| | | World
Most Beautiful Beaches |
| Scuba Diving in Issue
Glossary of SCUBA diving terms
Anoxia
absence of oxygen caused by inhaling a breathing gas that
contains no oxygen or being unable to inhale any breathing gas.
Aqua-lung
underwater breathing equipment consisting of a diving cylinder and diving
regulator.
Barotrauma
pressure-related injury.
Beach
master or dive marshal
A person on the beach who records when divers
enter and exit the water. Typically used during scuba classes to keep track of
the students, watch the gear, provide assistance when required.
Bounce
dive
A dive consisting of a descent to maximum depth and then an ascent
back to the surface with the least delay, in a dive profile resembling a spike.
Generally undertaken to retrieve lost items, achieve a personal maximum depth
or due to poor buoyancy control.
Buddy system
Pair or sometimes
threesome of divers that dive together as a team for safety.
Buoyancy
compensator or BCD
diving equipment worn by divers to provide life-saving
emergency buoyancy and the ability to control ascent and descent rates.
C-card
or Certification card
proof of completed diver training and evidence
of experience.
Carbon monoxide poisoning
usually due to compressor
maintenance errors.
Carbon dioxide poisoning
is due to incomplete
elimination of carbon dioxide.
Compressor
a machine used to increase
the volume of usable air in a diving cylinder by raising its pressure.
Controlled
buoyant lift
a diver rescue technique.
Decompression sickness
a potentially lethal diving disorder caused by bubbles of inert gases,
such as nitrogen or helium, coming out of solution and becoming trapped in the
tissues, organs and blood vessels of the body causing symptoms ranging from rashes
to death.
Decompression stop
a pause during the ascent phase
of the dive to allow safe release of inert gases from the tissues of the body
and avoid decompression sickness.
Decompression tables
Printed
tables that provide divers with a way of avoiding Decompression Sickness by giving
the maximum times that can be spent at depth, and by indicating the Decompression
Stops and Surface Intervals needed for a particular depth and time profile to
be carried out safely.
Decompression buoy
a small buoy on a line
that divers inflate underwater to indicate their location to their boat.
Dive club
a group of people with an interest in SCUBA diving.
Dive flag
Flag used by a boat to indicate that it has 'divers down'.
Comes in two versions: the international marine (international code letter flag
'A', ) and the red and white flag (red with white diagonal, ).
Dive profile
a two dimensional representation of the two most important characteristics
of the dive that a diver must monitor to dive safely: depth and time. The profile
is often used when describing a dive's likely decompression obligation.
Dive
shop
supplier of diving equipment or training, or organizer of dive expeditions.
Dive tables
see Decompression tables.
Divemaster
A professional level diver who leads a group of less experienced divers underwater.
Drift diving
diving in a current.
Drowning
death
caused by inability to inhale anything but water.
Dry suit
a
diving suit designed to thermally insulate and provide protection to the skin
of the diver.
Dysbarism
medical conditions resulting from changes
in ambient pressure.
Electro-galvanic fuel cell
an electrical
device used to measure the concentration of oxygen gas in diving equipment.
Equivalent air depth
a way of expressing the narcotic effect of breathing
gas mixtures that contain nitrogen, for example nitrox and trimix.
Frogman
A scuba diver, particularly a military diver on an undercover mission.
Gas blending
filling diving cylinders with gas mixes such as
nitrox or trimix.
Gas embolism
a potentially lethal diving disorder
caused by air or other gas bubbles entering the blood stream through wounds.
Hard Hat diving
Surface supplied diving, generally in professional
diving, either wearing a modern diving helmet or the old-style standard diving
dress and brass helmet.
HPNS
High Pressure Nervous Syndrome or
Helium Tremors - caused by using breathing gases that contain helium at depth.
Hypercapnia
carbon dioxide poisoning generally caused by rebreathing
your own exhaled carbon dioxide. A big problem at depth especially with rebreathers
or high rates of exertion.
Hyperventilation
either a deliberate
and dangerous method intended to extend the duration of a free dive or the body's
response to hypercapnia.
Hypoxia
insufficient oxygen in the body
- normally caused by inhaling a breathing gas that contains insufficient oxygen
to support normal activities or consciousness.
Hypothermia
a
potentially lethal medical condition caused by cooling the body.
Interstitial
emphysema
gas trapped in the chest after lung barotrauma.
Kayak
diving
an alternative to boat diving or shore diving where the diver
uses a special purpose kayak to get to site.
Log Book
List of
the dives a diver has recorded for proof of experience.
Maximum operating
depth
the depth at which the partial pressure of oxygen (ppO2) of a gas
mix exceeds a safe limit.
Navy SEAL
A US Navy trained military
diver.
Night diving
a dive at night - many underwater animals
are nocturnal or behave differently at night.
Nitrogen narcosis
condition caused by breathing nitrogen at high pressure (at depth).
Nitrox
a breathing gas consisting of oxygen and nitrogen
Oxygen toxicity
is caused by using breathing gases that contain oxygen at high pressure
(at depth).
Partial pressure of a gas
the concentration of individual
component gases of breathing gases.
Pneumothorax
collapsed lung.
Professional diving
diving for payment.
Rebreather
breathing equipment that captures, cleanses and re-oxygenates exhaled breath
so that it can be re-inhaled.
Recompression chamber
a pressure
vessel used to treat divers suffering from certain diving disorders such as decompression
sickness.
Recreational diving
a type of diving that uses SCUBA
equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment.
Salt water aspiration
syndrome
the diver inhales a mist of sea water from a fault demand valve
causing a reaction in the lungs.
Saturation diving
a decompression
regime used in commercial diving that allows divers to live work for weeks at
a time where their tissues become saturated in high pressure gas.
Secondary
drowning
can occur hours after a near drowning.
Semi-dry suit
a wet suit with wrist and ankle seals to reduce entry and exit of water.
Shore diving
Scuba diving that starts from the shore line.
Skin
a lycra suit worn by a diver in warm water or under a wet suit.
Solo diving
diving alone - an alternative to the buddy system.
Standard diving dress
old-fashioned "hard hat" diving
gear.
Subcutaneous emphysema
gas under the skin tissue.
Surface detection aids
equipment, such as flags, SMBs, flares, EPIRBs
and whistles, carried by divers to maintain contact with dive boats or attract
rescue when lost at sea.
Surface interval
the time between dives.
Divers need to track this time interval for planning decompression for the next
dive.
Surface marker buoy, SMB
a small inflated buoy that divers
tow when underwater on drift dives to indicate their location to their boat.
Technical diving
a form of SCUBA diving that exceeds the scope of
recreational diving allowing deeper and longer dives.
Time to fly
Divers must wait approx. 24 hours after the last dive before flying to reduce
the risk of decompression sickness.
Trimix
a breathing gas consisting
of oxygen, helium and nitrogen.
Wall diving
diving along the
face of a vertical wall - requires good buoyancy control because there is no seabed
to prevent the diver descending too deep.
Wet suit
A tightly
fitting neoprene thermally-insulating diving suit that allows a limited volume
of water inside the suit.
Wreck diving
diving on shipwrecks.
Improve Your
Snorkeling Technique
Basic
of Snorkeling
Places
offerering Snorkeling
How
to clear Snorkeling Equipment
Before
Purchasing Snorkeling Equipment
Snorkeling
Tips | |
 |
| | | |
| | |
