Info Dance of the Bent Diver - "O Choros Tou Mechanicou" : Cultural and Social Impact of DCS in a 19th-century community of a Greek island

[L13]

12 meters is a bit different than 70+. I am guessing that when the sponge population was decimated in the 1980s, a number of sponge divers. Next time I'm in Kalymnos after October/before May, I need to go to the Ouzeri of the Sponge Divers (their coffee hangout) in Pothia and listen to their stories. I'll definitely record it, as those men have quite a lot of interesting history.

Now you have me wanting to go to Kalymnos just for that!

Unfortunately, it is probably all in greek and I wouldn't understand it. Bummer.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Now you have me wanting to go to Kalymnos just for that!

Unfortunately, it is probably all in greek and I wouldn't understand it. Bummer.

In early May, the sponge divers leave often leave Kalymnos and spread out for the season, coming back in October, as it isn't possible to sponge dive in winter safely. Winters are pretty slow during non-tourist season.

 

[boulderjohn]

Sadly, this exact scenario exists today among the native Americans diving for lobster in Honduras and Nicaragua. In those cases, the fault does not lie with a lack of knowledge, it lies with the employers who require that they violate all known scuba safety rules in order to maximize the catch.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ap-online/2018/12/26/ap-photos-lobster-divers-risk-injury-death-in-honduras#:~:text=the%20United%20States.-,Thousands%20of%20men%20across%20the%20Mosquitia%20region%20of%20Honduras%20and,Some%20are%20killed.

 

[NothingClever]

How is it that I get inundated with threads marked by pointless quibbling and miss truly interesting, informative threads like this one?

Many thanks to the people who contributed to this great thread!

 

[JMBL]

Sadly, this exact scenario exists today among the native Americans diving for lobster in Honduras and Nicaragua. In those cases, the fault does not lie with a lack of knowledge, it lies with the employers who require that they violate all known scuba safety rules in order to maximize the catch.

Reminds me of an article in the "Historical Diver Magazine" some years back : in the early 20th century, some employers did prefer to bend divers than equipment. Still going on today, that tells us a lot about mankind...