May I Bend Your Ear?

Days after completing some technical dives, a diver experienced hearing loss that would not stop. An unexpected diagnosis of inner-ear decompression sickness resulted in time in a hyperbaric chamber. Read more about the incident.

Man waves from hyperbaric chamber

You Better Get That Examined

A tiny Pacific octopus surprised a diver and gave a defensive bite. The wound became infected and required treatment. Read more about the octopus incident.

Juvenile giant Pacific octopus.

Good Fortune After Bad

A diver experienced nausea, vomiting and other severe symptoms hours after a dive. Read more about the incident and how it was handled.

Diver approaches a giant ray

Unexpected Air Pockets

A diver felt pressure in his teeth during a descent but dismissed the pain. The pain became worse, forcing him to cut the dive short. Read more about this tooth-related dive incident.

Female diver clutches her mouth

Panic and Post-Traumatic Stress

During a dive trip in Hawaii, a diver had a panic attack thinking he was running out of air after an equipment malfunction. Read more of his story.

A group of divers walk into the ocean to start their dive

Entangled in Kelp

Kelp can often entangle divers and result in anxiety and panic. Read an incident in which kelp entangled a diver and unfortunately resulted in his death.

Kelp and sea grass wave underwater

Don’t Ignore Your Medical History

A scientific diver, participating in training exercises with her team, became overheated and called off the dive. Read more about the incident, diagnosis, treatment and more.

Female diver in a drysuit holding a flashlight

Coming to Grips with Symptoms

A diver had odd sensations in her hand but she wasn’t too concerned…until complications arose. Read more about this diver’s story.

Female diver holds a camera

Confessions of a Yahoo Diver

A COMMERCIAL DIVER FRIEND TOLD ME YEARS AGO that people like me — recreational divers who do commercial diving work — are often referred to as yahoos.
I was always comfortable underwater and, at 78 years old, still am.

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Trust But Verify

Ensure your dive shop has properly trained and certified technicians. One couple dealt with a terrible ordeal because their scuba cylinders were improperly checked. Read more about the incident.

Badly injurred diver lies in hospital bed near nurse