OT: The Scottish Seas

[159th_Viper]

Just a Coupla Pics I took of Life found in our Seas up North......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Groove]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[JimMack]

I am also a Diver. Where was this and what depth were you at?

[joey45]

kool pics you have.

[159th_Viper]

I am also a Diver. Where was this and what depth were you at?

 

Aye Jim

 

Whilst I am PADI-Certified, these shots were actuallty taken Feet-Dry at the MacDuff Marine Aquarium. Have not got around to Diving in these waters yet and probably will not due to the Cold - One of my last Dives down in S.A. was at about 12 degrees and I still remember the Ice-Cream Headache.....:)

[JimMack]

Aye Jim

 

Whilst I am PADI-Certified, these shots were actuallty taken Feet-Dry at the MacDuff Marine Aquarium. Have not got around to Diving in these waters yet and probably will not due to the Cold - One of my last Dives down in S.A. was at about 12 degrees and I still remember the Ice-Cream Headache.....:)

 

I too am an advanced PADI but have never dived in UK waters due to the cold! Only time I use a dry suit is sailing a Contender dinghy in Winter! http://www.sailcontender.org.uk/

Dived quite a few places overseas - Barrier Reef (forget it), Caribeean etc.

Best dives ever:

Sipadan, Sarawak - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipadan - completely unspoilt, only 35 divers allowed per day.

Galapagas: http://www.galapaguide.com/scuba_diving.htm - fish/mammals have no fear of divers, and juvenile sea lions come up and bump you to play a game of tag, which of course you lose! Warning, on the current side of pinnacles there can be a massive up current. Got caught at 25m and the updraft was so high as to be dangerous for decompression. Stopped by grapping onto rock face and shredding skin on hands. Discovered that blood at that depth is in fact green in colour! A pack of Galapagas shark above me but was able to sidle around the side and eventually surface. Dive boat thought it was very funny and stopped bleeding by pouring petrol on the cuts. It hurt!

Every since then I wear gloves, and carry a knife to jab into coral to stop drift, and I passed the drift diving section of advanced PADI!

Sorry moderators - this must be way off topic!

Edited October 26, 2009 by JimMack
spelling

[159th_Viper]

Warning, on the current side of pinnacles there can be a massive up current. Got caught at 25m and the updraft was so high as to be dangerous for decompression. Stopped by grapping onto rock face and shredding skin on hands. Discovered that blood at that depth is in fact green in colour! A pack of Galapagas shark above me but was able to sidle around the side and eventually surface. Dive boat thought it was very funny and stopped bleeding by pouring petrol on the cuts. It hurt!

Every since then I wear gloves, and carry a knife to jab into coral to stop drift, and I passed the drift diving section of advanced PADI!

 

Nightmare......I recall a Dive approx 5 Clicks Offshore around 3 Pinnacles off the Coast of Gonubie, S.A. Got down and the Current picked up and tossed us around pretty good and reduced Vis to about 2 metres....Being a Novice and knowing Raggies were about I was Brickin' it. Thankfully no Bleeding :D

 

Miss the Dives - we had to sell all the Dive Kit prior to relocating to Scotland. Planning on getting it together though in the foreseeable future and the first Stop will probably be Egypt. Any experience with the Red Sea? Always been high on the To-Do list.

 

And Yeah - Apologies Mods, I'll stop here :)

[JimMack]

Not been to Red Sea, but friends advise that it is no longer worth going there. Fish stocks depleted, and pirates!

I can completely recommend here for a diving week that you will never forget:

http://www.dive-the-world.com/dive-resorts-malaysia-sipadan-mabul-water-bungalows-main.php#

High quality kit to hire. Professional dive masters. Strict safety standards and no touching of coral or marine life. 2 strikes and you are out. Take your PADI docs, as they will grill you about your experience. A very interesting mix of 10m coral top surface dives and vertical dives down rock faces down to your authorised limit of 30m. So many turtles that they get in the way, usual coral fish and reef sharks, jacks, barracudas etc. Saw Manta Rays and Leopard Sharks, which I had not seen before. Grub is good if you like malaysian food, but they do an English breakfast! After three dives a day, we were knackered and went to bed early, but apparantly there was entertainment for virile youngsters like you!

[Zulu]

Hi am also and Advanced Diver and have been to the Red Sea aboard a Liveaboard and I can tell you it is a great experiance, especially the wreck dives such as the SS Thistlegorm which was bombed in WW2 and contains 2 bren gun carriers lots of Lee Enfields, motorcycles + sidecars, plane parts and has a cool what looks like a 3 inch AA gun on the stern with lots of empty shells lying about.

 

But what does spoil it is the amount of divers on some of these spots, where sometimes there where over 60 - 70 divers in the water!

[monotwix]

So you guys have some diving experience.

How is it when a diver dives below the recommended level and then takes his diving equipment off under water and fills all happy and then drowns.

Can it really make you that high under pressure?

[159th_Viper]

So you guys have some diving experience.

How is it when a diver dives below the recommended level and then takes his diving equipment off under water and fills all happy and then drowns.

Can it really make you that high under pressure?

 

Nitrogen Narcosis

 

See the Following Article as an Intro:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_narcosis

[JimMack]

So you guys have some diving experience.

How is it when a diver dives below the recommended level and then takes his diving equipment off under water and fills all happy and then drowns.

Can it really make you that high under pressure?

 

Nitrogen narcosis see http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/nitrogen+narcosis

 

Depth it occurs varies between divers. When learning to dive they give a simple test. At sea level you are given a board like a chess board but with numbers in each square, You are then shown a sequence, say 4, 7,2, 9, 1 etc. You touch each square in the correct sequence and the instructor times you.

Then repeat the exercise say at 80 ft.

The difference in times can be quite alarming! Re-inforces the point that you should always dive with a buddy.

[topol-m]

What is that hellish fish on the last photo?

[bumfire]

My brother works on one of the diving boats that serves the oilfields beside aberdeen, although he does alot of work in norway/denmark waters etc and is one of those in charge of the chamber that the divers live in whilst they are onboard the boat.

 

Some of you maybe might even know him if you work offshore ?

 

I know he calls you a bunch of rich squeaky voiced B'tards :D

Edited October 27, 2009 by bumfire

[Zulu]

Well it doesnt nessarly happen below the recommend level, it can happen as low as 18 - 20m depending on the person. It is called Nitrogen Narcosis and you dont feel 'high' you mainly see things that no one else see's or in extreme cases people forget they are underwater thus taking off their gear. All in all it just depends on the person. I have had it and most if not all divers that go deeper than 20m have had it. In my case I thought I saw a 6 foot long 3 foot high fish that no one could recall seeing.

[159th_Viper]

What is that hellish fish on the last photo?

 

Wolf Fish :)