Report Cards Are In

Healthy Reef Heroes!

We were never fans of report cards growing up. A percentage or a letter used as a representation of who we are as people and what we might be capable of was largely useless. Whether our report cards brought us praise or groundings we found they weren’t really useful for telling our story, what we did right, what we did wrong and how could we could improve.

When the Healthy Reefs Initiative began the Mesoamerican Reef Health Report Cards 10 years ago, they wanted to create an understanding of the management of an ecosystem that sustains our culture, fisheries, coastal protection, and tourism.  The HRI completes these surveys to create accurate, science based knowledge to inform dialogue and collective management in the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR). Unlike our school grades that gave us meaningless percentages and letters based on performance, this report card teaches us where we are going wrong and how we can change for the better.

Ian Drysdale (Representative for Honduras in the HRI) and his team made our boat Pot Licker their ‘home’ for a week as they completed this years reef health investigation in Roatan. To the inexperienced eye it looked as though they had an obsession with PVC, slates, and rubber bands but we knew that although that may be true, it was their love for the reef that had those volunteers jumping 4-5 times a day to survey over 25 sites in Roatan alone. The heroes involved this year were a mix of students from mainland and local conservationists who gave their time, energy, and expertise to successfully complete this years survey. Each volunteer was trained through a program called AGRRA (Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment) who have developed a standardized assessment with the ability to be applied to many different reef types.

Extremely simplified explanation of survey methods

Ouch, that’s a lot of yellow.

In understanding and comparing changes in benthic, coral, and fish indicators using this AGGRA method, the Report Card has been able to collect and compare data giving us a real long-term picture of what has been happening in our waters.

The chart to the left was taken from the 2018 MAR Report Card and represents the surveys conducted by the team to quantify our reef health. Honduras was given a 3.3/5 in the Reef Health Index and was one of the few areas surveyed to experience decline since 2015.

The majority of the volunteers had helped complete the surveys previous and were pretty well informed with the issues in Roatan. The week of the survey was sympathetically rain filled and added a lot of ambience to the disappointed faces, but this crew was much more interested in the positive aspects. On one of the last days we were huddled under the shelter of Potlicker, sharing sips of warm tea, to discuss just why we were experiencing a decline.

First off, they said, Roatan was doing a lot of things right.

Amazingly our coral coverage was some of the best in the Caribbean and that part seems to have held. The reason? Our Marine Park. The Roatan Marine Park (RMP) has been doing a heck of a lot more than putting in your mooring balls. They are patrolling, educating tourists, developing our communities and changing the way we use plastics. They do this through the continued support of sponsors, visitors, and community. Reasons to support them, in whatever way we can, whether it’s through donation or active participation is being proven by these studies, and it’s awesome.

The RMP work with local youth encouraging engagement with the ocean environment

Survey work on the far north side of Roatan near Pristine Bay

What is not so awesome is that Roatan has too much macroalgae.

According the report card, this is our number one ‘Calls to Action’. It’s one of corals biggest competitors here, and it’s growing and spreading at a very serious rate.

Fleshy macroalgae in Roatan is blanketing areas of the reef, completely taking over the environment. In small quantities the aptly named ‘fleshy’ algae provides food and oxygen exchange, but human intervention has tipped the balance invariably in it’s favour. Wonderfully, their data, doesn’t just prove we have too much algae, it also tells us why.

Too much algae, near AKR

Turns out, it’s shit. Not shit the expletive, shit the excrement. West End is the only area that adheres to fecal health standards in all of Roatan. Even the main city of Coxen Hole is only about 10% connected to it’s treatment facility. This doesn’t mean that there are little turds floating around everywhere else, but we as humans happen to excrete nutrients and those nutrients are changing the environment around our island.  With cruise ship traffic, tourism, and immigration increasing, the volume of defecation on our reef is also increasing. This provides the perfect conditions for macroalgae to grow.

In Half-moon Bay, they said they have seen and confirmed the improvement to reef health since the establishment of a wastewater system and all the houses aren’t even connected (although, that’s the goal!) . Only 15% of blackwater in the Caribbean is currently being treated, so it’s pretty cool that our little island is a part of that. If we can do it through the efforts of our community members, we hope that our grassroots example will spread and our island can be a role model in effective solutions.

Once the algae has been sorted to insure the non offending critters are returned to the water, it can even be used as fertilizer! HAWAII'S DIVISION OF AQUATIC RESOURCES

To deal with the algae we already have they offered the possible solution of using reef weeders or underwater vacuums. These ‘super-suckers’ will allow us to fully remove the algae leaving space for new coral to form and suffocating coral to flourish. Hawaii has already been implementing these vacuums to increase reef health in their own areas and are open to sharing their knowledge in an effort to improve ocean environments around the world. 

You can’t tell because of the lights but this bad boy was caught on a night dive here in Roatan by one of our regular guests!

The next step that is still being explored, is the re-introduction of our pointy little friends; the Long Spined Urchin. Our sneakiest and spikiest algae eaters were wiped out by disease in 1983 have seen very still seen very little comeback in our area. The team was very enthusiastic for re-intro as an option. Herbivorous fish numbers like parrot fish and blue tangs are up, but without our urchins feeding in the hard to reach spots, it’s unlikely the natural balance can be restored.

It was amazing to get involved with this years Report Card. Not only did we get to see some of the most enchanting dive sites in the MAR, we got to hang out with the important and amazing individuals who are working everyday to ensure the future of our reef. Although these solutions are simple, we know that implementing them is going to be a lot hard work. We look forward to helping these guys out as these projects move forward, channeling our love and knowledge into this world that we call home!

We just want to say a big thank you to everyone who is doing their part. When it comes to the environment and trying to save it, we get it, some of us weren’t born to be the heroes of epics but we all fight our own daily battle to improve the world around us and that is amazing. Each person has their own impact and we thank you for yours. We also want to thank all the organizations working with our communities planting coral, working with our governments and cleaning up garbage. It’s important and you are important.

Thanks Again, to Ian and his team for keeping the world up to date with our reef. This information will allow our guests and divers to engage with our island as they enjoy the beauty that we have been afforded through the efforts of many, and understand the work that they are doing. Thank you for showing us a world with solutions and a world with hope.

A list of sponsors who all contributed to the 2018 Report Card!

So long and thanks for all the fish!

If you want to learn more about ways you can help you can always contact us at coconuttreedivers@gmail.com and we would be happy to answer questions about how you can get involved on your holiday. If you just want to come down and see some of the healthiest reefs in the world, check out our websites for package options. Our shop is located in Halfmoon Bay and we offer several conservation courses and complete regular Dive Against Debris course and volunteer dives. As always my source information is included in the page with links to the relevant sections.

Rachael Sorochan

Your First Beer is Your Last Dive

All these gorgeous flavours are available at the Roatan Wine Room, which we will be plugging relentlessly as this article was partially inspired by the owner!

Drinking and diving is a pretty serious no no, for obvious reasons. This blog post is not going to cover that today. What we’re doing today is more along the lines of diving for the sake of drinking. For those of you who have spent time around Coconut Tree you may know of a time-honoured tec tradition of leaving behind a bottle of wine on your final deep dive. The idea came from a couple of guests that had come down to us from Spain that had said where they dive, it was common for staff to deposit bottles of wine on the ocean floor, the purpose being, to improve the taste. Now the honest truth, we did absolutely no research into these claims initially, but the idea sounded cool so we decided to make it our thing too. 

This is the Josie J of Roatan. It unfortunately didn’t have any champagne aboard, but it’s still pretty cool

The reason we followed the suggestions of these divers has some obvious inspirations. Discovering shipwrecked champagne and pirate rum are the things of adult day dreams. A bottle of Heidsieck 1907 sold for 275 000 USD at auction, and was one amongst over 2000 varieties discovered on a single shipwreck in the Gulf of Finland. Apparently some of them even tasted pretty good. A British ship sunk in the 1760’s is thought to be filled with bronze canons and gold coins, but it’s the thousands of litres of possibly undrinkable rum that has a lot of collectors vying for it’s recovery.

We know our bottles aren’t going to hold the same sort of history as that of a sunken ship, but the idea of it spending time stored in a place where few in the world are qualified to travel has its own set of mysteries. It’s cool of course but, was it actually as the Spanish divers said? Does it improve the taste?

A promotional photo of Vina Maris, not sure how they got that fireworm there…

One of the OG winemakers to experiment with this process was also from Spain, Raúl Pérez. He started by sinking bottles for up to 60 days in the bay near his vineyards which now sell for up to 138 USD a bottle. His company however, has reduced the amount of product put in the ocean after a huge amount of them spoiled in the sea (something we have certainly had happen to us, but more on that later). Viña Maris another winery in Spain has dedicated themselves entirely to underwater wine storage claiming the the “salinity has mineral nuances”. You can even book wine tours that begin with SCUBA excursions to see the underwater cellars. A Napa Valley wine company, Mira has bottles selling for 500 USD a bottle, the same bottle aged on land; 50 USD. The reason? It is said to mature the wine, turning “a 2009 into a 2007”.

So what is the science behind the oceanic benefits? Wine is ideally stored at 12.8C (55F), as it allows the wine to ‘mature’ at the correct rate, anything warmer can cause it to ferment too quickly and spoil it. The ocean tends to be cold and relatively temperature controlled depending on the locations and depths. Light is another big bad that can increase the rate of aging making the darkness of the ocean a bonus for wine storage. The final effect is oxygen, too much or too little can cause the wine to taste different levels of bad, 6ppm ( that’s parts per million for us non science folks) being the ideal amount. This appropriate oxygenation during the aging process is controlled by the cork (synthetic or natural), allowing only tiny amounts to pass through. The ocean has relatively low levels of oxygen so less should be diffusing into the liquid. 

It’s good to know that we weren’t crazy to follow this initial advice. We have experimented with varying degrees of success usually leaning towards the failing side. Most recently, on Valentine’s Day of last year Monty and Alex dropped a bottle at their favourite spot upon Alex’s completion of her Tec course. This romantic story contributes to the idea that in the end it isn’t just about aging a perfect wine, but about what it can mean to us and our relationship with the ocean.

It did get slightly less romantic when we brought it up and the wine tasted like ass. 

Ignore Cruz’s convict style hair cut

Why were we failing? Originally we assumed it was the sea water leeching into the bottles so we tried a mixture of duct tape and candle wax and the result; still the flavour of ass.

This is when we decided to embark on this research, if duct tape can’t fix it, what can?

We did have a suspicion that our water temperature might be a little warm for wine storage so we looked for examples closer to home. A Shipwreck from 1864 off the coast of Bermuda, the Mary-Celestial was the closest we could find. The bottles recovered apparently looked super cool but the taste was not so nice.

Master Sommelier, Paul Roberts was quoted saying;

"When we decanted it, the cork pretty much crumbled and you immediately knew the vast majority was now ocean water."

This picture was just so classy/nasty it needed to be included

The tasting notes apparently included words like ‘crabwater’ and ‘gasoline’. In fancy sommelier language, this was exactly what our wine was tasting like! Turns out, the water here, just as in Bermuda is too warm. 

Local wine expert and technical diver Lauren Schneidewind said;

“The wine would have cooked at 83F (28C), wine really does need to be stored at a much cooler 55F (12.8C).  Rum however, is made at hotter temperatures and has roots from hotter climates and can withstand heat better than wine”

Rum? Now, there was a thought. Flor De Cana is aged at the base of a volcano in Nicaragua so we imagine she was right about the heat. Lauren said she didn’t think that the rum would necessarily improve, but at least it wouldn’t spoil.

Camper English creator of the website Alcademics summarized a seminar held at the Tales of Cocktail event about how liquor and spirits age over time. He confirmed what Lauren had said that the rum would not begin to be effected negatively by temperature until about 37.8C (100F) but is ideally stored at 4.44C (40F). That, and the darkness at depth make our Roatan waters not necessarily the best, but definitely not the worst. For rum oxygenation in the bottle can cause an undesirable vinegar like aroma, so as long as we insured the bottle retained the manufacturer seal, all points to the bottle at the very least, remaining the same.

The Zacapa Crew!

It may not be as exciting knowing that our unique storage method hasn’t created some sort of liquor revolution but that won’t take away from our tradition. It’s good to know now how these bottles will not just hold a little bit of our own history, but an enjoyable and drinkable beverage. It’s also not a bad excuse to buy a fancy bottle of rum in the name of diving. If our calm warm water is not perfect for wine storage for diving at least, it’s unbeatable.

This little photo bomber got Lauren on her way down to place her Zacapa bottle, maybe he was mad she didn’t share. Alexandra HG Photography

To learn more about courses or discovery experiences check out our website. For more updates, photos, and videos from the gang you can follow us on our Facebook and Instagram.

Bonus Story

At the time of our initial experiments wine options were few and far between on Roatan, instead we decided to try Tree’s homemade mango ‘wine’. We took the clear moonshine-like Mango beverage and gave it a shot. The bottle had a plastic cork, it was stored at 18m (60ft) and was left there for 6 months. This would have been a lot easier back then as it was less likely to be discovered by other divers, that being the main reason that it’s our tec divers who have upheld it since then. Monty recalls the liquid going from clear to almost lemonade type turbidity. It also, significantly improved the taste.

We aren’t sure why it worked, mostly because we aren’t really sure what the chemical make up of Tree’s concoction was, but it did certainly inspire us to keep up with the tradition.

All sources used are linked in the section that is applicable. Thanks Again to Lauren of Roatan Wine Room for answering all my questions and the crew at the shop for arguing all the science with me. Alexandra HG, a big thanks for providing me with photo and fodder for these posts. As always thanks to those who I abuse for editing, I have an over use of comma problems. If you have any questions or ideas for posts you would like to see, don’t hesitate to contact us through our Facebook!

So You Think You Can Dive Master?

The decision to pursue a Dive Master Internship can arise in different people for many different reasons. For some it’s a bucket list thing, a way to prove something to themselves. For others it’s merely educational, or a great way to spend summer between semesters. For many this is a professional path, for those hoping to make a career of their passion. 

DMTs have fun on their days off too!

Whatever the reason for choosing to pursue their Dive Master, few will say they regretted the decision. You rack up on dives, learn a tonne, and get to experience the world of diving from a whole new perspective. 

So why are there still people out there waiting to give it a shot? Time, work, and feeling unqualified are just a few of the excuses we hear.

Instructor Rachael arrived back in 2016 with 17 dives and a huge case of imposter syndrome. “I remember receiving my PADI Dive Master Crew Pack the day before my orientation. I pulled out all the books and papers and spread them out on the bed in my dorm and thought to myself-How in the hell am I going to learn all of this in six weeks?”

Two years later she is a full-time instructor, with multiple specialties, and a whole lot of dives under her belt.

Look how happy they are!

It’s not to say it isn’t hard work, because it definitely is. However, challenges bring rewards and that is what these internship programs are all about. We decided to interview a couple of our previous Trainees on what getting certified meant to them. We asked what their motivations were, what their experience meant to them, and where are they now. We hope that in reading the experiences of these bad ass individuals it will inspire you to look at these sorts of challenges, whether that be within the world of diving or just in the realm of adventure living as something you not only can do, but something you deserve to do.

Barra O’Briain a physician from Canada, definitely sticks in our mind as one of our keener DMTs. Barra first learned of Coconut Tree through his sons friend Taylor, who was completing his own dive master at the time. Barra was impressed with the skills and experience that Taylor was receiving and it didn’t take much to sell him on the idea.  

Barra-cuda on his Birthday

Barra said “I arrived feeling pretty confident in my skills, but quickly found how much I had to learn when it came to assisting other divers and the diving skills necessary for the task.”

His mentor was roughly the same age as his sons but Barra took it in absolute stride, humbly absorbing, listening, and learning from his Instructors and his peers. He added a wonderful dynamic to the group. 

When we asked Barra what he thought he got out of the experience he said,

“I now assist and work as a DM on weekends on a boat off the coast of British Columbia.  I am more confident in reading divers, assisting them, anticipating problems and dealing with them when they arise.  I am also a much better diver and confident in new and varied settings.”

Barra has been back to Roatan since and hopes to complete his full Tec Course at Roatan Tec Centre the next time he is back.

Meilin Mansilla, an architect originally from Guatemala, found Coconut Tree through a friend and came for the first time only to fun dive. When we asked her to tell her story, she answered so well that we think we’ll let her tell it herself.

Meilin is also the wonderful woman who designed our new front deck. meymansilla@gmail.com to find out more about her architecty work.

“It has always been rewarding for me putting my heart and soul to make happen what I put my mind to. I’ve always had big dreams and have worked hard to make them come true which, is a strength but also a weakness. Setting my mind to achieve working for the best architect in my country was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done, but it also made me a workaholic.

I came diving one time to Roatan and that’s when it hit me, I wasn’t fully living my life. I was successful living my life by my vocation as an architect, but what about my passion? Diving fills my heart and makes it literally explode with happiness and decided I wanted that on a regular basis, not one or twice a year 

So, I quit my perfect job, I moved to the island and started my Dive Master to fill that emptiness of passion in my heart, that thirst of feeling alive and free; weightless. I have two jobs now, I’m a dive instructor and an architect and I’ve never felt more alive. Don’t get me wrong, balancing it is hard but nothing that is worth it is easy, it takes self discipline but I’m telling you: it can be done. ‘Balance it out’ I say, don’t forget to fill your heart with what passions you on regular basis and don’t forget to put into practice what other things you’re good at.”

Phil also does this crazy shit

Philip Zaki, from Germany will always be remembered as the guy who always wore shoes. To put him in perspective he’s the kind of guy that says international finance is ‘fun’. His long-term goal behind doing his dive master is to become a technical diver and has said that before embarking on the journey he really wanted to increase his dive experience. He believes firmly that there is no better way to learn something than to teach and share it with others

Secondly, he said “a DM internship brings me in a completely new work environment. Working in a b2b (business to business) environment in an office job myself, a b2c (business to customer) environment is a totally new experience for me and widens my view on such jobs. Let it be sizing people for their suits, estimating weights, or mopping the floor, there’s nothing healthier than some down to earth experiences if you’re coming from a place like I do” (he works in a big fancy office)

Lastly, he said he really enjoyed the camaraderie and being part of team. As a repeat solo traveler he says it’s a much less lonely way to do it.

Pokin’ Fish and Clean’n Reefs

Jina Gaechter originally from Switzerland, currently from wherever she desires, came to us to do her Dive Master for possibly the coolest reason ever. Jina and her family live aboard their sail boat traveling all over the Caribbean, literally letting the wind take them. 

Jina said, “First of all diving has become my passion the moment I started almost 15 years ago but, I decided to do my DM as soon as I changed my life style, which means living on a boat. I am surrounded by water everyday so why not learn more about what’s in it, and be part of it.

It’s like fireworks every time I go back down. With my DM I feel so much safer and more  knowledgeable, I see so many things and I am able to help people more. On boat life I have the opportunity to jump in everyday and it’s never the same because we move from one place to the other.”

Her facebook and instagram are quite literally #wanderlust. Not everyone has the energy or patience to live life on a sail boat, but we certainly enjoy keeping up with her adventures.

Look at Ivan diving in freezing cold water, in Roatan you would need all that wetsuit

As you can see that the reasons behind the decision to do a Dive Master Internship are varied. These stories are only a small sample of those that we have heard in our shop. We have people come and do it during the summer in college and people who do it as a semester for credit in university. People do it in small bursts so that they can balance it with time off for work schedules and some people quit their jobs and leave everything behind. We have had trainees aged 18 to nearly 70. Whatever your reason is, don’t let your fears hold you back. It’s not really any one ‘type’ that choose to come down and have this experience. It’s the desire for adventure and for knowledge that brings these people together. When we asked Ivan Liaw, a DM from Singapore (Now working and living in the U.S.) we think he said it best.

“It's our dedication to the underwater world and those we interact with that defines us”

So quit making excuses and take the plunge (see what we did there?). For more information on how to get started contact us at coconuttreedivers@gmail.com or have a look on our website!

Here is just a couple of photo’s of our trainees up to shenanigans. Hockey tournament for the Sol Foundation (above). Dakota pressure washing the deck-she volunteered-(left). Marine Park Birthday Fundraiser (bottom left) Phil and Mil came to do their DM as a part of their Uni courses, genius (below)

Do I Smell A Rat?

The diving community is diverse. We meet people from different parts of the world with different kinds of jobs and who have totally different reasons for why they started diving. What we all have in common is that we like to dive. It’s really cool to see how one common interest can bring everyone together. It’s down right touchy feely

This is where Rachael is from, it’s beautiful. It’s also cold as shit. This picture was taken in September

Some of us at the shop grew up in places that were not so conducive to diving. Arguably some of the most landlocked places in the world. In fact, we’d say it was lucky we ended up as divers at all.  

If you’ve only just been certified or were looking to begin, choosing dive destinations and organizing trips can be intimidating. If you don’t already have a buddy or someone to try it with, it can also be a bit lonely. Of course you will always be able to meet great friends wherever you end up, but sometimes it’s nice to have some help along the way. Whether it’s in your community or on your social media there are tons of places to meet up with other divers. One such group we have come to know and love are the Dive Rats of Tulsa.

The Dive Rats- self-named- formed back in 2001 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The original crew Mike, Gary, Brian, and John were just coworkers looking for people to dive with. Being based in Tulsa, there were dive schools, but it wasn’t exactly the destination they were looking for. 

Brian is the quiet one, as an ex-water ski champion he had always loved the water. Diving was a natural thing for him to try and in college in 1993 he became certified Naui. He continued making trips when he could with his friends, trying to keep up his skill

John is described as the intellectual of the group, but still a hippy at heart. Certified way back in the 70’s. He is the OG

Gary is the dive boss, originally certified in the early 1980’s he has been certified in PADI, NAUI, and TDI. Reaching varying levels of certification from MSDT to full TEC and Cave diver. He’s also a real character. 

Mike was the newest to the diving world, receiving his certification in 2000, but is the life of the party. He’s in charge of organizing trips for the group from hotels to flights, Mike always tries to optimize the fun.

At first it had been a bit of a boys club, boasting trips of up to 27 dudes. Honourable mention at this time goes to 5th member Jerry Wilson, the Party Boy Award Winner (That’s right, they have awards). Apparently he is good at two things; partying and photography. If you check them out on Facebook a lot of the pictures you see are Jerry’s work.

Look at that talent, Jerry made a Moray Eel look cute!

The group has now grown and evolved to include ladies and gentlemen of all ages. Though they called it ‘getting old’ they said they really enjoy having a mixture of people. Diver Tammy, met the group through work, at a time when she really needed to get away and the Rats welcomed her with open arms, she has been back twice since. No matter what kind of dynamic they have on each trip they continue to invite divers of all certification levels, and continue to encourage training and growth.

The Rats ensure each trip feels like a celebration. T-shirts, badges, hats, and awards are all part of the experience. It is important to them to include activities that make their members feel as though they are really involved in something special. With any group, nicknames are naturally a huge part of it.

J dub, Hickey, Paddle Foot, Bernie, Mclovin, Big Nasty, Spider Monkey, Bam-bam, Skippy, and Professor P Diddle- just to name a few. When I asked for some of the sources Mike responded,

“Sorry, I can’t tell you who is which, I’d have to kill you.”

Mike, 2005. He thinks he is an underwater model

The first couple of trips were in Cozumel/Playa Del Carmen but, they have now branched out all over. Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Belize, Nicaragua, Fiji, Roatan, and more. If they like a place, they will always return. It’s not just about the diving for them, its about getting to know the local culture. They like to make sure they have the beat on a place, where to stay, what to eat, what to do. Making them pretty nice friends to have when you are a little apprehensive about trip planning.

We asked how their group continues to grow and how they all knew each other. Most of the answers we received were, coworkers, through family, or through posters in their local dive shop. Mike’s answer is that anyone interested will receive an email invite. He tells you times, dates, and costs and all you do is RSVP. 

The crew at El Agila wreck.

They offer trips in spring and fall, usually saving fall for Roatan. It’s ‘slow season’ here during that time and they take advantage of quieter boats and hotels. Although, we are at our hottest weather wise, the water remains refreshing and the diving fantastic. The group came to Coconut Tree Divers around 6 years ago, preferring the speed of West End to West Bay and quickly made themselves at home. They like to stay close by and have chosen some modest accommodations as the majority of your time on Roatan is spent outside, or in the water. 

Lisa’s gorgeous baking. She boxes it up and brings it right down too you. You can also visit her at Fresh Bakery for sit down breakfast and lunch!

Breakfast favourite for the Rats is definitely Fresh Bakery. Owner Lisa, delivers fresh baked goods, bagels and sandwiches everyday but Sunday right to Coconut Tree Divers. Coffee is available at the shop every morning starting early, making it a simple way to start the day. Lunch favourites will be determined by whether they need a quick lunch before the third dive, or a nice sit down if done for the day. Choices such as Keith’s BBQ, Bean Crazy and Dos Hermanas next door become the staples. For dinner they have three main recommendations Pazzos, Rotisserie Chicken and C-Level Pizza.  Pazzos for homemade Italian deliciousness, Rotisserie for home cooked sides and desserts and C-Level for build your own pizzas. 

Joining clubs and being part of teams are things that we encourage children and youth to do but as adults for some reason we hesitate. Having a community that we belong to is important at any age. If you can find one that fits you, it’s easy to feel encouraged, supported, and part of something bigger.  But, I do warn you, if you run with the Rats you better be able to handle a little teasing. Their primary languages being sarcasm and lampoonery. 

If you are interested in joining you can always contact the Rats through their facebook page. Being from Tulsa is not a requirement, the crew is now located all over the U.S. meeting up when they can. As always, you can contact us for more information about diving and Roatan in general at coconuttreedivers@gmail.com

A cutie little video of the Garden Eels at El Agila

Dr. House Is Not A Diver

So Majestic

“Went diving yesterday. Like an idiot, he surfaced too quickly. Like a bigger idiot, he boarded a flight which is pressurized to 8,000 feet above sea level. Low pressure is killing him. Tell the pilot to dive until we can club baby seals out of the window.” -House M.D.

 If you aren’t familiar with the popular TV series House M.D. that ran from 2004-2012 you must not have owned a television.  It was made famous by the incredible, loveable, and detestable character Dr. Gregory House, and brought to life by actor Hugh Laurie—Total Babe. The average viewer loved the drama and darkly sarcastic comments but, to the medical world, the show left something to be desired. 

Dr. Scott Morrison, a physician in the U.S., has been quoted by Forbes as saying:

“An average House episode may rate a C,” he says, “but that is still miles above any other show out there.”

Morrison rates the validity of each episode and storyline on an A-F basis, and if anyone would know, it would be this guy. His blog, Polite Dissent, has a medical review for—no lie—every single episode. Its unclear to us how Dr. Morrison finds the time for that sort of thing, but we’re grateful when stumbling upon it when embarking on this post.

He’s handsome even though in the diving world the way he is wearing his mask is equivalent to socks with sandals

Several ‘airplane experts’ in the comment section of Dr. Morrison’s blog are angry because the seating is totally unrealistic. So that part gets a D for stupid chair arrangement.

The reason we are writing about a medical drama on a diving blog is because—you guessed it—there is an episode with a diving related injury. 

We don’t know about you guys, but whenever we stumble upon any reference, scene, or anything SCUBA related in a movie or on TV we get obsessed. Partially judging it’s objective accuracy, and partially just being excited to see SCUBA represented. 

However, when searching this particular episode we found Morrison’s quote wholly disappointing; "I felt the medicine was decent this time, particularly the airplane scenes.”, and that was it.

Come on man, we want to know more! 

To get you all up to speed, I will try and summarize the diving storyline, for those of you interested in more, we are looking at ‘Airborne’ Season 3 Episode 18 - Currently on Netlfix -

House and his boss Cuddy are aboard a plane leaving Singapore when this guy Peng starts to look really rough. He appears dizzy, nauseous, and is in obvious distress. His skin is grey and sweaty.

He then begins to vomit all over his food tray.

At this point, there is some - according to the comment section of Dr. Morrisons blog - questionable Filipino from the air hostess who then determines the guy only speaks Korean. 

Super Unlucky. 

So, House and Cuddy start doing what they do and the diagnosis jumps from thing to thing. They also realize that inconveniently this plane is flying over the North Pole and has nowhere to land prior to their destination. We then see Peng being described as having a fever, severe abdominal pain, and, a rash on the lower back.

Cue Dramatic and incorrect diagnosis. 

Sometime later House shouts at the man to stand up. Peng is shaking, staggering, and, proceeds to fall down. Dr. House adds ‘Extension Posturing’ to the list of signs and describes Peng as having focal limb paralysis. 

This escalates to a scene where House and crew are holding Peng down in order to cut what they believe to be a cocaine filled condom from his abdomen. The kid applies pressure to Peng’s shoulder and he appears to experience relief. House notices and repeats the same action on Peng’s knee, again, exhibiting relief. House puts the scalpel down and asks to see Peng’s wallet. Inside he finds a PADI card (We are not able to see the certification level) and a receipt for dive rental equipment from the day before. They call for the pilot to descend below 1524m. (5 000ft). It ends with Peng leaving the plane alive but on a stretcher. 

The first aspect of the episode I wanted to investigate was the airplane. How could a commercial flight that travels from South-East Asia/China to the United States not have emergency landing sites? It turns out that it does. Although, Nunavut might not be teeming with dive doctors and recompression chambers it would still have likely been a better option than maintaining the altitude. We also read that in order to keep fuel temperature from freezing these flights often descend around 3000m over the arctic presumably increasing cabin pressure. This could explain why Peng’s symptoms worsened as they approached the U.S.

Also, would these airlines really just leave you to the mercy of these two doctors? We asked our friend Laura who has worked in the industry and she said that if a medical emergency did occur (dive related or not), protocol required the crew to inquire if anyone with medical training was on board, if not, they had an emergency line to call that would determine the status of the patient and provide EFR as needed. If necessary, they would be instructed to land the plane. She also recalls being briefed on DCS and minimum no fly times, 12 hours for single dives, 18 hours for multiple which, corresponds with DAN (Divers Alert Network) rules. Cabin crew required a minimum 24 hour window.

This portion of our episode is pretty cheesy. However, if they were able to land the plane at anytime, it sure would have taken away from the drama. It’s pretty misleading but, we will give the writers this one.

According to a study done by DAN, they discovered the acceptable minimum no fly times were difficult to determine because the low acceptable risk to the test volunteers. Incidences of neurological DCS were too high to continue testing. Basically they were able to find that the current rules (at 1% risk rate) were acceptable, anything below was unsafe to determine.

Next up, Peng was described as having likely experienced symptoms before he got on a flight that was then ascending to an altitude that at it’s highest would maintain a pressure of .76 bar (the limit for any commercial flight). So why did Peng do it? As a certified diver he should have been able to recognize the symptoms.

The thing is, is that this is a lot more common than you think. One of the first indicators of a DCS hit can be denial.

According to DAN; 

The most common manifestations of DCS are joint pain and numbness or tingling. Next most common are muscular weakness and inability to empty a full bladder. Severe DCS is easy to identify because the signs and symptoms are obvious. However, most DCS manifests subtly with a minor joint ache or a paresthesia (an abnormal sensation like burning, tingling or ticking) in an extremity.

Most of these symptoms then get blamed on something else. Tight suits, heavy lifting, or, other non-diving related activities. So it’s not actually that unbelievable that dear old Peng didn’t recognize his symptoms. He is also an entirely fictional character so we won’t let this aspect stress us too much.

This is extension posturing. Doctors are able to determine injury types depending on the type of posture- And I am a child so I found the face on this drawing hilarious

Drama aside, lets break this down to determine if DCS is a plausible explanation for these signs and symptoms.

1. Dizziness- A clear and common indicator.

2. Nausea- And delightfully, vomiting.

3. Pain/discomfort- The most common symptom of DCS.

4. Rash on lower back- DCS related skin rashes tend to stick to the fatty tissue so this seems pretty accurate.

5. Severe abdominal pain- This one is a hard call, it was determined through zero communication from the patient so it’s lack of correlation with DCS doesn’t really prove anything.

6. Fever- A fever is actually what commonly helps doctors to realize that DCS is not the cause and more likely one of many other commonly linked symptoms such as those of dengue fever.

7. Staggering- Definitely a common sign. It should also be noted that anyone with suspected DCS should not sit or stand.

8. Extension posturing- Although this is not a commonly listed sign of DCS, it could occur in neurological varieties.

9. Focal joint paralysis- Again, this term specifically isn’t what is commonly used to describe the paralysis associated with DCS but it is understandably similar

10. Confusion/Strange Behaviour- Peng made very little attempt to communicate with the team trying to assess him, so we’ll go ahead and assume that this was another of the common signs of DCS.

Other than the glaring mistake of the fever, these symptoms seemed to be pretty accurate. Now, we have never seen anyone exhibiting signs of DCS to this severity but we would imagine that the actor embellished a little in his portrayal. The most concerning aspect of these symptoms are those suggesting neurological type forms of DCS, these would have required some pretty immediate action. So the signs and symptoms for the most part pass the test, the emergency first response does not.

This is our judgement turtle. He is judging you

This is our judgemental burrfish, they aren’t always judgemental like turtles are but, that final scene really did his head in.

The kicker though for us was the final scene where House finally figures the whole thing out. Pressure applied to a joint causing immediate relief? Sorry, but we called bull-@#$%. We are not a doctors but as a divers we have spent a fair amount of time studying and understanding Decompression Sickness. Some of us have even seen it. It was difficult to believe that a human body could exert the amount of pressure on a joint to simulate a change in atmospheric pressure.

A quick message off to DAN’s Medical Service Centre and we immediately received confirmation on our assumption, 

Hello Rachael,

Your suspicions are correct, this is indeed misinformation. There is no evidence to suggest that mechanical pressure applied to a joint would result in any change in their condition. Please reconnect with us should you have any other questions or concerns. Regards,

Jonathan Gilliam

DAN Medical Services

It’s clear that some of this was complete garbage. The plane would have been able to land. They may have ended up somewhere near Santa’s house but, it could have worked. The flight staff also, would likely have enacted procedures for landing the plane at the initial symptoms. Especially had any of House and Cuddy’s terrifying diagnosis been correct. As Dr. Morrison would do, I give this section a C. It’s unrealistic, but delightfully dramatic.

Peng getting on the plane is far more believable. A lot of divers make the mistake of misdiagnosing their DCS symptoms and very often continue diving or get aboard flights. So this aspect gets an A. Although, House was maybe unfair for how many times he called him an idiot.

The symptoms get a B-. We struggled with this one, the symptoms are all bang on, except for the fever. A fever would be the indicator that proved this probably wasn’t DCS and therefore took the grade way down.

The final seen? An F. A big F, less than an F. It’s absolutely unrealistic. If you don’t believe us lets go ask Jonathan, or any other dive doctor for that matter.

All in all, though we liked this episode. It was funny, it got us talking, and it gave us fodder for this blog. If you guys have any other movies, shows, books, or whatever that you would like us to take a look at on the subject of diving let us know!

We’ll see you all next week.

Diving makes us happy

Acknowledgements to Instructor Shane for informing me about the existence of this episode. Thanks to Laura for being my airplane expert. Obvious thanks to Jonathan and Divers Alert Network. Thanks to Forbes, Dr. Morrison, and all the guys on reddit who showed me how to read Morrison’s expired blog. Thank You to Conde Nast Traveler for having all the information about North Pole flight routes in one handy article. All of the articles that I referenced can be linked to in the section in which they are referred. Thanks Alexandra HG Photography for being my resource for epic dive photos.

Keeping Up With The Koconuts

This is the paradise #shameless bragging

"There's so much room for activities!"

               -Will Ferrell

If you hadn’t noticed, a huge portion of our posts have had to do with our series of make-overs. 

1. Our entirely redesigned front deck has improved diver flow, increased outdoor teaching spaces, and Feng Shui-ed our hang out zone. Coconut Tree is the first dive shop you see when you walk into West End we are smack dab in the heart of it. We decided that it's about time our shop started to reflect the beauty that we are surrounded in.

Recently, we have had a lot of positive feedback and interaction via our Facebook content and we wanted to thank you all for keeping up to date on the goings on here at Coconut Tree. It makes us feel loved to know that our family throughout the world still holds us in their hearts. It has now become our goal to make sure that we keep up with posts and information to inspire, cure diving withdrawal, and generally brag about our piece of paradise.

Some of our followers however, have expressed the desire for a little bit more. In this world of two sentence blurbs and 30 second videos they feel as though they aren’t getting quite enough of our diving inspo. So for those readers old and new, let's start off with a little review...

Please draw your attention to Instructor Sammy's face

Cruz 'Cruise Control' Chourre- Age 25, Dive Instructor

2. We moved the water facilities increasing the over all privacy and gear drying space. Moving the toilet to the back and making it a bit larger has been great. It's now a bathroom/change room/art gallery/arboretum. We couldn't bear to cut the tree down so it's become part of the design! In rearranging the gear area we have also created a safe space for camera's! Although, our regular followers know that more often than not, it doubles as a cat house. 

3. Now that the office is at the front, our guests are now greeted the moment they walk in the door. No more congestion! Gay and Alex really appreciate the better view of the ocean, though we all can't seem to stop making jokes about what use to be in that space.

(it was the toilet, throne jokes abounding)

Jokes aside though, this has been great to improve our guest satisfaction. Increased storage and easy to read schedules, prices, and packages have only added to convenience.

Boss Alex is more comfortable on the other side of the lens

People still fall asleep on the cushions though

4. A fresh coat of paint and new decor have left the upstairs classrooms open, airy, and bright. Photos by Alexandra HG Photography and board designs by the lovely Meg Jones are our splashes of colour and inspiration for student divers of all levels. With our new hand held tablets for videos we have been able to reduce our indoor classroom time, but it's still nice to have a serene, resource packed, and above all- air conditioned learning space.

5. Pot Licker, looks gorgeous. This ex U.S. Navy boat has found a new life as the second of our two large boats. Primarily used for our Roatan Tec Center and Private Tours we decided to maker her look as bad-ass as she is. The addition of the dive flag was a particular point of pride. She certainly looks hot in her Instagram photos!

This is where she sleeps

6. The next step. Our next project is the inside of the shop. Besides improving all around gear storage and spacial effectiveness we hope to create a small retail area for some quick essentials and of course, our fabulous t-shirts. Already we have created a fancy coffee (and tea!) station with all the fixings. In this space we also provide dishes and utensils for take out! No more styrofoam! The local businesses are now accustomed to us approaching with plates and declining plastic cutlery. Boo yeah to reducing our footprint.

Photographers are violent people. First they frame you, then they shoot you, then they hang you on the wall .   

I know it looks like a super model, but it's a camera, don't worry

     It isn't just the outside we've been working on, we also have some pretty exciting stuff going on in our photography department We now have rental camera options! Only $30 for the day and the use of the camera is yours. The simple to use Canon SD550 is perfect for simple snap shots and budding photographers alike. Before the dive, one of our staff will prepare the camera and orient you on it’s use so that you can capture your experience through your own perspective. We do have SD cards available for purchase (only five dollars) so your pictures make it safely home in full quality. 

She's really good looking already but Alex is still really good

   If you don’t fancy yourself as a photographer on land let alone with complicated buoyancy manoeuvres, we have a photographer for hire! Alexandra Harper-Graham, you know the one who captures all those gorgeous photos on our Facebook and Instagram? Yeah, you can hire her to follow you and a friend around on a dive for only 50 bucks (only $15 per additional diver). She makes even the worst of us look cool underwater! Her images capture your experience and interactions with the underwater world in perfect clarity, contrast, and composure. 

   For those interested in continuing their education in photography, as always, we offer the PADI Digital Underwater Photography Adventure Dive and Specialty Course with Master Instructor; Scuba Ted. For those who know him, they know that he is rarely seen in the water without his camera and he is always excited to help share this passion with others. These courses are great for those entering the world of photography at any level and any digital photography device.

    If you have been particularly inspired by our content on social media, then you will be happy to know that Alexandra HG Photography is now also offering Photography Courses (with rental equipment). Alexandra’s course has been developed from 10 years of passion and experience in underwater photography and can be adapted to all skill levels. Whether you are an iPhone ‘Instagramer’ or are wondering about purchasing strobes Alexandra’s wealth of knowledge can help you on your journey. 

May your life be as amazing as your social media makes it seem

    Lastly, we are hoping to up our media content. With a little more dedication to this blog we hope to be able to interact with our guests both past and present to let them know a little bit about what we do and we are into.

    The content we share is going to be largely based on your responses. The goal is to create an online version of the spirit we try to foster in the shop. We want it to be about learning, sharing, and creating on our favourite subject; diving.

   So join us, follow us, or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days and we will do our best to entertain. Any questions? Comments? Queries? Concerns? Contact us at coconuttreedivers@gmail.com

This picture isn't relevant but people like eagle rays

Bald Girl Big World

SCUBA DIVING WITH COCONUT TREE DIVERS – ROATAN, HONDURAS

Posted by BaldGirlBigWorld | Sep 13, 2017 | Central America, Honduras, Solo Female Travel, Travel Blog | 2  | 

Click on the link below and follow Colleen's Blog.  

http://www.baldgirlbigworld.com/scuba-diving-coconut-tree-divers-roatan-honduras/

What its like planning and diving to 100mt / 333ft

The Shearwater Perdix multi-gas dive computer worn by all the staff @roatan tec center.

Finding the right mind set to prepare for a trimix dive to 100mts can take days, and we have to complete build up dives to reach our goal.  Our day starts with another gallon of water consumed for breakfast..... hold the coffee for the week, it dehydrates you!  The night before was spent drinking copious amounts of H2O and rest. Mind needs to be sharp as we are entering a realm of crush depth for the dive equipment we are using.  Pee test in the morning, any signs of dehydration and the dive is off..... Clear pee...  Alright, dive is a go! We have calculated out the ideal gas blend for that depth using our desktop decompression software (V-Planner).  We need to eliminate the oxygen content as it starts to become toxic below 66mt / 218ft, (I know I can dive deeper on air and not be concerned about oxygen toxicity, but that's a different story all together).  We need to replace the nitrogen as well, after hydrogen, helium is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the observable universe, being present at about 24% of the total elemental mass, which is more than 12 times the mass of all the heavier elements combined.  Whatever, put it our scuba tanks and call it Trimix, a mixture of helium, oxygen, and nitrogen.  A shorten version, we are going to dive TMx 10/60, 10% oxygen, 60% helium, 29% nitrogen.  I know right, 10% will not sustain life on surface, well done.....  So, we need a travel gas that we can breathe on the surface and a deep deco gas.  We calculate out that we will blend a TMx 18/15 as our travel gas, and not switch until we reach 1.4ata for the oxygen content, meaning our switch depth is 68mt / 223ft. With now 3 tanks on us we need decompression gases to accelerate our decompression, two most common deco gases 50/50 and 100% Oxygen.  So, a total on this dive of 6 tanks that we will carry and safely switch to each regulator, because if not there's no coming home.  An instant killer in technical diving, respect your gas switches! 

This is the entrance to the dive site, we are at 64mts / 210ft.  We parachute straight down.

On surface before starting the dive we perform a full gas shutdown drill and a modified out of air drill to keep our minds sharp.  Its going to take roughly 5 minutes to reach bottom with one gas switch and the way down.  We are descending into a dive site called "The gateway to hell" although it looks like a stairway to heaven. 

100mts / 333ft is well into the black spot in the crack, it just keeps going.....

On the descent we roll through the first thermocline at 70mts / 230ft, a deep dark cold feeling rushes over you.  We continue on the descent, staring into a crack in the earth that has been there since the ice age. 30mt / 100ft still on the descent, we hit the second thermocline at 88mts / 290ft. The water temp is now reading 24c / 76f, I know it's cold to us, but still pretty warm at those depths.  This is where time is now starting stand still, every breath were taking in 10 times that of the surface, the high amount of helium squeaks through the second stage. I am sitting at 100mts / 333ft, staring into the darkness and beauty of what the ocean has created in front of me.  My mind is sharp analyzing all potential problems that could occur, however the high content of it is making me slightly light headed.  A feeling one could not describe to a person that has never felt the deep like this.

  One minute warning before the long ascent to the surface, focus.... Situational awareness has me checking time, gas supplies, depth and ascent rates to follow.  Our bottom time is up, check and record pressures, within my rule of thirds we ascend.  We are know in a critical zone as we ascend up the crack monitoring an above average ascent rate.  Pass through the second thermocline and a rush of warm water warms us up, we reach our switch depth and safely switch to our deep decompression gas Tmx18/15.  From now on we ascend no faster than 6mts/min.  Whilst decompressing in the deep waters we constantly are monitoring each other and ourselves for any unusual behavior or symptoms, to much can wrong in this portion on the dive.  @ runtime 29min of the dive we have a gas switch to 50/50 mix that will start to speed up the washout of nitrogen and helium, and @ runtime 41min of the dive we switch to 100% Oxygen for an even more accelerated gas tissue washout.  At the completion of the dive 60min, we signal each other that we have completed our decompression schedules and we all feel that no DCS signs or symptoms.  Before ascending we need to finish off the dive with a proper ascent to the surface.  An additional 2min @ 5mt/15ft, 2min @ 3mt/10ft, and 1min @ 1.5mt/5ft.  Once on surface we continue to breath down our Oxygen for a safety factor.

A look at the schedule that V-Planner has created for us to follow.  However we still have our multi-gas dive computers, with back ups.

Dec to    220ft                  (3)    Trimix 18/15    60ft/min descent.
Dec to    300ft                 (5)    Trimix 10/60    60ft/min descent.
Dec to    333ft                   (5)    Trimix 10/60    60ft/min descent.
Level    333ft                      (9)    Trimix 10/60    1.11ppO2,  106ft ead,  113ft end
Asc to    240ft                    (11)    Trimix 10/60    -40ft/min ascent.
Level    240ft                     (12)    Trimix 10/60    0.83ppO2,  71ft ead,  76ft end
Asc to    220ft                    (12)    Trimix 18/15    -40ft/min ascent.
Stop at    220ft      0:11    (13)    Trimix 18/15    1.38ppO2,  182ft ead,  182ft end
Stop at    200ft      1:00    (14)    Trimix 18/15    1.27ppO2,  165ft ead,  165ft end
Stop at    180ft      1:00    (15)    Trimix 18/15    1.16ppO2,  148ft ead,  148ft end
Stop at    160ft      1:00    (16)    Trimix 18/15    1.05ppO2,  131ft ead,  131ft end
Stop at    150ft      1:00    (17)    Trimix 18/15    1.00ppO2,  122ft ead,  123ft end
Stop at    140ft      1:00    (18)    Trimix 18/15    0.94ppO2,  114ft ead,  114ft end
Stop at    130ft      1:00    (19)    Trimix 18/15    0.89ppO2,  105ft ead,  106ft end
Stop at    120ft      1:00    (20)    Trimix 18/15    0.83ppO2,  97ft ead,  97ft end
Stop at    110ft      1:00    (21)    Trimix 18/15    0.78ppO2,  88ft ead,  89ft end
Stop at    100ft      1:00    (22)    Trimix 18/15    0.72ppO2,  80ft ead,  80ft end
Stop at    90ft      1:00    (23)    Trimix 18/15    0.67ppO2,  71ft ead,  72ft end
Stop at    80ft      2:00    (25)    Trimix 18/15    0.62ppO2,  63ft ead,  63ft end
Stop at    70ft      4:00    (29)    Nitrox 50    1.56ppO2,  32ft ead
Stop at    60ft      1:00    (30)    Nitrox 50    1.41ppO2,  26ft ead
Stop at    50ft      2:00    (32)    Nitrox 50    1.26ppO2,  20ft ead
Stop at    40ft      4:00    (36)    Nitrox 50    1.10ppO2,  13ft ead
Stop at    30ft      5:00    (41)    Nitrox 50    0.95ppO2,  7ft ead
Stop at    20ft      3:00    (44)    Oxygen    1.60ppO2,  0ft ead
Stop at    15ft     15:00    (59)    Oxygen    1.45ppO2,  0ft ead
Surface            (59)    Oxygen    -20ft/min ascent.

--  lost gas-->  These tables are brought down as a back up for a lost gas situation, the diver would have to be alone to follow these tables, you learn more about this in the deep air courses.

    OK    50    100    18/15    

 333       (9)       (9)       (9)       (9)    
 240       (12)       (12)       (12)       (12)    
 220    0 (13)    0 (13)    0 (13)    0 (13)    
 200    1 (14)    1 (14)    1 (14)    2 (15)    
 180    1 (15)    1 (15)    1 (15)    3 (18)    
 160    1 (16)    1 (16)    1 (16)    1 (19)    
 150    1 (17)    1 (17)    1 (17)    2 (21)    
 140    1 (18)    1 (18)    1 (18)    1 (22)    
 130    1 (19)    1 (19)    1 (19)    2 (24)    
 120    1 (20)    1 (20)    1 (20)    3 (27)    
 110    1 (21)    1 (21)    1 (21)    3 (30)    
 100    1 (22)    1 (22)    1 (22)    3 (33)    
  90    1 (23)    1 (23)    1 (23)    4 (37)    
  80    2 (25)    2 (25)    2 (25)    5 (42)    
  70    4 (29)    3 (28)    4 (29)    5 (47)    
  60    1 (30)    3 (31)    1 (30)    1 (48)    
  50    2 (32)    5 (36)    2 (32)    4 (52)    
  40    4 (36)    7 (43)    4 (36)    6 (58)    
  30    5 (41)    10 (53)    5 (41)    8 (66)    
  20    3 (44)    4 (57)    4 (45)    5 (71)    
  15    15 (59)    16 (73)    21 (66)    24 (95)

These are tables we need to take in case the dive went too deep or too long.

    333, 9    333, 12    336, 9    336, 12    

           (9)       (12)       (9)       (12)    
           (12)       (15)       (12)       (15)    
 240        0 (16)        0 (16)    
 220    0 (13)    1 (17)    0 (13)    1 (17)    
 200    1 (14)    1 (18)    1 (14)    1 (18)    
 180    1 (15)    1 (19)    1 (15)    1 (19)    
 160    1 (16)    1 (20)    1 (16)    1 (20)    
 150    1 (17)    1 (21)    1 (17)    1 (21)    
 140    1 (18)    1 (22)    1 (18)    1 (22)    
 130    1 (19)    1 (23)    1 (19)    1 (23)    
 120    1 (20)    1 (24)    1 (20)    1 (24)    
 110    1 (21)    1 (25)    1 (21)    1 (25)    
 100    1 (22)    2 (27)    1 (22)    2 (27)    
  90    1 (23)    2 (29)    1 (23)    2 (29)    
  80    2 (25)    3 (32)    2 (25)    3 (32)    
  70    4 (29)    4 (36)    4 (29)    4 (36)    
  60    1 (30)    1 (37)    1 (30)    1 (37)    
  50    2 (32)    4 (41)    2 (32)    4 (41)    
  40    4 (36)    5 (46)    4 (36)    5 (46)    
  30    5 (41)    8 (54)    5 (41)    8 (54)    
  20    3 (44)    4 (58)    3 (44)    4 (58)    
  15    15 (59)    21 (79)    15 (59)    21 (79)

Respecting deep diving comes with experience and training, I tell my students "anyone can deep dive, that's the easy part, however it's the smart divers that come home alive".  Diving deep on a single tank with no planning or redundancies is just down right dangerous, get the training and enjoy your deep dive career.

Monty Graham

Getting to Grips with Narcosis

 

By: Richard Devanney

To a new diver, thoughts of narcosis can be very mixed. Some may find it to be a scary prospect, whilst let’s be honest others will relish the thought of getting a free thrill during a dive, which may tempt them to go deeper than their certification and/or level of competence should otherwise allow. This contrasts with a cautious, risk-averse diver. They know narcosis as something to become familiar with in a controlled environment, before taking active steps wherever possible to minimize its effects on all future dives. Now some of you may be thinking “that’s rubbish, who wants to be risk-averse!”. My response to this is that you dear reader are exactly the person that this article is aimed at.

All divers have been taught the basics of what narcosis is

All divers have been taught the basics of what narcosis is, along with what they should do to reduce its effects during a dive. At open water level narcosis isn’t really of great concern, as it’s not usually noticeable by diver nor observant buddy up to the 18m (60ft) maximum depth range. For advanced divers going to 30m (100ft), it’s your new imaginary friend, sitting on your shoulders with its feet in the stirrups, poised and ready to take over the reins. But many will hardly notice its effects. Those that do should be able to cope fairly easily- there are always exceptions to this of course. But what about going deeper than 30m- how does it affect you then? Can you maintain control? At what point will it start to control you? These are kind of important considerations, so let’s delve a little deeper to find out more.

What’s in a name I hear you ask- It’s ok, I can’t really hear you. But seeing as you probably would have asked anyway, the nomenclature originates from the Greek word narke, and loosely translates to “numb”. But it has collected a few other familiar names over the years; “the martini effect” (ridiculous), “rapture of the deep” (I was hoping that when the rapture does come I can just go for a dive and let it pass me by) I’m sure there are more names but they will be equally silly. Most people call it Nitrogen (N2) narcosis because there’s more of it in your cylinder of air than oxygen. Yet there are some people- mainly technical divers, that call it inert gas narcosis, because you know, nitrogen is inert and they crave accuracy and order. Some even more anal tech divers go further and call it gas narcosis, because they want to outdo other tech divers in the accuracy and order stakes, and also because carbon dioxide and oxygen are also narcotic (though it’s unclear as to how narcotic one is relative to the other). But for the sake of concision, I’ll call it narcosis for the rest of the article because, a- I’m a lazy typist, and b- any excuse to wind up the online dive police.

Causes

As you go deeper during a dive, narcosis will increasingly affect you in numerous ways. If you continue descending beyond both your maximum depth and better judgment (whichever comes first!), it will eventually induce an anesthetic effect on you, and there hasn’t been an alarm clock invented that will wake you up from that slumber. Thankfully, deep air diving is not in vogue anymore so there aren’t as many stories of divers descending to oblivion as there used to be.

The exact mechanism of how narcosis works is not universally agreed upon, but the theory that most diving physicians agree on is the so-called Meyer-Overton hypothesis. This states that the narcotic effect of a gas relates to its solubility in the lipid (fat) phase of body tissues. The higher the solubility of body tissues, the more readily nitrogen (and other narcotic gases) will dissolve into them (as per Henry’s law). In this case, those body tissues are the nerve membranes of the brain. It’s believed that once enough nitrogen is dissolved into the lipid membranes, it will mechanically interfere with the transmission of signals between nerve cells.

The narcotic effect of gases on humans has been quantified in terms of their so-called Relative Narcotic Potency (RNP). Of the gases used in diving, helium has the least narcotic effect when breathed. At the other end of the scale, argon has the greatest effect, which is precisely the reason it is not breathed (along with it having a high gas density). Here’s the full list of diving-related gases, ranging from the breathable to the breathable but only under certain circumstances, to the “I would love to breathe that but it’s too expensive”, and ending with the “Superman can freedive indefinitely anyway so why is it even on the list?”:

• Helium (least narcotic)
• Neon
• Hydrogen
• Nitrogen
• Argon
• Krypton
• Xenon- (most narcotic)

Helium is not narcotic at diving depths (though it affects the nervous system beyond the 100(ish) meter range due to the rate of compression- this is known as High-Pressure Nervous (or neurological) Syndrome- or HPNS. It affects the central nervous system and symptoms include myoclonic jerking and somnolence- basically, you uncontrollably shake and then fall asleep- almost the opposite of when your dog runs in its sleep).

Not being narcotic is one of the numerous reasons why helium is a good gas for deeper diving- if you can afford it.

Hydrox- a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen has been used experimentally on very deep commercial diving projects by French company Comex, and when I say deep I mean humans standing on the sea bed at 500 meters deep (1,640ft). Theos Mavrostomos went to 701m (2,299 ft) in a chamber, just because he could.

However, because of its tendency to create large, messy, and often inconvenient explosions, hydrogen can only be used with 4-5% oxygen in the mixture, and therefore requires specialized equipment not to mention extensive training before it could be used- all at considerable cost. Neox- a mixture of neon and oxygen is a good alternative to helium as a deep breathing gas, as it is both not very narcotic and it doesn’t distort the voice unlike helium, but it’s very expensive to use (You can see a pattern forming here can’t you), and apparently if you do get DCS when using it, symptoms can be severe. Argon is only used to put in drysuits instead of air, and thankfully the regulator attached to the cylinder supplying it will not have a 2nd stage regulator attached, just in case you or your buddy are seeking out a Darwin award- it’s anoxic.

Symptoms

So what happens when we get narced? Do we take our regulators out to give to the fish? Generally, things are a little more subtle than that. If you descend to 30-40m (100-130ft) you may feel euphoric, lightheaded, or a little bit tingly. You may find that your ability to concentrate has reduced, and your ability to care has fallen commensurately with it. Other symptoms include perceptual narrowing (tunnel vision), altered perception of time, anxiety or paranoia, memory loss, and even a feeling of numbness. Many divers will insist that they feel nothing and think they are absolutely fine. If you ever find yourself diving on trimix between 30 and 60m (100-196ft), you will most likely have observed that, whilst you have a very clear head because you are breathing in less N2, anyone diving with you on air is noticeably slower when it comes to, well everything- communication, physical dexterity, and general coordination. Their situational awareness is almost non-existent. When watching them try to achieve a simple task, it’s all the more amusing to know that they won’t even remember how badly they were doing it- when they get back on the boat they will think that they were fine and that all their tasks were completed properly and efficiently- ignorance is bliss and relativity is difficult to gauge when everyone is riding on the same beam of light.

So how badly do these symptoms affect how in control you are during a dive?

Well, it depends on your susceptibility on the day and how deep you are; your sensitivity will change every dive; there are many factors that will influence how narced you feel on a given day. The lines are blurred as to how much of an influence each factor has on you. Tiredness, dehydration, alcohol or drugs (prescription and recreational), cold water (affects you much more than warm water), higher work of breathing, bad visibility, turbidity (particles in the water), seasickness, fear, vertigo, task loading, current, descent rate. That’s a big list of influences.

A build-up of carbon dioxide can also increase narcosis. Swimming against a current will make your breath harder, and breathing harder underwater is not very good for you because gas densities under elevated pressures are such that it is more difficult to move those gases in and out of the lungs. It’s bad enough when a regulator is forcing the air into your lungs; when you are on a rebreather you are doing the work so it’s even worse. The bigger the atom, the harder it is for you to move it. So it’s harder to expel CO2 from the lungs and consequently the body, which allows it to build up. CO2 is more narcotic than N2, but its effect on narcosis is not simply an effect of higher partial pressures of CO2. In the blood CO­2 is a dissolved gas in a non-compressible fluid, so partial pressure is not the only factor at play. If it was then we would not be able to go diving because levels would quickly prove fatal as we descend. In addition to narcosis, CO2 acidifies the blood and has anesthetic properties, so hypercapnia (or excess carbon dioxide) is not very good for you. CO2 is also a vasodilator so it has an influence on CNS oxygen toxicity risk. Basically, CO2­ is bad.

Staying in control

The thing about narcosis is, that it’s very easy to get complacent about it. There is such a thing called normalization of deviance. It’s not a diving thing, it’s a human thing, so divers do it because they are usually human. It’s basically becoming accustomed to bad/unsafe behavior because it’s done so much without any negative consequences that it’s not considered bad/unsafe anymore; it’s considered the norm. A great example is a professional videographer filming open water groups in between solo diving to get the shots they need, but without the qualification, training, and redundant gas source. Another example is not doing a full or thorough buddy check before diving. There are countless other examples. People continue bad behaviors because 99 times out of 100 nothing will go wrong. But something only needs to go wrong once.

With narcosis, you may feel anxious during a 30m dive, or just so spaced out that you hardly check your air and don’t keep track of your buddy. These are not good things, but you made it back to the boat so it must have been ok- you’ll just continue to deal with it. But what if something does go wrong, what if your buddy gets very low on gas and you need to share? Will you be able to act on this quickly and safely when you already have a head full of anxiety or are feeling mentally slow, or have poor motor skills- or all three? We know that most accidents occur because of numerous factors rather than one single thing. If something goes wrong, isn’t dealt with and it leads to another thing going wrong, then the odds may be stacked high against a safe outcome because there’s just too much going on in a critically short window of time. Call it the domino effect or the incident pit or whatever you want.

Now just so you know I’m not trying to be dramatic, I know that the chances are that for most people in the 30m (100ft) range and even the 40m (130ft) range, a low on air diver or BC malfunction etc will usually be dealt with to provide a safe outcome. They may be messy but hey, you’re narced. Remember by the time you’re back on board the boat you’ll think you did a great job of it anyway! This is just an article to hopefully make you ponder some things in your diving that you maybe don’t think about too much.

So how about at between 40m and 55m (130-180ft)?

I shouldn’t really have to mention that going beyond 55m on air is not a good idea, with narcosis being one reason why. You will be on another planet mentally and as you continue to descend you will find yourself completely incapacitated before the inevitable unconsciousness arrives. Some people don’t think you should really be going beyond 30m on air (yes I’m one of them, but I also know that trimix is prohibitively expensive). Yet at these kinds of depths, you really do have to exercise very conservative judgment about your ability to deal with things going right, along with your ability to cope and solve problems if things go wrong, not simply whether you will manage to do the dive with no issues. If you have any inkling whatsoever that you may not be able to handle yourself or your team mate being out of gas or tangled up, it’s probably time to get your trimix qualification. The helium in trimix offsets some of the nitrogen so you feel more clear-headed. The problem with doing these dives without trimix is that you are impaired remember, so you don’t have good judgment in the first place! You won’t really know until it all goes wrong. Sure, you can practice going to 50m and do some drills to see if you get better/faster/more efficient at them, but remember the trimix divers watching the air divers? Don’t kid yourself. A big part of risk management involves being honest with yourself.

Minimising narcosis

So what can you do about it? As with most things technical diving, risk management begins on land before you even start day dreaming about how great you look in a wetsuit. You’ll need to think about:

• What’s your dive plan- how deep do you want to dive?
• What do you want to achieve on the dive, what are your objectives, are they complex/simple?
• What’s the weather like? Will it get choppy? Will there be a current? Could the weather change during the dive?
• How cold is the water? Will there be a thermocline? Wetsuit or drysuit- heated vest?
• Visibility good or bad, turbidity?
• What’s the competence of your dive team? Is there a big difference in competence?
• How many people are you diving with? Who is doing what?
• Could you use gases other than air (helitrox or trimix)?
• Will you free descend or use a shot, can you do a slow, staged descent?
• Is it a decompression dive?
• How good is your regulator, is it appropriate for the depth you want to dive in terms of ease of breathing, i.e. balanced?

If you think about it, none of the above are new things to think about.

You should be considering them in some form or another on every dive. But you could also ponder your water entry, will you have to swim hard against a surface current to get to a descent line? Can you have a rest before descending? You shouldn’t be out of breath during a dive so being out of breath immediately before is a little bit silly. Can you descend in a slow and controlled way? Staging your descent and descending slowly can help reduce task loading with ear equalization, equipment comfort and settling into the dive. It will also provide a gradual increase in nitrogen exposure to the brain in terms of PPN2. This is extremely anecdotal but I personally don’t want to drop like a stone and find myself suddenly hit by a wall of fuzziness- but that’s just me.

Whether it’s a decompression dive or not is markedly different to a no-stop dive. The usual advice on narcosis is that if you don’t like the feeling then ascend and it will disappear. Whilst that’s true, for a deco dive the missing component of that is “in how long”. I have done many a deco dive where I know I am narced, and as I ascend and switch to 50% Oxygen…. Yep, still narced.. time to move up to 12m now, yep, still narced. There is a noticeable delay, even after breathing a gas with less N2 before the effects start to disappear. If you have to navigate back to a specific point during your ascent and the vis is not great, maybe take that into account.

Another consideration about decompression dives is the complexity of your plan.

Technical divers plan dives, they also plan contingencies. Some plan contingencies of contingencies. Then they are all written on slates or wet notes to view during the dive. The main plan, over depth/over time, over both, one lost gas, another lost gas, multiple lost gases, minimum gas, ascent pressure, turn pressure. Many variations of these.

Dive planning is important, as is contingency planning.

So what am I getting at? Well having 3 or 4 plans written down is all well and good, but what about when you’re narced, and you find that you have to actually use one of the backup plans? It’s stressful and can be complicated depending on how narced you might feel. Yes, practice practice practice I hear you say, but it’s the instructors saying that and it’s easy for them to say- it’s their job to dive every day. They will find these things easier, otherwise, why are you going to them? It’s a bit harder for people that do it as a hobby to get in anywhere near as much practice as they would like.

So here’s the real question, aimed at hobby divers. Who out there will tell me that they will immediately refer to their back up plan and utilize it correctly if a real emergency occurs at depth? It’s more likely a case of deal with the immediate problem, start heading up, and then at the first available opportunity take stock and think about how much you deviated from everything because there were more pressing things going on than referring to back up plans. By then all your plans could be completely irrelevant. So let’s get down to brass tacks and be realistic- how complicated is your plan? Can you simplify it anymore to make it easier to read/use when needed? This might be the way it’s written down, the way you compare total runtime to your bottom timer, it may even be as simple as ensuring that you have a dive computer with a stopwatch function (yes please in dive mode as well as gauge mode shearwater, hint hint). Why do you think you might go over depth or over time? Can you actually do the dive with a simple plan and back up plan in your head? Again, just things to ponder.

One of the biggest things to factor in is who you are diving with.

You may be lucky enough to have friends that you regularly dive with, who are sensible and you dive well together. That’s great. The alternative is when you dive with people you don’t know. Of course there will always be people with different levels of experience and competence and after all, diving can be a great way to meet new people and learn new things. I’m not talking about deep decompression dives either, just regular dives to 30-40m. I’m talking about a specific type of person. Basically, don’t dive with the person at the beginning of this article who’s aim is to get as narced as possible. They are rule-breakers, and in my opinion, potential life-takers. There are plenty of real-world stories of this kind of person ignoring a dive briefing and taking someone equally unskilled, inexperienced and unqualified inside a wreck or cave, to find themselves trapped, or find their way out but the buddy doesn’t. Swap wreck for depth and the outcome may be the same. Diving is not a competitive sport (Though I sometimes wonder that when browsing certain Facebook groups), and the laws of physics apply to everyone.

Like most things, diving procedures, equipment considerations and the like are not rocket science once learned properly, but there are numerous things to consider. One that is often neglected is risk management, and certainly risk management as it relates to narcosis. We often just get on with it and assume everything will be ok. But as I’ve said a few times you only need things to go wrong once. So be prepared, know your limits and set them accordingly not just based on yourself, but also based on who you are diving with, when, and where.

Maybe it’s time to see what the fuss is about with trimix.

What fin to choose when scuba diving, top tips

When choosing fins, always remember that with an efficient fin, there will be a direct correlation between how much oxygen and energy you use and how much air you use. This is particularly important for novice divers who will no doubt need to conserve air more than an experienced diver who is relaxed in the water and already has sound air consumption.

 There is a vast array of fins on the market and you will need to consider your level of experience, kicking style and ability, leg power and type of diving you will be doing in order to determine which type of fin will best suit you. Diving fins should neither be too short (snorkelling fins), or too long (like free diving fins). As a general rule, the stronger the leg, the longer and stiffer the fin should be. However, fins with rigid sides and a flexible middle made up of different materials will generally provide more thrust power with less effort. Many top end fins will incorporate a number of materials in the blade and foot pocket including carbon fibre, graphite and polymers to maximise the amount of energy transfer from the leg to the fin. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of science that has gone into the manufacture of fins!

Closed Heel or Open Heel?

Full foot fins are usually cheaper than open heal fins, easy to don and less bulky, however, if they are not a perfect fit for you will cause lots of friction issues and blisters. Never compromise, always go for fit when selecting full foot fins. Do not be talked into buying wet suit socks to ensure a proper fit for full fit fins or be tempted to purchase full foot fins where your toes feel cramped because they are on sale!  If your fins stay on at your heel, they will not fall off in the water. Quite simply put, if full foot fins do not fit perfectly do not purchase, you are wasting your money and will live to regret your decision.

The downside of a full foot fin is that is the water is cold, they do not offer any thermal protection for your feet. Another negative is, if you are shore diving, you will need to consider where you will be walking as, without boots, your feet will be vulnerable over rock pools and similarly on hot dive decks.

As a result of the restrictions on full foot fins, most divers tend to go for an open heel fin type where a neoprene dive boot or dry suit boot is required to be worn underneath. Open heel fins are more adjustable, comfortable and versatile than full foot fins and provide cushioning and chafing protection, but tend to be bulkier, more expensive and can have complex strap adjustment mechanisms. An open heel fin worn with a dive boot will offer thermal protection in colder water and given that water is a much better conductor of heat than air is. Versatility is key with an open heel fin, the same fin being able to be worn with a pre-fitted dry suit boot or even a pair of trainers, eliminating the need for multiple fins being required in different conditions. Open heel fins also have the added advantage of providing additional stability and maximum propulsion. Whilst fit will vary between style and manufacturer, most manufacturers will provide a shoe size range as a guide for each fin size to make fitting a little easier.

Split Fin vs Paddle Blade?

Ask any experienced diver or dive professional this question and it will undoubtedly provoke a lively discussion! Whilst paddle blade fins have been around for many years, split fin technology is a relatively recent addition to diving.

The whole idea of a split fin is that the blade causes a vortex in the water as you swim along. Also, on the divers upward fin stroke, where minimal propulsion is achieved in any fin, the split blade opens up and allows water to easily pass through. These features essentially provide excellent propulsion for less effort and ensure that a split fin is more efficient than a paddle fin. In essence, split fins are easy to use and as a result, many divers find that they can conserve up to 40% more air with a split fin over a more traditional paddle blade. People who suffer from cramping, are injured or have weak knees, ankles or back problems will benefit from using split fins because they are so easy to use. 

Well, whilst split fins may be more efficient than paddle blades, they are not as powerful. What this means is that whilst split fins may be easy to use when the conditions are good, when the conditions turn, you simply will not have the power that a paddle blade fin can offer. In any sort of current, give me my paddle blade fins any day over splits! Because of the extra grunt that a paddle blade will offer, they tend to be the preferred option for most dive professionals when power is key for chasing students, conducting rescues and so on.

In summary, you really need to assess the type of diving that you intend on doing most of. If this involves cruising around on easy sites with little current, or you are prone to cramping or nursing an old injury, then splits are probably the answer for you. If however, you want to go on and do more technically demanding diving in conditions that are less than perfect, go for a paddle. 

Article written by Author J9 on http://divebuzz.com