Deep diving is a fun and exciting activity pursued by many divers throughout the world. The deeper the depths, the more the thrill. However, there are certain depths that your body can not handle, and pushing your body beyond these limits may result in serious health risks.
Any dive greater than 20 meters is considered a deep dive. Experienced divers will usually have no issues when diving deep. However, there are certain risks that one should be aware of before diving deep. Malfunctioning equipment, decompression sickness, and dangerous marine life, amongst other risks, can easily be avoided with proper training and preparation.
This was a brief overview of deep diving and how risky it can be. For more details on deep diving, keep reading this article.
Your Equipment Could Malfunction
Most divers, especially those who partake in deep diving casually, don’t have their own equipment, so they normally rent it. This leads to a potential hazard as rented-out gear is not guaranteed to be maintained properly, and chances of overlooking a fault in the equipment are high. If a depth gauge is broken, it may lead to mild decompression sickness, or if the regulator isn’t working properly, it might result in drowning.
So a diver should be skilled enough to spot any issues or defects in their diving equipment beforehand and should not hesitate to get a piece of gear replaced if they suspect that something is wrong with it.
Pressure Increases With Depth
The weight of water above the diver exerts pressure on their body. The deeper the diver descends, the more water is above them, which leads to more pressure exerted on the diver’s body. In deep sea diving, every 33 feet of saltwater results in 1(ATA) of pressure exerted on the diver.
To learn more about how the body reacts to increases in pressure, watch this video:
You Can Face Decompression Sickness
This sickness is caused when one transitions from a high-pressure environment to a low-pressure one without decompressing properly. While diving, compressed air is used, which can lead to your body inhaling extra oxygen and nitrogen.
While your body uses up the oxygen, the nitrogen remains in your blood and can cause health issues. When a diver starts ascending rapidly towards the surface, the water pressure around the body decreases, which leads to bubbles forming in your blood due to the nitrogen, as it does not have enough time to clear out.
This may cause damage to your blood vessels and can lead to blood blockage. Some common symptoms are memory loss and uncontrollable shaking.
You Can Run Out Of Breathing Gas
This is very common amongst inexperienced divers who lack sufficient training. It can also be caused due to some equipment failure. A diver should understand how much air they will need to complete a particular dive.
They should calculate the limits of available gas and also be able to monitor the remaining gas so they can ascend to the surface with enough breathing gas in their tank.
How Much Breathing Gas Should We Use?
As air is the most common breathing gas used by noncommercial or professional divers, it is advised to ascend with a minimum of 500 PSI of breathing gas remaining in the tank.
You Can Encounter Dangerous Marine Life
As a diver dives deep into the water, they enter an untamed wilderness. Aquatic creatures are usually not aggressive and harmful, but some may react aggressively if they feel threatened. A diver should always keep their distance and not go too close to wildlife.
One should always pay attention to their surroundings and treat wildlife with respect.
So What Do We Do?
A safe distance will not only ensure their safety from you but also keep you safe from harmful creatures as some may bite or secrete poison.
A diver should also do their research on what common wildlife is found in the region in which they plan to dive so that they can behave accordingly.
Air Or Gas Embolism Is A Risk
When a diver ascends too quickly, microbubbles can form in their bloodstream or tissues. As discussed earlier, this is called decompression sickness. These bubbles can easily block a small artery which can cut off some blood supply.
Holding your breath may cause the air in your lungs to expand, leading to lung tissue ruptures and arterial gas embolism due to the release of the nitrogen microbubbles into the arterial circulation.
You Can Get Lost Or Separated From Your Group
Getting lost, especially in deep waters, can be scary. This might occur if you or your group member wander too far off to explore points of interest or get left behind by the boat. In such cases, you should act timely and try to relocate your fellow divers.
A diver should be well briefed by their team leaders in group diving about how to act if such a situation arises. There should always be a plan of action to recover lost divers.
To avoid this, a diver should always stay close to their group, and a signaling device should be present to inform rescuers of their current location.
Dangerous Sea Currents Can Overpower You
While diving, sea currents can sometimes be one of the most physically demanding and unpredictable obstacles to overcome. Strong currents may lead to exhaustion, separation, and rapid air depletion, amongst other symptoms.
They can even prevent a diver from returning to their boat. Surface currents don’t travel the same way as deeper currents do, so divers should be always careful.
Conclusion
Although diving is an exciting activity and a diver gets to fully enjoy the beauty of the waters, a diver should always take the necessary training seriously and try performing their first few dives with a group to learn and practice safe diving.
Always do your research regarding marine life and weather conditions before diving, and make sure to gain proper knowledge of how to calculate the amount of air required to descend and ascend properly.
With the risks in mind and the precautions taken, deep diving can become a safe and fun activity for you to enjoy.
