Dr. Sanjay - stick to medicine, Stay away from Diving!

[konasdad]

By the way. Here is a nice T.V. report from ABC back in march.

http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/conten...erets_200k.asx

rockjock3-

Thanks for posting this link. Very interesting and sad.

-Mark-

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Come to think of it, just yesterday I replaced some hoses on my regs. To test for leaks, I tossed the setup onto a tank and hopped into the pool with a mask and a swimsuit. Then, I held onto the tank like I did this one girl one night a long time ago and swam around the pool for a while. No fins. nothing but lungs to change bouyancy...Did just fine.

 

[rockjock3]

Yep, I thought the video was interesting also. I also would like to not that although many of the articles and reporters are stating "GLOBAL WARMING" is the cause that searches also reveal many articles with another viewpoint and one more based on proven facts. The islands sits near the edge of a major subduction plate. This plate is being pushed under another plate as they come together. It just so happens if that plate goes down then the islands are slowly moving down with it. Other islands have had this happen to them before (not inhabited), but not necessarily ALL global warming's fault either, or even most of global warming's fault.

 

[Meng_Tze]

CNN is hardly a journalistic gem (more sensationalism), lest one should take most of what is up there with some scrutiny. I am not saying it didn't happen, it could have easily been what the good doctor wanted it to be.......

 

[Jeff Toorish]

If you are going to do exploration diving, it would be prudent to use trained exploration divers. I would suggest a producer with "more that a year" of diving is dangerous, unless she did a heck of a lot of divers in that year.

This is, of course, a perfect example of one of the problems with the melding of news and entertainment (I would not call this journalism). A reporter --in this case someone apparently stepping out of his specialty --"jumps" into the story, and becomes the story. Too much show business and not enough reporting.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was a TV reporter for a decade. The media is critically important but sadly, it seems they don't seem to realize that themselves.

Jeff

 

[ereediver]

Medical Doctor, three person crew, no dive gear prior to leaving, to do a geological investigation.......... Hmmmmm sounds somewhat suspect to me.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Good TV would be my guess.

 

[konasdad]

Following is a link to the CNN site and the article quoted above:http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/

I went there to see if there is any of the video they shot while there and to see what it might have to do with the plight of the island. More specifically, what they might be looking for at 60 feet. It seems that CNN is doing a special called "Planet in Peril". I did find another video from ITN on the CNN site on the plight of the island.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2007/01/16/geissler.big.melt.carteret.island.itn

rockjock3 -

The islands sits near the edge of a major subduction plate. This plate is being pushed under another plate as they come together. It just so happens if that plate goes down then the islands are slowly moving down with it. Other islands have had this happen to them before (not inhabited), but not necessarily ALL global warming's fault either, or even most of global warming's fault.

Both videos imply that "climate change" is responsible (or at least the islanders in the videos do). However, in the Dr. Sanjay blog he adds a small bit of objectivity:

"To be sure, this remote population of people has hardly any impact on anyone else in the world. Yet, they believe the "rest of the world" is having a huge impact on them. What do you think? Are the Carteret Islands disappearing because of global influences and climate change or is it more of a local phenomenon?"

It should be interesting to see if any of the "objectivity" will end up in the special.

Why send a medical doctor? Why look 60 feet down? Perhaps we'll find out when the special is aired. I would guess that it is a matter of the good Doctor is a diver and he wanted to go. Once there with some screw-ups with the equipment they didn't want to call off the dive.

Heather decided to snorkel near the surface and, most importantly, keep shark watch. Given that these particular reefs had never had divers, we weren't quite sure what to expect as far as wildlife goes.

I'd really like to know what Heather was to do if she did see a shark? Freedive 60 feet?

-Mark-

 

[underwasser bolt]

Then, I held onto the tank like I did this one girl one night a long time ago

maybe you mean the way the girl held you a long time ago??? just trying to figure out out that worked.:14:

 

[UP4AIR]

Here is an article found on CNN:

"CARTERET ISLANDS -- This week I did something that I will probably never get to do again. In fact, the government of Buka, Papua New Guinea, could not think of anyone who had ever done it before. I went scuba diving on the coral reefs beneath the Carteret Islands. The reason that no one had likely ever done it before is because the islands are extremely remote, even by Papua New Guinea standards. The reason I will never get to do it again is because the islands are sinking and will soon disappear altogether.

To make it happen, we had to get our dive gear from the town of Port Moresby, which is nearly 700 miles away. There were no dive shops that we could find any closer. Still, we did it because it is important to telling the story of the disappearing Carteret Islands. We really wanted to be able to describe what was happening from three points of view. First, from the air where, with the help of a helicopter, we captured some of the very first aerial shots of Carteret. It wasn't an easy trip, given that for most of the journey there was simply no land around and no possibility of an emergency landing. Needless to say, we were a little nervous until the chopper touched down safely. The second dimension was being able to speak firsthand to the people of the Carteret Islands and understand what they had seen and why they believed their land was being swallowed by the sea. Finally, as the destruction and bleaching of coral is such a large component of the story, we needed to dive deep to the ocean floor to see for ourselves.

Of course, as is often the case, especially in remote locations, things didn't go exactly as planned. First off, I am an advanced diver and have been diving for almost 20 years. Neil Hallsworth, our photographer, has been certified since 1993, and Heather O'Neill, the producer for this shoot, has been diving for more than a year now. When we surveyed the equipment, we realized that while there were three sets of fins, there were only two tanks and only one BCD (buoyancy control device). Given that we were in the middle of nowhere and had no other options, we decided to improvise. Heather decided to snorkel near the surface and, most importantly, keep shark watch. Given that these particular reefs had never had divers, we weren't quite sure what to expect as far as wildlife goes. Neil and I traded off the BCD and at times literally carried an air tank under our arm while diving at 60 feet below the surface - Jacques Cousteau style! It allowed Neil to film never before obtained pictures of the Carteret reefs, which we will show you in CNN's upcoming documentary Planet in Peril. It allowed me to see firsthand what happened to the island of Carteret from the bottom up.

For me, this was one of the most adventurous shoots I have done in the last six years. So, what about some of your best adventure stories?


-- By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent"

He's been "diving" for that many years and a)doesn't check his equipment before heading out on a dive; b)does WHAT??? at 60 feet????

That's why so many dive accidents are blamed on an equipment malfunction - if you can call a lack of brain a malfunction.

I am ashamed of the fact that he and his buddy are actually certified.

Dude! You gotta relax a bit....last I checked there ain't no regulations on how,where or with who we dive. Come to think of it, if a little research was done, I think we would find that the first underwater adventurers were all a little over the edge.

A little risk and some thinking outside the box could go a long way to further this great sport that we all enjoy.....at the expense of the early explorers.

The basis of your statements are fundamentaly correct, perhaps just a little less harsh response is in order..........