Fun and interesting facts about diving
Here are some fun and interesting facts about diving :
- Scuba stands for “Self contained underwater breathing appartus”.
- Sharks kill 8 to 12 people each year world wide. Humans kill over 30 million sharks each year.
- Once you get below 10 metres depth, you can’t see red or yellow! If you cut yourself your blood looks blue.
- Sound travels five times faster underwater than in air, which makes it almost imipossible to establish where sound is coming from, as we rely on the time difference between our ears to do so.
- Oxygen becomes toxic when under pressure, so at depths greater than 42 metres, special gases with low oxygen are used.
- Jacques Cousteau invented Scuba gear in 1943, calling his cylinder the aqualung.
- Nitrogen narcosis affects all divers – it’s the effect of Nitrogen beaing breathed at depths of more than 25 metres. It’s a little like being slightly drunk.
- Children can learn to dive as young as 8 – the limitng factor is that they must be able to manage the weight of the equipment.
- The Great barrier reef is the largest living organism on the planet, with a surface area greater than England.
- The Gray Whale migrates more than 10,000 miles every year.
- The diving equivalent of the mile high club is called the 20 metre club.
