The Dive Evangelist

This week has seen lots of interesting news related to diving and the ocean. A bank robber whose "getaway vehicle" was a scuba tank got sentenced to 16 dry years in prison. The discovery of an 8th century wreck in the Mediterranean was reported. And most of you probably saw the video footage of the frilled shark (called a "living fossil") found in shallow Japanese waters, far from its normal habitat 2,000 feet below.

But the most dramatic news came from Australia, where a diver survived a nightmare ordeal. While fishing for abalone, he was attacked by a 10-foot white shark. On the first bite, the shark engulfed the diver's head. On the second bite, the diver found himself halfway down the shark's gullet. According to some reports, the only thing that kept the man from being bitten in half was his lead-lined vest. Miraculously, the man escaped death by jamming his fingers into the shark's eye socket and wriggling out of its mouth.

While such a story recalls images from that cinematic classic "Jaws," it's important to remember that white sharks are both magnificent and endangered creatures. No one wants to meet the business end of a white shark, but neither should anyone want to hunt one down because it mistook a human for a seal. The Australian government quickly echoed this sentiment by warning that anyone caught trying to track down the shark that attacked this diver would be prosecuted.

I salute the bravery (and luck!) of this Aussie diver -- and am off to the dive shop to buy a lead vest!

I'm in that sweet spot right now, halfway between dive trips. Fond memories of Oceanblue Divers' inaugural trip to Nassau in early December are still fresh, and the group's next excursion to Cozumel at the end of February is close enough for excitement to start to build. Meanwhile, work is more stressful than ever, and tomorrow's high temperature is forecasted at 27 degrees. So thoughts of diving in warm, clear water are welcome indeed, even if they make me ask myself, "What am I doing at work?"

If you're asking yourself the same question, you're in luck -- a few open spots still remain on the upcoming Cozumel trip. If it's anything like last month's Bahamas adventure, we'll have a blast. On that trip, everyone had a marvelous time, even with a group as large as 31 people. Michael kept everything well organized, pairing up buddyless divers and getting the group together for nighttime meetings at the Daiquiri Shack. And on the daily bus rides to and from Stuart Cove's he never ran out of jokes (even if they were as likely to elicit a groan as a chuckle).

Cozumel in March will be fantastic. It's the tail end of peak season, and temperatures should be in a comfortable, non-humid range of 70-80. Diving visibility is excellent year-round, and water temperatures should be in the high 70s/low 80s. The 2007 Trip Planner in Scuba Diving magazine's latest issue called March diving in Cozumel "sublime" and "unbeatable." And if you've done any research on Cozumel at all, you know it's as fun topside as underwater. Especially with THIS group!

So if, like me, you see snow flurries outside your window right now, think hard -- but don't think long! -- about those last remaining spots on this trip. Don't find yourself at your desk on that first Friday in March, thinking "What am I doing at work?"

Earlier this month, four scuba divers disappeared during a day of diving in the Red Sea. Though an extensive search was conducted, they were never found. As I read the account of this tragedy, a key line in the article jumped out at me: "The divers did not have lights or whistles that would have helped rescuers find them."

To me, this sounded almost as strange as if it had read "The divers did not have masks or fins." Many divers, however, consider such things as lights, whistles and safety sausages optional equipment. Some may know they need such items, but procrastinate buying them. Others fall complacent, thinking "It'll never happen to me." Still others simply don’t know any better.

The fact is, every time you jump off a boat and descend, there's a chance that the boat won’t be there when you surface. If you dive with reputable operators in good weather, sure, it'll likely never happen to you. But, as divers, we should believe more strongly than the average person in the adage "Anything can happen." What would you do if you surfaced after your dive to find yourself alone with your buddy, no boat (or land) in sight? How would you increase your chances of being found? That's right, by inflating a safety sausage, blowing a whistle, or (at night) turning on your strobe or other light.

Living where we do, many of us spend the majority of our bottom time in Dutch Springs or other lakes and quarries that could be considered "confined water" diving. This, again, might lead some to think of whistles and sausages as "optional." It's not like you’ll surface alone, far from land. Yet such safety gear still has a role, even a potentially life-saving one. If you surface distressed or too winded to yell for help, a whistle might be the only way for you to get the attention of someone on the shore.

New divers don’t need much gear to make those first pool dives, but by the time they jump in the water for their first open water dive, they should have a whistle clipped to their BCD if the instructor is doing his or her job. Certified divers who don't own inexpensive yet potentially critical safety equipment like whistles and safety sausages have no excuse -- and will have no one but themselves to blame if they experience the same plight as those Red Sea divers.

[Read a discussion of safety sausages on the Oceanblue Divers message board.]