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SCIENCE
IN DIVING

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Research, Revelation and Restoration

danap.org / Quarter 3 2014

PLUS!

Lomboks Electric Reefs

Your Body Underwater
Investigating Indias Islands
Shark Societies

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SD Issue 5/2014, AA No.79

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80 YEARS WE ACCOMPANY YOU TO THE DEPTHS

OF YOUR DREAMS
It all started in 1934, in the rocky coves near Marseilles, on the Mediterranean coast in southern France. Its a
fascinating story that begins with a keen underwater sportsman, Georges Beuchat, and his desire to communicate his fascination for the sea and underwater spearfishing as wide a public as possible. It is of course a
story that continues to this day, marked by innovations that continue to leave their imprint on the lives of all who
share his passion.
With the invention of the modern isothermal wetsuit, Beuchat and underwater diving took a giant step
forward into a new era, into modernity - an unequivocal modernity admitting of no compromise on quality. To this
day all our Beuchat products are designed in France and many are made in our own workshops.
Over and above our technical skills and our ability to innovate, it is the Beuchat spirit which makes the difference. Pioneering by nature, Beuchat has constantly anticipated the expectations of our customers in the quest
for the indescribable thrill that only efficient, reliable and comfortable equipment allows divers to enjoy.

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April1012
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ADEX 2015 is dedicated to the lovable dolphin. Except for human beings,
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SD Issue 5/2014, AA No. 79

CONTENTS

Photo Lia Barrett

FROM THE EDITOR

Destinations

Features

Through The Lens

BEYOND 18

CHILDREN OF THE SEA 40

STUCK IN REVERSE 54

SCIENCE IN EDEN
By Umeed Mistry and Tasneem Khan
In Indias pristine Andaman
Islands is a research station
that supports interdisciplinary
research, development, and
conservation, whose doors
are open to tourists looking
for a diving experience that
goes deeper

By Pierre Cousteau
Harnessing the power of the
people: How logging your dives
can contribute to a vital body
of research that is mapping the
health of the ocean

By Imran Ahmed
Getting things back-to-front
and just right for more than just
PDJQLFDWLRQ5HYHUVH5LQJ
Macro looks like its here to stay

ENCOUNTERS 26
REEFS ELECTRIC!
By Sian Williams
A little island in Indonesia is
taking reef restoration to the
next level, using renewable
energy to power electric reefs
that are resilient to bleaching
DQGDFLGLFDWLRQ

AUSTRALIA 34
SOCIAL NETWORKING
By Justin Gilligan
New technology is shedding
light on the intricacies of shark
societies in Jervis Bay

Who among us didnt want to be an

intrepid, shark-whispering marine
biologist when we grew up? Well
apparently its never too late if you want
to get involved in some underwater
VFLHQFHLWVDOPRVWDVHDV\DVGRQQLQJ
\RXUWDQNDQGQV
As weve found out, getting up-close
and personal with cute and sociable
sharks, venturing out to a remote
research station in the wild Andaman
Islands, or using your diving skills to
EXLOGHOHFWULHGFRUDOUHHIVDUHMXVW
some of the ways that divers are taking
their underwater adventures that little
bit deeper, and getting in touch with
WKHLULQQHUPDGVFLHQWLVW
But science in diving doesnt stop
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came from the water, and our bodies
physiological responses to being deep
within it reminds us of this fact in the
PRVWH[WUDRUGLQDU\ZD\V
Science also holds the answers
to some of the unmentionable issues
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/LNHZK\RXUEODGGHUVLQYDULDEO\OO
up half way through a dive and why
nitrogen can make deep diving a little
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There are many ways to have
fun underwater, and it looks like
getting serious is one of them: Science
XQGHUZDWHUFDQEHVHULRXVIXQ
+HUHVKRZ

Editor

FINDING YOUR INNER

WHALE 42
By Darja Tjoe
Human beings share an ancient
UHH[ZLWKDOOPDPPDOVWKDW
hints at our evolutionary
connection to the deep-diving
creatures of the ocean

BODY MATTERS 46
By Darja Tjioe and Alice Grainger
The science behind some of the
weird ways our bodies react to
being deep underwater, and
what, if anything, we can do
about them

On the Cover
Find Alert Diver facing page
64, packed with essential
information from the Divers
$OHUW1HWZRUN$VLD3DFLFWKH
experts in dive safety, training
and accident management

During the underwater3some

Expedition, 2014, Aaron Wong captures
Pierre-Yves Cousteau contemplating
the waters of the Maldives
Image Aaron Wong
All Rights Reserved

E VERFLE X WE TSUIT
Suited for the extraordinary.

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BRIEFING

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Spot the Leopard Shark: Thailand

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FACTS AND FIGURES

Aristotle may be considered one of

SDAA

the first marine biologists,

describing and naming

24

species of
crustaceans and
annelid worms,

40

species of
mollusc and
echinoderms, and

116

El Nio
species of fish

events occur
roughly every

37

years

We all came from the sea. And it is an

interesting biological fact that all of us have, in
our veins, the exact same percentage of salt in
our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore,
we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our
tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go
back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch
it, we are going back from whence we came.
John F. Kennedy, Americas Cup Opening Speech,
September 14, 1962

To me the sea is a continual miracle;

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the waves the ships, with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?
Walt Whitman, excerpt from Miracles, 1856

It was during and after the Second World War

that the great expansion [in oceanography],
which is still going on, began. The realisation
by governments of the importance of marine
problems and their readiness to make money
available for research, the growth in the
number of scientists at work and the increasing
VRSKLVWLFDWLRQRIVFLHQWLFHTXLSPHQWKDYH
made it feasible to study the ocean on a scale
and to a degree of complexity never attempted
and never possible before.... As man increasingly
overcrowds and exploits his tiny planet, the
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tenths of its surface have suddenly become
apparent.
Margaret Deacon, Scientists and the Sea, 16501900, 1971

Artwork by Eric Wong

Narcosis

Goblin Sharks

live at depths of
around

1,200

metres

VISIT WWW.SUBGEAR.COM

BRIEFING
Shark Week

Image Scuba Junkie

Image Scuba Junkie

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PUCK PRO

CENTER OF CONTROL.
EDGE OF PERFORMANCE.
Where simplicity meets intelligence. One button controls all functions of this multigas switching, full-featured RGBM nitrox computer. A new 30% increased active
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XTRAORDINARY DIVES

Pulse of
the Ocean
MOALBOAL, CEBU,
PHILIPPINES
By Victor Tang
The resident sardine shoal
at Pescador Island has been
enthralling scuba divers for
years. This wonder of nature
has since moved and now
lives right on the Moalboal
shoreline, making them even
more accessible than before.
Hovering in their midst,
swaying to their pulse as
they evade their omnipresent
predators, brings a diver right
into the heart of the majesty of
our oceans.

On a gentle afternoon dive

we found a little group of
pink-eyed gobies sitting on the
branching coral. They are so
tiny and really active. I spent
the whole dive with them,
trying to shoot them from
GLHUHQWDQJOHV
This one caught my
attention because she was
slightly bigger than others. I
took lots of shots, but didnt
even see the eggs until I looked
at the pictures back on the
surface. Such a lucky shot!

ANILAO PHOTO HOTEL

HOUSE REEF, PHILIPPINES
By Yuping Chen

Tiny Mama

Sunflowers
BANCO DI SANTA CROCE,
SORRENTO, ITALY
By Pietro Cremone
I was diving at my favourite
site, shooting macro. I found
a wonderful wall completely
covered by these stunning sea
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shot in a traditional manner.
But I was in the mood to try
VRPHWKLQJGLHUHQWVR,
decided to open up my aperture
WRJHWDVRIWERNHKHHFW
Sometimes the most common
shots can give you great
satisfaction, especially if you
decide to try something new

SDAA

14

We were getting low on air,

visibility was deteriorating,
and we were contemplating
our ascent when I saw a
strange and beautiful pair of
oblong eyes staring back into
mine. They swivelled and
turned every which way, sizing
us up as a possible threat. We
soon realised they belonged
to this handsome fellow, a
snapping mantis shrimp!
He seemed to sense
that we meant no harm. I
took advantage of this rare
opportunity, and spent a few
intimate minutes with him,
capturing a few frames.

PUERTO GALERA,
PHILIPPINES
By Beth Barklage Watson

Solitary

Making Contact
UMKOMAAS, KWAZULUNATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
By Gianluca Afflitti
This was one of those lucky
days. Diving in the clear,
winter waters, the noise of
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grouper, who came over,
unafraid, seemingly with
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equipment.

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to pose for me, it seemed
almost vain! We were in
almost constant contact, and
getting some distance to try
to get all of him in the frame
became really problematic.

silver

cinema of dreams

www.seacam.com

BEYOND

By Umeed Mistry and Tasneem Khan

SCIENCE IN EDEN

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Exploration or fantasy? Documenting

volcanic underwater caves, pillars
and walls and the life they harbour at
The Grotto, on Barren Island
Image Umeed Mistry

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A crinoid perched on the edge of

a steep drop-off on Barren Island.
Commonly known as feather stars,
these seemingly passive filter feeders
position themselves strategically to
draw nutrients from the current
Image Tasneem Khan

SDAA

20

The secret life of sea fans: In

Havelock Island a spectacular
palette of colour presents a wide
range of data for documentation by
researchers in the region
Image Umeed Mistry

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1. In a stunning piece of natural art,
fringing mangroves stand against
another stunning island sunset
at Eastern Mayabunder, Middle
Andaman Island
Image Tasneem Khan

2. Life is abundant in the deep blue.

In the waters of Barren Island, an
oceanic manta ray, as curious as the
Homo sapien
Image Tasneem Khan

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Diversity, interaction and action. At
Twins Island in South Andamans, a
breathtaking variety of coral, huge
numbers of fusiliers and countless
invertebrate life forms
Image Umeed Mistry

New beginnings by the edge of the

sea. A black-naped tern hatching on
a rocky oceanic outcrop off Straight
Island, South Andamans
Image Tasneem Khan

Tasneem Khan, beyond being the director of ANET, is an

avid diver and wildlife photographer who believes that effective
conservation is best achieved by the synergy between science,
education, governance & community participation. It is this
approach that has led to the scope of work ANET does today.
Umeed Mistry is a PADI Staff Instructor and wildlife
photographer who has been diving the Indian Ocean for the
last 18 years.
His work with ANET is based on the belief that only when
people are touched by something will they make the effort to
preserve it.

NAVIGATOR
*HWWLQJWKHre:
Port Blair, the capital city of the is connected to
mainland India by air and sea. There are multiple daily
flights from Chennai and Calcutta with Kingfisher Airlines,
Jet Airways or Indian Airlines.
The ANET base in Wandoor (South Andaman Island)
is a 26 km drive from the capital city of Port Blair. Taxis
and local buses ply this route regularly. Buses leave Port
Blair for Wandoor every half an hour and stop. The ANET
base is a 10 to 15 minute walk down the single road that
leads to the North Wandoor beach. Contact ANET if you
require assistance.
(TXLSPHQWDQGWUDLQLQJ
Many sites in the Andaman Islands have strong currents
through the year.
Most dive operators in the Andamans have supervised
dive groups led by certified dive-masters. Solo diving and
diving in unguided buddy pairs is not the norm. Many of
the sites that see the most action average a max dive
depth of 2528 metres. Well maintained, state-of-theart dive equipment is easily available for rent from most

dive operators. Due to the 15kg baggage allowance on

domestic flights into Port Blair, most divers choose to
bring their snorkelling gear and camera equipment and
rent diving equipment.
%HVWWLPHWRGLYH
September to November is pleasant with rising daytime
temperatures, and occasional, short rain showers. This is
a good time to dive the Andamans. March to May is the
hottest time on the islands with afternoon temperatures
soaring to around 36 degrees C. This is also when the
sea is most calm and clear and is the best time to
dive. Liveaboard trips to further sites like Barren and
Narcondam Island are scheduled only from Jan to May.
0RUHLQIRUPDWLRQ
Visitors holding an Indian passport do not need a permit
to visit or stay in the municipal areas of islands in the
Andaman stretch, and can do so for an unlimited amount
of time.

Foreigners visiting India require an Indian visa to

enter the country. Additionally, non-Indians visiting
the Andaman Islands require a Restricted Area Permit
(RAP). The RAP is provided to visitors upon entry at the
airport in Port Blair, or at the port of embarkation of
ships leaving the mainland. The process takes about 20
minutes and requires a valid passport and Indian visa.
The RAP is issued for a 30-day stay in the municipal
areas of the Andaman Islands. Non-municipal areas
of the Andaman Islands and almost all of the Nicobar
Islands are reserved under the jurisdiction of either the
Forest Department or the Tribal Welfare Department. In
general, foreigners are not issued permits to visit and
stay in these areas. Indian citizens conducting research,
education or social-welfare programmes must apply for
explicit permissions from the relevant departments in
order to spend time in reserved areas.
To learn more about ANET or to arrange a stay or a
research project please visit www.anetindia.org.

ENCOUNTERS

By Sian Willams

REEFS ELECTRIC!
In Lombok, they are catapulting
reef restoration into the 21st
century, with basic chemistry, solar
panels and a little bit of manpower.

SDAA

26

Only an hour and a half by fast boat from Bali,

Indonesia, Lomboks northern islands, or Gilis, are still
MXVWRWKHEHDWHQWUDFNGHVSLWHWKHLULQFUHDVLQJSRSXODULW\
with backpackers, honeymooners and travellers looking to
get away from it all.
No more than seven kilometres wide, Gili Trawangan
is a place where Lomboks traditions merge with Western
style boutique shops, where bamboo beach bars sit next
to trendy cafs, and basic bungalows share their sandy
ODQHVZLWKYHVWDUYLOODV1RFDUVPRWRUELNHVRUGRJVDUH
allowed on the island, making this small patch of sand a
quiet and natural tropical paradise. Yet this island getaway
is also the location of one of the worlds most intensive
DQGIXWXULVWLFUHHIUHVWRUDWLRQSURJUDPPHVWKH*LOLVDUH
now home to a staggering total of 119 electric reefs one of
which is solar powered.

it is possible to see
Here
some of almost everything

that diving in Indonesia has

WRRHUIURPWLQ\S\JP\
seahorses to large reef sharks.
PARADISE ALMOST LOST

Indonesias waters are full of life and colour; the collision

RIWKH,QGLDQDQG3DFLF2FHDQVUHVXOWVLQDZHDOWKRI
VKDQGFRUDOGLYHUVLW\DQGWKHGLYLQJLQ,QGRQHVLDLV
considered by many to be the best in the world. Yet in
PDQ\SODFHVGHVWUXFWLYHVKLQJSUDFWLFHVFRPELQHG
with El Nio cycles, have caused enormous damage to
Indonesias underwater heritage.
Lomboks three famous northern Gilis sit closely,
side by side. Huge volumes of water rush between them,
creating incredibly strong currents that bring with them an
abundance of life. Here, it is possible to see some of almost
HYHU\WKLQJWKDWGLYLQJLQ,QGRQHVLDKDVWRRHUIURP
vibrant nudibranchs and tiny pygmy seahorses to large
reef sharks, thriving populations of turtles, and transient
mantas. In the shallows, there are gardens of hard and soft
corals, and endangered hawksbill and green turtles being
FOHDQHGE\VPDOOEXWWHU\VKDQGFOHDQHUZUDVVH'HHSHU
waters harbour resident whitetip reef sharks, and, during
the full moon, the reefs are subjected to the boisterous
DWWHQWLRQVRIDVFKRRORIEXPSKHDGSDUURWVKZKLFKOLNH
an otherworldly herd of cows, graze on the corals and play
amongst the bubbles of divers.
Yet the Gilis also bear their share of scars. For many
\HDUVWKH\ZHUHVKHGXVLQJG\QDPLWHDQGLQVRPH
Vibrant anemones and a wide variety
of anemonefish are just some of the
spectacular residents of the waters
around the Gilis that are benefitting
from Biorock technology
Image Vinny Turner

SODFHV\RXFDQVWLOOQGSDWFKHVRIFRUDOUXEEOHRQZKLFK
QRWKLQJZLOOJURZ5XEEOHVKLIWVZLWKWKHFXUUHQWVDQG
waves, making recolonisation by coral recruits very
GLFXOW:LWKRXWKHOSWKHVHUHHIVFRXOGWDNHPDQ\
GHFDGHVRUPRUHWRUHFRYHU2QODQGWKHHHFWVRIWKLV
annihilation can be seen with beaches eroding away,
KDYLQJORVWWKHLUHVVHQWLDORVKRUHSURWHFWLRQIURPZDYH
action the coral reefs.

planted on these
Corals
structures can grow up to

six times faster than corals

in the surrounding area,
and have also been shown
to be a lot hardier.

SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE

,Q'HOSKLQH5REEHDQGWKH*LOL(FR7UXVWVHWRXWWR
change this, to rebuild the areas marine biodiversity and
biomass, starting at the very foundation of life in the ocean
and restoring the islands coral reefs. Teaming up with
FRUDOHFRORJLVWIRXQGHURIWKH*OREDO&RUDO5HHI$OOLDQFH
DQGFUHDWRURI%LRURFNUHHIUHVWRUDWLRQWHFKQRORJ\'U
7KRPDV-*RUHDXWKH\FUHDWHGWKHUVWOLYLQJDUWLFLDO
reefs in the Gilis.

SDAA

28

Installing Biorocks takes training, a

team of volunteers, and a certain
degree of physical ability
Image Steve Woods

The Biorock project engages and

mobilises a large cross-section of the
diverse community of the Gilis. This
structure was installed in 2006
Image Wolf Hilzberg/
Gili Eco Trust

Biorock reefs are steel structures that employ the

principles of electrolysis a process by which electrical
currents cause substances present in a liquid to come out
of solution. Electrolysis requires one positively charged
electrode, the anode, and one negatively charged electrode,
the cathode. When a positively charged anode and a
negatively charged cathode are suspended in seawater
DQGDQHOHFWULFFXUUHQWRZVEHWZHHQWKHPFDOFLXPLRQV
combine with carbonate ions and form calcium carbonate,
which adheres to the cathode.
$%LRURFNVVWHHOVWUXFWXUHLVHVVHQWLDOO\DFDWKRGH
DQGRQFHWKHFXUUHQWVWDUWVWRRZLWVRRQEHFRPHV
covered in calcium carbonate, or limestone, a mineral that
has literally crystallised out of the water. This mineral
is almost identical to the substance that forms coral
skeletons, and is an ideal substrate for corals to colonise.
Biorock structures can be covered with coral fragments
that have been detached from their mother reefs due to
storm action, or that have been grown for the purpose.
2QFHFRORQLHVWDNHKROGRQWKHVWUXFWXUHWKHLUVNHOHWDO

ENCOUNTERS
After only a few days a layer of
calcium carbonate develops, coating
the steel structure and providing an
ideal substrate for coral recruits
Image Foued Kaddachi

growth is also supported. This means that more energy can

be devoted to reproduction, and to resisting stressors.
$VWLPHJRHVRQWKHVWUXFWXUHPDWXUHVDQGGHYHORSV
coral colonies lend increasing structural complexity and
WKHUHHIGHYHORSVLQWRDSDUDGLVHIRUVKWRLQKDELWIRU
feeding, shelter and reproduction. Corals planted on these
structures can grow up to six times faster than corals in
the surrounding area and have also been shown to be a
lot hardier. Every year, seasonally warm waters raise the
VHDWHPSHUDWXUHDURXQG*LOLVWRRYHU&IRUH[WHQGHG
periods of time. The corals on the Biorocks have proven to
be a lot less susceptible to stress and bleaching than other
reefs around the Gilis.
%XWWKHSRVLWLYHHHFWVRIWKLVWHFKQRORJ\GRQRWVHHP
to be localised. Not only does the mild electric current
stimulate the growth of corals attached to the structures,
LWVHHPVWKDWZLWKLQDHOGRIXSWRPHWUHVDURXQG
HDFK%LRURFNRWKHUFRUDOVEHQHW,QWKH*LOLVSUHYLRXVO\
uninhabited slopes surrounding the structures have
QRZEHFRPHODYLVKFRUDOJDUGHQV$QGMXVWOLNHQDWXUDO
coral reefs, Biorock reefs are also extremely successful in

1
dissipating wave and current energy, and are helping to
stem coastal erosion beaches are returning.
The reefs around the Gilis now demonstrate areas of
DEVROXWHO\SULVWLQHFRUDOVDQGDKHDOWK\DEXQGDQFHRIVK
species. There is still an ongoing campaign to turn the
*LOLVLQWRD0DULQH3URWHFWHG$UHDDQGZLWKJRRGUHDVRQ
large areas of the reefs here are covered with a rare type
of blue coral, found in few other places in the world in
such healthy abundance.

GREEN REEFS
Even though the reefs around Gilis are healthy, colourful
and diverse, growing development on the islands has
led to an increase in anchoring and associated damage,
DQGDQHYHUJUHDWHUQHHGIRUUHVWRUDWLRQSURMHFWVVXFKDV
%LRURFN,QUHFHQW\HDUVWKHZDUPFOHDUVKOOHGZDWHUV
have led to an incredible boom in the dive industry here.
Slowly, more and more people are beginning to catch on
WKDWWKHUHLVIDQWDVWLF\HWKDVVOHIUHHGLYLQJULJKWRWKH
beach. Protecting the natural resource that underpins this
industry is vital.
I had intended to visit Gili Trawangan for about six
ZHHNVDIWHUQGLQJRXWDERXWWKH%LRURFN5HHI5HVWRUDWLRQ
3URJUDPPHFDUULHGRXWWKURXJK7UDZDQJDQ'LYHDQG
the Gili Eco Trust. But after completing my two weeks of
training, learning how the Biorock technology works and
how successful the project has been around the Gilis, I
swiftly made it my aim to stay and volunteer for as long
as possible.
To enrol on this reef restoration course, students
QHHGOLWWOHRUQRNQRZOHGJHRI%LRURFNRUDQ\VFLHQWLF
EDFNJURXQGIRUWKDWPDWWHU$OOWKH\QHHGLVDKHDOWK\
GHVLUHWRJLYHVRPHWKLQJEDFNWRWKHRFHDQ,QWKHUVW
ZHHNZHWUDLQHGLQFRUDOLGHQWLFDWLRQDQGOHDUQHGKRZ
to recognise a whole variety of sponges, algae, fans and
feather stars. In the second week we began the gruelling
task of designing, measuring, cutting and welding locally
sourced steel in the heat of a tropical rainy season. We
installed 32 Biorocks, which, when put in place, created
the form of a huge manta ray. Creative, yes, but, more

SDAA

30

LPSRUWDQWO\WKLVZDVWREHWKHYHU\UVWVRODUSRZHUHG
SHUFHQWVXVWDLQDEOH%LRURFNUHHI
Floating on a pontoon four metres above the structures
are two large solar panels, enough to power the whole reef,
as well as a few other structures that were installed some
\HDUVDJR7KHUHVXOWVDUHDVWRQLVKLQJ$IWHUMXVWRQHZHHN
of being hooked up to the solar panels, limestone accretion
was visible as a thick, healthy white layer covering the
rebar the perfect substrate for our transplanted corals to
cement to.
7KHUHHILVWKULYLQJZLWKLQDIHZVKRUWPRQWKV$
VFKRRORIUHVLGHQWMXYHQLOHEDWVKQRZIROORZV\RXDURXQG
FXULRXVO\ZKLOHUD]RUVKGDUWLQDQGRXWEHWZHHQWKHUHEDU
DQGOD]\WXUWOHVEURZVHWKHDOJDHVHOHFWLRQ$WQLJKWKXJH
SXHUVUHVWRQWRSRIWKHVWUXFWXUHVDQGPRUD\VKXQWLQ
between the bars. Crabs can be seen crawling all over the
VLWHDQGOLWWOHRXQGHUVGRWKHLUEHVWQRWWREHVHHQDWDOO
1RWRQO\LV0DQWD5HHIQRZDSHUIHFWKRPHIRUVRPH
RQFHVWUHVVHGEURNHQFRUDOVEXWLWLVDOVRDQHGXFDWLRQDO
snorkelling site. Big slates with messages of how to take
care of and protect the ocean were donated by various

1. Hawksbill and green turtles (such

as this one) are unusually abundant
on almost all the dive sites around
the Gilis. Divers regularly report
sightings of more than 10 per dive
on some sites
Image Vinny Turner

2. Colourful macro critters take

up residence in and around the
Biorocks, such as this tiny glass
anemone shrimp, Periclimenes
brevicarpalis
Image Vinny Turner

ENCOUNTERS

Curious and interactive batfish, Platax

sp., are accustomed to divers in the
Gilis waters and make for engaging
encounters
Image Steve Woods

Home to charismatic schooling fish

such as jacks and these barracuda,
the diving in the Gilis has something
for everyone
Image Steve Woods

organisations and secured to the structures. Being very

shallow, they are perfectly accessible to snorkellers, and
serve as a fully interactive lesson on how to protect our
oceans and how successful reef restoration can be.
7KH*LOLVUVW%LRURFNVDUHQRZZHOOHVWDEOLVKHGGLYH
sites for drift and night dives, and for photography and
PDFURHQWKXVLDVWV$VORQJDVWKHVXQVKLQHVRQWKH*LOLV
0DQWD5HHIZLOODOVRFRQWLQXHWRJURZDQGLWVWUDQVSODQWHG
corals will reproduce and spread out, colonising the
VXUURXQGLQJUHHIVZHOFRPLQJPRUHVKDQGLQYHUWHEUDWHV
to inhabit its safe, shady crevices.
There are plans in place to develop technologies that
will allow the further harvesting of green energy, with
designs in the pipeline that will harness the power of
ocean currents and tidal power to create more sustainable
Biorock reefs in the future.
With many years of hard work and determination, the
Gili Eco Trust, countless volunteers, organisations and
businesses have now helped to sink a total of 119 successful
Biorock structures in the waters around Lomboks
northern Gilis, making this the largest area of thriving
%LRURFNUHHIVLQWKHZRUOG:LWKDQDYHUDJHRIIRXUWRYH

new Biorock structures being constructed every year, the

hope is that one day the stunning reefs surrounding these
LVODQGVZLOOVHWWKHVWDQGDUGIRUVXFFHVVIXOORQJWHUPUHHI
regeneration. SDAA

Sian Williams is a PADI Instructor and Speciality Instructor

for the PADI Introduction to Biorock Process, a course that
is taught through Trawangan Dive on Gili as a two-week
restoration programme or a one-day specialty. Sian is originally
from England and has been passionately involved in diving and
marine conservation for the past nine years.

PREPARED FOR THE HEAT?

NAVIGATOR
Getting there:
You can get to the Gilis via Bali or by flying directly
into Lombok from Jakarta. A number of fast boats
leave from Balis Padangbai, Nusa Lembongan and
Sanur; some of them go via Senggigi. The fast boats
take around an hour and half. If youre arriving in to
Mataram, you will need to take a bus to Pemenang
and from there take a cidomo (horse drawn cart) to
Bangsal harbor. Public boats from Bangsal harbour
to the Gilis run between 8am and 5pm every day, and
only leave when they are full.

Since 1998, increased wind speeds over the worlds

oceans have been pumping the heat caused by
global warming into the deep sea, so we have not
yet felt its effect. The moment that mixing slows
down, there will be a dramatic increase in surface
temperatures.
We have also not had an El Nio event since
1998, and, since they normally occur roughly every
46 years, we are 10 to 12 years overdue for one.
The next El Nio event will cause a significant
jump in temperature in many places, and severe
coral bleaching mortality. Ever since 1998 we have
been stuck in a prolonged sort of La Nia mode,
the opposite phase to El Nio. The two are often
confused. The 20102011 La Nia was so strong
that global ocean levels actually fell slightly, undoing
global sea level rise for a year.
The whole cycle has been in a very strange
mixed mode, with very warm water in the Northeast
Equatorial Pacific and cold water in the Southeast
Equatorial Pacific, but in the last month the latter
has dramatically warmed up, and I think all the
physical oceanographers now agree that a strong El
Nio is developing. We will probably start to see its
full effect later this year and early next year.
Places that have failed to prepare in advance,
by building high-temperature resistant Biorock Coral
Arks, will likely lose most of their remaining corals
to inevitable global warming much sooner than
they expect. Gili Trawangan, and other places that
have invested in Biorock Coral Arks, will see the
benefits as the water starts to get hot again their
corals are growing faster, are more resistant to high
temperatures, and will have much higher chances of
survival.
Dr. Tom Goreau,
creator of Biorock restoration technology

Equipment and training:

Diving in the Gilis is suitable for every level, with a
number of IDC centres offering courses up to Instructor.
To take part in the Biorock workshops divers should be
Advanced Open Water certified or higher.
Best time to dive:
Water stays a warm 28C and above year round and
between the months of March of May the visibility can
reach up to 40 metres. Currents are stronger from July
to September in the dry season, bringing sharks and
schools of pelagic trevally and barracuda. August winds
bring waves perfect for surfers.
More information:
To find out more on the Biorock workshops, or the
one day PADI Biorock Speciality course, contact
info@trawangandive.com

SDAA

32

Corals on the Biorocks grow around six times faster than they do without the technology.
Mature Biorock structures in the Gilis are now well-established reefs
Image Alexandra Jernberg

INVIGORATE.
INNOVATE.
INSPIRE.

Nauticam produces the

worlds widest range

of rugged aluminum

underwater camera housings and related accessories.

www.nauticam.com

AUSTRALIA
By Justin Gilligan

SOCIAL
NETWORKING

Taking sneaky peeks into shark

societies with cutting edge technology
is revealing that when it comes to
UHODWLRQVKLSVIRUVRPHRIWKHVHVKHV
its complicated.
&URZGVRIPHWUHORQJVKDUNVOLHPRWLRQOHVVRQWKHVHDRRU
within gutters etched into the rocky reef. Some are piled up
under overhangs, others are lying isolated and out in the
open. Beneath a waving frond of kelp, one of them raises
LWVKHDGDQGSLYRWVXSZDUGRQDSDLURISHFWRUDOQV:LWK
a few beats of its club-like tail it propels forward revealing
DSHQFLOVL]HGF\OLQGULFDOGHYLFHDWWDFKHGWRLWVDQN
A diver motions forward to grab the shark. He catches
it by placing one hand on the back of its head, and the
other around the tail. It struggles and bucks back and
IRXUWKEHIRUHQDOO\DGPLWWLQJGHIHDWDQGDOORZLQJWKH
diver to swim it up to the small canoe waiting above.
Yes, this is the recapture we are after! the diver
exclaims, as he hits the surface. This is Nathan Bass, a

SDAA

34

PhD candidate with Macquarie University, who is studying

the social networks of Port Jackson sharks in New South
:DOHV$XVWUDOLD
He passes the shark up to the team in the canoe. They
work methodically to gather as much data as they can in
as a short a time as possible, to limit any undue stress on
the animal.
The shark is measured from the tip of the snout to the
XSSHUOREHRILWVGRUVDOQEHIRUHEHLQJSODFHGJHQWO\LQD
bag and hoisted into the air to be weighed the average
size of a male Port Jackson is 95 centimetres and six kilos,
while the females are slightly larger at 120 centimetres
and 14 kilos.
The team collect a tissue sample for DNA analysis, and
UHFRUGDOOWKHGDWDDQGWKHXQLTXHLGHQWLFDWLRQQXPEHU
on the orange tag attached to its tail. Finally, the receiving
device that drew Nathan to this particular Port Jackson is
removed, and the shark is released back into the sea at the
survey site.
Each interaction with these gentle sharks occurs with
the utmost care. The team works within the constraints of
strict animal care and ethics guidelines to ensure minimal
impact on the shark during the encounter. Each step
RIWKHVFLHQWLFSURFHVVLVFDOFXODWHGDQGSHUIRUPHGE\
researchers with a passion for shark conservation.

were so many
There
sharks there it was
unbelievable, hundreds of
them were all sitting there
RQWKHVHDRRU

HANDS ON IN AN UNDERWATER HEAVEN

Its Nathans second winter studying the sharks, which
are endemic to southern Australia. Like all sharks of the
primitive order Heterodomtiformes, or horn sharks, the
Port Jackson has a blunt-shaped head and spines on the
OHDGLQJHGJHRIWKHWZRGRUVDOQV<HWLWVXQLTXHFRORXU
pattern is distinguishing and intricate. Dark harness-like
markings cover the eyes, run along the back and cross over
along the side of the body.
7KH\JDWKHULQQXPEHUVR1HZ6RXWK:DOHVEHWZHHQ
June and September, during which time Nathan divides
his time between two study locations in Jervis Bay and
R6\GQH\
The sharks are a popular favourite amongst avid groups
of divers who are also drawn to the same temperate reefs
DORQJWKHSRSXODUVRXWKHUQ1HZ6RXWK:DOHVFRDVWDOIULQJH
Peppering the reefs throughout their distribution, some
of the key locations for encountering this species include

Port Jackson sharks, Heterodontus

portusjacksoni, are a sociable
species that aggregate in large
numbers. Juveniles tend to remain
in mixed-sex groups in their nursery
bays and estuaries until close to
maturity. Eventually they move into
deeper waters where they separate
into female and male groups

A Port Jackson portrait reveals the

curled nostrils, plate like teeth and
prominent eye ridges eye ridges,
which distinguish the bullhead shark
family from other species of sharks

)RUVWHUDQG6HDO5RFNV)LQJDO,VODQGR3RUW6WHSKHQV
%DUH,VODQGR6\GQH\DQGWKURXJKRXW-HUYLV%D\
The diving in Jervis Bay has been rated amongst the
best in Australia. Shallow seagrass meadows provide
a haven for a diverse suite of colourful characters
such a weedy seadragons and pyjama squid. The kelpdominated, shallow, rocky reef gives way to boulder
HOGVHQFUXVWHGLQVHDWXOLSVVSRQJHVDQGDVFLGLDQV
Large blue groupers, schools of old wives and inquisitive
JLDQWFXWWOHVKDUHUHJXODUVZKLOVWUHG,QGLDQDQGEOXH
GHYLOVKDUHVRPHRIWKHKLGGHQJHPVWREHIRXQGZLWKLQ
the Port Jacksons domain.
During one exploratory dive in Jervis Bay, Nathan
recalls discovering a huge aggregation of Port Jackson
VKDUNVRWKHVRXWKHUQVLGHRIWKHED\7KHUHZHUHVR
many sharks there it was unbelievable. Hundreds of them
ZHUHDOOVLWWLQJWKHUHRQWKHVHDRRULQVPDOOJURXSV,WZDV
a remarkable encounter for our team, Nathan says.

the perfect project for

Its
budding marine scientists
to hone their diving and
HOGVNLOOVPDNLQJXS
to four dives a day at the
study sites

Eager to assist with the research is an enthusiastic

troop of volunteers hoping to get hands-on with a wild
shark. Many of them have their own marine post-graduate
research projects, while others are just keen to get
involved. Once properly trained, the volunteers have the
RSSRUWXQLW\WRSDUWLFLSDWHLQDOODVSHFWVRIWKHHOGZRUN
Its the perfect project for budding marine scientists
WRKRQHWKHLUGLYLQJDQGHOGVNLOOVZKLFKFDQWKHQ
applied to their own projects. The volunteers spend a
lot of time in the water, making up to four dives a day
DWWKHVWXG\VLWHVDQGVRPHWLPHVIXUWKHUDHOGGXULQJ
exploratory excursions.
,WVDQDPD]LQJH[SHULHQFHVD\V-R:LV]QLHZVNLWKH
Research and Conservation coordinator for the Taronga
Conservation Society Australia and co-supervisor of this
SURMHFW$OOWKHVKDUNVKDYHGLHUHQWSHUVRQDOLWLHVVRPH
come quietly to the surface, while others can be feisty and
whip around, she says.

SDAA

36

Macquarie University researcher

Nathan Bass releases a tagged Port
Jackson back into the wild.
Each shark is handled very carefully,
with volunteers adhering to strict
guidelines to minimise stress and
negative impact on the animals

Diverse, colourful species inhabit

the temperate waters of Jervis Bay,
including these firebrick sea stars,
Asterodiscides truncatus

Hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys

imbricata, are another of the many
draws for divers visiting this little
patch of New South Wales coast

Jos own PhD examined the social networks of

dolphins. These two projects are quite similar in that they
are both asking questions about the social relationships
ZLWKLQDSRSXODWLRQDQGWKHIDFWRUVWKDWLQXHQFHWKRVH
relationships, she says.
:HNQHZWKDWVRFLDOUHODWLRQVKLSVH[LVWHGDPRQJVW
the dolphins, so we were looking more at the long-term
changes and the stability of those relationships, says Jo.
Because dolphins are well studied, we then wanted to
move on to sharks, as there has been limited research in
WKLVHOG

RECORDING PROXIMITY
:HDUHWU\LQJWRGHPRQVWUDWHKRZWKHVKDUNVLQWHUDFW
Nathan says. The social structure of a population is closely
connected to their behaviour, ecology, and evolution.
To do so, the team are using proximity receivers, a new,
acoustic technology that records and stores information

AUSTRALIA

about encounters with other acoustically tagged sharks.

%\UHFRUGLQJWKHGDWHWLPHDQGDQLGHQWLFDWLRQQXPEHU
research on interactions can take place without human
interference, and over a continuous, extended period of
time. For this relatively small and slow-moving species the
recording distance is set at four body lengths (four metres),
but it is possible to adjust the distance at which proximal
receivers are detected and information is exchanged, to
suit larger and more mobile species.
The Port Jackson is the perfect species to study
applications of these proximity receivers. There are
plenty of them, they are easy to handle, and really hardy,
Nathan says.
:LWKHDFKSUR[LPLW\UHFHLYHUZHQGZHFDQDGG
another piece to the puzzle. Its just a matter of locating
the sharks again so we can download the data.
By combining the proximity receiver data with
other tried and tested acoustic technologies (including
continuous acoustic tags and receiving stations strategically
placed around the survey sites) Nathan aims to
demonstrate that the sharks form social relationships, and
then determine what functions these relationships have.

A range of morphometric
measurements, such as total length
are recorded from each shark before
release

Volunteers learn and develop

skills that they will use in their
own research projects later in their
careers. Marie-Claire Demers, a
research volunteer from the University
of Wollongong, prepares to release a
Port Jackson from shore

MATTERS OF SIZE, SEX AND SURVIVAL

1
2

1. Along with the proximity receivers

and acoustic tags, passive integrated
transponder (PIT) tags are used to
distinguish individual sharks when
they are re-captured
SDAA

38

2. Omni-directional ultrasonic
receivers are used to record the
identification number, along with
arrival and departure times when
tagged sharks swim within range of
the receiver

Preliminary results in the Port Jackson study already

hint that the sharks do exhibit complex social behaviour
and that individuals form stable social bonds.
During the breeding season they have a limited
home range and tend to organise themselves by size,
but not sex. Female sharks also tend to interact with
one another and avoid the males, while the males tend to
direct their interaction towards the females. According
to Nathan, these results suggest that the males are
looking to reproduce, while the female are trying to avoid
the harassment.
A key potential of using this technology is in
determining the connections between social structure,
segregation and habitat usage information which
can ultimately contribute to their management, says
Nathan. By understanding the formation of shark
aggregations and shark society, we will learn how to better
manage shark populations and maintain healthy marine
ecosystems.
Although Port Jackson sharks are not targeted by
FRPPHUFLDODQGUHFUHDWLRQDOVKHULHVWKH\DUHFRPPRQO\
FDXJKWDVE\FDWFKLQVHYHUDOVKHULHV,WLVLPSRUWDQW
to adequately manage these aggregations as their life
history characteristics make them along with other
shark species highly susceptible to overexploitation.

AUSTRALIA

Justin Gilligan is a marine scientist and regular contributor

to Scuba Diver. More of his work can be seen at
www.justingilligan.com.

NAVIGATOR
Getting there:
Huskisson is the main gateway to Jervis Bay and
is a two-and-a-half hour drive south from Sydney
international Airport.
Equipment and training:
An open water dive certification is the minimum
requirement to assist with this research.

Once proven, this technology can also be applied to more

threatened shark populations.
6KDUNVKDYHDVLJQLFDQWLQXHQFHRQWKHPDULQH
ecosystem and stimulate the global economy through
PDULQHHFRWRXULVPDQGVKHULHV7KHLQIRUPDWLRQ
obtained from projects such as this will have important
implications for the management and conservation of
sharks into the future. SDAA

Best time to dive:

Port Jackson sharks inhabit shallow coastal waters
during the winter months (JuneAugust). At this time
of year the average visibility is 20 metres with 18C
water temperature.
Diving conditions vary from day to day. Visibility
changes with the tide, wind and prevailing weather
conditions, and varies from 40 metres, to within arms
reach. Water temperatures fluctuate between 16
and 22C.
More information:
Contact Nathan Bass
nathan.bass@students.mq.edu.au

CHILDREN
OF THE SEA

An invitation from Pierre-Yves Cousteau

When I was nine years old, my father strapped a scuba

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connection to the ocean is strengthened, my intuitive
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And every time, about 35 minutes into the dive, I am
submerged in a feeling of bliss and belonging that seems
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WKHVHDKDGUHWXUQHGWRYLVLWRQO\IRUDZKLOH$VLPLODU
feeling to meeting a loved one who has passed away, in a
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I am writing these lines from the sunny shores of Raja
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Nature is lush and exuberant, both on land and beneath
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expand and contract as larger predators zip by, like a heart,
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who form this outer shell regularly migrate down to the
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this entire system as a living cell, with its living membrane
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TURNING PASSION INTO ACTION

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support systems that keep astronauts alive mimic the
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ELOOLRQ\HDUV7KHR[\JHQLQWKHDLU\RXDUHEUHDWKLQJZKLOH
reading this text, the ozone layer that protects us from
solar radiation, the luxuriance of Nature that nourishes
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LWVRULJLQVWLOOP\VWHULRXV
Under the pressure of overpopulation, the services
Nature provides us are at risk, which could have disastrous
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innovate and create, and perhaps to explore the deeper
PHDQLQJRIKDSSLQHVV
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Cousteau Divers: an international network of divers who
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several purposes: to raise the awareness of recreational
users of the sea of its fragility and to empower them to help
study and protect it, making each diver an agent of the
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Cousteau Divers is my way of bringing my fathers
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work raised awareness of millions of people worldwide
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activate those people into becoming actively involved in
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You break the surface in a cocoon of bubbles.

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their presence or absence. Very careful not to
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\RXUNQRZOHGJHZLWKWKHUHVWRIWKHZRUOG

NEW SUBAL EM1

FOR OLYMPUS
OM D EM1
Where design
meets perfection

The Search
Pierre-Yves Cousteau exploring
the reefs of the Maldives on the
uw3some Expedition, 2014. You can
join him in collecting data that will
contribute to saving the seas we love
Image Aaron Wong

CITIZEN SCIENCE
Cousteau Divers has a wide range of activities, structured
DURXQG WKUHH PDMRU D[HV 6FLHQFH &RPPXQLW\ DQG
0XOWLPHGLD DQG RQH ZRUG ,QWHUDFWLYLW\ 7KH PDLQ IRFXV
at this stage is to harness the power of the hundreds of
thousands of recreational divers around the world to
engage with us through a revolutionary citizen science
LQLWLDWLYH
*HWWLQJ LQYROYHG LV HDV\ %DVHG RQ PHWKRGV WKDW DUH
as simple as observing aquatic life you encounter and
then logging your dives, you, and any recreational diver,
can contribute to a global monitoring programme of
WKH RFHDQV %\ FROOHFWLQJ DQG FROODWLQJ \RXU XQGHUZDWHU
observations, we will be able to establish a near real-time
GLDJQRVLV RI WKH KHDOWK RI FRDVWDO HFRV\VWHPV -RLQLQJ
Cousteau Divers is the beginning of a lifetime of adventure
DQG LQYHVWLJDWLRQ OHQGLQJ \RXU GLYHV D YLWDO SXUSRVH
-RLQ XV
Pierre-Yves Cousteau

For more information, and to get involved go

to www.cousteaudivers.org.
Read about Cousteau Divers in the next
issue, Scuba Diver OCEAN PLANET. Out on
September 15, 2014. SDAA

EUROPEAN HANDMADE,
QUALITY, RELIABILITY...

SUBAL AUSTRIA

For more information

contact your local dealer or
SUBAL GmbH
Construction & Engineering HQ
Palais-Werndl, Schnauerstrasse 7,
4400 Steyr, AUSTRIA
www.subal.com |austria@subal.com
sdietze@subal.com

FEATURE

By Darja Tjioe

FINDING
YOUR INNER WHALE
Our bodies can do what our minds cannot fathom.
While the incredible and often bizarre characteristics
of the oceans creatures are a never-ending source of
fascination for us, as a species human beings are also
capable of exhibiting some extraordinary physiological
attributes. Some of these talents, presumably buried deep
within the genome, typically go unnoticed in our day-today lives and are only manifest when we are faced with
unusual circumstances.
To illustrate this, imagine putting your face into water.
The water temperature should be about 21 degrees Celsius
or less. What happens? First, your face will feel cold.
Second, of course, you wont be able to breathe. (Clearly,
\RXZRQWEHDEOHWRVXVWDLQWKLVH[SHULPHQWLQGHQLWHO\
In reasonably short order, however, if all is well and you
are a fairly typical example of our species, your heart rate
should drop to about three-quarters of its normal rate.
That, in itself, is actually a rather extraordinary thing.
The phenomenon is part of something known as the
PDPPDOLDQGLYLQJUHH[,WH[LVWVLQDOOPDPPDOV
aquatic mammals such as seals and dolphins in particular,
and even some diving birds, but also in land-dwelling
mammals, including humans. Its our bodies involuntary
response to immersion in cool water. Are we, if only for a
brief moment, accessing the bodys evolutionary memory
RIZDWHU"$IWHUDOOEHIRUHZHZHUHERUQZHZHUHRDWLQJ
DURXQGIRUQLQHPRQWKVLQDPQLRWLFXLG$UHRXUERGLHV
designed for being in water?

A BODY BUILT FOR DIVING

When we submerge the face, the following things happen.
Firstly, the muscles surrounding our blood vessels
contract, causing a reduction in the amount of blood
RZLQJWRRXUSHULSKHUDORUJDQV,QWKLVZD\PRUHR[\JHQ
is concentrated around the organs that have a much
greater need for it, like the heart, lungs and brain. We
dont need perfectly oxygenated arms and legs when we
are underwater, but we do need to conserve the oxygen we
have as long as possible.
7KHVHFRQGSK\VLRORJLFDOUHDFWLRQWKDWRFFXUVDHFWV
the number of heartbeats per minute. For the average
person, heart rate reduces by between 10 and 30 percent.
In trained freedivers, the reduction is by as much as half.
Reducing heart rate helps reduce oxygen metabolism,

SDAA

42

making a single breath of air last longer. Myths abound

about peoples ability to control their heartbeat (Buddhist
monks are supposedly able to stop their hearts completely
VLPSO\WKURXJKPHGLWDWLRQEXWWKLVSKHQRPHQRQLV
no such myth. This is your bodys real, purely physical,
response to an outside stimulus.
There are two further changes that are part of the
PDPPDOLDQGLYLQJUHH[DQGDUHDXWRPDWLFUHVSRQVHV
to deep, breath-hold diving and subjecting the body to
extremely increased pressures. One is the so-called blood
shift: The blood that has moved away from the extremities
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FRPSUHVVLRQRIWKHOXQJV,WDOVROOVWKHDOYHROLWKHWLQ\
air sacs in the lungs where the actual gas exchange occurs.
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change by pressure.
)LQDOO\WKHUHLVWKHVSOHHQHHFW%HFDXVHKXJH
volumes of red blood cells circulate through the spleen, it
acts as a blood reservoir. When extra volume is needed,
the spleen constricts and releases oxygen-enriched
haemoglobin into the system. Its like carrying around a
little spare air in our bodies.

DISCOVERING THE MASTER SWITCH OF LIFE

Medical science commonly refers to the mammalian diving
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drowning turned out to be only near drownings because of
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in cold water, aspirating water and causing their breathing
and circulation to stop, have actually been resuscitated
successfully. Essentially, their bodys reaction to the cold
liquid on their face slowed down their metabolism to a
point where, ordinarily, the damage to the brain due to
lack of oxygen would have been irreversible. In some of
these cases, very little or no damage followed the incidents.
7KHHHFWVRIWKHUHH[DUHHYHQPRUHSURQRXQFHG
in young children, whose smaller body cools down much
faster than an adults. Indeed, there are cases of children
surviving despite being underwater for incredible lengths
of time and having no circulation for even longer.
,QWKHVXQGHUWDNLQJH[SHULPHQWVWKDWZRXOG
EHFRQVLGHUHGKLJKO\FRQWURYHUVLDOWRGD\)UHQFK
SK\VLRORJLVW3DXO%HUWEHFDPHWKHUVWWRREVHUYHWKH

Photo Lia Barrett

Photo Lia Barrett

VORZHGKHDUWUDWHVRIGXFNVVXEPHUJHGLQZDWHUDOVR
noting that bleeding the duck reduced its diving capability.
Some years later, one of Berts students, Charles Richet,
deduced the reduction in metabolic rate during diving
based on the fact that oxygen stores alone could not
account for the length of the dives achieved by the animals.
Despite the inhumane nature of these experiments,
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wasnt recorded until the 1950s, when Norwegian Per
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in other animals, including humans. In a 1963 paper in
6FLHQWLF$PHULFDQ, he called it the master switch of life.
In the 1960s, the very idea of freediving any deeper
than 50 metres was dismissed as impossible and
dangerous. Scientists insisted that it couldnt be done,
largely because of the pressures to which the body would
be exposed. Imagine that for every 10 metres you dive
down, your body has to withstand another one bar of
pressure. At 100 metres, your lungs would be reduced to
less than 10 percent of their size at the surface. Thus, it was
claimed that beyond 50 metres, the pressure would cause a
divers lungs, or even the entire ribcage, to collapse.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, all this talk of limitations only
seemed to motivate certain extraordinary individuals to
prove the theories wrong. Italian Enzo Maiorca was the
UVWWRGLYHWRPHWUHVFORVHO\IROORZHGE\)UHQFKPDQ

SDAA

44

Jacques Mayol. Both were well-known freedivers of their

time, each breaking one diving record after another. It was
studies on Mayol in the 1970s that revealed the workings
RIWKHVSOHHQHHFW7RGD\IUHHGLYHUVKDYHVKDWWHUHGWKHVH
limits with both male and female world record depths now
exceeding 100 metres.

USE THE KNOWLEDGE

The mammalian diving reflex is the reason that many
people find breathing from a regulator, underwater, with
no mask on, so very difficult. The reflex suppresses the
bodys urge to breathe and is so strong that it makes it
possible for babies to be temporarily submerged in water
without drowning.
Training the mind to overcome this reflex may take
some people a little longer than others, and, if you find
this particular skill difficult, spending five minutes or
so breathing from a regulator or snorkel at the surface,
with your face immersed, will go a long way to helping to
accustom your body to override this impulse.
This is also why, when attempting to resuscitate a
drowning victim, it is always a good idea to dry their
face, so that efforts to restart respiration are not fighting
this most innate, physical instinct.

FEATURE
Photo Chris Simanjuntak

ZEN AND THE ART OF BEING A MAMMAL

For most animals, marine mammals in particular, the
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OLWWOHGLHUHQW<HVLWVDUHH[DQGWKHUHLVQRWPXFKZH
can do about the way it works. But we already know that
with training divers can slow the heart even more than
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GRFHUHEUDOSURFHVVHVKDYHRQWKHUHH["$QGKRZPXFK
LQXHQFHGRHVWKHUHH[KDYHRQRXUPHQWDOSURFHVVHV",V
this the reason that some people like being underwater so
much? Does it relax us? Does it make us more Zen?
Ask any freediver why they do it. Of course, if theyre
being honest, theyll admit that their thirst for oneupmanship plays a part. But mostly they will tell you
that its to experience the unique sensations of being
XQGHUZDWHUWKHVLOHQFHWRWUXO\H[SHULHQFHWKHQRZ
because deep below the surface is probably one of the few
places left in the world where you can be in the present
most completely.
For those of us who spend half our lives underwater,
its about so much more than mere survival. Its a way of
life, a capacity that we can utilise and develop. It is what
DOORZVXVWRGRZKDWZHORYHPRVWEHLQJLPPHUVHGEHLQJ
part of this other world. And simply being. SDAA

FEATURE

Text by Darja Tjioe and Alice Grainger

Illustrations by John Grainger

BODY MATTERS

THE SCIENCE
BEHIND THE NARC
Have you ever wondered why you need
to pee as soon as you hit 15 metres? Or
why diving gives you a mouth thats dry
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HOXGH\RX"2UDUH\RX\HWWRJHW\RXU
head around the freaky phenomenon
WKDWLVQDUFRVLV"
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SDAA

46

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 7KHUHSRUWHGHHFWVRIQDUFRVLVDUHDYDULHW\RI
HPRWLRQVDQGVHQVDWLRQVWKDWFDQPDQLIHVWDWDZKROH
UDQJHRIGHSWKV$ORQJZLWKDVHQVHRIMR\DQGZHOOEHLQJ
QDUFRVLVFDQUHVXOWLQDQ[LHW\IHDUJLGGLQHVVHXSKRULD
EODFNRXWVDQGVLOO\EHKDYLRXU6RPHGLYHUVHYHQFODLP
QRWWRH[SHULHQFHQDUFRVLVDWDOO3K\VLFDOGLHUHQFHVDQG
VXVFHSWLELOLW\DVLGHQHYHUIHHOLQJDWKLQJVHHPVDOLWWOH
XQOLNHO\%XWKRZGRHVLWZRUNSK\VLRORJLFDOO\"

 )RUPDQ\LWVVLPSO\D
JHQWOHEX]]WKHKLJK

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going deep to get the hit
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LV$70DQGWKHQLWURJHQLVQRZUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDURXQG
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LQFUHDVHVDQGDVWKHSDUWLDOSUHVVXUHRIWKHQLWURJHQJRHV
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RIWKHEUDLQVQHUYHFHOOVFDXVLQJLQWHUIHUHQFHZLWKWKH
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5HFHQWO\VSHFLFW\SHVRIUHFHSWRUVLQQHUYHFHOOVKDYHEHHQ
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LGHDRIQHUYHWUDQVPLVVLRQEHLQJDOWHUHGLQDUHDVRIWKH
EUDLQUHPDLQVXQFKDOOHQJHG
 6XVFHSWLELOLW\YDULHVIURPRQHLQGLYLGXDOWRWKHQH[W
EXWDOVRIURPRQHGD\RUHYHQRQHGLYHWRWKHQH[W6RPH
IDFWRUVWKDWLQXHQFHWKHHHFWVRIQDUFRVLVDUHKDUGZRUN
FROGZDWHUDOFRKROHYHQWKHHHFWVRIDODWHQLJKWWKH
GD\EHIRUHIHDUGHVFHQWUDWHIDWLJXHDQGLOOQHVVDQG
PHGLFDWLRQWRQDPHDIHZ

The Martini Effect

Under pressure
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WKDWLWLQYROYHVWKHHHFWRIWKHSDUWLDOSUHVVXUHRIWKHJDV
\RXDUHEUHDWKLQJ8QGHURQHDWPRVSKHUHRIQRUPDODLULH
RQWKHVXUIDFHZLWKQRWKLQJEXWWKDWELJEOXHWKLQJDERYH
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ZKLFKJXUHVRU$70:LWKQLWURJHQPDNLQJXSDURXQG
SHUFHQWRIWKHDLUWKDWZHDUHEUHDWKLQJWKHDPRXQWRI
WKLVSUHVVXUHWKDWWKHQLWURJHQLVUHVSRQVLEOHIRUH[HUWLQJLV
$70:HFDOOWKLVWKHpartialSUHVVXUH
 $VZHWDNHWKLVDLUXQGHUZDWHUWKHSDUWLDOSUHVVXUHRI
WKHQLWURJHQLQFUHDVHVDVWKHDPELHQWSUHVVXUHLQFUHDVHV$W

,QGLYLQJFLUFOHVVRPHSHRSOHUHIHUWRWKLVDVWKH0DUWLQL
(HFWWRH[SUHVVWKHDPRXQWRIPHQWDOLPSDLUPHQWWKDW
ZHFDQH[SHFWWRRFFXUDWGLHUHQWGHSWKV7KHH[DFWGHSWK
DWZKLFKQDUFRVLVVWDUWVWRKDYHDQHHFWLVQRWSUHFLVH
DQGLVYHU\PXFKGHSHQGHQWRQSK\VLRORJLFDOGLHUHQFHV
VXVFHSWLELOLW\SK\VLFDOWQHVVDQGHQYLURQPHQWDOIDFWRUV
%XWPHWUHVIHHWLVDZLGHO\DFFHSWHGURXJK
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 3HRSOHOLNHQEHLQJDWPHWUHVWRWKHIHHOLQJRI
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VXEVHTXHQWWRPHWUHVWKHHHFWRQPHQWDOLPSDLUPHQW
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 ,QWKHVDPHZD\WKDWEHLQJDOLWWOHGUXQNLVXQOLNHO\
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EXWJHWWLQJLQ\RXUFDUFRXOGZHOOEHHQGDQJHULQJ\RXUVHOI
DQGSRVVLEO\RWKHUV)RRGIRUWKRXJKW"

IS DIVING DOING
YOUR HEAD IN?
'HVSLWHWKHURPDQFHLQKHUHQWLQWKHWURSLFDOLVODQG
VHWWLQJDQGWKHDELGLQJORYHPDQ\SHRSOHKDYHIRU
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RQFH\RXKLWWKHVXUIDFHLVDOLHGRZQDQGDFRXSOHRI
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DQGVRZHYHEURNHQWKHPGRZQIRU\RXZLWKDOLVWRI
GRVDQGGRQWV

2. Bad breathing
Do breathe and breathe properly. No need
to hyperventilate throughout your dive, but try
not to economise your air by skip-breathing.
Skip breathing is the act of holding the breath
for a second or two after the inhalation, and
increases the build-up of carbon dioxide in
your body. This stimulates receptors in the
blood vessels in the brain, increasing the
blood flow to the area which causes splitting
headaches.
SDAA

48

,VLWFRPIRUWDEOHRU

GR\RXORRNOLNHD
7HOHWXEE\RQVWHURLGV"

1. Dehydration
Do drink and drink and then drink some
more. Water that is! One of the major
causes of post (and pre-) dive headaches
is dehydration. Especially in tropical diving
destinations, where we tend to forget to adjust
our daily intake to the change in climate.
Dont overdo it in the bar, especially
if you have early morning dives planned for
the next day. Alcohol dehydrates and the
headache you feel is not going to get any
better down there. And if you do have one
cocktail too many, give the diving a miss.

3. Fashion over function

Do consider what you wear underwater; is it
comfortable or do you look like a Teletubby on
steroids? If your mask leaves an imprint that
lasts a week, there is a good chance it comes
with a nice squeeze, causing? Yes, ouch!
Make sure your mask, suit and especially your
hood fits. Imagine your head in a vice.
Enough said?
4. Overheating
Do chill out: Getting ready half an hour
before the dive and sweating in your wetsuit in
the sun is hardly pleasant as it is. Dehydrating
and overheating like that will most likely
cause all kinds of unpleasant sensations, with
headaches at the top of the list.

5. Congestion
Dont dive with a head cold. Having your
sinuses full of nastiness will make equalising
them near impossible and you could end
up with the sensation of a knife stuck in
your forehead. Using decongestants is not
recommended practice, either and the effects
can wear off underwater anyway, leaving you
with a reverse block that comes with its own
set of problems. Leave the diving until you can
breathe freely once again. You can recognise
a sinus headache easily as it usually
manifests in your forehead, behind your eyes
or in your cheeks.
Do take any post-dive headache
seriously. Your body is telling you something,
and most probably that you are doing
something wrong! If its a regular thing, get
yourself checked by a hyperbaric doctor. If its
a one-time thing, take it easy, take care of it
and try to figure out why it happened. If your
headache comes with excessive fatigue, joint
pain, nausea, dizziness, or any other potential
symptoms of DCI, DO seek medical help
immediately.

FEATURE

NEED TO PEE?
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Now for the science

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THE BIG EQUALISER

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RQDGLYH

First the basics

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If you descend without

equalising what happens
is this:
The increasing pressure will slowly push the
eardrum inwards, causing a slight feeling
of discomfort.
If you continue descending, mucus from your
Eustachian tubes will start to fill your middle
ears making it harder for you to equalise.
Still not equalising? Your eardrum becomes
severely overstretched and small tears will
form in the tissues, blood vessels might
expand or even break, causing lesions that
take weeks to heal and are prone to infection.
Are you stubbornly persisting? Your body will
take over and fluids and mucus from the
surrounding tissues in the middle ear will try
to equalise it for you. Leaving you feeling like
you have water in your ear for a week or so.
If you keep on going, if you descend quite
fast or if you are just extremely unlucky, your
eardrum will rupture.
Depending on the severity of the rupture
and post-rupture care, this could result in
temporary or permanent hearing loss, vertigo,
inflammation, and of course, no diving for a
couple of months at least.

Nifty techniques and masterful manoeuvres

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to your ears is the Valsalva technique3LQFK\RXUQRVH
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'RQW IRUFH LW
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RQWKHVXUIDFHEHIRUHDWWHPSWLQJLWGXULQJDGLYH

SDAA

50

 )RUHYHQPRUHHHFWLYHQHVVWKHUHLVWKHEdmunds
technique:KLOHWHQVLQJ\RXUVRIWSDODWHDQGWKURDW
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DWWHPSW D 9DOVDOYD LWV KDUGHU WKDQ LW VRXQGV
 /DVWO\WKHUHLVZKDWZHFDOOvoluntary tubal opening
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RSHQIRUVHYHUDOPLQXWHVDWDWLPH,WVDWHFKQLTXH
WKDWLVZLGHO\XVHGLQIUHHGLYLQJDQGLWUHTXLUHVDORWRI
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WKURDWDQGPRYH\RXUMDZRXWDQGGRZQZDUGV7KH
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WKHVHPXVFOHVWKH(XVWDFKLDQWXEHVDFWXDOO\
RSHQPDNLQJHTXDOLVDWLRQSRVVLEOH

FEATURE
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DEMA SHOW 2014

NOVEMBER 1922, 2014 | LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA | WWW.DEMASHOW.COM

THE WORLDS ONLY INTERNATIONAL TRADE-ONLY EVENT FOR DIVING, ACTION WATERSPORTS AND TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS!

SEE IT

EXPERIENCE IT

SHARE IT

98% of attendees visit the DEMA Show Floor

to see, touch and feel rsthand the newest
industry developments and product innovations
from hundreds of industry suppliers!

DEMA Show offers an expansive educational

program designed to give you the tools to
incorporate innovative business strategies,
state of the industry topics and current
trends into your professional career and
diving business!

Dont miss this unique opportunity to learn

from the experts, connect with industry
professionals and experience all the fun
Las Vegas has to offer!

FIND OUT MORE AND REGISTER NOW AT

WWW.DEMASHOW.COM

LAS VEGAS

facebook.com/demashow | twitter.com/dema_show | linkedin.com/company/dema-org | youtube.com/user/DEMAAssn | pinterest.com/demashow

Scuba Diver AUSTRALASIA and ADEX China (IUST) Announce

READ MORE, DIVE MORE

Underwater Photo Competition

Formerly the Through The Lens International Underwater Photography Competition

VOTE

for your favourite shortlisted picture

by going to www.uw3some.com/
sdaacompetition2014

THE PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD

This year, we are letting YOU choose one of the WINNERS of the
AUSTRALASIA Underwater Photo Competition!

The picture with the most votes will be

presented with the Peoples Choice Award,
and the winner will walk away with a MARES
HD computer and one set of Force Fins!

MARES
A HD
COMPUTER

FORCE
FORC
CE FINSS
Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd does not cover costs associated with posting prizes

Image credits: Submissions to the Through The Lens Underwater Photography Competition, 2012 & 2013

CHINA

THROUGH THE LENS

By Imran Ahmad

STUCK IN
REVERSE

*RLQJEH\RQGPDJQLFDWLRQ

Showcasing the magnification of

the RRM Technique and a little
bit of animal behaviour in Anilao,
Philippines
SDAA

54

The intention of this was shot was

to showcase the eyes. Working with
paper-thin depth of field and manual
focus isnt the easiest but it does
get you what you want when you
get it right

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BOKEHLICIOUS: THERES SO MUCH MORE TO BLUR

There are essentially two types of RRM:

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TYPES OF RRM TECHNIQUE

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SDAA

56

Equipment for RRM:

'6/5
Zoom lens
PPI
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 0DFURFRXSOLQJULQJ
5HYHUVHULQJ

1. Different combinations of lenses

mounted together give different effects.
RRM is about expanding your creativity
with lenses you already have in your
camera bag

2. One of the most distinguishing

characteristics of RRM is the bokeh
that you can achieve; its not only
about magnification but also about
lending your blur a little flair

THROUGH THE LENS

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The basics:

CONTROL AND LOSING IT

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UNDERSTANDING YOUR APERTURE

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FOCUS ON RRM

Some tips:

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3UDFWLVHPDNHVSHUIHFW

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VKDNH
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NEXT IS LIGHTS
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Some of the best ways to shoot any

subject is to be at its eye level. With
RRM it creates an almost pop-out
effect. You MUST understand your
minimal focus distance and aperture
to achieve the effect that you want

SDAA

58

LASTLY, GET OUT AND SHOOT!

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WOW

We drifted from shore into another world, an

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Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

By Nina Baxa

INNERSPACE
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The Magazine of Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific

DANAsiaPacific.org / Quarter 3 2014

MARINE MEDICINES
REVOLUTIONISING DCS TREATMENT
A SEA OF SOUNDS
NITROX

A rare opportunity to
interact with dolphins
in perfect conditions at
Little Bahama Bank
Settings: 1/250s, f/11
Image Bob Talbot

CONTENTS
Chief Executive Officer

Chris Wachholz

Founder, Director of Research

& Chairman of the Board

John Lippmann

- Perspectives
- Letters

Stephen Frink

06 | DIVE SLATE

04 | FROM THE SAFETY STOP

Content Coordinator

THE ENORMOUS DIN OF THE SEA

Editors
DAN AP Board of Directors

Coordinator Instructor
Certifications & Sales
Memberships & Certifications

Marketing Coordinator
Training
Accounts

Brian Harper and Diana Palmer

By Michael Stoker

John Lippmann, David Natoli, Malcolm

Hill, Dr David Wilkinson, Dr Andrew Fock,
Mick Jackson, Dr John Finkelstein, Stan
Bugg, William Ziefle, Joe Poe and William
Anlyan

10 | DIVE FITNESS
SWIM TRAINING FOR
SCUBA DIVERS
Text by Gary Hall Sr.
Images by Stephen Frink

Scott Jamieson

12 | RESEARCH, EDUCATION,
AND MEDICINE

Diane Boyle, Emilia Giacomini, Simone

Huber, Sophie Kayne, Hyeonji Kim,
Adam Lippmann, Julie Parsonson and
Heidi Powell

- DAN Was There For Me

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT
THE OFFICE
Text by Meghan K. MacCollum

Melissa Cefai
John Lippmann, David Natoli and Tim
Vernon-Smith
Anny Limbek

- Skills in Action
PREPARE TO GET FOUND
By Jack Connick

- From the Medical Line

DAN MEDICS ANSWER YOUR
DIVING QUESTIONS
Alert Divers Philosophy
Alert Diver is a forum for ideas and information relative to diving safety, education and
practice. Any material relating to dive safety or dive medicine or accident management is
considered for publication. Ideas, comments and support are encouraged and appreciated.
The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those advocated by DAN
Asia-Pacific, DAN is a neutral public service organisation which attempts to interact with
all diving-related organisations or persons with equal deference. Alert Diver is published
for the use of the diving public and it is not a medical journal. The use and dosage of any
medication by a diver should be under the supervision of his or her physician.

- Expert Opinions
PERFLUOROCARBONS
Text by Brian Harper W-EMT, DMT &
Petar Denoble, MD, DSC

A potential game changer for DCI

first response?

24 | LIFE AQUATIC
Alert Diver is published as a separate, independent magazine within Scuba Diver
AUSTRALASIA (SDAA) magazine. DAN Asia-Pacific is not responsible for the content
provided elsewhere within SDAA, and therefore this content should not be assumed to
represent the views, policies or practices of DAN Asia-Pacific or Alert Diver magazine.

Alert Diver Text, illustration or photographs may not be reproduced or reprinted

without the expressed consent of Divers Alert Network and its authors, artists and
photographers. Many articles are reprinted with the kind permission of DAN America.

THE PHARMACY OF THE SEA

By Hillary Viders, PhD

The cures for a whole host of serious

diseases could be derived from
compounds found on coral reefs
another compelling argument for
protecting them

30 | GEAR
NITROX

Email: info@danap.org
For more information on membership, insurances and training programmes, visit our
website: www.danap.org

Text by Eric Douglas

Images by Stephen Frink

This once controversial gas has

proved to be a valuable tool for those
who know how to use it

FROM THE
SAFETY STOP

PERSPECTIVES
Two Challenges We Must Solve
Since I started and over the past year of
working with DAN Asia-Pacifics Founder,
John Lippmann, and our unsung volunteer DAN
hotline DES physicians, it has become clear that
we have two glaring challenges:
1. More needs to be done to improve oxygen first
aid preparedness, and
2. Remote medical clinics and their physicians
need help to better assess injured divers
and provide early care prior to the divers
transport to a chamber.
What is Oxygen First Aid Preparedness?
It means having the right equipment,
knowing how to use it and very important in
Asia-Pacifics very remote locations having an
adequate supply.
Today, more dive operators have O2 equipment
and know how to use it, but too often they dont
have enough oxygen.
Having a quality DAN O2 kit with a small
cylinder is great for the initial emergency but
transport often cannot be made for several hours or
the next morning. In these circumstances we have
regularly had the diver breathe oxygen overnight,
using a free-flow non-rebreather (NRB) mask,
which is standard issue in all DAN Oxygen kits.
You too, can make a difference in improving
safety by your choice of resorts and dive
operators. You can encourage them to be better
prepared by asking:
1. Do they have an oxygen kit?
2. How many hours oxygen supply do they have?
3. Is their staff trained in oxygen first aid?
In the next issue of Alert Diver magazine I will
discuss the other issue of remote clinics ability
to assess divers and provide early care, and, DAN
and the dive industrys efforts to address both.
Safe diving,
Chris Wachholz,
CEO, DAN Asia-Pacific

LETTERS
From our members

Calling Time On Tinnitus

I suffered an injury by diving when I shouldnt
have been, with a cold, and in clearing my ears,
experienced a micro-rupture of the left tympanum.
My symptoms were a fullness feeling in the ear, mild
disorientation and pain.
After seeing an otolaryngologist the symptoms
abated but I was left with a permanent case of
tinnitus in that ear. The ringing was constant, only
changing in volume when I was fatigued, or my
allergies were bothering me.
My hearing continued to deteriorate over the
years for reasons that had nothing to do with the
incident, until I finally resorted to hearing aids for
both ears. When I inserted these discreet units into
my ears, the tinnitus stopped immediately. I have
read of other instances of this phenomenon and
would recommend trying hearing amplification to
overcome tinnitus.
David Vickery

All The Way, Always

I am probably not alone in having had a less serious
experience of discovering on a dive that my tank
valve was only partially open. In my case, I was only
a metre or so underwater and was able to reach the
valve and open it. The tank valve had been cracked
open (by me) to check and report tank pressure to
the divemaster in the predive preparation.
Since this experience, I have formed the habit of
never leaving the air on after checking tank pressure.
When tank pressure is checked, I immediately
reclose the valve and depressurise the regulators
with no exceptions. The next time the valve gets
opened, it opens all the way. I still usually do buddy
checks ahead of the entry, and the divemaster will
frequently check as you enter, but since forming
the habit, my tank valve has never been discovered
partially open, in or out of the water.
Ian Murray

I would like to point out that while many divers are

more ecologically aware of the marine environment
and the threats it faces, arent many just a bit
hypocritical at the same time?
I lead many groups of divers around the world,
the great majority on liveaboard vessels. Guess
what the number one entrees are for both lunch and
dinner? Seafood, always seafood, with maybe some
chicken or beef on the side.
Most charter boats will take into consideration
their guests food preferences, and have clients fill
out some kind of form. Whenever I fill one out I
always say no seafood.
If we are to preach about the need to conserve
our marine life then we need to walk the talk. I
know that there are many species of fish that are
not on a published endangered list, but that are still
caught with a lot of bycatch and damage to coral
reefs and other marine ecosystems.
The push towards more ecologically sound
practices is important for communities whose
culinary heritage relies upon seafood. However, the
very least we could do as a community invested in
saving marine life, is to stop our dive destination
resorts and liveaboard craft from consistently
placing seafood as their number one entree.

Image Stephen Frink

Walking The Talk

Steve Douglas

Write to us, tell us whats on

your mind. Send an email to:
letters@danap.org
All letters included are
subject to editing for length
and content

Special Event:
Early Care of the Injured Diver, sponsored by
DAN Asia-Pacific and Hyperbaric Health in cooperation with the Asian Hyperbaric and Diving
Medical Association (9th August, Kuala Lumpur).
The programme is most relevant to those who
may be called upon to attend to injured divers,
e.g. dive operators, dive guides, instructors, and
interested lay persons. The objective being to offer
easy access education to improve the early care of
the injured diver.
Registration is Free of Charge and pre-booking
is required as numbers are limited. Contact
bob@hyperbarichealthprojects.com

Recent Dive Fatalities

Following is a list of diving or snorkelling fatalities in the AsiaPacific region between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2014. If you
have any information on these, or other deaths that are not listed,
please contact us at research@danasiapacific.org
Date of Incident
01/01/2014
01/01/2014
02/01/2014
18/01/2014
27/01/2014
27/01/2014
08/02/2014
09/02/2014
14/02/2014
14/02/2014
05/03/2014
27/03/2014
17/04/2014
19/04/2014
19/04/2014
28/04/2014
04/05/2014
06/05/2014
09/05/2014
14/05/2014
30/05/2014
04/06/2014
09/06/2014
17/06/2014

Country
TONGA
NEW ZEALAND
FIJI
NEW ZEALAND
INDONESIA
INDONESIA
FIJI
NEW ZEALAND
INDONESIA
INDONESIA
TONGA
VANUATU
INDONESIA
THAILAND
MALAYSIA
NEW ZEALAND
SOLOMON IS
KOREA
PHILIPPINES
CHINA
KOREA
FIJI
SINGAPORE
PHILIPPINES

Nearest town to Incident

Fonoi, Haapai
Papamoa
Taveuni
Opua Bay, Makara
Gili Trawangan
Gili Trawangan
Malake Island
Tutukaka
Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan
Kelefesia Island
Port Vila
Komodo Island
Racha Yai
Tioman Island
Lake Puketirini
USS John Penn, Honiara
Sewol Ferry, Sewol
Bauang, La Union
Nine Caves, Guangxi
Sewol Ferry, Sewol
Lau
Singapore Harbour
Surigao Enchanted River Cave

DIVE SLATE
WATER PLANET

The Enormous Din of the Sea

Sound plays a vital role in the lives of ocean dwellers
By Michael Stoker

Larval marine animals

imprint on the sound of
their mother reef; marine
mammals rely on sound
for feeding, breeding, and
migrating. With almost every
form of life sensitively and
essentially attuned to the
sound underwater, we have
no idea just how destructive
our own, extremely noisy,
impact on the oceans
might be
Image Bob Talbot

Nearly 60 years ago, Jacques Cousteau

introduced the public to the submerged
visual splendour of the sea in his book and film
The Silent World. Unfortunately, the title
introduced the misconception that the oceans
stunning and majestic beauty occurs in a world
of sombre silence. As it turns out, the ocean is
anything but silent, a fact that has been
appreciated since the earliest days of seafaring.
Sailors fears of sirens and sea dragons were
rooted in the many strange and haunting
sounds of marine fauna that could be heard
through the hulls of their boats.

THE MARINE SYMPHONY

The sea is the origin of all animal life on the
planet. Because light does not penetrate below a
few hundred metres or so, and at any given time
half the sea is obscured under the veil of night,
it is also a perfect environment for the evolution
of acoustical adaptations. In these dark settings,
marine animals have evolved a complex array
of adaptations for hearing as well as making
sound most of which continue to evade
our understanding.
Many of us are familiar with the evocative
songs of the humpback whale, but it remains

a mystery why all males in the same breeding

group sing the same song throughout the
season. This doesnt quite square with our
common conception that male animals sing to
advertise breeding fitness, a strategy that might
be less ambiguously expressed if they all sang
different songs. And why do they all change
their songs every year?
We have known for some time that dolphins
and porpoises use biosonar to sense their
surroundings. Their high-frequency chirps and
buzzes help them locate food, navigate during
cooperative, high-speed hunting tactics and
frolic in their surroundings. But we have only
recently learned that their biosonar can also let
them see deeply into body tissues and identify
extremely fine details in their environment.
There is informed speculation that
baleen whales low-frequency vocalisations
are also a form of biosonar. They may be
using long-wavelength sounds to navigate
across large expanses of water projecting
these sounds a thousand kilometres over
the horizon to bounce back to them off
seamounts, trenches and continental shelves
as long-distance echolocation.
In chorusing, whales, fish and marine
invertebrates all sing in temporally coordinated
vocalisations like crickets or frogs. Croakers
(sciaenids) synchronise in acoustical stadium
waves across 70 kilometres of coastal habitat,
and minke whales chatter and pulse together
across large expanses of open ocean. Even the
whistling of barnacles carries some critical
biological message that we may never decipher.
We know larval forms of reef animals
imprint on the sounds of their mother reef.
When they are first conceived these tiny
organisms are not served by remaining in their
birth habitats, in which millions of mouths
are seeking food. So, in the early stages of life
they disperse out into the pelagic zone to gain
some heft. But once they are large enough (and
often in a completely different shape than their
larval form) they need to return to the reef to
live. They find home by following the sounds
they know from the first stages of their life. We
know they do this, but we dont know how they
imprint. In many cases we dont even know
how they hear.

SOUND WAVES UNDERWATER

Terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, amphibians,
reptiles and birds) sense pressure gradients in air
using diaphragms (ear drums) attached to the
middle and inner ears. This is a very sensitive
system, but as any diver knows it is poorly
adapted to the extreme pressure gradients found
underwater. Marine animals use different kinds
of acoustical sensing systems including swim

bladders, acoustical lipids, various hair-cell

systems and bone accelerometers that sense
pressure change as well as particle motion in
the water.
Sound works differently in water than
in air. Water is much denser and is not
compressible. This allows for a more efficient
transfer of acoustical energy through water
than through air. It is fairly easy to make
a sound in water that can be heard a few
thousand miles away; baleen whales do this
all the time. Humans also do this all the time
in water, but unlike whales that use these
sounds for biological purposes, we do it for
commercial, industrial and military purposes
often to the detriment of the sea animals.

There was a time, not that long

ago, when whales could sing
to each other across oceans.
Cetaceans evolved in a world
of sound. They, like us, are
highly adaptable creatures
able to revel in the bow waves
of the very machines that
are polluting their acoustic
environment. Yet I wonder
if their ability to find joy in
the face of adversity will be
enough to save them, and I
wonder how well we humans
would fare if somebody
suddenly turned out the lights.
Bob Talbot

A GROWING CACOPHONY
The ocean is 10 times louder today than it was
just 50 years ago. Transoceanic commerce is
a major cause; some 95,000 merchant ships
ply the seas with large cavitating propellers
and throbbing engines that can be heard
throughout the ocean. As seven billion humans
become ever more dependent on fossil fuel, the
noise of deep-water seismic-exploration ships
towing arrays of air guns can increasingly be
heard blasting away every 10 to 15 seconds,
hour after hour, day in and day out for
months at a time. As deep-water fossil fuel
is discovered and exploited, the sounds of
seafloor-mounted wellheads and processing
equipment screech and hum across vast tracts
of the ocean bottom. Navies have their own
repertoire of noises including low- and midfrequency sonars, the noise of their ships and
occasional explosions from torpedoes, mines
and projectiles.
Humans are a noisy species, and this is
nowhere more evident than in the ocean.
The impacts are becoming more apparent in
the form of catastrophic marine-mammal
strandings, compromised and depleted fisheries
and high stress levels in animals that can lead
to biological dysfunction. Because we know
so little about how sea animals hear and what
they do with sound, we have a very limited
understanding of the impact of our noise.
In some cases the sounds we make might
not be such a problem; the ocean with its
crashing waves, grinding ice, pounding rains
and billowing hydrothermal vents can be a
noisy place, and animals have adapted and
evolved to account for these sounds over the
millennia. But the sounds we bring into the
sea are quite different from these naturally
occurring noises. Thus, we must learn how the
din of our ocean enterprises affects the seas
inhabitants, or we risk creating an environment
in which their survival is uncertain.

LEARN MORE
Dig into the sound library, and
read more at www.OCR.org.
As coastal and deep-water
ocean areas open up to fossilfuel, wind and tidal-energy
development, biologically
disruptive noise is a potential
consequence. Attend public
hearings about these proposed
projects to find out if and how
this issue is addressed.

DIVE FITNESS
THE DAN GUIDE TO
HEALTHIER DIVING

Swim Training for Scuba Divers

For strength, stamina, and safety in the water
Text by Gary Hall Sr.
Photos by Stephen Frink

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi

once said, Fatigue makes cowards of us
all. When were scuba diving, fatigue can do
more than make cowards of us it can endanger
us. Swimming and fitness training will help
ensure you are safe in the water and able to
enjoy your diving experience.
People who dive only once or twice a year
(or less frequently) may find they are not as
physically fit as they hoped. Each year we get
older, and the levels of exertion we achieved
in prior years may not be as sustainable. While
diving is not normally a physically demanding
sport, situations can arise that require stamina
and keen water skills. Here are some suggestions
for pool exercise to help you get in better shape
for your next dive trip.

Plan ahead
From the date of your next dive trip, count back
three months to start a swimming fitness
programme. Swim fitness is best achieved with
gradual improvement.

While diving is not normally a

physically demanding sport, situations

can arise that require stamina
and keen water skills.
Join a local swim programme
Misery loves company; you will likely work
harder and get fit more quickly in a group than
you will on your own. Besides that, you can
pick up tips on swimming more efficiently from
the coaching staff. The science of the stroke has
evolved significantly in the years since I was
swimming competitively; its about moving more
quickly with less water resistance. While scuba
safety is not measured in fractions of seconds
like competitive swimming, efficiency in the
water is important.

10

Work out your legs

The legs are key to scuba diving, so take your fins to
swim practice, and use them. The kicking is different
without fins; while youll get plenty of exercise either
way, the muscle groups engaged with fins may be
different. Leg cramps from muscle fatigue are more
common with the water resistance from fins, so
getting your legs fit and avoiding these cramps can
make for a better, safer dive experience.

Kick underwater
The kicking motion underwater is different
from that used on the surface, and underwater
you can learn to achieve thrust with both the
upward and downward kicks. Plus, breath-hold
sessions conducted while kicking underwater
are good anaerobic training. Blackout in the
water is not restricted to freedivers, so most
coaches prefer underwater swims be conducted
with close supervision. Each year recreational
swimmers die by pushing too hard to get to the
end of the pool that is ever so slightly beyond
their capabilities. Hyperventilation should
be avoided to reduce (but not eliminate) the
likelihood of blackout.

Work your core

Finning involves more than just the legs. The
entire core, including the lower-back, gluteal
and abdominal muscles, plays a big role.
Dry-land training for core strength as well as
fitness swimming with good body rotation will
strengthen your core for diving.

Monitor your weight before your dive trip

It is surprising how many divers either dont
realise or choose to ignore that they have
added pounds since their last dive. The extra
weight not only puts an additional burden
on their hearts, it also makes the topside
and underwater manoeuvering required for
scuba diving more difficult to accomplish.
Something as simple as climbing the dive
ladder with a tank strapped to your back can
be arduous with an extra five kilos of body
weight. Factor in the extra lead required to
submerge, and the climb up the ladder is made
even more difficult. You will be safer and
have more fun if you shed those extra kilos
before your next dive.

Hit the gym

At least once a week it helps to get to the gym
and do some basic strengthening exercises
with barbells, machines, pulleys or whatever is
available. Even simple pull-ups and push-ups
at home will help. If nothing else, it will make
it easier for you to carry all your gear. More
importantly, you will be safer in and around the
water when you are stronger.
If you dont have an organised swim
programme nearby, here is a suggested workout
to help get you ready for your next dive.

Swim Training: Sample Workout

1. Warm up with an easy 200-metre freestyle
swim. Concentrate on looking down toward
the bottom of the pool to maintain good
body position, and pull with a high elbow
position underwater to reduce drag.
2. Do eight 50-metre swims with 15 seconds rest
between each. This is called interval training,
and it is more beneficial than swimming
400 metres uninterrupted. You will work
harder and get your heart rate higher. As you
become more advanced, you can increase the
number of 50s per set.
3. Kick for 45 seconds while wearing your dive
fins and holding onto the wall. Rest for 15
seconds, and repeat until youve done it five

times. If you kick hard, even just 45 seconds

will feel like five minutes and it will get
your legs in shape fast.
4. Do an easy 100-metre swim. It is a good idea
to add some easy sets between more strenuous
ones to give your muscles time to recover.
5. Do eight 25-metre underwater swims with
fins, using the legs only. Take 30 seconds
or more to rest between laps so you can
stay underwater for all 25 metres. This is
something you may need to work up to, and
you should never risk hypoxia by pushing
yourself too hard.

3
1 Underwater swims are
great anaerobic training, but
you may need to work up to
it. It is advisable to conduct
breath-hold practice under
close supervision as blackouts
are not restricted to freediving

2 Legs are the key to scuba

diving. Avoid cramps and
fatigue on your dive trip
by getting the appropriate
muscle groups in shape before
you go

3 Developing strength and

stamina in the water, and
losing any extra pounds, will
pay dividends

6. Do four 50-metre kicks with fins followed

by four 50-metre swims with fins. Try to do
these fast, leaving the wall at intervals of one
minute to one minute 15 seconds, depending
on your speed.
7. Cool down with a mellow 200-metre swim.
Always try to wrap up your workout with an
easy set to relax the muscles, which will help
you avoid pain or cramping later.
Although it may be easy to get out of shape,
the good news is that it doesnt have to be
terribly hard or take forever to get back into
shape.

Gary Hall Sr. swam for the

United States in the 1968,
1972 and 1976 Olympic
Games, medalling in all three.
He has held 10 world records
in swimming and is currently
the head coach and technical
director at The Race Club,
a swim training facility in
Islamorada, Florida, USA.

RESEARCH, EDUCATION
& MEDICINE

DAN WAS THERE

FOR ME

Just Another Day

at the Office
Text by Meghan K. MacCollum

Meghan, like many dive

instructors, had to deal with
seemingly harmless and
quite common incidents
Image Stephen Frink

12

What started as just another routine day

at my favourite Florida Keys dive site
ended with a five-hour hyperbaric-chamber ride.
As a recreational diver for 15 years and a dive
professional for three, Ive been through all the
required training, Ive read and reread the
manuals, I read Alert Diver and several other
dive publications, and I do my best to learn
from others mistakes. I consider myself a
conservative and prudent diving instructor, but
I still wound up in the chamber after two
relatively shallow dives.
That day my job was to guide eight certified
divers on two easy reef dives. Knowing that
the group consisted of novice divers, I gave an
extensive briefing on the way out to the reef
and another quick one to reiterate the safety
protocols just before we were ready to splash.
I instructed the divers to do weight checks
while holding onto the tagline, as there was a

moderate current running on the surface. If they

were properly weighted, they were to descend
into a sandy bowl under the boat and wait for
me there. Four of the eight followed instructions
and patiently awaited my descent.
One buddy team had let go of the line
during the weight check and was now drifting
away. Then, as the last pair entered the water,
one of them went into full, active panic
regulator disregarded, mask thrown, thrashing
and climbing onto me to stay afloat. Im going
to die! Im going to die! he said over and over.
I responded as I was trained to, inflating his
BCD, replacing his regulator and mask, and
ensuring we remained connected to the boat via
the tagline.
The struggle on the surface lasted quite
a while as the rescue line was being used for
the pair that was drifting down current. After
instructing the two buddy pairs still on the
surface to get back aboard the boat and sit
that dive out, I was finally able to get down to
the four divers who were still waiting for me
under the boat. Sixteen minutes had passed, and
although I didnt feel exhausted from the rescue,
I now realise it may have had a significant
impact on the rest of my day.
After that dive, the nine of us regrouped
for a discussion on safety protocols and the
importance of listening to briefings. We
moved to a new site, and after a short surface
interval, I was ready to splash with seven
divers (the diver who panicked earlier was
still sprawled out dramatically across the
deck of the boat). His buddy who, like him,
was nearly two metres tall and about 140
kilos soon proved to be an in-water disaster
himself. He had no control over his buoyancy
and crashed repeatedly into our nationally
protected coral reef, kicking off the bottom
and running into other divers, obliviously
too focused on snapping photos. Despite the
fact that he was half a metre taller than me
and more than twice my weight, I yanked
him off the reef, adjusted his buoyancy and
administered a brief underwater scolding.
He rolled his eyes and headed off in the
other direction, breaking off a large piece of
staghorn coral on his way. I turned my head
to check on the rest of the group, and when I
turned back the diver was gone. He had powerinflated himself to the surface.

The diver floundered in a horizontal

position, trying to make air escape from his
BCD and ignoring my signs to get vertical
and descend. I surfaced, told him to not leave
my side for the rest of the dive and initiated a
controlled descent onto a sand patch. Moments
later, he was back on the surface. For the rest of
his dive he continued racing to the surface or
crashing uncontrollably onto the seafloor while
I continued ascending to help him back down
or descending to lift him off the bottom. Luckily
he sucked down all his air relatively quickly,
and instead of surfacing for this diver one last
time, I stayed below and watched the rescue line
pull him back to the boat. The rest of the group
seemed as pleased as I was, and we continued
our dive.
Forty minutes into the dive, I began to feel a
strange pain at the base of my skull. Something
was wrong. I recalled the divers and signalled it
was time to ascend. True to that groups nature,
two out of the six followed directions, while the
other four looked me in the eye, looked at their
gauges and swam off in the other direction. I
surfaced and left those certified divers to their
own devices.
As I climbed the ladder to get back on board,
everything looked strange, as though I was
looking out through someone elses eyes. The
pain was still pulsing in my head, and although
I wasnt sure what was going on, I went straight
to the oxygen unit and put the mask to my face.
The first mate was quickly by my side asking
questions and handing me water. Thats about
when the tingling began. We called ahead and
arranged for transportation to the hospital to be
waiting for me at the dock.
The hospital was confusing, with different

doctors and nurses coming in and out of my

room telling me I was going for this test and
that test. After blood work, a chest X-ray
and a CT scan, they informed me I was going
for a chamber ride a five-hour U.S. Navy
Treatment Table 6. Is this really happening?
was the one question that kept coming to my
mind over and over again. My dives had been
fairly shallow, and although there were many
ups and downs, all my ascents to the surface
had been slow.
One thing I knew for sure was that DAN was
with me every step of the way and DAN has
been with me throughout the aftermath. Nothing
is scarier than opening a medical bill that
amounts to more than your annual salary and
reading that it needs to be paid in full by the
end of the month. My amazing representative,
Denise Mulkey, talked me off the ledge and
assured me not to worry, that she had my back
and that this would all be taken care of. Without
DAN I would have lost everything simply
because I was doing my job.

Comment from DAN Asia-Pacifics John Lippmann

For many instructors, the encounter Meghan experienced
with the problem diver is, unfortunately, not unusual. As
Instructors, most of us have dealt with situations like this;
however, arguably, all divers should consider the safety and
comfort of those they dive with.
Meghan is a very experienced diver, having logged in
excess of 1,500 dives. She is active and fit and did not at all
feel exerted on these dives. However, she did expend much
energy during the surface rescue, exacerbated by the divers
size and the duration of the rescue.
Both Meghans dives on the day were to 9m with a 20
minute surface interval. Despite the shallow depth, a surface
interval of 20 minutes is still very short between dives.
It is unlikely Meghan had substantial nitrogen load, so it
becomes more likely she suffered from a cerebral arterial
gas embolism (CAGE), a form of decompression illness. The
fact the symptoms commenced in-water is not common.
Normally, symptoms associated with DCI commence once
back on the surface.
Back on the boat Meghan initiated O2 First Aid for herself,
which was the right thing to do. It was 5-10 minutes into
breathing O2 that she noticed the tingles had spread from
the base of her skull down her arms, and after about 25
minutes Meghan felt tingles in her legs.
For the 40 minute boat ride back to shore, the 25 minute
car trip to the hospital, whilst undergoing formalities at
the hospital, and the entire time once admitted, Meghan
was breathing O2. Ultimately she underwent one 5-hour
recompression treatment (US Navy Table 6), which cleared her
symptoms. She is lucky that a single treatment was sufficient.
Meghans experience highlights the importance of
appropriate O2 equipment, a good supply of O2 gas and
having a trained O2 provider wherever diving is conducted.
This is invaluable in reducing the severity and longevity
of DCI symptoms, as well as the number of recompression
treatments required.
Meghans words of advice are Always learn from the
experiences of others and always educate yourself. Above all
be cautious, be prudent and be safe. And if someone has an
incident, dont judge them, as one day it could be you.
Meghans total expenses amounted to US$28,000, which is
something for uninsured divers to think about!
Safe diving.

Thanks to proper
treatment, and DANs support,
Meghan made a full recovery
Image Stephen Frink

The incidents covered in

this column are real and
submitted by members of DAN
but are subject to editing.
Some names and details
may be omitted to preserve
confidentiality. We present
these cases to remind you
that DAN is available 24/7
to answer questions, help
with medical emergencies,
arrange hyperbaric treatment
and facilitate emergency
evacuation through our
24-Hour Diving Emergency
Hotlines.
IF YOU NEED HELP, CALL:
1800-088-200
(toll free within Australia
English only)
+61-8-8212-9242
(from outside Australia
English only)

RESEARCH, EDUCATION
& MEDICINE

SKILLS IN ACTION

Prepare to Get Found

Take part in your own rescue before you get lost
By Jack Connick

Jim was able to avoid a

potentially fatal incident after
surfacing unexpectedly, thanks
to a little bit of preparation
and an inexpensive piece
of equipment
Image Stephen Frink

14

Midway through their 10-day liveaboard

trip, the large, experienced group of
underwater photographers had established a
good rhythm of diving, resting, eating, editing
photos and hitting the water again in search of
new subjects.
Late one afternoon, a skiff crammed with
divers and photo gear set out from the mother
ship. It made its way toward an easy shallow
site with small bommies and rocks strewn along
a sloping sandbar. The site was sheltered from
the strong currents and choppy seas common
in Palau.
All the divers had undergone an extensive
safety briefing and had been issued a surface
marker buoy (SMB) and an audible signalling
device if they didnt already have their own. The
group and two guides split up into small groups

and pairs and set off to capture the macro

subjects they were after.
Early in the dive, Jim, who had brought
along wide-angle gear, decided the conditions
werent favourable for the kind of photography
he wanted to do, so he signalled a guide and
headed up. The guide watched him reach the
surface and then returned his attention to the
other divers.
After about an hour, the others ended their
dives and began to surface. As the skiff went
along picking them up, many began wondering
aloud where Jim was.
Jim had surfaced an hour previously. He had
seen the skiff a short distance away and waited
for the crew to pick him up. There was a light
breeze, the skies were relatively clear, and Jim
was sure theyd see him in a minute or two. But

 Dive with the appropriate safety gear,

plan your dive, and dive your plan.

Being prepared could save your life.
the crew was not expecting anybody to surface
after 20 minutes; typically, if a diver were to
have a problem it would occur in the first few
minutes of a dive.
Jim drifted in the light wind. He inflated his
SMB and blew his whistle. A low, bright sun
behind him made him hard to see, however, and
the wind blew his whistle blast away. He also
had trouble keeping his SMB upright.
Jim watched the skiff pick up the other
divers and then begin searching for him. It
made pass after pass upwind of him, but no one
spotted him. As darkness began to fall, he turned
on a small strobe light that he had on his BCD.
After radioing the liveaboard, the crew of
the skiff made progressively longer S-sweeps
while 20 pairs of eyes looked for Jim in every
direction. They cut the engine periodically to
listen for Jims whistle, but no one heard it. They
searched the sandbar, too; Jim was a strong
swimmer, and he might have tried to swim to
shore if he had problems, they thought.
After a while the skiff ran low on fuel and
had to return to the liveaboard. The crew alerted
the authorities and other nearby liveaboards,
which launched boats to assist in the search.
After the crew refueled the skiff, the captain
took its helm and returned to the dive site to
continue the search. Finally, the searchers saw a
very small light in the distance. The boat drove
downwind for six minutes at 29 knots before
they found Jim and plucked him from the dark
water. He was tired but unharmed.

DISCUSSION
Jim took a strobe light with him, and that act of
preparation probably saved his life. An audible
signalling device louder than his whistle, such
as a DiveAlert, might have gotten him rescued
much sooner. Inflating his SMB completely and
waving it for attention may have helped, too,
and a waterproof marine radio with a GPS, such
as the Nautilus Lifeline, would have stacked the
odds more heavily in his favour.
Dont dive without a good light, an SMB
and a powerful audible signalling device. If you
dont carry all the gear you might need to attract
attention on every dive whether its a nobrainer dive or not you could be lost at sea. If
the boat crew doesnt keep an eye out for divers

the whole time there are divers in the water, they

risk losing somebody. They should always have
a good pair of binoculars on board in case a
diver goes missing.
Most offshore dive boats now require divers
to carry a large SMB. Even a slight chop or
swell can make a diver on the surface very
difficult to see. When selecting an SMB for
purchase, consider its size and features, which
may include lights and/or radar reflectors.
[Editors note: DAN AP carries a surface
signalling kit that includes a six-foot orange
safety sausage with a radar reflective panel
along with a whistle, signalling mirror and
safety light. To inquire send an email to
sales@danap.org]
Be sure you know how to deploy your SMB,
and practise using it in easy conditions. Pulling
the bottom of the SMB underwater (or securing
lead weight to it) will help it stand up straighter.
Many guides deploy one at the safety stop to
signal the dive skiff and minimise the risk of
surfacing divers being hit by other boat traffic.
Another strategy for alerting people on the
surface of your ascent is releasing a big burst of
air from your spare second stage just before you
surface and surfacing in its wake.
Many divers carry some sort of light, and
photographers often have powerful strobes on
their cameras. Firing a strobe in a burst of three
shots every minute toward a boat should attract
attention. If you dont have an SMB, take off
your fins and wave them above your head do
whatever you can to be seen. A large group is
much easier to spot than a small one, so stick
together if youre with other divers. Conserve
your strength by ditching your weights and
other cumbersome gear if you need to. Relax,
and breathe while in the troughs of the waves
rather than at the crests where water may break
over your head.
Consider that good communication with the
boat crew, your guides and your dive buddies
is a critical aspect of preparing for a dive. If
you think you might come up early, tell the
guides and the surface support crew to be on
the lookout. Dive with the appropriate safety
gear, plan your dive, and dive your plan. Being
prepared could save your life.

INTERNATIONAL UNDERWATER
SPORTS & TRAVEL EXPO 2014

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19 21
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SPEAKERS

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QING LIN, WILLIAM TAN, YORKO SUMMER, ZHU KE DING (COLIN)
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RESEARCH, EDUCATION
& MEDICINE

FROM THE
MEDICAL LINE

DAN Medics Answer

Your Diving Questions
By DAN Medical Staff

I HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED AND

TREATED FOR SPONTANEOUS
PNEUMOTHORAX (COLLAPSED LUNG). WILL
IT KEEP ME FROM DIVING?

18

DAN MEDICAL STAFF: The short answer

is yes. If youve experienced a spontaneous
pneumothorax its time to hang up the regulator
for good. Heres why:
Your lungs are not attached directly to the
chest wall. They remain open and capable of
drawing breath by the negative pressure in the
intra-pleural space. When too much pressure
builds up (when a diver holds his breath while
ascending, for example) the lung tissue can
tear, allowing air to leak into the intra-pleural
space, interrupting the negative pressure
that holds the two pleural layers together.
Eventually, the entire lung collapses, resulting
in rapid, shallow breathing, a bluish cast to
lips, skin and fingernails (due to a lack of
oxygen) and chest pain.
A collapsed lung that occurs during
everyday activities is referred to as a
spontaneous pneumothorax and is a particular
concern for divers because it can happen again
without warning. The root cause is usually
weakened lung tissue. Disease, previous injury
or inflammation (often caused by smoking) form
blister-like swellings in the lungs tiny air sacs.
Called blebs, or bullae, these areas of weakened
tissue tend to empty air slowly. In divers, the
normal pressure build-up that occurs during
ascents can cause the blebs to rupture.
Blebs are likely caused by degradation of
elastic fibres in the lung and are hard to detect.
There are generally no signs or symptoms
until they rupture. Blebs are most frequently
found in smokers, but they also can appear in
non-smokers. Some lung diseases such as
asthma, emphysema, sarcoidosis, eosinophilic
granuloma or interstitial fibrosis can also lead
to spontaneous pneumothorax because they
predispose the lung to weakening and possible
injury. Other causes of spontaneous pneumothorax
include chest injury, such as a penetrating wound
and rare cases of congenital weakness.
When spontaneous pneumothorax occurs,
it usually causes sharp pain on the affected side
of the chest. If the volume of air leaked into

the pleural space is large enough, it can cause

further collapse of the lung and shortness of
breath. Theres another level of concern with
pneumothorax. Sometimes injuries to the lung
can result in the creation of a one-way valve,
where air leaks into the pleural space that
surrounds the lung and does not return to the
lung. This results in a progressive enlargement of
the pleural space and compression of the lung. If
left untreated, the pleural space can compress the
heart and opposite lung and restrict blood from
returning to the heart. This is known as a tension
pneumothorax and is associated with gasping,
low blood pressure, shock and ultimately death if
not treated promptly.

Treatment for Pneumothorax

Any form of pneumothorax requires medical
treatment. In some cases, a physician may
insert a chest tube, withdraw air from the
chest cavity and allow the lung to reinflate.
If the pneumothorax is small, breathing
100-percent oxygen may hasten the resorption
of gas without the need for a chest tube or
invasive procedure.
Unless it occurs with decompression illness
in divers (where bubbles enter into the arterial
system and affect the brain), pneumothorax does
not require recompression. In the event of a
chamber treatment, a chest tube may be required
to help equalise the pressure and prevent further
injury or enlargement.

Long-Term Implications
There are a few treatment options for blebs or
recurrent pneumothorax that merit mention. We
should stress from the outset, however, that none
of the following treatments alter the medical
recommendation regarding fitness to dive with
a history of spontaneous pneumothorax. Blebs
can be removed by surgery. Another approach,
called pleurodesis, introduces a substance into
the pleural space that causes scarring and
permanent obliteration of the pleural cavity.
However, after experiencing any form of
pneumothorax or treatment, an injured person
should not dive until cleared by a physician
familiar with dive medicine.
For the reasons explained above,
physicians trained in dive medicine would be

 A collapsed lung that

occurs during everyday
activities is referred to as a
spontaneous pneumothorax
and is a particular concern
for divers because it can
happen again without
warning. The root cause is
usually weakened lung tissue
Image Medical2f.com

very reluctant to provide medical clearance

for someone with a history of spontaneous
pneumothorax. Individuals who have
experienced an episode of spontaneous
pneumothorax are at a high risk of recurrence.
Pneumothorax while diving can lead to a
deadly arterial gas embolism, but the biggest
risk may come from a tension pneumothorax
that can evolve rapidly as gas expands on
ascent (or during decompression). The risk
of tension pneumothorax is why most dive
physicians will recommend that you give up
scuba diving to any depth. When you get that
yen to be underwater, try snorkelling. You
still can get wet and enjoy the sights of
the underwater world without the risk of
serious injury. For more information, see
www.DiversAlertNetwork.org/medical/faq.
Richard Moon, MD,
DAN senior medical adviser
BETWEEN TWO RECENT SHORE DIVES, I
SLIPPED AND FELL, RESULTING IN A SERIOUS
BRUISE ON MY LEFT KNEE. IT WAS ALMOST
BLACK. WE TOOK ABOUT A 20-MINUTE
BREAK AND BACK IN WE WENT. WHEN I
CAME OUT AFTER THE SECOND DIVE, THE
BRUISE WAS GONE. WE WERE ONLY DIVING
IN ABOUT SIX METRES (20 FEET) OF WATER.
COULD THE PRESSURE HAVE CAUSED THE
BRUISING TO GO AWAY?
DAN MEDICAL STAFF: It is entirely possible
that the blood that collected as a result
of broken blood vessels could have been
affected by the increased hydrostatic pressure.
The pressure is evenly distributed from
all directions. The blood may have been
compressed into deeper tissue where it was
eventually reabsorbed. It was only due to
the injury being so recent that this
phenomenon occurred.
Marty McCafferty, EMT-P, DMT-A, DAN
medical information specialist
WHAT PROBLEMS COULD OCCUR WHILE
SCUBA DIVING AND TAKING VICODIN*?
DAN MEDICAL STAFF: Before we discuss the
potential issues associated with diving while
taking a narcotic pain reliever, lets discuss the
underlying condition or injury that prompts
the need for the medication. Any condition
or injury that can compromise your ability
to function normally is the first concern.
You need to be able to physically perform all
necessary skills, especially in an emergency.
This is not only for yourself but also for
your buddy. Be sure to consult a physician

It is also unknown how potentially injured

tissues may respond to inert gas uptake

and off-gassing.
knowledgeable about the sport, and make sure
youre physically ready to dive. If the pain
being treated results from an injury, most dive
physicians would recommend waiting until
you have recovered more fully before diving. If
the pain is due to a chronic condition, then the
condition should be as stable as possible.
Also consider the possibility that increased
pain after a dive might be mistaken for
decompression sickness. Being treated for
DCS when it is not really the issue is less
problematic than not being treated when
DCS is the cause. It is also unknown how
potentially injured tissue may respond to inert
gas uptake and off-gassing.
As for the drug itself: Narcotic pain
medicines, like Vicodin, can affect a divers
mental alertness and physical ability to
function and should be avoided. In fact, any
medication that carries a warning about
consuming alcohol may be problematic with
diving. In dives deep enough to create nitrogen
narcosis, the diver may find that the narcosis
intensifies the effects of the medication.
A dose that is manageable topside may
create significant impairment at depth. To avoid
these effects, consult a knowledgeable physician
who understands dive medicine. If you are
cleared to dive, stay conservative in your
profiles and limit your depth to avoid narcosis.
Marty McCafferty, EMT-P, DMT-A,
DAN medical information specialist.

* Vicodin, a particular
mixture of a codeine
derivative and paracetamol
is not available in Australia
and many other countries
outside the USA. However,
the advice would apply to
similar drugs which are
widely available.

ASK US ANYTHING
DAN is here to answer all
your medical questions. You
can call the DAN AP office
during regular business hours
(Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. AEST) by calling +613-9886 9166. You can also
submit an email through the
DAN AP website.

RESEARCH, EDUCATION
& MEDICINE

FROM THE
MEDICAL LINE

Perfluorocarbons
PFCs could prove to be an invaluable
first line treatment for DCI in the field
Text by Brian Harper W-EMT, DMT, and Petar Denoble, MD, DSC

PFCs are synthetic, stable

oils that have a large
carrying capacity for gases,
including oxygen
Image iStockPhoto.com

20

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)

is very effective for treating decompression sickness (DCS), but in about
one-third of cases it does not provide complete
resolution of symptoms.
In particular, divers with neurological
symptoms who do not receive immediate HBOT
respond less well to it later. A challenge in
hyperbaric medicine today is to find ways to
improve the prognosis for individuals for whom
HBOT is ineffective or incompletely effective.
Furthermore, HBOT is not always
available; this is true in diving as well as
in other settings. Accidents in submarines,
high-altitude aviation or space can also
cause severe (and perhaps lethal) DCS, and
immediate HBOT is not generally available
in these situations. The search for therapies
that can complement or serve in place of
hyperbaric therapy is ongoing.
Accepted adjunct therapies today
include surface oxygen, fluid resuscitation,
management of plasma glucose, corticosteroids,

anticoagulants and management of core

temperature. Recent developments with
compounds called perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are
raising hopes that we may be close to an even
more effective adjunct treatment for DCS. The
question is, how close?
PFCs are synthetic oils made up of carbon
and fluorine atoms only. They were developed
as inert insulating materials in the Manhattan
Project during World War II. PFCs are stable
and do not react with living tissues but have
a large carrying capacity for gases, including
oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The
boiling temperatures of various PFCs differ.
They can be liquid at room temperature and
gas at body temperature.
Uses of PFCs in humans were investigated
for many years before they were considered
for treating DCS. Compounds with their
characteristics had long been sought by
pursuers of two major quests in medicine: the
quest for liquid breathing and the quest for a
blood substitute.

LIQUID BREATHING
The quest for liquid suitable for breathing began
after World War I in the course of research into
the treatment of poison-gas inhalation. Early
attempts at using saline solutions applied to the
lungs of dogs failed. The topic was resurrected
after World War II with the introduction of
nuclear submarines. The subs operated in very
deep water, and if they became disabled at depth
their crews could not survive escape. Breathing
a liquid medium was studied as a possible way
to increase the depth from which crewmembers
could be rescued.
In 1962 J.A. Kylstra and colleagues
published the paper Of Mice as Fish, an
account of a study that showed mammals
could breathe a liquid medium. Mice survived
immersed in physiological salt solutions and
compressed to 160 atmospheres (atm), which
is the pressure 1.6 kilometres (one mile) below
the surface of the sea. All the animals died
of respiratory acidosis because it took great
effort to move liquid in and out of lungs,
and only minimal ventilation was possible.
Thus, for liquid breathing to provide sufficient
oxygenation and removal of carbon dioxide, a
liquid with a large carrying capacity for these
gases was needed. PFCs met these requirements.
Leland C. Clark and Frank Gollan of
Birmingham University showed in 1966 that
small mammals could survive for an hour
completely submerged in PFCs. But further
studies demonstrated gas exchange in healthy
lungs is impaired in a liquid medium relative to
a gas medium. This impairment combined with
liquids disturbance of normal lung mechanics
brought an end to the quest for liquid breathing.

A BLOOD SUBSTITUTE
The quest for a substitute for precious blood
always in short supply was also under
way. Supplying oxygen is just one of bloods
many vital functions, but for short-term
blood replacement (which could save lives in
emergencies) oxygen-carrying capacity is the
primary concern. PFCs have been considered
for that purpose since the early 1960s. At
atmospheric pressure and body temperature,
PFCs dissolve large amounts of gases
oxygen and carbon dioxide in particular.
Unlike the binding and release of oxygen from
haemoglobin in the blood, the dissolution of
oxygen in PFCs is entirely passive. When PFC
emulsions are administered intravenously, they
are loaded with oxygen in the lungs, where the
oxygen pressure is high, and release oxygen in
tissues where the oxygen tension is low. It is
this characteristic of PFCs that is the subject of
ongoing research.

The oxygen-carrying
capacity of PFCs promotes
oxygen delivery to tissues that
might not be getting enough.
Their particles are also so
small that they can deliver
oxygen to places that may
be blocked

In the 1980s it was shown that small

animals can survive otherwise fatal

decompressions if they receive an
intravenous emulsion of PFCs immediately
after decompressing.
A THERAPY FOR DCS
Because of their high nitrogen-carrying capacity
it was not long until PFCs caught the attention
of diving and hyperbaric physiologists. In
the 1980s it was shown that small animals
can survive otherwise fatal decompressions if
they receive an intravenous emulsion of PFCs
immediately after decompressing. Progress in
this area proved to be slower than expected, but
our knowledge and technologies continue to
improve. A definitive answer has not yet been
found, but research is ongoing.

ASKING THE EXPERTS

HOW HAVE PFCS BEEN USED IN MEDICINE?
STEVEN HILL: PFCs were approved several
years ago as oxygen carriers for use as a
temporary measure during ischaemia in
coronary angioplasty procedures. The procedure
got so efficient, however, PFCs became
unnecessary for angioplasty and stents. The
procedure progressed to the point PFCs werent
needed.
In the late 1990s or early 2000s PFCs
advanced into late-stage clinical trials
that investigated their ability to enhance
haemodilution. Haemodilution is a method of
preserving hemoglobin mass during high-

blood-loss surgical procedures in people who

refuse blood transfusions. PFCs were used
to enhance the oxygen-delivery capability
of, and the amount of dissolved oxygen in,
the fluid phase of the blood during surgery,
which allowed doctors to preserve more
of patients own red cells for postsurgical
readministration. The late-phase trial
called for these patients to be significantly
haemodiluted, but we ran into problems with
the loss of other elements of blood such as
viscosity and clotting factors. There was no
problem with oxygenation or oxygen delivery
the PFCs did what they were supposed to
do. But the patients became hypotensive and
required clotting factors and platelets at the
end of the procedure because they developed
acquired coagulopathies.
Its important to think of PFCs as a
temporising measure. You cant give PFCs over
a long period because the body needs time to
get rid of them. Breakdown products of the
PFCs build up in the system because the body
cant excrete them fast enough, and that causes
problems. You cant keep somebody alive for
months with just PFCs in their bloodstream.

The data consistently shows that

treatment with PFCs at the surface

decreases mortality and ... seems to greatly
reduce neurological complications.
WHAT FUTURE MEDICAL USES OF PFCS DO
YOU ENVISION?

22

HILL: PFCs are effective in situations where

you need short-term oxygen delivery without
red blood cells. I dont know if the military
has looked at PFCs for use in trauma, but the
compounds might be suitable for administration
out in the field to enhance oxygen delivery
during the evacuation to the hospital.
In cases of organs with transient ischaemia
(impaired or interrupted blood flow), PFCs might
be able to get past the stricture because of the
small size of PFC molecules relative to red blood
cells. The PFCs could conduct oxygen delivery
past a blocked artery until the vessel opened
up again. In a patient with serious transient
ischaemic attacks (TIAs), for example, PFCs
could preserve oxygenation of brain tissue.
Doctors are starting to use angioplasty in the
carotid artery and the artery inside the brain
to try to open those. Perhaps potential strokes
could be delayed or reduced in severity until

those vessels could be reopened. A dose of PFCs

administered to a patient with a pending stroke
could increase oxygen delivery past the stenosed
vessel and conceivably decrease the size of the
stroke or reverse it altogether.
BRUCE SPIESS: Air embolism is nearly universal
in heart surgery, and research with PFCs in
the 1980s and 90s showed up to a 98-percent
reduction in bubble load. In war fighting,
sudden death from improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) is caused by rupture of alveoli (air sacs
in the lungs) and subsequent air emboli leading
to air bubbles in the heart and/or brain. This is
analogous to pulmonary barotrauma in divers.
Although death is often so sudden there is no
time to administer PFCs before cardiac arrest,
we believe PFCs could still be very useful in
these circumstances.
HOW MIGHT PFCS BE USED TO TREAT DCS?
SPIESS: Today, we envision that PFCs would
be used by first responders at the dive site and
medical personnel in hospitals to treat DCS
symptoms. The data consistently show that
treatment with PFCs at the surface decreases
mortality and, uniquely, seems to greatly
reduce neurologic complications. (Research
administering PFCs at depth was also conducted,
but tremendous logistical difficulties limit the
practicality of such an approach.)
To achieve the greatest benefit from the
PFCs, it is important that patients also breathe a
high concentration of oxygen. There are several
reasons for this. First, it takes advantage of the
extra oxygen-carrying capacity of the PFCs,
promoting oxygen delivery to tissues that might
not be getting enough. Second, PFC particles are
so small they can get to parts of the body where
circulation is blocked by the air emboli of DCS,
preventing red blood cells from getting in. Third,
PFCs speed up the offloading of nitrogen and
the shrinkage of bubbles. Finally, PFCs act as
surfactants to speed up bubble dissolution and
stop them from lodging in small blood vessels.
PFCs are administered as IV fluids in
emulsions resembling milk. An emergency
medical technician (EMT) could start an IV,
administer PFCs, have the patient breathe 100
percent oxygen and transport to definitive
care. Many sport-diving accidents occur in
remote parts of the world where recompression
chambers are not immediately available. We
think starting treatment during evacuation could
reduce complications and even be life saving.
We also think using PFCs might improve safety
of medical evacuations that require exposure to
altitude during air transport.

WHAT HAS THE RESEARCH TAUGHT US

ABOUT THESE COMPOUNDS?
HILL: We know what they cant do, and we have
a pretty good sense of what they can do. The
right clinical scenario for their application is a
transient problem that resolves soon. Theyre
novel compounds that do what theyre supposed
to do, which is increase the oxygen dissolved
in the fluid phase of the blood. The oxygen
that gets to your cells has to be released from
haemoglobin and red cells to diffuse through
the fluid phase of the blood to get to the tissues.
So increasing the solubility of oxygen in the
fluid phase of the blood enhances tissue-oxygen
delivery. Medicine hasnt figured out the right
way to use PFCs yet, but there will likely be an
application for them eventually.
HOW HAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
PROGRESSED TOWARD THE USE OF PFCS FOR
TREATING DCS?
SPIESS: PFC research has made great
progress. It has been about 30 years from the
development of the first-generation compounds

to todays third- and fourth-generation

compounds. Fluosol-DA 20% was approved
by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and
used in about 15,000 patients in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. It was used as a treatment
for acute blood loss and, to my knowledge,
never used to treat acute DCS. That being said,
I have used it experimentally for treating DCS
and found it to be highly effective. Fluosol
was eventually withdrawn from the market
because it was cumbersome to use. It was
supplied frozen, needed to be thawed and then
sonicated (treated with ultrasound) to get it
back into a usable emulsion. While 15,000
usages sounds like a good number, it is a
failure if you are manufacturing and selling
a drug, so it was withdrawn.
Today there are three or four compounds
being investigated in the medical communities
of the United States and other Western
countries: Oxycyte (Oxygen Biotherapeutics
Inc., North Carolina), Oxygent (New Alliance
Pharmaceuticals/Sanguine Corporation, Georgia)
and Perftoran (HemoTek Inc., Texas). Perftoran
is available in Russia and perhaps other parts of
the world, and Oxygent is being manufactured
not only in the US but in China, too, where
it may already be available. In the US we are
working to respond to some final questions and
concerns the FDA has regarding a side effect
(possible toxicity related to platelet counts) of
all PFC infusions. Once that side effect is better
understood several human trials can move
forward to the next round of research. I have
proposed that a human trial in DCS (during
transport and prior to recompression) would
make great sense.
I believe we are three to five years away
from having PFCs on the market for DCS
indications. There is great science and support
for these agents being first-line therapies in the
future.

MEET THE EXPERTS

Steven E. Hill, MD, is professor
of anaesthesiology and codirector of both the Acute
Cardiothoracic Surgical
Unit and the Duke Center
for Blood Conservation at
Duke University Medical
Center. His research deals
with clinical trials of bloodconservation techniques,
oxygen therapeutics, thoracic
analgesia and plasma volume
expanders. He also studies
research protocols involving
oxygen therapeutic agents
and the impact of blood
management on patient
outcomes.

Bruce D. Spiess, MD, FAHA,

is former director and
senior fellow at the Virginia
Commonwealth University
Reanimation Engineering
Science Center and founder/
director of the Flawless
Operative Cardiovascular
Unified Systems initiative
to reduce human error in
heart surgery. His work
focuses primarily on oxygen
therapeutics and blood
substitutes, coagulation
dysfunction with heart
surgery and the risks of blood
transfusion. With funding from
the Office of Naval Research,
Dr. Spiess is seeking ways to
treat or prevent decompression
sickness using perfluorocarbon
emulsions.

PFCs are delivered as IV

fluids. An emergency medical
technician could start and
IV, administer PFCs, give
the patient 100% oxygen
and transport to definitive
care - starting PFCs during
evacuation could be
life saving
Image Micheal Jung/
Shutterstock

FEATURE
LIFE AQUATIC

Pharmacy of the Sea

Protecting coral reefs is, quite literally, good for our health
By Hillary Viders, PhD

Coral reefs some of our planets most

spectacular yet fragile centers of life
have an unlikely and powerful new ally: the
pharmaceutical industry. As the effectiveness of
antibiotics declines and doctors seek more
reliable and potent medications for their patients,
researchers are looking to the inhabitants of coral
reefs for compounds that can be used to combat
a long list of diseases including cancer,
Alzheimers, leukaemia and AIDS.
Environmentalists have long advocated
conservation of coral reefs for reasons ranging
from preserving marine biodiversity to
generating tourism. But the fact that coral reefs
could provide an arsenal of miracle drugs is
one of the most compelling arguments to date.

AN ENORMOUS
PHARMACEUTICAL VISTA
According to chemists at Cornell University
Medical Center, the ocean has tremendous
pharmaceutical potential, in part because it
contains billions of organisms that do not
exist on land. In a recent survey conducted by
the National Cancer Institute, two percent of
terrestrial specimens studied contained new
compounds, while almost fifty percent of the
marine samples revealed chemical novelties.
Currently, more than half of all cancer research
is focused on finding cures from marine sources.
Coral reefs are particularly valuable
storehouses of genetic material; estimates of
the number of plants and animals living in
reef ecosystems range from 600,000 to more
than nine million species. According to Shirley
Pomponi, executive director of the Cooperative
Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research
and Technology, Coral reefs have enormous
biodiversity, and as such they hold unlimited
potential for the discovery of chemicals that can
be developed into drugs. Coral reefs are now
being discovered even in the deep ocean. These
resources are totally untapped, and marine drug
research is constantly evolving.

THE HISTORY OF MARINE

PHARMACOLOGY
24

Humans have looked to the sea for medicines

for thousands of years. The ancient Phoenicians,
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all documented
their use of the ocean as a source of elements
that could promote health and cure disease.

Marine plants were considered to have

medicinal value as far back as 5,000 years ago;
both the Japanese and Chinese used them to
treat goitres and other glandular diseases. The
early Romans used seaweeds to treat burns,
rashes and wounds, and more recently British
sailors ate red marine algae to prevent scurvy.
In modern times, medical researchers have
made many remarkable discoveries by studying
marine life. The first landmark breakthrough
occurred in the early 1950s when Werner
Bergmann extracted and isolated antiviral
substances from a Caribbean sponge he found
off the coast of Florida. Chemicals from this
sponge led to the development of several drugs
used to fight cancer, leukaemia, HIV and herpes.
In the following decades, research confirmed
many marine organisms contain antibiotics,
polysaccharides, steroids, toxins and other
substances that have helped in the management
of a range of human diseases. As researchers look
ahead, the inhabitants of coral reefs offer new
directions to proceed in the fight against major
diseases like cancer. Reef species are also believed
to contain compounds that will be used alleviate
or prevent a variety of other conditions including
psoriasis, arthritis, pain, high cholesterol, high
blood pressure, ulcers, bacterial infections,
wounds, burns, goitres and glandular diseases,
bleeding, and even constipation and sunburn.

FUNDING FOR
MARINE MEDICAL RESEARCH
To procure these substances, marine
pharmaceutical expeditions are under way
around the world. The process of bringing a
new drug to market is long and expensive; the
pharmaceutical industry reports it can take
as long as 15 to 20 years and cost as much
as USD800 million. First, compounds must be
harvested, extracted and then isolated or purified
for lab study. Researchers employ screening
techniques to evaluate therapeutic activity and
identify the specific chemicals responsible for
the desired activity. Organic synthesis is used
to ensure a supply. If the results of preliminary
tests are positive, clinical trials are conducted
on human subjects and the company applies
for a patent. The Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America notes that for
every 5,000 novel compounds found to have
biomedical potential, only five make it into

 The biodiversity of
coral reefs is unmatched in
terrestrial ecosystems
Image Ron and
Valerie Taylor

clinical trials, and only one will receive final

approval for commercial patient use.
Given the enormous cost of marine
pharmacology, marine medical research and
development is usually a partnership among
government agencies, research institutes and
private corporations. The drug companies play
a critical role, not only subsidising the cost
of research but also providing the business
expertise to navigate the long and expensive
road to bringing new products to market and
making them profitable.
China, Japan, Colombia and Brazil are
investing heavily in marine drug research,
and the European Union just approved an
8 million (USD10.7 million) budget. In the
US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administrations (NOAAs) National Undersea

Research Program is the primary source
of marine drug research, and its budget is
very limited. But since many of the marine
compounds being sought are for cancer cures,
the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of
the National Institutes of Health, provides
additional funding. The most extensive marine
drug research in the US is being done at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in California,
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in
Florida, University of California Santa Cruz,
University of Mississippi and University of
Alabama.
The roster of private companies spending
billions of dollars to obtain marine miracle
drugs is a Whos Who of US Fortune 100

FEATURE
LIFE AQUATIC

US
FE

pharmaceutical companies. The largest four

Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Merck &
Co. Inc. and Abbott Laboratories spend the
most, and Novartis, Aventis, Eli Lilly, Inflazyme
Abbott, Wyeth and Taiho Pharmaceuticals are
also heavily invested. Even the cosmetics giant
Este Lauder has a vested interest in marine
pharmacology; it uses an anti-inflammatory
chemical from a seafan in one of its best-selling
skin-care products.

CORAL REEF INHABITANTS IN

THE UNDERWATER PHARMACY
Branching fire coral,
Millepora sp.
Image Geri Murphy

Coral reefs are systems composed not only

of corals and the physical structures of their
remains, but also of millions of living organisms
including fish, marine plants, sponges, molluscs,
algae and more. Of the chemicals extracted

Medicines from the sea, and particularly

from coral reefs, are ancient, potent and

essentially unexploited weapons in the
fight against disease in ways scientists are
only beginning to discover.

26

from marine life so far, the most biologically

potent are the poisons primitive creatures use for
self-protection. Some reef dwellers of particular
interest are invertebrates such as sponges,
tunicates, bryozoans and octocorals, which are
permanently attached to some surface. Since
they are immobile, it is necessary for them to
produce compounds for either attracting prey or
repelling predators, for reproduction and other
purposes. Many of these chemicals have been
found to have antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and
anti-cancer properties and are therefore highly
valued by drug companies. Venomous species
such as stonefish, sea snakes, box jellyfish, cone
snails and pufferfish contain some of the most
toxic compounds known to man. The chemical
compounds present in these organisms are being
studied by researchers, and some have already
been used to develop medicines and cosmetics.
Here is an overview of some of the key
discoveries in the pharmacy of the sea to date.

Algae
Algae range in size from microscopic, singlecelled organisms to 45-metre-long kelp stalks.
In 1981, researchers at the Harvard School of
Public Health discovered that feeding Laminaria,
a genus of kelp, to laboratory animals partially
immunised them against breast cancer tumours.
Pharmacologists at the John A. Burns School of
Medicine in Honolulu discovered that the Undaria
pinnatifida kelp, popularly known as wakame,
enhanced immune cell activity and helped
prevent and even cure lung cancer when injected
into mice. Doctors at the Johns Hopkins School
of Medicine believe that an acid in certain types
of algae resembles the transmitter substance that
activates animal nerve cells, and they hope to
apply it to studies of neuromuscular disorders.
Algal toxins were known by humans as long
ago as ancient Egypt. In the Old Testament, Moses
described the waters turning to blood and stinking
from dying fish. Scientists today speculate Moses
was describing an incident of red tide, in which
reddish dinoflagellates reached such proportions
they killed the fish in the water by using up the
available oxygen and producing a neurotoxin
that renders filter-feeding shellfish poisonous
to humans. This same toxin has been found to
inhibit the growth of most types of bacteria and
is currently being used experimentally to combat
bacterial diseases.
Martek Biosciences Corp. is studying another
algae derivative an unusual fatty acid similar
to that in the retina and the brains grey matter.
Its initial commercial use will be as an additive
for infant formula. Marine pharmacologists
have also extracted alginic acid from algae and
seaweeds and have made salts (alginates) with
a variety of medicinal properties. Some help

tablets disintegrate more rapidly in the stomach.

Others form the basis of anti-clotting drugs
(sulfated lamarin) and of preparations used to
help control bleeding (calcium alginate). Sodium
alginate has the exciting ability to reduce
humans absorption of radioactive strontium, the
most dangerous by-product of radiation fallout,
by about 90 percent.

Pufferfish
A delicacy in Japan, where it is called fugu, the
pufferfish is another carrier of a potent marine
neurotoxin. Chefs must undergo extensive
training to learn to prepare it safely. Pufferfish
contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful blocking
agent that acts on muscles, sensory nerves
and motor nerves and is 275 times more toxic
than cyanide. The skin, gonads and viscera
of the pufferfish are so deadly to humans
that death can occur within 15 minutes of
ingestion. Oddly, this same deadly toxin is also
commercially available in an antispasmodic
drug for people with seizure disorders and to
help relieve the agony of terminal cancer.

Cone Snails
Cone snails, beautifully patterned creatures that
most divers know not to touch, fend off their
would-be attackers by ejecting a venomous tooth
that penetrates the predators skin with a lethal
toxin. The toxin is a muscle relaxant that causes
breathing to slow down and potentially stop.
Scientists at the University of the Philippines
discovered that one protein in the toxin of the
snail Conus geographus interfered with nerve
function in such a way as to make it a potential
painkiller. Derivatives of this toxin are being
used for patients whose muscles are in a state of
convulsion or who have nerve damage.
Filipino pharmacologists have also
discovered a cone-snail poison that is 1,000
times more powerful than morphine in treating
certain kinds of chronic pain. The snail-derived
drug, Prialt was developed by Elan Corp., which
later sold it to Azur Pharma. Prialt impairs
nerve transmission in the spinal cord and blocks
certain pain signals from reaching the brain.
Scientists predict that many more cone-snail
toxins will be drug leads since there are 500
known species of this animal.

Hagfish
The hagfish is an interesting creature in that it
has three hearts, only one of which is controlled
by direct nerve connections to the brain. A
chemical, eptatretin, stimulates and coordinates
the beating of the other two. When mice with
damaged cardiac nerves are given eptatretin,
normal heartbeat is restored. Researchers are
studying the feasibility of using eptatretin instead

of electronically monitored pacemakers for

humans with impaired or irregular heartbeats.

Molluscs
While many molluscs such as clams, oysters
and scallops are most often thought of as
menu items, some contain extracts that make
for effective antiviral drugs. These have been
shown to protect laboratory mice infected with
influenza and the polio virus. An extract from
the quahog clam helps shrink tumours, and
an extract from the New Zealand green-lipped
mussel is being widely sold for its supposed
beneficial effect on arthritic conditions. Even
the lowly sea slug has its assets scientists
studying it believe its nervous system holds
clues to better understanding bipolar disorder.

Venus seafan, Gorgonia

flabellum, and algae
Image Stephen Frink
Long-spine balloonfish,
Diodon holocanthus
Image Geri Murphy

so more effectively than hydrocortisone.

Pseudopterosins might one day be integral
components in drugs used to treat inflammatory
conditions such as psoriasis, sunburn and
arthritis. Pharmacologists at Scripps Institute
and the University of California Santa
Barbara hold the patent on pseudopterosin
drugs and have licensed a biotech company,
Nereus Pharmaceuticals, to investigate their
capabilities. Pseudopterosins ability to protect
a skin protein called elastin has led to their
inclusion in Este Lauders Resilience line of
skin-care products.
Another coral derivative, eleutherobin,
was discovered several years ago in a remote
shallow sea off the coast of Australia. It comes
from a mottled, yellow, pickle-shaped soft coral.
Eleutherobin stops malignant tumours from
growing by binding to a protein called tubulin
and disrupting cell division.

Sponges

Regal angelfish, Pygoplites

diacanthu, and soft corals
Image Stephen Frink

28

Corals
Stony corals build limestone structures that are
in some ways similar to human skeletons. After
undergoing chemical modification, coral has
been used successfully in bone grafts, primarily
of the face and skull. Plexaura homomalla, a
gorgonian, is a particular coral species that shows
great promise. The outer layers of these corals
contain prostaglandins chemicals that stimulate
many physiological functions in humans such as
contraction of the womb during labour. Plexaura
homomalla has the highest known concentration
of prostaglandins in nature.
A species of sea whip coral,
Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae, produces
compounds called pseudopterosins, which
have demonstrated effectiveness as antiinflammatories and wound healers. They are
able to moderate the activity of a key enzyme
involved in inflammation, and they can do

Porifera (sponges) are superstars in the pharmacy

of the sea. The beard-of-Moses sponge, one of the
oldest known multicellular organisms on Earth,
is being used to test drugs that combat human
illnesses. This is possible because the sponges
cells clump together when stressed, similar to
the way human white blood cells respond to
rheumatoid arthritis and gout. The antiviral
compound idoxuridine and the antitumor
compound arabinosylcytidine, were developed
from compounds found in a West Indian sponge,
and both are widely used in Western medicine.
Manoalide is an anti-inflammatory derived from
the grey encrusting sponge. Another sponge
compound, halichondrin, shows activity against
leukaemia and melanoma.
Discodermia dissoluta, a sponge found in
the Bahamas, contains a chemical that is an
effective immunosuppressor, and other members
of the sponge family contain chemicals being
used experimentally as painkillers and antiinflammatory agents. Scientists at Harbor
Branch Oceanographic Institute have isolated a
substance from deep-water Discodermia sponges
that inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells. The
institute has licensed this compound to Novartis,
and it is now in advanced preclinical trials.

Bryozoans
Another up-and-coming star in marine
biotechnology is bryostatin, an anticancer
drug from the bryozoan Bugula neritina, a
common invertebrate moss animal. The
organism grows in shallow water almost
anywhere, yet only three known populations
of Bugula actually make bryostatin 1, a potent
drug involved in dozens of clinical trials as a
treatment for everything from leukaemia to

kidney cancer. Bryostatin has passed its initial

safety tests and is now undergoing human
trials by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Currently,
physicians working with the compound are
determining dosages. Once that is done, largescale testing will follow, eventually leading to
the drugs general usage.

Sea Squirt
Scientists have unearthed several promising
drugs from sea creatures called tunicates. More
commonly known as sea squirts, tunicates
are a group of marine organisms that spend
most of their lives attached to docks, rocks
or the undersides of boats. To the untrained
eye they look like nothing more than small,
colourful blobs, but tunicates are evolutionarily
more closely related to vertebrates like us
than to most other invertebrate animals. One
tunicate living on coral reefs and in mangrove
swamps in the West Indies turned out to be the
source of an experimental cancer drug called
ecteinascidin. PharmaMar, a pharmaceutical
company based in Spain, now holds the
licenses for ecteinascidin 743 (trabectedin,
Yondelis), which was authorised by the
European Union in September 2007 for the
treatment of patients with advanced soft-tissue
sarcoma (tumours of the muscles, tendons and
supportive tissues).

UPPING THE ANTE ON CORAL

REEF CONSERVATION
The wealth of pharmaceutical miracles being
found on coral reefs increases the need for
regulation and conservation. In addition to
climate change, anthropogenic factors such
as marine pollution, elevated levels of carbon
dioxide and acidity, toxic fishing methods and
habitat destruction are seriously affecting the
health of coral ecosystems. Reef communities
are highly susceptible to these impacts, and
some species are already beginning to decline,
degrade or migrate. Sylvia Earle, former chief
scientist at NOAA and an ardent advocate for
marine conservation, stated, An estimated
95 percent of the worlds oceans remain
unexplored, so its possible that we might lose
significant marine organisms without ever
knowing they existed in the first place!
Indeed, failure to preserve coral reefs will
result in a devastating loss of biodiversity,
which means fewer species for future medical
research. But with diligent regulation and
conservation, coral reefs will continue to
produce important new breakthroughs, and the
prospects are intriguing. Medicines from the sea,
and particularly from coral reefs, are ancient,
potent and essentially unexploited weapons in
the fight against disease in ways scientists are
only beginning to discover.

Variable thorny oyster,

Spondylus varains
Image Geri Murphy

GEAR

Nitrox
A valuable tool, not a magic potion
Text by Eric Douglas
Images by Stephen Frink

Like many new things, when enriched

air, or nitrox, was first introduced to the
recreational diving community, it was met with
a healthy dose of scepticism. Concerns about its
viability, its use and divers safety while
breathing it created myths and misconceptions
about voodoo gas that are still heard today.
Despite the supernatural nickname, nitrox has
increasingly gained acceptance since its
adoption by recreational divers, as it proved to
be not a magical potion, but a valuable tool for
those who know how to use it.

When diving according to air tables or

using the air setting on a dive computer,

nitrox can reduce decompression
stress on a diver.
WHO INVENTED IT?

30

Many think of nitrox and other mixed gases

as relatively new, since they have been used
in the recreational diving community for only
the last 20 years or so. But nitrox has actually
been around and in use for several decades.
Both the US Navy and commercial diving
companies have employed it since the 1950s.
In the late 1970s J. Morgan Wells, then
the director of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) diving
programme, proposed procedures for diving
with oxygen-enriched air and creating a
breathing gas mix known as NOAA Nitrox 1,
or NN32, named for the percentage of oxygen
in the mix. The gas mix was developed based
on two criteria: a maximum operating depth
of 40 metres (130 feet) and a maximum
oxygen partial pressure of 1.6 atmospheres
absolute (ATA). For years, the NOAA
guidelines were the standard when it came to
enriched air. In 1985 Dick Rutkowski, retired
NOAA diving programme training director,
developed the first nitrox training programme
for the recreational diver.

HOW IS NITROX MADE?

Simply stated, nitrox is made by either
combining or separating gases. While this might
sound contradictory, its really just a matter
of method. The two most common methods
for manufacturing nitrox are partial pressure
blending and the membrane method.
Partial pressure blending adds small,
controlled quantities of pure oxygen to
compressed air to achieve the desired mix.
This is much like adding small quantities of
very hot water into a stream of cold water to
achieve warm water. It requires good control,
but done properly it can be effective. The
membrane, or gas separation, method employs
a semipermeable membrane to separate the
nitrogen from air, creating a breathing gas
with elevated oxygen content. Both systems
achieve the same result: a breathing gas with a
concentration of oxygen higher than the normal
21 percent and a concentration of nitrogen
lower than the normal 78 percent.

NOT FOR DEEPER DEPTHS

While it is less common to hear today, when
nitrox was first introduced to the diving
public it had the reputation as a deep diving
gas. Ironically, exactly the opposite is true.
Because of the elevated oxygen levels, there
are maximum operating depth (MOD) limits on
nitrox. Exceed those depth limits and the risk
of seizure from central nervous system oxygen
toxicity is too high.
Daltons law states that the total pressure
of a gas is equal to the sum of the pressures of
its component gases. MOD limits are predicated
on maximum partial pressures, the pressures
exerted by specific component gases. While
the percentage of any component within a
gas mix doesnt change during a dive, the
pressure exerted on it does as a function of
depth. The recreational scuba community
generally recommends a maximum oxygen
partial pressure of 1.4 ATA; this is exceeded on
air at approximately 60 metres (200 feet), but
when the composition of the breathing gas is
changed, adjusted MODs are needed. Based on
the 1.4 ATA limit, a nitrox mix with 32-percent
oxygen has an MOD of 34 metres (112 feet), and
36-percent nitrox has a maximum depth of 29
metres (95 feet).

WHY USE IT?

Given the role nitrogen plays in certain
concerns for divers, including nitrogen narcosis
and decompression sickness (DCS), its easy to
see why reducing ones exposure to it might be
appealing. By reducing the amount of nitrogen
in the breathing gas and replacing it with a gas
the body metabolises anyway, nitrox can lower
the risk of DCS or even safely extend a divers
bottom time, but its important to realise both
cannot be done at the same time.

The decreased risk of DCS comes from a

fairly simple concept: By reducing the amount
of nitrogen in the gas mix, the diver absorbs
less nitrogen into his tissues. Compared to the
risk the diver would face diving the same profile
on air, DCS risk is lower using nitrox, though
the risk is not eliminated completely. To take
advantage of the increased safety margin, divers
can simply plan a dive as though using air and
execute the dive using nitrox, though the MOD
of the actual gas mix used must be observed.
Increased bottom time comes from the
equivalent air depth (EAD) principle. Dive tables
and computers calculate no-decompression
limits using the partial pressure of nitrogen in
breathing gas. When the percentage of nitrogen
(and as a result, its partial pressure) is reduced,
this provides the equivalent of breathing regular
air at a shallower depth. In other words, you
can dive at a given depth on nitrox with the
physiological consequences of diving at a
shallower depth on air; diving 32-percent nitrox
at 34 metres (110 feet) is equivalent to diving
air at 28 metres (90 feet). So, when calculating
dive times using a dive table or dive computer,
a diver can calculate the dive as if it is to a
shallower depth, thereby extending bottom time.

Concerns about the

use of nitrox are still heard
today, though it has now
gained wide acceptance
in the recreational diving
community

Diving on nitrox requires

special training and should
only be undertaken with the
correct certification

CONCLUSIONS
Today, nitrox mixes are readily available and
prepared across a range of concentrations.
It has a lot to offer divers, but it isnt magic;
rather, its a useful tool that provides benefits
if used correctly. When diving according to
air tables or using the air setting on a dive
computer, nitrox can reduce decompression
stress on a diver. When used with an equivalent
air depth, this safety margin is lost, but bottom
time can be extended.
Nitrox is becoming more popular and
accessible to recreational divers all the time,
but it is not something to be taken lightly. It
requires special training to be used properly and
safely, so before you dive with it, be sure to get
the necessary training and gain the appropriate
certification.

HOW DO YOU KNOW

ITS NITROX?
Scuba tanks filled with nitrox
are designated with nitrox
decals, along with labels
noting the mixture contained
in the tank. EAN32 is nitrox
with a 32-percent oxygen
concentration, EAN36 contains
a mixture of 36-percent
oxygen, and so on.

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