editorial
SAY IT AIN'T SO, HAWKEYE
By Alex Brylske
It seems that life is always teaching us lessons. For me, a recent one is
about the ubiquitous double-edged sword that's always poised to remind us
that nothing is ever completely good nor completely bad. Scuba diving's
relationship with the media is an excellent case in point.
Just a few months ago we featured an article on how television has inspired
generations of divers and dive professionals, myself included. As I
explained in the editorial of that issue, most divers my age credit the
1950s TV serial drama, "Sea Hunt," as the spark that ignited the entire
sport of recreational diving. And it was the reinvigorated interest created
by Jacques Cousteau's 1960s "Undersea World" series that served as the
second stage needed to hurl diving into a stable orbit. So an argument can
be made that, had it not been for the media - the hallowed boob tube, in
particular - scuba diving might not exist as the organized activity it is
today.
Yet, counterbalancing the plus side of the scale, the media isn't always our
friend. Perhaps the best example of its negative side was the first ever
summer blockbuster movie, "Jaws." Having been a dive professional during
that first "summer of the shark," I can personally attest that it took us a
long time to recover from Spielberg's Technicolor myths, and rekindle
widespread interest in getting back into the water. And one need look no
further than the local newspaper for more negativity toward diving, as
almost every accident involving a scuba diver is followed by a sensational
and misinformed article implying that the sport is as risky and foolhardy as
Russian roulette.
Sometimes the press coverage is so off-base that it defies common sense, or
at least the common wisdom of those even remotely familiar with diving. Such
is the case for a recent news article in London's Evening Standard featuring
veteran actor Donald Sutherland. In it, Sutherland recounts a horrifying
experience in which, after experiencing intense chest pain, he's initially
diagnosed with lung cancer only to have doctors determine that it was a
blood clot, not a tumor, which they spotted on X-ray. Without any seeming
justification, the doctors blame Sutherland's condition on - here it comes -
"a diving injury," even though Sutherland reported no incident, while he was
filming underwater scenes for the movie "Fool's Gold" (for which Sutherland
had to become a certified diver).
Setting aside the issue that no other possibility was even considered for
the clot besides diving, the real bombshell in the article comes when
Sutherland describes what his doctor told him after his release. "It was a
big relief," said Sutherland, "but then the specialist told me I shouldn't
have been scuba diving beyond the age of 50." Say, what? Clearly, scuba
diving still hasn't made it into America's medical school curriculum
because, as anyone who has even donned a tank knows, many people don't even
start diving until age 50. In fact, more than a small portion of this older
crowd goes on to make thousands of dives, with many plus-50 divers going on
to become dive professionals. And just in case you hadn't realized it, there
are lots of folks out there today who continue diving well into their 70s
and beyond. In fact, I've met more than one octogenarian diver.
Let's get this straight once and for all: In and of itself, age is no
barrier to scuba diving. The issue is health. While no one can deny that
there's a direct relationship between increasing age and declining health,
it's clearly wrong to assume that this relationship proceeds in the same way
for everyone. And it's equally wrong to assume that at some magical date on
the calendar, people are rendered unfit for anything but the challenges of a
rocking chair. The idea that 50, or any other age, is an upward limit for
diving is patently absurd. It's ironic that the actor so well known for
playing the movie version of Dr. Hawkeye Pierce was given such blatantly
misinformed advice from his own colleagues.
buddy lines
'SEA HUNT' NOSTALGIA
I just finished reading Greg Laslo's "Must Sea TV" article and was thrilled
with it ("Must Sea TV: For 50 Years, Diving and Television Have Been the
Best of Buddies," Dive Training, February 2008). Having been born in 1953, I
grew up watching "Sea Hunt" and was excited with all the underwater action.
It made bathtub time more fun when I would hold my breath and play with
those plastic divers filled with baking soda. It was also fun to see the
episodes that also featured Jeff and Beau Bridges when they were children.
It made me realize, even as a child, that activities like scuba were not
beyond my reach. I also love the older feature films, like "Frogmen," but
also the newer stuff, like "The Big Blue," "The Deep," "Into the Blue" and
"Men of Honor."
I also remember "Sea Hunt" episodes with Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson, as
well as the Leonard Nimoy episodes. But I'm also a big "Star Trek" fan and I
just have to correct Greg (or some editor). Nimoy would be known forever as
"Mr." Spock, not "Dr." Spock, a pediatrician who wrote "Baby and Child
Care."
My daughter was one of those kids Greg mentions, who become interested in
sharks when in elementary and junior high school, but never dreamed she'd
one day be swimming with them. She's 27 years old today and will never
forget when she and her brother, mother and I dived with sharks in the Great
Blue Hole, Shark Ray Alley and other fantastic Belize dive sites.
Besides being an Advanced Open Water diver today, with photography, wreck
diving and nitrox certifications, I'm also a comic book collector and got a
real kick from the Dell comic covers.
Keep it coming!
Gordon Harman
West Jordan, Utah
Inspiring Episodes
In February 1958, at the age of 10, I watched the first episode of "Sea
Hunt." Somehow I knew that my life was never going to be the same. I only
missed one of the 155 episodes - I fell asleep (after all, I was a little
boy). The episodes were viewed in a reverential silence. I made my first
dive in murky Saratoga Lake (Saratoga Springs, New York) at age 11, saw
rocks and minnows and thought I was in heaven. Today, thousands of dives
later, I have all of the 155 episodes, all of the comic books, both versions
of the "Sea Hunt" board game, the coloring book, the juvenile hardcover
book, advertisements for the show and various products, countless articles
on "Sea Hunt" from dive mags and, of course, my blue double-hose regulator.
My watch: a Rolex Submariner, naturally.
I read your article on the influence of "Sea Hunt" and other television
[shows] on modern diving several times and I thank you for it. Because of
"Sea Hunt," I have traveled the world, taken in the culture of Caribbean
islands, done the essential dives (Belize's Blue Hole, Cayman's North Wall,
shark feeding dives, the U-352 [and the U-853], the "James Bond" shipwrecks,
various deep wrecks, etc.).
That single television show exposed me to a marvelous world I might never
have known. Please advise me if you have done other issues with articles on
"Sea Hunt"; I would like to buy them. One more thing: After I ascend, unlike
all the other divers, I still place my mask on top of my head, a la Mike
Nelson, and it's never been knocked off!
Thanks again for the tribute.
John Penzer
Saratoga Springs, New York
'Primus' Memorable Too
Being born in 1961, I missed "Sea Hunt" in its first run. But I am always
surprised when articles like yours omit the forgotten classic from Ivan Tors
in the early '70s: "Primus." It starred Robert Brown as Carter Primus and
Will Kuluva as Charlie, his crusty sidekick, and euro-babe Eva Renzi as
Toni. It was very progressive for its time, using DPVs, ROVs and even a
rebreather. It ran for one season and then just disappeared. But it got me
started diving and I'm also a life member of the Eva Renzi fan club.
Kevin Campbell
Via e-mail
The Other Nelson
Each month I look forward to reading your magazine. The articles are
interesting, informative and entertaining. However, a recent article brought
a couple of things to my attention that I feel compelled to clarify.
Your article, "Must Sea TV" (February 2008), focusing primarily on Mike
Nelson's (Lloyd Bridges) adventures on "Sea Hunt," really brought back
memories. Although, having grown up in the '60s, it was another "Nelson"
that inspired me to don a wet suit - Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) and
the crew of the submarine Seaview on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." I
didn't discover "Sea Hunt" until it reran in the early '70s.
Also in the article, author Greg Laslo mentions that Leonard Nimoy guested
on "Sea Hunt" before becoming "known forever as Dr. Spock..." Apparently
Greg has been underwater for 40 years (lucky fellow), since he didn't know
that Dr. Spock was a well-known pediatrician, while Nimoy, on the other
hand, portrayed Mr. Spock on the '60s sci-fi series "Star Trek" and many of
that franchise's later incarnations.
All in all, the article was a fascinating examination of where television
has been and where it may be going - and, hopefully, it will be going back
underwater. Who knows, the popularity of resurrecting television series from
the past doesn't seem to be slowing. Perhaps Mike Nelson may soon find
himself, once again, on a "Sea Hunt."
See you on the bottom.
Edwin A. Rivers
Gatesville, Texas
Like Mike
I have been diving for over 35 years, so, yes, I'm an oldie. When I read
Alex [Brylske's] editorial about "Being Like Mike" I felt like I was 10
years old again. And yes, Alex, there are no more heroes that we can look
to.
The article is up on my wall. It was "Sea Hunt" that got me into diving and
my pestering of my dad to take lessons from Dave Olson in Walnut Creek,
California, when I was 13; Dave had his own certification card, which I
still have. These days, I'm an instructor with three children who dive. Mike
Nelson is still my hero and it saddens me that my kids will never know the
joy of watching your hero battle evil and win. Thank you for printing this
article. It made me very happy.
Greg Miller
Via e-mail
Environmental Overkill
For the past year I have seen a dramatic increase in the number of articles
focusing on environmentalist issues in your magazine. I am sorry, but I just
do not care to read them at all. Personal values aside, I get your magazine
so I can read about diving, not the environment. I can understand a diving
magazine taking an interest in the environment, and even publishing what we
as divers can do to prevent ourselves from harming the environment, but it
has gotten ridiculous lately. In the latest (March 2008) issue, you have one
nine-page article that, interesting as it might be, has absolutely zero to
do with diving ("Sound in the Sea: The Not-So-Silent World"). The only
purpose of which, I can only assume, is a thinly veiled environmental piece
about global warming and saving the whales. I was happy to start reading
your article about the queen conch, "The Queen Conch: Will Her Reign
Continue," but you only devoted four paragraphs to a description of this
marine invertebrate, and the remainder of the five pages was devoted to
marine regulations, overfishing, etc. I read enough politically charged
commentary in my daily life; I enjoy scuba diving for the release. Not only
is your environmental activism slant in recent articles putting me off, it
also isn't working! If you want your readers to get involved with the
environment, continue educating us about the marine creatures, and the
environment they live in. If you get your readers to appreciate the marine
world, the wish to preserve it will come naturally.
Tom (last name withheld)
Via e-mail
Low-pressure Leaks
I am an old retired diving instructor/dive shop owner, and all-around "know
it all." After reading the January 2008 article, "Final Check: What It Looks
Like When... Bubbles Mean Trouble," I felt the need to put in my 2 cents
worth of vast accumulated knowledge (40 years).
The authors seem to be more worried about the high-pressure hoses versus the
low-pressure hoses and/or tank to regulator O-rings. When a high-pressure
hose bursts, there is a lot of noise, and that is about it. I have not seen,
sold or serviced a regulator or high-pressure hose that does not have the
air flow severely restricted at the regulator high-pressure ports and male
end of the high-pressure hose (double redundant). Just to see what would
happen, I cut a high-pressure hose completely in half, put the regulator on
a full tank of air and completely opened the valve. The hose did not whip,
and the air was still flowing out 45 minutes later. This type of leak is a
problem and must be corrected. But it is not a major panic problem, even at
depth.
It is very different when the leaks involve the low-pressure side.
Everything on the low-pressure side is designed to provide high volumes of
air with minimal effort. If a low-pressure O-ring or a low-pressure hose
fails, that tank of air is gone just as fast as if you opened the valve with
no regulator in place. To state that minor leaks around the tank
valve-regulator connection "are not serious" and only suggest that the valve
O-ring needs changing could be a disastrous mistake.
Steve Thompson
Hiawatha, Iowa
Safe 'Turn-on'
While recently reading your November 2007 Dive Training magazine, the "Final
Check" article ("What It Looks Like When...You Activate Your Air Supply -
Correctly") reminded me of what I initially was taught by my first
instructor - also a friend of the family - while living in Hawaii in the
late 1950s. He was a Navy UDT (pre-SEAL) instructor and was a stickler for
procedures and safety. He not only insisted that you as the diver hold the
gauge by the hose pointed away from you but to turn the gauge over and
"slowly" turn on the air until the system is charged. Once charged, you can
look at the gauge and then turn on the air until it comes to the stops and
then turn the pressure back one-quarter of a turn. Having been a divemaster
in the '80s and an instructor since 1990, I have used this method of
charging my systems wherever and whenever I dive. I also teach this method
to my students whether they are new divers, advanced divers, divemasters or
other instructors. This is a safe form of charging the system. Speaking from
experience, I have had gauges explode or hoses burst, so turning on the
system slowly has always paid off.
I also advocate your magazine as the best diving magazine for all divers
regardless of their experience. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Thomas Orred
San Diego
dive observer
VANDENBERG SCHEDULED TO BE SUNK MAY 15
By Gene Gentrup
 May
15 is the scheduled sink date of a retired U.S. Air Force missile tracking
ship, which will be transformed into an artificial reef off Key West,
Florida, organizers say.
"This is a major event for us, a great opportunity for the health of the
reef as well as an economic shot in the arm for the Keys," said Chris
Norwood, president of Artificial Reefs of the Keys. "Tens of thousands of
people have been waiting to hear this date."
The General Hoyt S. Vandenberg has been docked in a Norfolk, Virginia,
shipyard where workers are removing environmental hazards, prior to its
scuttling in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Officials with Reefmakers, the project's facilitator, are planning to
coordinate towing of the 522-foot-long (158-m) vessel to Key West sometime
in March for final preparations.
The Vandenberg project should provide additional marine habitat and provide
a new attraction for recreational divers, to relieve pressure on natural
coral reefs.
"Not only do artificial reefs divert recreational user pressure from natural
reefs, they also create a valuable habitat and new breeding grounds for the
marine environment," said Joe Weatherby of Reefmakers. "The Vandenberg will
provide tools and resources to create sustained educational, social and
cultural programs while also generating substantial revenues for the
community."
Before it was decommissioned in 1983, the Vandenberg also tracked manned
U.S. space missions, beginning with Mercury blastoffs in the early 1960s.
The ship "played" a role as a Russian science ship in "Virus," a 1999 motion
picture starring Jamie Lee Curtis.
Funding for the project is coming from several local government and
private-sector resources including the City of Key West and the Monroe
County Tourist Development Council. For more information, visit
www.bigshipwrecks.com/.
Diving Notes and News
NEW JERSEY DIVERS EYE FORMER DESTROYER
Some divers and fishermen want to sink a 563-foot (171-m) former Navy
destroyer off the coast of New Jersey. The former USS Arthur W. Radford has
been made available for artificial reefing as part of a Navy program to sink
mothballed vessels instead of selling them for scrap.
The ship is 55 feet (17-m) wide, its draft below water is 32 feet (10 m),
and it stands 140 feet (42-m) above the surface of the water. Bill Figley,
who ran New Jersey's reef network for years but is now retired, is helping
with the project. He says the project will cost at least $500,000 and up to
$4 million to sink the ship off the New Jersey coast. This includes the cost
of making sure it is environmentally safe before it is sunk.
Not everyone is sold on the idea, however. Some think the cost is too high
and that after preparations for sinking, the ship would appear nothing like
it does now.
If sunk off New Jersey, the Radford would be the largest ship, and first
warship, ever added to the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection's system of 15 offshore reefs. The largest ship thus far has been
the 456-foot (138-m) USS Algol at the Shark River Reef off Manasquan Inlet.
PASSPORT FEES HIT $100
The cost of a passport reached $100 on February 1.
Saying it needs more money to cover the cost of providing "efficient and
secure passport services," the U.S. State Department said it was raising
passport fees from $97 to $100 for adults and from $82 to $85 for children
younger than 16. It said renewals, now $67, will cost $75.
In another change, both parents are now required to appear in person - or
one parent in person with required documentation - when applying for a
passport for a child younger than 16. The current cutoff is age 14. The
reason for that change: "to protect children from abduction, and to address
concerns regarding runaway children," the State Department said.
New application forms and updated information on applying for a passport and
passport card is available at http://travel.state.gov/passport.
In related news, divers and other travelers now have until June 29, 2009,
before they're required to show a passport to travel by land or sea to
Canada or Mexico.
The new rule was to have gone into effect this summer but a last-minute bill
passed by Congress and signed by President Bush right before Christmas
delayed that deadline. The bill specifies June 2009 as the new deadline, a
State Department spokesman said.
For those traveling by air to Canada and Mexico, the need for passports went
into effect last year.
There is one slight change for land travel to and from Canada and Mexico
that went into effect January 31. U.S. citizens are no longer able to enter
the United States using an oral declaration, or simply saying they are a
U.S. citizen and showing a driver's license.
Here's what travelers will need between now and June 2009 to prove their
citizenship when going to and from Canada and Mexico by land or sea:
An original or copy of a birth certificate (for all ages, including infants
and children) or proof of citizenship.
A government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, for those over 19
years old.
SCUBA DIVING
CAR TO BE UNVIELED
Resembling something from a James Bond movie, the "sQuba" is billed as the
"world's first real diving car."
The product of Swiss company Rinspeed, the sQuba can be driven on land, and
by the push of a button be transformed into an amphibious vehicle capable of
reaching depths of 33 feet (10 m).
An electric motor with powerful torque drives the rear wheels, and
underwater propulsion comes from two propellers in the stern and two
powerful jet drives in the bow. Rinspeed says the vehicle has no emissions
and no pollution. The lightweight body, with components made of futuristic
"Carbon Nano Tubes," can hold a driver and passenger who are supplied with
fresh breathing air by a self-contained on-board system.
For more information, visit www.rinspeed.com/pages/content/frames_e.htm.
Jack Prodanovich, one of three men who in 1933 started the San Diego Bottom
Scratchers, a group later recognized as the founding fathers of free diving,
died February 7 of respiratory failure. He was 94.
Along with Glenn Orr and Ben Stone, Prodanovich formed a group with humble
beginnings by fishing with little more than dive masks and spears. Their
passion evolved into more serious underwater hunting with spear guns the men
made themselves.
In 2003, six of the club's remaining living members gathered for their 70th
anniversary. Prodanovich received an award from the Diving Equipment and
Marketing Association (DEMA) that read, "With little more than homemade
masks and bare skin, you were the first to open the ocean door. Thank you
for leading us. Congratulations Bottom Scratchers Dive Club." At the reunion
Prodanovich had a display of his innovative, two-piece trigger spear guns.
His Bottom Scratcher spear gun was more than six feet long.
Prodanovich will be honored in May with the inaugural Jack Prodanovich White
Seabass Open benefiting San Diego-based Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute's
White Seabass hatchery and restocking program. "The Jack" will be held
Memorial Day Weekend.
Donations in Jack Prodanovich's name can be sent to Hubbs-SeaWorld Research
Institute's white seabass program. For more information, visit www.hswri.org.
Ralph B. White, a cinematographer who in 1985 documented the expedition that
found the wreck of the RMS Titanic, died February 4, 2008, in Glendale,
California, from complications of an aortic aneurysm. He was 66.
White was an award-winning cinematographer, video cameraman and editor, with
hundreds of motion picture and television credits to his name. He was one of
the few people experienced in the methodology and technology required to
safely reach the deep ocean depths to acquire images. After documenting the
expedition that found the wreck of the RMS Titanic, he co-directed the
salvage operation and photography during the recovery of more 5,000
artifacts from Titanic's debris field.
White was the submersible cameraman for the 1991 IMAX feature film "Titanica,"
and in 1995-96 he was the expedition leader and second unit cameraman for
James Cameron's Academy Award-winning feature film "Titanic." White made 35
dives to the 12,000-foot-deep wreck of the Titanic.
EVENTS
DUI DOG RALLY & DEMO TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
The sites for this year's DUI Dog Rally & Demo Tour have been released.
Dates and sites are April 5-6 at Alabama Blue Water Adventures, Pelham,
Alabama; April 12-13 at Dewey Short Dam Site, Branson, Missouri; April 26-27
at Windy Point, Lake Travis, Texas; May 3-4 at Stagefort Park in Gloucester,
Massachusetts; May 17-18 at Dutch Springs in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; May 30
to June 1 at Gilboa Quarry in Findlay, Ohio; June 7-8 at Haigh Quarry in
Kankakee, Illinois; June 21-22 at Wazee Lake in Black River Falls,
Wisconsin; August 22-24 at Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon;
September 13-14 at Sand Harbor State Park in Lake Tahoe, Nevada; September
27-28 at Brownstone Quarry in Portland, Connecticut; October 4-5 at Mermet
Springs in Metropolis, Illinois; October 18-19 at Lake Rawlings in Rawlings,
Virginia; November 8-9 at Manatee Springs in Chiefland, Florida; and
November 15-16 at Clear Springs Scuba Park in Terrell, Texas.
HISTORICAL DIVING
SOCIETY CONFERENCE APRIL 18-20
The Historical Diving Society has scheduled its 2008 conference for April
18-20 at the Monterey Maritime and History Museum, in Monterey, California.
Speakers include:
Tom Kendrick, presenting "Swimming with Sea Monsters: 22 Years as a
California Sea Urchin Diver."
Nyle C. Monday, presenting "Dragons Under the Sea: the FUKURYU and the
Underwater Defense of Japan, 1945."
Chris Swan, presenting "The Development of Commercial Helium Diving."
A. L. "Scrap" Lundy, presenting "The Divers Who Made Cannery Row the Sardine
Capital of the World."
The weekend event will be held in conjunction with the Association of Diving
Contractors International Western Chapter meeting. The society will hold its
awards banquet the evening of Saturday, April 19.
All weekend events are open to the public. Complete details of the
gathering, including exhibits, additional speakers, banquet guest speaker
and full weekend program can be found at www.hds.org.
OCEAN FEST DIVE
& ADVENTURE SPORTS EXPO APRIL 18-20
Billed as the "only dive show where you can dive at the show," the Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, event also offers more than 150 exhibitors, free daily
seminars, live shows and underwater treasure hunts.
Ocean Fest will be held on the beach in Fort Lauderdale on A1A just south of
Las Olas Boulevard north of the Yankee Clipper Hotel and the Bahia Mar
Resort and Yacht Club and Bahia Cabana Hotel.
Admission is $9 per person per day. Children under 12 are admitted free, and
admission includes all exhibits, seminars and presentations. Three-day
discounted passes for $19 per person are available. Discounted tickets are
available online. For more information, call (800) 513-5902 or (954)
839-8516, or visit www.oceanfest.com.
SCUBAFEST 2008 SET FOR APRIL 25-27
Dan Orr, chief operating officer of Divers Alert Network, is the keynote
speaker for this year's Scubafest, scheduled for April 25-27 at the Holiday
Inn at Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio. The show also features an
underwater photography contest, exhibits, "discover scuba," workshops and
other speakers.
Show hours are 4-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit www.scubafest.org.
Books
'NAVAL FORCES UNDER THE SEA: THE REST OF THE STORY'
Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Undersea Hyperbaric
Medical Society, this book is a followup to "Naval Forces Under the Sea: A
Look Back, A Look Ahead," which is based on information from a symposium to
address and highlight the Navy's contributions to diving and submarine
rescue through lectures, panel discussions and oral history recordings. The
latest book was published to record the portions of the Navy's undersea
story that were left untold, and to give details of the whole story to
include "how man, through the Navy, challenged the oceans' depths - how they
sometimes lost and how they sometimes won," according to promoters.
The 402-page hardcover book tells the history of undersea warfare since the
introduction of the first U.S. submarine, the USS Holland.
For more information about "Naval Forces Under the Sea: The Rest of the
Story," ask your local dive shop or call (800) 468-1055.
'ENDING HEAD AND NECK PAIN'
Divers who struggle with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome might want
to check out this book from Randall C. Moles, DDS, MS.
"Ending Head and Neck Pain" is a 182-page paperback that explores everything
from the various forms of head pain to physical therapy and other forms of
relief. In between is an entire chapter devoted to TMJ: "TM Dysfunction:
What goes wrong and why it hurts." The author says that readers should gain
a better understanding of TMJ, as well as greater knowledge about grinding
and damaged joints, chronic muscle fatigue and jaw overload. For more
information, ask your local dive shop or call (414) 529-4044.
always learning
DIVING INTO A TIME MACHINE:
Sunken Shipwrecks Become Living History Lesson
 Story
and photos by Marty Snyderman
When I first began my diving career, I didn't consider myself a big fan of
wreck diving. I was more interested in marine life. It didn't matter to me
if a creature was nudibranch-small or whale-big, whether it lived in a
tropical reef community or the colder waters of a temperate sea, or whether
an animal was common or rare. If it lived in the ocean, I wanted to learn
about, and ultimately photograph it. However, my first trip to Truk Lagoon
(aka Chuuk) in Micronesia's Caroline Islands changed all that.
I was working in the film business as an underwater cameraman in 1982 when I
got a phone call asking me to shoot a film about Truk's war history. Truk
was becoming very well known in diving circles at the time, and it was fast
becoming recognized as a hot spot for wreck divers, so I knew, or at least
thought I knew, a little about what Truk had to offer divers.
I thought what Truk had to offer me was a paycheck and the opportunity to
see and photograph the marine animals that had been attracted to the
numerous shipwrecks strewn across the bottom of the lagoon from the battle
for Truk. I had seen photographs of many of the larger wrecks, and it was
well-known in the diving community that in the 38 years since Operation
Hailstone the wrecks had essentially been transformed into tropical reefs.
Every major wreck was overgrown with colorful soft corals and other
invertebrates that, in turn, served as magnets for the lagoon's fish
populations. I was very excited about seeing all of the marine life, but I
wasn't all that interested in seeing the shipwrecks. Or so I thought.
A Marine Life Enthusiast Becomes a History Buff
Truk was a major staging area and logistical base for the Imperial Japanese
Navy during World War II. The atoll was the home of the only major Japanese
air base within range of the Marshall Islands and a vital source of support
for Japanese forces located throughout the Central and South Pacific. In
essence, Truk served the Japanese war effort in much the same way Pearl
Harbor served the Americans.
To ensure superiority for an invasion of the strategically located Eniwetok
atoll, the American brain trust ordered an attack on the Japanese forces at
Truk Lagoon. On February 17-18, 1944, U.S. forces launched a massive attack
known as Operation Hailstone. Despite the fact that only days before the
attack many Japanese aircraft carriers, battleships and heavy cruisers were
relocated from Truk to the nearby waters of Palau, during Operation
Hailstone the Americans sunk more than 50 Japanese ships, including three
light cruisers, four destroyers and two submarine tenders, and destroyed
more than 250 aircraft. The battle resulted in a major victory for the
Americans, and greatly diminished Truk's role in the Japanese war effort.
Our first dive in Truk was on the Fujikawa Maru, a 435-foot- (132-m-) long
Japanese warship originally built as a carrier of cargo and people, but that
was converted into an armed aircraft ferry in late 1940. The Fujikawa Maru
is believed to have been sunk by a single aerial torpedo.
As our film crew splashed over the side and our bubbles cleared, I found
myself truly taken aback not by all of the colorful marine life, although
there was plenty to see, but by the intensity of emotions I felt as
something became clear: I was staring at a horrific world history moment
essentially frozen in time. While its mast still broke the surface, the hull
of the Fujikawa Maru was sitting on the seafloor exactly as she had been
since an American torpedo sealed its fate during Operation Hailstone.
Like many people, I had visited historic sites such as castles, political
prisons, capitol buildings, the homes of famous people and battlefields. But
during those visits I had never felt like I was actually experiencing the
past, and in this case the realities of war, instead of just trying to
understand it. As I stared down at the Fujikawa Maru during my descent, I
felt like I was diving into a time machine.
Over the course of the next several weeks as we filmed the shipwrecks of
Truk Lagoon, I repeatedly found myself completely taken in by the experience
of seeing so many weapons of war. Nothing had been cleaned up. Deck guns
were mangled, ammunition was scattered about, bunks weren't made, deck lines
weren't neatly coiled and life did not appear orderly and perfectly managed
as was the case at other historic sites I had visited. Instead, debris was
scattered about as would be expected when ships and their crews meet a
violent end.
Seeing the once mighty ships in pieces on the bottom of the sea and
occasionally spotting the skeletal remains of Japanese soldiers never
recovered made an indelible impression on me. Daily as we dived on shipwreck
after shipwreck I repeatedly felt intense waves of emotions about the
horrors of war, and could not help but reflect upon war as a horrible waste
of people and resources.
Even though I am a proud American, and my side "won" the battle and the war,
when I swam around all of those massive ships, I thought of what they cost
the world in money, resources, man-hours and ultimately lives. It was a
staggering reminder of the true price of war and the sometimes disappointing
history of mankind.
From Micronesia to Mexico and Beyond
Not long after returning home from Truk I had another opportunity to be part
of a film crew that hoped to document a shipwreck. This time I was off to
Vera Cruz, Mexico, with explorer George Belcher to try to find and be the
first to film the second USS Somers, a U.S. Navy brig that was sunk in 1846
in the battle of Vera Cruz during the Mexican-American war. The ship had a
storied past stemming from a supposed act of mutiny led by Philip Spencer,
the son of the then U.S. secretary of war. Spencer and two others were tried
and hanged at sea, and from that date on many sailors viewed the Somers as a
haunted ship.
While under the command of Raphael Semmes, who later became the commanding
officer of the renowned Confederate ship the CSS Alabama, the Somers met its
fate in a squall while pursuing a blockade runner. Seven crewmembers were
taken captive. Another 32 drowned.
As a result of Belcher's leadership and the use of a magnetometer, a device
used to detect magnetic anomalies, we found the Somers in 100 feet (30 m) of
water. It was a wooden ship and showed a lot more deterioration from time on
the seafloor than did the more modern Japanese ships at Truk, but while the
hull had deteriorated, numerous artifacts that were strewn around the deck
told the story of what life at sea was like aboard the Somers on the fateful
day in December 1846 when it got caught in a powerful storm.
Just as was the case in Truk when I first saw the Fujikawa Maru, as soon as
the Somers came into view I found myself feeling sad for the seamen who lost
their lives while serving their country, and I felt the same kind of sadness
for and disappointment in humankind that I felt so intensely in Truk, and I
once again felt in a surreal way that I was almost watching history unfold
in front of me instead of just filming its remains.
In the years since the Somers expedition, while diving on other wartime
shipwrecks in places as far away as Palau and Papua New Guinea and as close
to home as the sector of the Atlantic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North
Carolina and Virginia known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, I have had
that sense of d‚j… vu all over again. The same thoughts careened about in my
head, and I always felt some powerful connection to the past, almost as if I
was able to witness the events that took place when the ships and their
crews met their fate.
In a twist of fate, when I was invited to dive a number of World War II
shipwrecks off the North Carolina coast, the focus of the trip was supposed
to be the opportunity to photograph the sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus)
that often cruise close to the wrecks. With large, muscular bodies and
gnarly teeth often exposed, as they often swim with their mouths partially
agape, sand tigers make wonderful subjects. At the time I only had a few
sand tiger images, but by then I had learned to be just as excited about the
opportunity to see, feel and learn about human history as I was about the
chance to see the marine creatures that inhabit the areas where history was
made.
While as divers we so often think of ships that were sunk during wars as
providing us with underwater playgrounds that teem with marine life, my
experiences have taught me that wrecks are so much more than an underwater
Disneyland. They are windows into the past that allow us not just to
understand, but to feel in our bones what the world and life aboard a ship
were like at a given time in human history.
no dumb questions
WARMING TRENDS,
DIVE SEQUENCES, RETURNING TO DIVING AFTER DCI
By Alex Brylske
 Q:New
diver Toni Ann Waltz is tired of getting cold. "I recently completed my Open
Water certification and really, really love diving. However, I have one
problem that I don't quite understand: I seem to get lots colder than other
divers. On all of my training dives, I was able to finish everything the
instructor required, but I had to terminate my dives way sooner than the
other students in my class because I got so cold. We all wore the exact same
wet suits, and I'm not even close to what you'd call 'skinny,' which is why
this doesn't make any sense to me. I'm also not one of those people who's
overly affected by cold weather in winter. Am I doing something wrong or
what?"
A:You didn't give me a lot of information to go
on, so I'll have to make some assumptions. I'm guessing that you're diving
in temperate water with a full wet suit and accessories including a hood. If
that's not the case, then the first thing that I'd advise is wearing a hood.
Because of the enormous amount of heat loss through the head - a subject of
another question from a few months back - the addition of that one item
alone can make all the difference in the world. My preference is to wear not
just a hood, but a hood-attached vest (or wear a suit that has a hood built
on to the jacket).
If you do wear a hood, then there are some other factors to consider. You
indicated that everyone in your course wore the same exposure suit, so I'm
assuming this means that they were rentals. Wet suit technology has
progressed a long way in recent years, and now rental wet suits generally do
a very good job of keeping divers warm (something which wasn't always the
case in the past). Still, they do have some limitations regarding fit. Some
lucky souls are able to fit perfectly into a stock size, but that's not the
case for everyone. From my experience working in dive stores years ago, I
found that women, in particular, had problems with stock sizes.
Manufacturers have tried to address this by providing a much wider selection
of size options today, but still, there are always going to be those who
don't, quite literally, fit the mold.
My advice is to make an appointment with your instructor or other
knowledgeable person at your local dive center, and have them fit you
properly with your own suit. You may find that it's just a matter of
selecting a different stock size, or perhaps a custom-tailored suit is best.
In most cases, a custom suit doesn't cost all that much more than a stock,
so don't be hesitant if that's their advice. Of course, you said nothing
about the suit thickness. Perhaps increasing that, alone, would be enough to
do the trick.
Aside from exposure suit technology issues, there are also a few things you
can do to help avoid getting cold before and after diving. The most
important consideration is never start a dive in a cold state. Make sure
that you dress warmly - wear more clothing than you think you'll need - and
never don your suit in a cold environment. Go below deck, in your car or
somewhere not directly exposed to the elements. For cold-water diving, some
divers even "precharge" their wet suit by pouring warm (not scalding) water
into their suit just before entry. The better the suit fits, the better it
can retain this warm layer of water, thus preventing that initial rush of
cold water so dreaded by divers in cold climes.
Once in the water there's not much you can do but avoid any motion that
creates water circulation through your suit (that's why a good fit is so
essential). Some divers have reported good results from "heat packs" that
are now on the market. These are filled with a liquid containing chemicals
that, when activated, react exothermically, providing heat for a few hours.
Worn under your suit in strategic locations - like the chest and back -
they're far better than the other popular but limited option of
"self-heating" (urinating in) the suit. There has long been a debate over
whether one should or shouldn't exercise vigorously to maintain or generate
body heat. Some contend that this just hastens the cooling effect, to say
nothing of its implications for possibly increasing the risk of
decompression sickness. My advice has always been to avoid unnecessary or
overly strenuous exercise while diving.
Even if you manage to avoid getting cold in the water, you have to consider
what happens when you exit (especially if you're planning subsequent dives).
Most new divers don't realize what a great refrigerator a wet suit really
is. The protective exterior nylon covering traps water, allowing for very
efficient evaporation. And it's this evaporative process that saps heat. So,
either wear a windproof garment over the wet suit between dives, or remove
the suit completely and get into dry clothes. Of course, there's another way
you can eliminate the problem immediately and forever: Purchase a dry suit.
Q:Kirby Roberts had a query about dive
sequences. "I'm confused and would like another opinion. I've been told two
different things about making more than one dive. My instructor told us to
always make the deepest dive first but, on a recent trip, the divemaster
said that it didn't make any difference if the first dive was deeper or
shallower than the second. What's your advice?"
A:It's easy to understand your confusion over
this issue because the "deepest dive first" was, for most of the history of
recreational diving, a commandment of diving safety. In fact, the "deepest
first" mentality even gave rise to calling any multiple-dive profile that
began with a shallow dive a "reverse profile." However, thinking changed a
few years ago. Here's a little history.
A crack in the dike began with the advent of dive computers. Programmed with
the actual decompression model, and able to manipulate data in real time,
these devices do their calculations regardless of the dive sequence and
profile. This led divers, as well as some scientists and researchers, to
ask, what's really so bad about reverse profile diving, anyway? In sorting
out the question, we discovered that this sacrosanct rule wasn't really
backed up by a lot of evidence or theoretical rationale.
Seeing a need to revisit this issue, a workshop was organized back in 1999
by Michael Lang, the head of the Smithsonian Institution's Scientific Diving
Program, and Dr. Charles Lehner of the University of Wisconsin and member of
the Undersea Medical Society. The program drew 50 participants and covered a
very wide range of issues. Workshop participants included diver training
organizations, equipment manufacturers, academics, representatives from
commercial diving and military diving, several diving medical experts and
staff from the Divers Alert Network (DAN).
Over the course of the program 28 papers were presented. Discussions
included topics on the evolution of repetitive diving; history of the
"deepest dive first" rule; the physics, physiology and theoretical modeling
of decompression; plus an in-depth examination of dive profiles and
decompression accidents from commercial and military diving (groups that for
practical reasons often cannot make their deepest dive first). Dive Training
was a workshop co-sponsor, so I attended the program representing the
magazine. By the afternoon, it became obvious that there really was no good
theoretical reason for the "deepest dive first" rule. Of course, like all
scientific conferences, attendees were careful to qualify their conclusions
by pointing out the limited range of profiles studied, and relative sparse
data. Still, in the end, the workshop attendees agreed on four main points:
Historically neither the U.S. Navy nor the commercial sector has prohibited
reverse dive profiles.
Reverse dive profiles are being performed in recreational, scientific,
commercial and military diving.
The prohibition of reverse dive profiles by recreational training
organizations cannot be traced to any definite diving experience that
indicates an increased risk of DCS.
No convincing evidence was presented that reverse dive profiles within the
no-decompression limits lead to a measurable increase in the risk of DCS.
Their conclusion was that "[t]he workshop finds no reason for the diving
communities to prohibit reverse dive profiles for no-decompression dives
less than 40 msw (130 fsw) and depth differentials less than 12 msw (40 fsw)."
If you'd like to read more about the issue, I wrote a feature article on the
workshop entitled, "A New Perspective on Reverse Profile Diving: What
Science Has to Say," which appeared in the February 2000 issue of Dive
Training. You can also get a copy of the full workshop proceedings by
writing to Best Publishing, PO Box 30100, Flagstaff, AZ 86003-1010. The cost
is $25.
One final point shouldn't be forgotten in the zeal to rewrite rules,
however. Regardless of how decompression may or may not be affected by
reverse profile diving, let's not forget an important safety implication
that has an even more immediate consequence than getting the bends: When
making a multilevel dive - as are most recreational dive profiles - common
sense still dictates that it's always best to be in the shallower portion of
a dive when your air supply is low. So, in the final analysis, changing the
"deepest dive first" rule hasn't really made any practical difference in the
way we dive.
Q:Elizabeth Del Toro sent in a question that is
rarely asked about decompression sickness. "My question isn't about me but a
friend who recently got the bends. I wasn't with him the day it happened,
but what occurred seems incredible. He told me that he never exceeded 50
feet [15 m] all day, and I know that's true because the area where he was
diving doesn't get any deeper than that. He also said that both dives he
made that day never exceeded 45 minutes (something that I can't verify, but
have no reason to doubt). Anyway, my real question is will he ever be
allowed to dive again, and if he can, should he?"
A:I assume from your question that you're
surprised that dive profiles in such a shallow range for such limited
amounts of time resulted in decompression sickness. Don't be. Bends is the
possible outcome from virtually any dive, even those within current limits
of any decompression model. Sometimes it just happens, and we don't know
why. It's the best reason that I know to use a conservative approach to all
dive planning and dive computer use.
As to the issue of returning to diving, it's an impossible question to
answer out of context. The U.S. Navy does have a "return to diving" policy,
but it certainly wasn't written for recreational divers. Still, it does
provide some useful perspective. The highlights are as follows:
Divers with uncomplicated, pain-only DCI cases and whose symptoms resolve
completely after 10 minutes breathing oxygen at 60 feet (18 m) can return to
diving after 48 hours of being symptom-free. In uncomplicated pain-only
cases, divers who have had a completely normal neurological exam prior to
recompression, and whose symptoms took longer than 10 minutes to resolve,
are allowed to dive again after a two-week wait. If divers have had
cardiorespiratory or neurological symptoms such as weakness or numbness, the
Navy recommends a four-week waiting period.
In more complicated DCI cases, in which symptoms seem to resist treatment or
in which long treatment tables such as Table 4 or Table 7 are required, the
Navy requires a minimum of a three-month layoff from diving. Diving may
resume only after a thorough review by a diving medical officer.
In the case of recreational diving, something which is done for fun, most
medical authorities recommend much more conservative guidelines than the
Navy's. In the case of uncomplicated pain-only bends, rather than only two
to four weeks, a four-week minimum is normally advised (perhaps even more if
the diver engaged in multiday repetitive dives). With neurological symptoms,
a minimum six-week wait is more the norm. And after severe cases of
decompression sickness, medical authorities may advise a minimum six-month
hiatus, or perhaps even to give up diving altogether. So, the short answer
is, it all depends.
Test your knowledge of the information featured in
this month's issue of Dive Training.
 1.
Divers can help snorkelers better respect the marine environment by telling
them:
A. That coral is a living animal - not a rock - and covered with a very thin
and delicate veneer of tissue that is easily destroyed by a mere touch.
B. How to properly adjust their mask and snorkel.
C. To never stand on coral.
D. To never use their arms to snorkel.
E. All of the above.
2. Subtidal, intertidal and supratidal comprise the three zones of a:
A. Coral reef
B. Rain forest
C. Mangrove forest
D. Sherwood forest
3. The nation's roughly 2,500 public safety dive teams generally come in
which forms:
A. A dive team associated with law enforcement agencies, whose main mission
is more aligned with underwater investigation, underwater crime scenes and
underwater searches.
B. A dive team that is part of a fire department, whose mission is more
often related to search-and-rescue operations.
C. A dive team that trains on its own, without certified credentials, and
operates without the consent of local law enforcement authorities.
D. A & B are correct.
4. The equalization skill that involves pinching the nostrils closed while
using the diaphragm to gently force air through the nose is called:
A. The Valsalva maneuver
B. Pinch and blow
C. The Heimlich maneuver
D. A & B are correct.
5. The only National World Heritage Site in the eastern Caribbean is located
on:
A. Grenada
B. Guadeloupe
C. Dominica
D. St. Lucia
6. In the 3-1-1 rule, the "3" stands for a 3-ounce bottle or less, the first
"1" is for one quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; and the second "1"
is for one bag per passenger placed in the screening bin.
A. True
B. False
7. The bodies of oceanic whitetips are dark gray on top with near-white
undersides, a form of camouflage that helps oceanics blend with the water of
the open sea. The pattern is called:
A. Ocean greening
B. Countershading
C. Bleaching
8. On land the most common procedure for donning the scuba unit, in which
one buddy balances the other's tank on his upper thigh and holds open the
jacket as his buddy slides into the buoyancy compensator (BC), is the:
A. Buddy lift
B. Gentleman's favor
C. Switch out
Answers: 1. E 2. C 3. D 4. D. 5. C 6. A 7. B 8. A
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