. The next Instructor Trainer Workshop will be taking place from October 25th through November 1st at the headquarters facility in Jensen Beach, Florida. A second Instructor Trainer Workshop will also be held this year in Assenza di Brenzone, Italy from November 14th through November 22nd.
As an Instructor Trainer myself, one of the most rewarding experiences comes with the opportunity to return to headquarters and assist staff members with running future Instructor Trainer Workshops. Sharing knowledge and watching new Instructor Trainers learn to evaluate and train new instructors can be incredibly enjoyable. Similarly, the ability to return home and help other shops, educators, and organizations grow can make your home town region become a more active dive community. As IT professionals, one of our goals is to promote diving, help other instructors, and grow the scuba community as a whole.

Remember that becoming an educator is not an easy task. Furthermore, becoming a teacher of other educators can be even more challenging. Despite the effort, as an educator you must take pride in successfully helping others learn how to bring the underwater world into the lives of future students. If you choose to become an IT, make an effort to lead by example and help the scuba industry grow to become even better than it is today. The goal for any IT should be to shape the educational world for future divers, thereby making it a safer and more exciting place.

For immediate information on becoming an Instructor Trainer follow this link:
https://www.tdisdi.com/diver-instructor-trainer-workshop/


– Dr. Thomas Powell
Owner/Instructor Trainer – Air Hogs Scuba, Garner, NC

4 Common Sense Rules You Can Apply to Wreck Diving

by: Joshua Norris:
wreck diving
As we all know, the scuba world is filled with many different types of diving. There are caves to explore, reefs to play on/near (don’t touch anything for God’s sake), diving in springs or a quarry to relax for a while, and almost anything else you can think of. Wreck diving has always been a popular activity. There are a few things to consider prior to entering a wreck in order to stay as safe as possible. However, this is not your normal “do” and “do not” list. These four discussion points are simply things to take into consideration. The ultimate decision is going to be left to you, the diver, and your buddies (if you have any). This brings us to our first discussion point:

  • – Personal responsibility
    The dive industry sometimes seems to be riddled with a lack of personal responsibility these days. When a dive pro is quick to take a picture of someone making a mistake, but never engages with the individual to perhaps shed some light on the problem, the entire industry looks petty and foolish. The old saying of “praise in public, and punish in private” has seemingly gone out the window. Instructors speaking poorly of other instructors, divers pushing their limits far beyond what is actually safe based on nothing more than something they read about on social media, and that feeling of “I forgot to bring X, but that will be no problem,” are situations that many need to do a better job of fixing.If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to dive down to a 150 feet on a wreck, but you have not been certified to that depth or given proper instruction on decompression procedures, should you continue with that dive? Well why not, right? Normal air is good to “180ish” feet and your buddy may just throw you an O2 tank and you can decompress at 20 feet until your computer clears itself. With that knowledge, what is the issue? You went out on a great dive, got an adrenaline rush because you broke the rules like a badass, and came home safe at the end of the day. No harm no foul… The issue with this is that the minute one little thing goes wrong your personal decision to go have a little bit of fun has successfully put the lives and jobs of both yourself and others at risk. Take some personal responsibility and explain to others your personal limits and perhaps you do not feel comfortable diving beyond that limit. Unlike prom night, you should not attempt to go as far as you can with everything in life.
  • – Forgot your computer, no big deal
    How many times have you forgotten your dive computer? For those of you who would never do such a thing and feel the need to explain with no less than 500 words how stupid someone must be to “forget” their computer, please feel free to do so in the comments section. To all of the others, like me, who have arrived at a site and discovered that they were missing something fairly important; this is for us. There is seldom a worse feeling than to be arriving at a dive site and realize that you have left something at the house. Now what do you do? You likely are not going to drive all the way back to retrieve it. You may be on a plane heading towards that vacation you have been waiting on all year. In any event, the fact remains that you have not properly packed your bag in some way. The best outcome for you is to admit defeat and find a suitable replacement for your missing item while conducting your dive(s). There is no reason to put yourself at risk simply because you do not want to rent a computer for an extra $20. If you happen to find yourself in a location that does not have that option, should you scrub your entire dive based on not having that particular item? I guess that just depends on what that the item is and what diving you would like to do. Again, as a diver you should do your best to take personal responsibility and remember that the safety of yourself and your dive buddies is paramount.
  • – It’s pretty much like cave diving in some ways
    Like many of you, I think I just heard all of the heads in Cave Country explode as a collective. Think about it though. If you are going to penetrate a wreck, it may be a great idea to carry extra gas, reels, lights, etc. This goes hand in hand with cave diving. The point is that if you don’t know what you are doing and are not fully prepared to enter the wreck; simply do not do it. Poke your head inside and look around if you like, but don’t go so far that you turn around and no longer realize just what you have done to yourself. There are a few videos online of folks lucking out and finding an exit. This is what we call, “one time learning”.
  • – Don’t over think it
    It happens all of the time. A group of new students will be standing, waist deep in the water, to do their very first open water dive. You and your buddy, a bit more experienced, see them in the water discussing their dive plan as you two are assembling and testing your gear. As you walk by them in the water, they continue to outline their plan in more detail than The Lord of the Rings. You conduct your 45 minute/1 hour dive and return to the entry point. What do you find? The same group of students discussing the same dive plan. Fast forward this into wreck diving and you will likely find some of the same attitudes, but perhaps in a different way. Meticulous planning of the wreck dive itself is not a bad thing at all. The problem comes when those who planned the dive with such great detail run into a situation for which they did not account. Perhaps the wreck moved since the last time you were there. Hurricanes have a tendency to blow things around a bit. Perhaps you had an equipment malfunction and did not plan for each and every thing to go wrong. From there, the horrible tradition of problems compounding themselves may begin. Just remember to plan your dive out, but also just go with it. Diving is not unlike other things in life in that curve balls will be thrown from time to time, and you must learn how to adapt quickly to potentially terrifying situations in an overhead environment. Educate yourself on how to deal with issues and practice until you can remain calm and take corrective measures when necessary.

These are some of the common sense approaches to take when preparing for a wreck dive. Things will go wrong, computers will fail, your buddies may call the dive leaving you in an awkward situation; just don’t be the diver that goes in and doesn’t come back simply because you rushed into it. I can guarantee that no one will care if you missed the wreck dive in five years. If you injure yourself or someone else though, that scar may never fade away.


– Joshua Norris, Air Hogs SCUBA

What’s Your Life Worth?

by Sean Harrison:
water rescue
In a previous life when I did not have as much at stake, an opinion that did not make my parents very happy, I road motorcycles… any kind of motorcycle. After a number of years of riding used motorcycles, I decided it was time to buy my very own, brand new, road bike. While picking out my bike and looking at all the other goodies that could go along with it (can’t have a brand new bike and a bunch of old accessories) I looked at the helmet display. Up until this point I thought a helmet was good for keeping the big bugs and rain drops from hitting my face, just hearing the splat on my face-shield was proof enough they would hurt. Near the display I saw a sign which had a very powerful message from a company named Shoei and it read, “If you have a five dollar head, wear a five dollar helmet”. Now, even in my early 20’s, that message struck home. In pretty much every course I have taught in the past 20 plus years, I have found a way to use this line. Not very hard really, helmets are a safety device; dive gear is life support… close enough. The point is, when it comes to your life or the life of a loved one, don’t take the cheap route.

For the past 15 years a big part, and not the best part, of my job has been reviewing and analyzing diving accidents and fatalities. These reports span the globe, and cover all ages, genders, and disciplines of diving. Two unfortunate themes are reoccurring: basic skill failure and cutting corners on servicing.

Basic skill failure transcends all levels of diving from the basic open water diver to the best trained diving professional. This is a problem that boggles my mind because there is an unlimited amount of resources out there to prevent this from happening. A term was recently coined “Normalization of Deviance” and it is very fitting for what I have seen in diving. In short, and this is a very abridged interpretation, there is a correct way of doing something, but if you deviate from that correct way and nothing goes wrong, you find yourself continually deviating. This, in time, is going to catch up with you. Basic skills should be practiced on every dive, and at bare minimum a refresher should be conducted every year for divers not diving regularly. You may be asking – what kind of basic skills are you talking about? I am referring to: turning on a cylinder, removing a weight system, monitoring your gauges. Sound basic? They are, and taught in every open water course, but have seriously injured many and claimed the lives of even more.

Going cheap on servicing is another one that gets me. Most equipment can be serviced for less than $200 per year; the more sophisticated the equipment, the higher the cost. This is of particular interest when it comes to rebreathers. I have at this point, lost count of the number of accidents that have involved out of date cells, and scrubber canisters with expended scrubber materials. I am grouping scrubber medium in with servicing since it is an expendable item that needs to be “serviced”. O2 cells can be, and must be (by most manufacturers) replaced every year, for around $300.00.

So what are we talking about here? Depending on what type of equipment you are diving and how actively you are diving, $200 – $700 per year. Is your life worth less than that? I don’t think so and neither do your loved ones. The really sad part here is that you won’t realize the cost and the value until it’s too late. No, diving is not an inexpensive sport but it pays itself back many-fold by the places you go, the people you meet, and things you get to see that few others have or will. Just the therapeutic value alone is worth thousands!