PFO Concerns in Dive Injury Treatment

Q3/Q4 2021

If the diver is symptomatic and you are rendering care, then you need to treat the symptoms. Give them the highest concentration of oxygen available, and get them to definitive health care and treatment. Remember that many conditions show symptoms that may mimic DCS. Just because someone was diving does not mean they have a dive-related illness. When creating your emergency action plan, note the location of the nearest emergency room or where and how to access local emergency services.

Introduction to Swim Fitness

By Jessica B. Adams, Ph.D.

Q3/Q4 2021

Swimming is a noncontact physical activity that lets you be socially distant while still receiving many health benefits. Exercising in water can increase cardiac function, reduce blood pressure and improve muscle blood flow, respiratory function and brain function. Water reduces joint impact, so you can do high-intensity exercise with little to no discomfort from impact. Swimming targets your entire body and allows a greater range of motion for joints than land-based exercise. Blood flows more freely to your upper body, while the water supports you and lowers gravity’s impact.

It Can Happen to Anyone

By Brad Wall

Q3/Q4 2021

My buddy and I ascended to 20 feet for our safety stop. As soon as we surfaced I thought I saw the boat moving away from me but quickly realized I was disoriented. It felt like vertigo, but I managed to get on board the boat. I removed my gear and was talking to my buddy when I started involuntarily leaning forward until I lost my balance and collapsed face-down on the deck. I felt paralyzed and couldn’t get up.

Shore Thing

By Allison Vitsky Sallmon

Q3/Q4 2021

Aside from allowing me to avoid that sunrise alarm, shore diving offers other freedoms as well: the last-minute choice of a dive site, the ability to do a two-hour dive without worrying a boat crew and the liberty to add a dive to my day if conditions allow. As an added benefit, beach diving can be quite economical compared with boat diving. And some of the most incredible sites in the world are most easily dived from the beach

Celebrating Seagrass

By Shane Gross

Q3/Q4 2021

The benefits of protecting seagrass cannot be overstated. Seagrass purifies the water, helps protect against coastal erosion, helps sustain small-scale fisheries that support communities, and increases fish populations and biodiversity. It sequesters much more carbon per area than terrestrial forests and reduces ocean acidification. Healthy seagrass means a healthier ocean.

On a Mission

By Brandon Cole

Q3/Q4 2021

There’s a big difference between casual, submerged sightseeing — happy-snapping pictures of whatever you run across while blowing bubbles — and diving dedicated to carefully searching select sites, sometimes during a particular season or time of day, to find and photograph predefined species. It’s possible to luck out while wandering about, but success more often […]

Galápagos

By Stephen Frink

Q3/Q4 2021

The seven days in the Galápagos went by too quickly, and I was ready to come back before I had even left. The Galápagos National Park and the tour operators greatly respect the destination, and conservation is their primary goal. Even with all the protections in place, the fishing industry, climate change and ocean health pressure the archipelago. Every tourist dollar that goes into the Galápagos adds persuasive emphasis that this is a place that deserves ongoing and stringent protection.

Answering the Call

By Stephen Frink; captions by Thomas Peschak

Q3/Q4 2021

In Wild Seas, his new book published by National Geographic, Thomas Peschak ponders his career path: “My life as a National Geographic photographer has been socially isolating, emotionally exhausting and physically demanding — but it is the most rewarding pursuit I can imagine. I have cried from loneliness, felt nauseous with fear and cursed in frustration. But every time I thought I was at my limit, I discovered untapped reservoirs of strength, creativity and passion. This is not a job; it’s a calling.”

Tonga’s Gentle Giants

By Vanessa Mignon

Q3/Q4 2021

Humpback whales feed in polar waters during the summer and then migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed during winter. Various locations offer seasonal whale-watching, but swimming with them is legal in only a few places — Tonga is one of them. Every year its warm and sheltered waters provide a nursery for the whales, which gather there between July and October after a long migration from Antarctica.