Wreck Diving: Exploring Underwater History

Seeing recreational wreck divers at work is like seeing a contemporary pirate movie. Searching for entrance points into a ship's interior, divers sweep its outside. Ruins age can make entering more perilous. Bulkheads might break, decks fall apart and corrosion seals close. Some scuba divers therefore shun wreck diving completely.

Investigating the underwater environment

Most divers find great intrigue in underwater history; wrecks provide a window into the past. They can be like time capsules bearing testimony to natural disasters, military defeats, and maritime tragedies. Many wrecks have been sunk specifically to act as manmade reefs, supporting marine life and relieving some pressure on natural coral reefs. Sometimes, like in Scapa Flow in Scotland, where more than 70 WWI-era German navy ships were scuttled to create an artificial dive site, the wrecks serve as a quiet memorial to the lives lost. One can travel back in time by diving the SS Thistlegorm in Vanuatu or the Jake Seaplane off Florida shore. Still, negotiating the inside of these historical antiques calls for some expertise. Passageways become shafts, decks decay and bulkheads fall. This difficulty calls for the kind of knowledge that experienced wreck divers can possess. The PADI Wreck Diver course will teach you the skills needed to visit these ancient sites, uncover their secrets and savour a safe and fulfilling journey.

Identifying Objects of Art

Underwater artefacts including wrecks offer interesting historical windows. Whether your hunt is seeking an old cannon sitting in sand or a colonial-era fluked anchor, there are some fundamental trade techniques that will assist in your search. The secret is to approach every wreck armed with a comprehensive study schedule. Learn about the ship's past including its cargo and passengers. View pictures of the ship before it sank and search for hints on where objects might have been kept aboard. Many wrecks are manmade reefs and support a wide spectrum of aquatic life. They are thus also rather popular fishing locations. On the outside of a wreck, fishing lines and nets always snag and cause severe entangements for careless divers. Under zero visibility, SSI's recreational Wreck Diver Speciality course offers responsible, professional methods for exploring and mapping the outside of a wreck. You will pick up other vital skills, correct zero-visibility evacuation techniques, and buddy systems.

Arriving at That

One unique viewpoint on the undersea world is provided by wreck diving. Silent monuments of a past, sunken ships, aircraft, and other constructions teem with marine life. Serious wreck divers seem to have a natural curiosity that drives them to travel to areas few, if any, have been to before. They wish to discover possibly previous mysteries and enjoy the beauty of nature recovering manmade artefacts. Though even these sites need cautious navigation to avoid entanglement dangers, non-penetration wreck dives are rather simple and safe. Essential for this kind of diving are correct buoyancy, limited kicking to minimise silt disruption, and a redundant air source. Additionally useful are tools to chop away entangements, a reel to trace your progress over meandering hallways, and a brilliant dive light to highlight dark nooks and interiors. Like all scuba diving, good research and preparation are absolutely vital. Before you go, find out whether the wreck you intend to investigate is off limits or subject to any particular rules.

Remaining Safe

Many scuba divers prefer wreck diving out of a passion in history or a wish to see the process of reclaiming human-made structures by nature. Swimming past the superstructure of a scuttled warship or across a galley loaded with crusty old plates can bring back another age. Still, wreck diving carries natural hazards, same as any kind of scuba diving. Even the most seasoned diver may be at risk from entanglement, razor sharp edges and confusing hallways. The fact that wrecks sometimes lie on their sides or upside down will further test a diver's navigational capacity. A wrecked ship can also be more difficult to access and escape since equipment falls into place obstructing passages and ceilings collapse. For these reasons, students should enrol in a thorough wreck diving course under the direction of an experienced instructor in this very specialised sub-segment of scuba diving. This course will provide them with the correct tools and techniques to safely explore wrecks, therefore reducing their chance of harmful circumstances.

You May Like

Trending