Marine Biologists' Discovery - Term Paper Example

Scuba Diving: exploring the propeller of marine science Background: The exploration and understanding of the marine world was possible mainly due to the efforts of the sailor and ocean explorers who took the risk of traveling across the sea. Marine science enriched its knowledge with the help of their valuable observations. Scuba diving, developed by Dr. Lamberstein for the US Navy during World War II, eventually became an innovative way of exploring the world under the water (Butler, 2004, p.3). Marine biologists and the oceanographers adopted scuba diving as a technique in their respective fields. In the twentieth century the scientists traveled across the poles and managed to use this method to unravel the depths of the marine world where no one traveled before. Scuba diving often assists in enabling shallow investigations. Earlier people used to restrain their breath while diving. In this way they used to hunt underwater creatures like fish. This was called free diving. Many competitions were also held around this theme. Accompanied with the technique of scuba diving the use of eco sounds helped in exploring the seabed. (Reed, 2009) Though men have interacted with the ocean since time immemorial, visual exploration of the seas were possible with the advent of scuba diving which made use of breathing apparatus to be carried for diving underwater. Helmet diving and diving bells in addition helped a diver to stay below the waters for long and explore the depths. These helped the scuba divers to adapt to the changes in the pressure and the physiology in order to hold back death. Thus scuba diving has a profound application in the world of marine science. The main idea is to carry self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) instead of depending upon air pumped from the water surface (Bhootra, n.d., p.96). Using breath-holding processes these divers manage to remain underwater for a long time. Thus apart from recreation, scuba diving’s application in different fields of science related to the marine world makes it an indispensable part of science and technology in the topical time with an ever-expanding knowledge base. Studying this area would be interesting especially with the aim of understanding its application in the world of science and discoveries. Description: Dr. Lamberstein who was the pioneer of scuba diving apparatus initially built the LARU (Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit) and undertook the first close circuit scuba dive in New York. 12 dives were undertaken and Dr. Lamberstein during one of the dives underwent an attack of oxygen toxicity. The instruments underwent gradual transformation under Dr. Lamberstein and finally won the technical approval in 1942. (Butler, 2004) Scuba diving has a wide range of purpose in today’s world, which includes both personal and professional reasons. Mostly the commercial divers are employed for some particular purpose, which again defines the specific techniques accompanying scuba diving. Some examples include naval diving, military diving etc. The technology behind scuba diving mainly centers on the ability to breathe under water. Earlier divers realized that liquid oxygen, which was medically used, could not help one breathe comfortably under the water (Hirchi, 1995). Pressure of the water is higher than atmospheric pressure and hence the pressure exerted on the human lungs is also more than usual. So it is essential for the inhaled air to be able to create enough pressure to counter the pressure of the water. When breathing gas is provided at atmospheric pressure on a continuous basis, it is possible to breathe in and out in a smooth way. (Brubakk, & Neuman, 2003) The modern day’s valve regulators ascertain this. Also the diver’s face is covered with a mask and hence breathing through the nose is impossible. The mouthpiece of the regulator can be used for the breathing. (Newman & Newman, 1999) The instrument used in scuba diving to assist breathing consists of a scuba set with single pipe. It has an open circuit with two-stage diving regulator attached to one gas cylinder with pressure. In this single pipe system, the first stage regulator decreases the air pressure in the cylinder while the second stage regulator is connected to the first stage one with the help of a low-pressure pipe. This helps in leading the breathing gas towards the diver at the appropriate pressure for inhalation. The exhaled gas is directed towards the surroundings as waste. The first stage regulator consists of one outlet to deliver breathing gas without any reduction in air pressure. This outlet is connected to the computer to indicate to the diver the amount of gas left. (Dietrich, 1999) Sometimes rebreather technique is used where the air exhaled is recycled and purified for inhalation, thus removing the carbon dioxide. Thus little or no gas bubbles are released into the water. This enables the diver to stay beneath for a longer period than using the traditional open circuit breather. Since hardly any bubble is produced, it is suitable for the divers to take photographs under the waters (Dietrich, 1999). The air mix inside the cylinder contains normal atmospheric mix with oxygen content of 21 percent, but the mix named Enriched Air Nitrox is more popular with extra content of oxygen upto 32 percent (Strauss and Aksenov, 2004, p. 35). For technical purposes of the divers, sometimes the air mix has to differ for various dives. Water characteristically possesses a refractive index higher than the air and this might harm the eye and lead to hypermetropia but the diving masks, fullface masks and helmets resolve this problem. (Bhootra, n.d., p. 96) The divers also need to bring the buoyancy under control. They need to control their rates of ascent and descent such that the pressure of water currents and their swimming are adjusted. Buoyancy depends on water density also. Fresh water density is less than seawater. (Dietrich, 1999) So divers need to apply appropriate technique to maintain buoyancy at different levels and waters. Therefore proper training and education is extremely essential for divers. Mobility under water is important for exploration. Swimfins, diver propulsion vehicles help in improving mobility underwater along with diving bells and shots. The suit of the diver prevents his body from being harmed from the water pressure and other foreign objects. They also need to avoid losing body heat since water conducts heat away from the body of the diver, which might lead to hypothermia. Insulation is ensured with the help of drysuits. (Ketels & McDowell, 1998) However there are technical hazards in scuba diving and as per a North America survey, diving is 96 times riskier than driving a vehicle. Pressure injuries are very harmful especially since the water pressure above the diver’s head might damage the lungs, sinus, eardrums, etc. Formation of gas bubbles in the body might lead to decompression illness. Use: In the nineteenth century proper research on scuba diving started. Paul Bert from France and John Scott Haldane from Scotland started their scientific research on deep water diving and how much pressure our body can withstand. At the same time several other technological break-through helped to develop air regulators and other equipments. This trend persisted in the twentieth century also. Swimming fins, masks and other scuba gear were being produced. (Freeland, 2010) Recreational Scuba diving began in 1957 in the Cayman Islands. It was the brainchild of Bob Soto-the dive operator. Until that time the Scuba diving was used only for commercial purpose or scientific marine research. He was the person who brought the concept of Scuba diving to the general mass for pleasure purpose. Various turn of events like the movie Titanic and adventure serial Sea Hunt hitting the US television sets, renewed vigor can be seen in Scuba diving. As a result today Caymans happens to be one of the five most popular dive destinations in the world with 40 dive operations and 200 sites (Rock, 2007, p.14) Scuba diving has opened doors to many career options. The following chart represents a typical course for the qualification levels of a scuba course director. Fig. 1. Career flow chart of a Scuba expert (PADI, 2010) Through Scuba diving the marine researchers can dive deep into the sea and observe and study the marine life in its natural habitat. Marine biology students take part in scuba diving to get important knowledge in fieldwork and conserve the marine ecosystem.  Also Scuba divers are used to find evidence for various matters under investigations. The New York Police Team has scuba divers among its force. (Kaylan, 1995, p.45) New York being an international city has various banks and people of every ethnic group in the city. It is an exceptional force among the police dive teams At any given time there is police dive boat and police divers are ready to answer the call and can reach any New York water way in eight minutes flat. There are thirty police divers assigned to the team. Evidence recovery is a part of the job that they do. It has been often found that after committing the crime the criminal throws the gun into the waterway, so it becomes important to recover the weapon and produce it as evidence. This is where the Scuba diving team steps in. Finding a weapon such as a gun is a difficult and laborious process and it requires a methodical search process. It becomes even more difficult because the bottom of the water-body is often thick with muck and debris. Searching is done using a technique called ‘pattern line’. The scuba divers are also involved in air-sea rescue.  A few years back, a commuter helicopter had crashed and sank in the East river. The pilot was killed but others managed to escape. The New York police divers were immediately sent to the site by helicopters. They were supposed to rescue those passengers who had sunk deep into the sea. Then divers descended fifty feet and then rescued two passengers. Other work of Scuba divers includes reviving the bodies of those who were killed in accidents or people who are mentally disturbed commit suicides. When they reach the crime scene, instead of sending the divers straightway, they look for eyewitness and try to understand where the body might be keeping in mind the undercurrent and tide forces. In addition to this the President visits New York quite a few times in a year and land at the Wall steer heliport. Since this is in the water it becomes important to protect this area from possible threats of militancy. As a result the divers need to become more acquainted underwater explosives. As a step in that direction US Navy’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Divers are currently educating Scuba Team members (Cocozza, 2002) Summary: The Russian have come up with a new type of gear, which will make deep water diving even safer. The specialty of this instrument is that the same gear can be used for both shallow diving and deep diving. After testing it in the most severe conditions, the divers have said they feel more safe and comfortable with this type of equipments (Prime Time Russia, 2007) Very recently Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. has filed a court case against British Petroleum ("BP") for the oil leak. The firm stands for Adventure Sports II. Because of this oil spill they complain there has been a loss of revenue, lack of business opportunity (UnderwaterTimes.com News Service, 2010). Scuba diving has proved to be much more than adventure sports and recreation. It has been felt that researchers and marine scientists must undergo a course in Scuba diving so that they can understand the impact of global warming on marine life. Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute offers this course, with tenure of 15 days. This is because the pollution and climate alteration have unfavorably influenced the coastal atmosphere and to carry out the refurbishment work marine scientists must know scuba diving so that they can carry out the desired work/experiments. (UnderwaterTimes.com News Service, 2009) The advantage of Scuba diving can be thus found in various fields. Marine scientists use it extensively to track the biological diversity and restore the same. This technique is the most improved version of deep-sea water exploration techniques known to man. This is because the oxygen cylinder can be monitored with help of instruments, the mobility of the divers are maximum, they can also dive deep into the sea as there are not any constraints. Just as the Russians have developed gears for both shallow and deep water, similarly future developments can help to find a suit, which will work for both wet and dry conditions. Also digital meters can replace the analog meters. A device that can measure the temperature, and pressure at the same time will reduce the number of devices the scuba diver will carry. Scuba diving will therefore have a lot to offer to the field of marine science and other activities.  References Brubakk, Alf O, Neuman, Tom S (2003). Bennett and Elliotts physiology and medicine of diving, 5th Rev ed. United States: Saunders Ltd. Butler, F.K. (2004). "Closed-circuit oxygen diving in the U.S. Navy". Undersea Hyperb Med, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 3-20 Bhootra, (n.d.), Elite Sports and Vision, Jaypee Brothers Publications. Cocozza, J., (2002). NYPD: Scuba team. JAGERMEER MEDIA, Available at: http://homepage.mac.com/josephcocozza/poddiver/page18/page17/page17.html (accessed on September 16, 2010) Dietrich, A. (1999), U.S. Navy Diving Manual, DIANE Publishing. Freeland S., (2010). The History of Scuba diving. Ezine articles, Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-Scuba-Diving&id=315991 (accessed on September 16, 2010) Kaylan, M. (May 15, 1995), N.Y.P.D.: So Blue, New York Magazine, Vol. 28, No. 20 Hirschl, RB; et al (1995). "Liquid ventilatory in adults, children, and full-term neonates". Lancet Vol. 346, No. 8984, pp. 1201–1202 Prime Time Russia, (2007), New gear makes deep water safer, Available at: http://rt.com/prime-time/2007-09-24/New_gear_makes_deep_diving_safer_.html  (accessed on September 16, 2010) Rock, T., (2007), Lonely planet living& snorkeling Cayman Islands, Lonely Planet UnderwaterTimes.com News Service, (June 28, 2010), Lawsuit Filed against Bp On Behalf Of Scuba Newman, J. & M. Newman, (1999), Scuba Diving and Snorkelling for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons. Ketels, H. & J. McDowell, (!998), Sports Illustrated Scuba Diving, Signet. Reed, Christina, (2009), Marine Science: Decade by Decade, Infobase Publishing. PADI, (2010). Instructor Level Continuing Education, Available at: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.padi.com/scuba/uploadedImages/Scuba_Diving_Guide/Teach_Scuba_Diving/Go_PRO_-_Scuba_Diving_Careers/Instructor_Level_Continuing_Education/GoPro_FlowChart_printout.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.padi.com/scuba/scuba-diving-guide/teach-scuba-diving/go-pro-scuba-diving-careers/instructor-level-continuing-education/default.aspx&usg=__Z23LIHu4rykmCy9oHBBL35bU2bU=&h=420&w=670&sz=48&hl=en&start=4&zoom=1&tbnid=_TlCZunooqr1HM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscuba%2Bdiving%2Bchart%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1(accessed on September 16, 2010) Read More