What is this hand signal? Looks like filing your nails on your palm.

[00wabbit]

I did my first boat dives in the Caribbean last week and it was great.

In St. Maarten I noticed the dive master kept signalling to a couple of the divers with this hand signal. It look like she was filing the nails of her right hand in the palm of her left hand. I can't figure out what that meant and I forgot to ask her back on the boat. She never did that signal to me.

The divers in question were floating a bit high from the group in a feet down orientation so I thought it might have something to do with telling them to get horizontal.

Do you have any idea what that signal is? I can post a picture if you need it.

 

[DevonDiver]

A picture might help...

The nearest I can imagine would be "what is your air?". That is often signed by tapping the fingers of one hand against the palm of the other.

from Diving Signals-Demostration of signals and other communication used underwater

 

[00wabbit]

I will try to get a picture tonight when my wife is home to hold the camera.
It's definitely not the check air signal.

Imagine curling in your fingers like you are going to blow on your finger nails. Then rub those fingernails in the palm of your other hand sort of like you are trying to sand your fingernails with your palm.

 

[Lizard Leg]

Sounds like the signal the instructor used to tell us to get down on the bottom on our knees.

 

[DevonDiver]

Sounds like the signal the instructor used to tell us to get down on the bottom on our knees.

Could be - but that wouldn't make sense in the context of being in mid-water (?)

 

[Lizard Leg]

Agreed

 

[bygolly]

I did my first boat dives in the Caribbean last week and it was great.

In St. Maarten I noticed the dive master kept signalling to a couple of the divers with this hand signal. It look like she was filing the nails of her right hand in the palm of her left hand. I can't figure out what that meant and I forgot to ask her back on the boat. She never did that signal to me.

The divers in question were floating a bit high from the group in a feet down orientation so I thought it might have something to do with telling them to get horizontal.

Do you have any idea what that signal is? I can post a picture if you need it.

Maybe it was her signal for a "filefish".

 

[00wabbit]

That might be it. She did mention when we were back on the boat that when we saw the shark she was trying to get us down on the bottom so we could sit still and hopefully it would hang around a while. I was hovering about 1-2 ft off the bottom so I guess that's why she didn't signal it to me.

If that is what she was trying to do she didn't do the signal very well because I don't think anyone recognized it. She was doing it sideways.

[

QUOTE=DevonDiver;6422159]

Could be - but that wouldn't make sense in the context of being in mid-water (?)[/QUOTE]

---------- Post Merged at 01:19 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:18 PM ----------

Where did you find those signals? I would like to see if there are any others I don't know.

 

[DevonDiver]

Where did you find those signals? I would like to see if there are any others I don't know.

Link is in my first post

 

[Imla]

Could it be this one?
This indicates 3min safetystop.