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Observing Marine Life When Skin Diving
from: Maxx Adventue TravelFor many centuries mankind has tried to explore the aquatic environment that makes up most of the earth's surface. During ancient times, the main reason was to gather food or to salvage some items from rivers, lakes and oceans. Many young girls and boys even learned how to free dive to gather shellfish and seaweed, and even sponges from the sea floor.
Now, in modern times, people also dive in search of valuable objects and food, however, diving's popularity has grown rapidly, especially in warm vacation destinations. Tourists and diving enthusiasts dive to explore the underwater world and also for the sheer exhilaration of the experience. Without special training and equipment, they're able to observe the beauty of aquatic life.
Skin diving is a water activity wherein swimmers depend on their lung capacity, a diving mask, snorkel, and fins to move about underwater for several minutes at a time. It's an extension of snorkeling, where a person views the underwater environment from the surface of the water.
This practice is called skin diving because little equipment is required. Basic requirements are a waterproof mask, fins for the feet and a snorkel. A snorkel is simply a tube of about 38 cm long with a mouthpiece on one end, used for breathing underwater.
The diver's diving mask allows him to see clearly when underwater. A mask that completely encapsulates the nose and eyes to form an air space between the water and diver's eyes is preferred.
Fins, also called flippers, are similar to the webbed feet of a duck and enhance the divers' movements below the water and help to propel them with a smooth and efficient motion. Fins have a foot pocket that secure your feet, and large sheets of flexible plastic.
Snorkels are also helpful in when observing shallow marine life. As long one end extends out of the surface, the diver can breathe normally. However, snorkels shouldn't be more than 15 inches long since air can't be drawn to greater depths.
If you've planning on going deeper into the water, you'll have to hold your breath. Since you can't live without breathing for hours on end, you can only remain below the surface of the ocean for brief periods, usually about two minutes. Experienced skin divers, however, are able to stay underwater for several minutes.
The main difference between skin diving and scuba diving is the devices used by scuba divers. Scuba stands for "self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus", which is a metal tank filled with air. This tank is connected to a valve regulator for pressure adjustment so the diver can breathe comfortably even at greater water pressures. Also, since scuba diving involves exploring underwater at greater depths, there are other major considerations. A scuba diver requires a wet suit to keep warm while far underwater.
Scuba divers also make use of buoyancy compensators to help them control their position while underwater. A diver is able to control the amount of air in these buoyancy compensators to adjust their overall buoyancy.
There are several pressure related injuries a scuba diver is vulnerable to. Ascending or descending too quickly causing significant rapid changes in the pressure difference between a diver's body and his surroundings could be fatal, which is why scuba divers must go through specialized training in order to stay safe when more than a hundred feet below water.
So that's the difference between scuba diving and skin diving. When you scuba dive, you're largely dependent on your diving gears for survival. Skin diving on the other hand is a simpler way to explore underwater environments.
Skin diving is mostly for gathering food underwater. In some areas of the Caribbean, it's illegal to catch lobsters using scuba equipment, thus, anyone good at skin can make hundreds of dives each day to collect lobsters.
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