X-Ray Mag #63
Features in this issue
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10km on a Rebreather
ImagesSergey BaykovAnna Loznevaya
T: Final check; Entry into the water; Photo op before the diveOn August 14 in Dahab this year, our team of three divers dived a distance of 10km in eight hours using rebreathers. The purpose of this experiment was a practical test of human capabilities and the performance of rebreathers on a long dive, while under the influence of physical activity.
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Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard Portfolio
ImagesAnne-Catherine Becker-EchivardMerging humanity and animality in art is a device that can be traced back to the bestiary art and stories of the Medieval era, a time when mythical beasts combining animal and human characteristics were born and locked into our collective consciousness.1
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But I can't be bent
One might be forgiven for assuming that as a certified diver, one would understand the science and common-sense behind the basic guidelines governing our approach to decompression stress. After all, a good part of a diver’s initial training (and, hopefully, much of the curriculum for more complex programs), explained the vagaries of breathing compressed gas underwater.
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Côte d'Azur
Coming full circle. It all started in the Med. It was here in the 1930’s and 40’s that the likes of Hans Hass, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frederic Dumas and Phillip Tailliez pioneered scuba diving as we came to know it. Erstwhile the obvious choice for dive travelers once the Red Sea and even more exotic destinations became accessible to a wider audience, it fell somewhat out of favor.
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Dealing with the Aftermath
— Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Recreational Dive Rescuers
We are taught how to rescue other divers in emergency, but who prepares us for the aftermath and effects of witnessing a tragic event up close?
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Have Camera, Will Travel
Anyone who has been on an airplane in the last five years knows the number of bags and weight limits keeps dwindling. This is very problematic for the traveling photographer. Add scuba gear and housings and the problem multiplies.
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Help! I Need Somebody
ImagesScott Bennett— The Value of Assistants in Dive Operations
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Pain in Fish & Sharks
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A shark named Tillium with a hook caught in the mouthIt was Dr Lynne Sneddon, at the University of Liverpool, who proved scientifically that fish feel pain and suffer. Her team found 58 receptors located on the faces and heads of trout that responded to harmful stimuli. They resembled those found in other vertebrates, including humans. A detailed map was created of pain receptors in fishes' mouths and all over their bodies.
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Pom Pom Island
Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is the home to three countries—Indonesia to the south, Brunei and Malaysia in the north. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak are located on the island. Our journey to Pom Pom Island took us to the Tawau airport in the state of Sabah. This was a two hour and 40 minute flight. We then had to take a van another hour to the port city of Semporna.
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Reporting culture
Images“…The real reasons people don’t provide a higher level of detail are two fold: privacy and legal culpability” was the response recently when I posted a blog about the need to collect more detail when looking at diving incidents so that the community, the agencies and academia can understand WHY incidents happen.
Tenerife
Most of us in Europe know of Tenerife, but many in North America won’t have heard of it. It’s one of those sunshine locations that isn’t too long a European flight for warmth, sun and reliable weather—easy to reach with economy airlines from many United Kingdom and European airports. It’s the largest of the Canary Islands, part of Spain, but off the coast of Africa on the same longitude as Western Sahara and Morocco.
Thermal stress
A rapid chilling of superficial skeletal muscles (conductive cooling) creates a crippling weakening.Thermal issues affect the comfort, performance and decompression stress experienced by divers. The impact varies with the timing, direction and magnitude of the thermal stress. Thermal protection can be provided by a variety of passive and active systems. Active systems should be used with particular care since they can markedly alter inert gas exchange and decompression risk.
To Travel or Not To Travel...
For most of us, in order to see some of the best dive locations in the world we have to leave home and travel great distances by car, airplane or boat.
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