Ya, well... it's a lot more than just fishes. There's animals of such incredible design down there that words cannot convey their awesome beauty and practical awesomeness.
I suppose one could use a deep pool to practice on if you've never been diving before. There's a community recreation center called, the Sportsplex, down near my place here, and they have a 100' deep pool they use for platform diving, and I've seen guys with oxygen tanks practicing in there before when the divers weren't there. I think I'd rather give it a go in an animal-free environment first before delving out into the oceans.
Never done any deep sea diving - have a few mates who are qualified but I think if its done professionally, 10% of people die over time.
Done a little bit of scuba, but I love snorkelling for the freedom it affords - I have had no problems getting down to 10M and having a bit of an explore, and even then, you see things you would never imagine in your wildest dreams. I am lucky in my part of the world, lots of wrecks close to the shore so you can get down and have a look - although I would not enter them without scuba gear on.
Done a lot of snorkelling off Lanzarote - an island just of Africa, not so far from the sahara. A time I was about 1 1/2 miles offshore - followed a skeer that turned into a reef and had one of those cheap underwater disposable cameras with me.
I saw something coming towards me out of the gloom - thought it might have been a huge manta ray as I had seen a few of those, but it was a blue shark - quite easy to identify - about 10 foot long.
Blues do not normally attack people, but it has been known. Here is little old me 15 foot down and a nosy (and maybe hungry) shark came for a look. I think I had around half a second of thinking I was fish food, then I thought 'hell, if it eats me it eats me, better get a pic of it tho'. Snapped a few off and chased it, but I ran out of puff and had to get back to the surface.
I was quite friendly with the scuba instructors and told them what I had seen when I got back to land incase they had any newbs going out that day that would shit their pants at the site of it. They advised me to keep the film to get processed in the UK as it was not unknown for the local photo processing places to 'steal' photos to sell on.
Needless to say, I did not take their advice and the picture was stolen. A 'pretend' language barrier got in the way of me ever getting it. Bastards.
I do feel a certain affinity with the North Sea - just does not seem the same swimming elsewhere - maybe I have ancestors that lived in Doggerland (land in the North Sea flooded thousands of years ago) speculated to be Atlantis.
The animals of the water do have a certain mysticism about them - maybe because we so rarely see them. Late summer I will spend hours by the river watching the migrating Salmon jumping out of the water. Beutiful.
I suppose one could use a deep pool to practice on if you've never been diving before. There's a community recreation center called, the Sportsplex, down near my place here, and they have a 100' deep pool they use for platform diving, and I've seen guys with oxygen tanks practicing in there before when the divers weren't there. I think I'd rather give it a go in an animal-free environment first before delving out into the oceans.
^^^ ninja edit?!
I know that submariners in the UK have to stand in the bottom of a tower that gets sealed and then flooded and have to swim to the top - dont know how deep but it must be around 100 foot - I would love to have a go in one of those, but never had any desire to join the Navy and spend time in an underwater coffin - too tall anyway.
I know that submariners in the UK have to stand in the bottom of a tower that gets sealed and then flooded and have to swim to the top - dont know how deep but it must be around 100 foot - I would love to have a go in one of those, but never had any desire to join the Navy and spend time in an underwater coffin - too tall anyway.
The 100' deep indoor pool I saw was about 30 feet across by 30 feet wide, at the top anyways, so a pretty good size. I'm sure it's real dark down there at the bottom, but I didn't notice them with anything else but a small headlamp. I guess it's just getting used to the idea of utter darkness and being able to maneuver around with all the equipment attached to you. At least there's nothing moving around down there with you in a test pool. I'm sure the gear required to dive is quite expensive. If they know you like an outdoor hobby, they're gonna charge an arm and a leg for it.
Yeah, you are right on how much things cost - I got my wet suit 15 years ago - suitable for year round use in the North Sea and it was £180 then. Its that thick if you try to do anything other than butterfly in it you run the risk of dislocating your shoulders. Its a bitch to get off aswell as it is hooded, but whenever I am open water swimming I have a mate with me anyway - foolish not too.
Flippers are quite cheap tho - worth it even if you do very little open water swimming - you can move you feet just tiny amounts and you will have your chest out of the water.
Most of the hobby divers I know spend more time in fresh water than they do salt - diving in old gravel pits is quite popular here, but seems a little more deadly than sea diving. I prefer to sit by the gravel pits with a fishing rod.
Yeah, you are right on how much things cost - I got my wet suit 15 years ago - suitable for year round use in the North Sea and it was £180 then. Its that thick if you try to do anything other than butterfly in it you run the risk of dislocating your shoulders. Its a bitch to get off aswell as it is hooded, but whenever I am open water swimming I have a mate with me anyway - foolish not too.
Flippers are quite cheap tho - worth it even if you do very little open water swimming - you can move you feet just tiny amounts and you will have your chest out of the water.
Most of the hobby divers I know spend more time in fresh water than they do salt - diving in old gravel pits is quite popular here, but seems a little more deadly than sea diving. I prefer to sit by the gravel pits with a fishing rod.
Have you heard the story of this diver named, Yuri Lipski? He died mysteriously while diving, and the complete incident was captured on his own personal camcorder. Makes you wonder if there really are big animals down there.
From the video alone - and it is speculation based upon it - I would say he was probably diving with and oxegen helium mix and overdid it on the helium - he was using his arms to try and change the gas mix, fucked it up, panicked and died.
However, what you say about the underwater creatures - if I was to see something in my lifetime like we have seen the film The Abyss, I would not be surprised.
A mate of mine was an instructor in the Red Sea and he did say some strange things could happen there - completly crazy currents at different water depths.
He told me the currents were never the same in the same place - one day it would be going one way gently, the next another direction at quite a rate of knots. Must be some massive cave systems there.
He told me the currents were never the same in the same place - one day it would be going one way gently, the next another direction at quite a rate of knots. Must be some massive cave systems there.
I'm sure it'd be real easy to get caught into a slow moving current and suddenly it's got you in a firm hold that nobody could get out of, and then the current leads to an underground funnel where it sucks you in and you end up coming out miles away, or get your body caught in an underground tunnel where it goes narrow and the current holds you there like a cork in a bottle.
Comments
My grade 9 science teacher was a marine biologist, but she was too ugly to wear a bikini, so that's why she became a teacher
*smashes lamp on end-table flat as pancake*
Done a little bit of scuba, but I love snorkelling for the freedom it affords - I have had no problems getting down to 10M and having a bit of an explore, and even then, you see things you would never imagine in your wildest dreams. I am lucky in my part of the world, lots of wrecks close to the shore so you can get down and have a look - although I would not enter them without scuba gear on.
Done a lot of snorkelling off Lanzarote - an island just of Africa, not so far from the sahara. A time I was about 1 1/2 miles offshore - followed a skeer that turned into a reef and had one of those cheap underwater disposable cameras with me.
I saw something coming towards me out of the gloom - thought it might have been a huge manta ray as I had seen a few of those, but it was a blue shark - quite easy to identify - about 10 foot long.
Blues do not normally attack people, but it has been known. Here is little old me 15 foot down and a nosy (and maybe hungry) shark came for a look. I think I had around half a second of thinking I was fish food, then I thought 'hell, if it eats me it eats me, better get a pic of it tho'. Snapped a few off and chased it, but I ran out of puff and had to get back to the surface.
I was quite friendly with the scuba instructors and told them what I had seen when I got back to land incase they had any newbs going out that day that would shit their pants at the site of it. They advised me to keep the film to get processed in the UK as it was not unknown for the local photo processing places to 'steal' photos to sell on.
Needless to say, I did not take their advice and the picture was stolen. A 'pretend' language barrier got in the way of me ever getting it. Bastards.
I do feel a certain affinity with the North Sea - just does not seem the same swimming elsewhere - maybe I have ancestors that lived in Doggerland (land in the North Sea flooded thousands of years ago) speculated to be Atlantis.
The animals of the water do have a certain mysticism about them - maybe because we so rarely see them. Late summer I will spend hours by the river watching the migrating Salmon jumping out of the water. Beutiful.
^^^ ninja edit?!
I know that submariners in the UK have to stand in the bottom of a tower that gets sealed and then flooded and have to swim to the top - dont know how deep but it must be around 100 foot - I would love to have a go in one of those, but never had any desire to join the Navy and spend time in an underwater coffin - too tall anyway.
Flippers are quite cheap tho - worth it even if you do very little open water swimming - you can move you feet just tiny amounts and you will have your chest out of the water.
Most of the hobby divers I know spend more time in fresh water than they do salt - diving in old gravel pits is quite popular here, but seems a little more deadly than sea diving. I prefer to sit by the gravel pits with a fishing rod.
Check it out...
However, what you say about the underwater creatures - if I was to see something in my lifetime like we have seen the film The Abyss, I would not be surprised.
A mate of mine was an instructor in the Red Sea and he did say some strange things could happen there - completly crazy currents at different water depths.