As many of today’s scientists and researchers set their sights onto space, it’s also important to remember that we still have one frontier on earth that is yet to be fully understood – the sea. An estimated two to 50 million underwater species are yet to be discovered or have been incorrectly classified. In fact, around 50 to 80 percent of life on earth can be found in our waters yet less than 10% of our water bodies have been explored.
Scuba diving is a great opportunity for individuals to get into the last frontier. Since the oceans offer so much to tickle man’s fancy, scuba diving has been a great avenue to discover the abundance of the earth’s waters. This form of underwater diving offers a greater degree of freedom than exploring depths via a submersible or an air-line. Scuba diving is a much more immersing experience because a diver can swim freely in waters through the help of a compressed air tank and actually feel a part of the marine environment.
People start scuba diving for recreational reasons. As more and more people discover the joys of underwater exploration, several schools now offer scuba diving lessons. Most of these schools offer certificate courses that introduce individuals to the basics of scuba diving: breathing and diving techniques, buoyancy and underwater communication. Correct breathing is essential to control movement and learning the various hand signals used underwater makes any diving expedition safer. Recreational scuba diving may focus on cave diving, deep diving or wreck diving.
Scuba diving also requires proper gear. Mobility underwater is an important aspect of scuba diving and the development of streamlined gear has allowed for reduced drag and improved movement in depths. When starting on scuba diving, the basics of ascent, compression and decompression are discussed. Proper ascension towards the surface is crucial especially at water depths wherein pressure is greater than usual. Slow ascending can help prevent decompression sickness.
Going underwater is not only about exploration. Many structures are also out at sea and professional scuba divers are often tasked to do specialized work on them. Engineering operations at sea may require scuba divers to weld underwater or even be part of an oil exploration mission. Search and rescue operations, from sunken ships to crashed planes, are also reasons behind scuba diving. Underwater photography has also moved people to try scuba diving. Of course, scientific exploration of marine life, archeology and geography, has made scuba diving imperative among researchers and marine biologists.
People often fear what lies beneath the oceans. With the increased popularity of scuba diving, the waters of the earth are now more appealing. It has become the last frontier of the planet, thanks to its biodiversity and the mystery shrouding unexplored depths. Scuba diving has helped shed light on a few of these mysteries but there are millions more to discover. It’s a different world down there and divers are excited to discover more about the final frontier of human exploration on earth.