drrich2
Contributor
By way of explanation, I'm an introvert, more a thinker than a hands-on person, not very spontaneous and I don't like surprises or drama. When I face a potentially dangerous situations where self-rescue is preferable to depending on others, and an ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure, I like to have at least considered what to do so I can think it through if I need to.
Examples:
1.) Sharks are predators and might be tempted by fleeing prey. People on the forum indicate they don't like our bubbles, and maintaining eye contact can deter some, sometimes. Sounds like hold your ground and watch is appropriate, not freak out & flee.
2.) Be careful with boat ladders. I haven't dove really rough seas yet, but I'd like to see those sand tiger sharks off North Carolina someday, so it could happen.
3.) Stay back from people exiting the water.
4.) If you dive in negative & sink with air off, you ought'a be able to fin enough to arrest your descent if not severely overweighted, and turn your valve on. If need be, can ditch weights. If can't breathe and weights were somehow stuck, figuring all this out is awhile to go without breathing, but ditching gear & zipping for the surface is an option. Likely expensive loss of equipment, frustrating and embarrassing, but survivable.
5.) There are big green morays accustomed to hand-outs who approach divers. I don't want one crawling around on me, but that doesn't mean I need to freak out and start beating on it with my camera or fist if one shows up. For a number of animals, 'FREEZE' is a good first response to one in your space. If you don't threaten, it probably don't bite.
6.) I like high viz. water; barracuda aren't likely to attack.
7.) With an SMB, I'd probably be found within a few hours.
8.) If you post an embarrassing video of me on ScubaBoard, you probably won't know it's me so I can probably lay low.
Richard.
P.S.: No alcohol. If I won't do it sober, I don't want to wake up the next day puking and find out I did it while I was drunk.
Examples:
1.) Sharks are predators and might be tempted by fleeing prey. People on the forum indicate they don't like our bubbles, and maintaining eye contact can deter some, sometimes. Sounds like hold your ground and watch is appropriate, not freak out & flee.
2.) Be careful with boat ladders. I haven't dove really rough seas yet, but I'd like to see those sand tiger sharks off North Carolina someday, so it could happen.
3.) Stay back from people exiting the water.
4.) If you dive in negative & sink with air off, you ought'a be able to fin enough to arrest your descent if not severely overweighted, and turn your valve on. If need be, can ditch weights. If can't breathe and weights were somehow stuck, figuring all this out is awhile to go without breathing, but ditching gear & zipping for the surface is an option. Likely expensive loss of equipment, frustrating and embarrassing, but survivable.
5.) There are big green morays accustomed to hand-outs who approach divers. I don't want one crawling around on me, but that doesn't mean I need to freak out and start beating on it with my camera or fist if one shows up. For a number of animals, 'FREEZE' is a good first response to one in your space. If you don't threaten, it probably don't bite.
6.) I like high viz. water; barracuda aren't likely to attack.
7.) With an SMB, I'd probably be found within a few hours.
8.) If you post an embarrassing video of me on ScubaBoard, you probably won't know it's me so I can probably lay low.
Richard.
P.S.: No alcohol. If I won't do it sober, I don't want to wake up the next day puking and find out I did it while I was drunk.
