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Training
Agencies
Are
You a Responsible Diver?
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- When
in doubt, just get out
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- Let's
respect it, not collect it
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- Diving
Safety is no accident
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- The
best regulator on the market is common sense.
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- Never
dive deeper, than the depth of your experience.
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- Diving
education doesn't end with certification.
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- Just
because you are certified, doesn't mean you
are qualified.
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- A
diver in poor health may be moments away from
no health.
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- Be
a reef lover, always hover.
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- Only
fools stretch the rules.
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- Coral
reefs hate standing ovations.
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- Living
reefs are dying not to be touched.
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- Don't
blow it, have your tank checked out once a year.
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Never
Hold Your Breath
I
recall years ago, sitting in my dive class, listening
to my instructor emphasize over and over again to
NEVER EVER hold your breath while Scuba diving.
I remember telling my husband that this would be
the one mistake that I would probably end up doing.
I questioned why it is okay to hold your breath
while free diving and not while Scuba diving. I
heard this question asked many times by divers since then.
So, I feel better knowing that I wasn't the only one wondering.
The answer is pretty straight forward. When you
take a full breath and dive underwater (free dive), the
air inside your lungs compresses as you go deeper.
As you come up, that same air expands proportionally.
By the time you reach the surface, the air in your
lungs is back to the volume you started with, assuming
you held your breath the entire time and didn't let any
air escape. It's a simple process: When you're
your free diving, air in your lungs compresses as
you go deeper, and that same air expands back to it's
original volume as you ascend.
While
scuba diving, it's different. As you breath from
the regulator, the air in your lungs is replenished
with every breathing cycle (exhale/inhale). Your
lungs are constantly refilled with ambient-pressure
air. So when you decide to surface, or you unknowingly
float up a few feet, you are starting the accent
with your lungs filled and expanded as opposed to compressed
like a free diver's.
Remembering
to breathe normally is easy when the regulator is in
your mouth. But when it isn't, (either you have
purposely removed it or it has been accidentally dislodged).
Most people's first instinct is to hold their breath,
just like when free diving. This is extremely
dangerous when your last breath was from a scuba tank.
When
ever you're underwater with the regulator out of your
mouth, immediately begin to slowly exhale small bubbles
and make a low purring sound like "OOH" or "AAH.".
Practice this until it becomes an automatic response.
Physically
Fit Fact
Did
you know that 20 to 35% of all scuba fatalities result
from heart and circulatory problems, usually in middle
age men?
Not to scare anyone away from scuba diving, just know
that being fit is important and can help
you in the water as well as out.
Great Articles concerning Underwater Medicine,
Safety and More.
--NOTICE--
Travel to Florida
The
Florida State Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising
hikers, hunters, fishers, and golfers to take extra
precautions and keep alert for alligators while in Osceola,
Polk, Manatee, Orange and Dade Counties. They
advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as
little bells on their clothing to
alert but not startle the alligators unexpectedly.
They also advise the carrying of pepper spray in case
of an encounter with an alligator.
It is also a good idea to watch for fresh signs of alligator
activity.
People should recognize the difference between small
young alligator and large adult alligator droppings.
Young alligator droppings are smaller and contain fish
bones and possibly bird feathers.
Adult alligators droppings have little bells in them
and smell like pepper spray.
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