Heat loss underwater

Even when diving in tropical waters (27° C/78 F) divers may experience a significant loss of body heat. Water is able to conduct heat more efficiently because is more dense than air. Therefore, energy is conducted easier underwater.

The importance of staying warm

Even when diving in tropical waters (27° C/78 F) divers may experience a significant loss of body heat. Water is able to conduct heat more efficiently because is more dense than air. Therefore, energy is conducted easier underwater.

Undwewater we lose body heat twenty times faster than in air. So it is highly recommended to dive with some kind of exposure protection at all times. Failing to do so may lead to hypotermia, a condition in which your body cools so much it that it can´t function normally.

Exposure protection

There are two types of exposure protection: Wet suits and Dry suits. The first ones are usually made of neoprene rubber and the reason why they are called wet suits is because the diver gets wet when using them. Wet suit reduce heat loss by putting a layer of insulating foam neoprene over your skin. Water enters at the wrists, ankles and neck and gets trapped between the diver´s skin and the suit. The diver´s body heats the water quickly, and as long as it remains trapped the diver remains warm. That is why is important that wet suits fit well.

Protection under extreme conditions

A dry suit will keep the diver dry and it is a recommended option when diving in waters about 18 °C/65 F. They provide the most thermal protection of all suits used by recreational divers. Because air conducts heat relatively poorly, dry suits insulate divers with a layer of air, as well as with insulating materials such as undergarment within the suit. http://www.diverscancun.com/

Pressure, Volume and Density

As you descent underwater you will be affected by the changes of pressure.

How underwater pressure affects divers

As you descent underwater you will be affected by the changes of pressure.

Underwater, pressure increases one bar/atm every 10 Mts/33 Feet, but as divers we can not ignore the atmosperic pressure having to add it as one bar/atm. That means that at 10 Mts/33 Feet the surrounding pressure is 2 bar/atm.

As we descent and pressure increases, any volume of air is affected by this pressure changes. The air volume will decrease as the surounding pressure increases.

At the same time, Density will be affected also by the pressure changes. Density will increase as pressure increases.

Knowing the effects of pressure

As divers, is important to understand these changes, since they will affect us directly while underwater.

As we descend, the increase of pressure will affect both our ears and lungs since they are air spaces in our body. The increase of pressure will also affect our air consumption, needing more air as we descend deeper since the volume of our lungs will keep decreasing proportionally to the number of bar or atmospheres at a given depth.

As we descend underwater, the pressure of our body`s ear spaces (ears and lungs) decrease so it is necessary to equalize them to the surrounding pressure underwater.

Keep your air spaces safe

To equalize our ears, we can pinch our nostrils and blow gently. we need to do this every 1 Meter /3 Feet as we descend, before feeling any discomfort. Should we feel any pain as we descend, we will need to ascend a few feet until discomfort disappears and then try equalizing our ears again.

To equalize our lungs, we simply keep breathing. In fact, breathing is the rule number one on scuba diving. Holding your breath while scuba diving may result in serious lung damage.