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[SNORKELLERS CAN GET BENT]
When I was on a diving holiday in Swanage (Dorset, UK) I heard of a Swedish
Naval diver who was overseeing men practising escape from a submerged
submarine at 60 feet. From macho-ness and `proving that he could do it', he
did it by snorkel, umpteen snorkel dives to 60 feet, and after some hours of
it he got a paralyzed leg, which was fortunately recognized promptly, and he
was successfully unbent.
I read that the symptoms of `taravana' (a degeneration of the brain suffered
by old-time South Pacific islanders who dived for a living with no equipment
(often aiding descent by taking a big stone down with them), sound much more
like decompression sickness than like chronic hypoxia of the brain.
I read that the blood systems of whales have places called `retia maribilia'
(Latin for `marvellous nets') where the blood vessel separates into infinity
capillaries which rejoin without supplying anything. These likely are filters
to trap any bends bubbles.
---------------------------------
A UK newspaper recently described something called `snuba' and said that it
was a cross between snorkel diving and scuba diving. What actually is it? (I
have learned not to trust newspaper reports of technical matters by general
reporters.)
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