DIVERS ALERT NETWORK: ASIA-PACIFIC Divers Alert Network, widely known as DAN, is an international non-profit medical and research organisation dedicated to the safety and health of divers. WWW.DANAP.ORG
KEEPING YOUR COOL
T
he warm, red-brown water faded to black as the two divers descended feet-first toward the river bed. Armed with screwdrivers, mesh bags and a single flashlight each, the women descended handin-hand in hopes of ending up near each other in the zerovisibility environment. When their fins hit bottom, they lay out horizontally and stabbed their screwdrivers into the ground to keep from being carried downriver. From there, their search for fossils began. Below the surface, you can see only what you illuminate with your dive light, and on a good day you might be working with a 7cm by 15cm cylinder of light. Aided by this small beam of light, divers daring enough to descend into this pitch-dark river sift through gravel beds to find fossilised megalodon shark teeth and other artefacts. The women had back-rolled off their skiff three times that day searching for giant teeth. Now, during their fourth and final dive, the experienced instructor and Divemaster were hoping more than ever for that lucky find. About three minutes into the last dive, the instructor heard what sounded like a small explosion underwater followed by the sound of intense, faraway bubbling. She stopped to think, unsure whether the sound was coming from a boat working upriver or (most likely) her or her buddy’s equipment failing. Since there was no visibility at all and she could not look to see if she was the one bubbling, she reached back toward her first stage and felt a large, steady stream of gas escaping from her cylinder valve. Within seconds she knew exactly what the issue was - her
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© STEPHEN FRINK
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