Just after I got my scuba diving license back in 1996 I was fortunate enough to find a berth on a 5 day, 4-dives-a-day trip out to the Coral Sea, 200km off the Australian coast in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. It was magical: with calm seas and 50m crystal clear visibility, it looked like the boat was floating on air - you could see right down to the sea floor. One day we went for our morning excursion, which took us to the limits of recreational diving: 40m (about 120 feet) it was the deepest dive Id ever done. So, with the excitement of a novice down I went. However, once there you realize that those depths you dont have much time on one tank of air and frankly the sunlight dims to the point that the otherwise vibrant colors of the reef get dull and washed out. Then I got narcd up. Nitrogen narcosis, as described in the article, screws with your mind. Its like being drunk. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I got claustrophobic and the thought of over 100 feet of water over my head sent me into a panic, which steadily rose. All I could think about was taking my regulator out of my mouth and taking a deep breath. I came very close. Then I heard a voice - the voice of what was left of my rational mind - say Alan, if you do that you will die. With great effort I was able to suppress the panic and make it back to the surface, which takes a long time when you have to do all those decompression stops along the way. Ive never dived that deeply again. I will not watch the video.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:20:43 +0000
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