What are the dangers of scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef?

Answer 1

Perhaps the greatest risk is panic. When people panic, they tend to hold their breath and, when they ascend, the air in their lungs expands and can rupture a lung (or other similar medical conditions). It's easy to avoid though -- just breath normally. Staying down too long is also a problem. When you certify as a Scuba diver, you'll be taught all about that. Another problem are big waves. The solution? Dont Dive When The Waves Are Big (like I had to say that! LOL ). Other dangers include hypothermia -- getting too cold, and exhaustion. The remedy for those is to get back on the beach or boat before they happen. I wouldn't worry about creatures eating me. You're more likely to get hit by lightning. If you NEED to worry about creatures, in California, far more people step on Sea Urchins than get attacked -- so watch where you step.

Diving is based on being calm and relaxed. If you can do that, the risks are very few.

but, the TRUE risk of SCUBA diving is that you will fall so in love with it that you will think of nothing else and feel empty inside until the next time you DO get to go SCUBA diving again

Answer 2

This is a very open ended question. The British Sub Aquatic Club1 publishes an annual incident report covering accident in their area. This is an excellent report if the question is about the dangers to trained SCUBA divers.

Generally speaking the dangers vary depth, time, physical condition, and choice of breathing gas.

Main points:

Equipment failure is rarely a fatal danger in recreational SCUBA diving (as defined by PADI).

The physical condition of diver plays a role in a majority of accidents.2 Heart attack is common in older divers with poor cardiovascular condition whom mistake the sport as low-impact.

A divers training is the most critical factors to ensure a dive is conducted safely. Lack of sufficient training/knowledge in this activity can be fatal.5

Decompression sickness is the most commonly discussed. This relates to the loading of nitrogen in a persons blood under the increased partial pressure of a given gas at depth.3 Surfacing from a dive results in small bubbles in a persons blood. Duration, depth, and physique of a diver dictates the size of the bubbles.4 Small bubbles are reabsorbed but larger bubbles can have fatal consequences. I would also note today it is common dive with mixed gases other than air.6

The above is related to Nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen Narcosis is the mental impact of having an increased amount of nitrogen in your bloodstream resulting in a mental state similar to drunkenness. This can lead to life threatening errors and mis- communication.

Air embolism is the result of the expansion of gas which destroys / rips tissues. Under controlled diving condition a diver surfaces slowly (30ft per minute) which allows the gases to slowly exit the body. In the event of a rushed or emergency ascent (or if a diver holds their breath) air can break the tissues and enter other parts of the body. Most common is a rupture of the lung which can lead to bubbles forming in the neck. This is why the 1st mantra of scuba diving is "breath continuously, never hold your breath."

1.) http://www.bsac.org

2.) http://www.bsac.org/page/544/diving-incidents.htm

3.) The air you breath is 21%Oxygen 78%Nitrogen 1%Argon

4.) The US Navy produces a set of Nitrogen loading tables based on time and depth

5.) PADI is the best know training agency in the sport www.padi.com

6.) Nitrox, noted as EanX, is a mix where the Oxygen content is adjusted to X%
Being squished by the water pressure, running out of air, getting trapped underwater, getting raped by a crab and in genral death

Answer 3

Diving is a relatively safe sport. Millions of people enjoy it safely every year, but there are a handful of injuries and fatalities. Most fatalities are not strictly scuba related (heart attack and being struck by a boat being the most common). However, diving specific risks include:

- drowning, through running out of air - divers try to avoid this by continuously monitoring their gas supply, and staying close to their buddy in case of emergency

- decompression sickness - divers avoid this by using tables or dive computers to warn them when they reach 'no decompression limits'

- marine life injuries - although getting eaten by sharks is rare, scratches from corals and sea urchins are common - divers try to avoid this through good bouyancy control

- lung expansion injuries - divers are always taught to never hold their breath - your lungs are like a balloon under pressure - if you hold your breath at depth and then ascend, you can cause serious injury to yourself

There are other risks which are not diving specific in themself, but general risks that can either be more acute whilst diving (such as risk of a heart attack - usually treatable at the surface, but causes huge problems if you are 60 feet underwater), or conditions specific to diving which may cause other risks to be worse (such as hypothermia, from getting cold, or nitrogen narcosis, from descending too deep).

Most diving accidents result from either poor training, poor equipment, panic, or diver's being in poor physical condition, or returning to diving after a long absence without refreshing their skills.

If you stay up to date, stay in reasonable shape, and dive within your own personal limits, you should have safe and happy diving experiences.

Answer 4

drowning,this can include a fear of water and or even death

choke on water

if you are swimming in pool with salt or chlorine water this can rec and damage your hair

Answer 5

Main disadvantage is that it is highly addictive, and expensive.

Answer 6

Diving is not normally a very lucrative business. Your biggest risk is usually bankruptcy.

Contrary to popular belief, if done properly, diving is not a particularly unsafe sport.

Answer 7

It really depends on what part of the ocean your in. If your in the pacific, then it might be a blue ringed octopus. One that I find the most plausible is a yellow coral that burns the skin.

Answer 8

you could die