The Why-To of Scuba Diving [Paperback]

Jim Crockett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2002

Written for the 10-to 15-year-old age group, this book explains why so many people love scuba diving and snorkeling, what they see underwater, and what it takes to get started.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Crockett has been a diver and underwater photographer for more than 20 years. His trips have taken him to the waters of Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, California, the Cayman Islands and many other locales. He is the former owner of a dive shop in Grand Cayman where he lived for seven years.

One of his earlier books, The Great White Shark, is a re-creation of a shark cage photo safari in South Australia. For two decades he was the publisher of such music magazines as Guitar Player and Keyboard, and has had more than a thousand articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers worldwide. He lives in Southern California.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The underwater world is an almost magical place. Often, what appear to be plants are actually living animals; what may look like rocks are frequently living coral "villages" of millions of microorganisms. Most of us think of "animals" as the four-legged type, but beneath the water's surface, there are countless soft corals and anemones that look exactly like what's growing in your backyard. They rise up in branches or clusters, waving in the water currents. Yet, they are actually living creatures that feed by filtering nutrients from the passing water, reproduce, and sometimes move slowly from place to place. Some of them have created ingeneous ways of luring fish within their grasp, then stinging them, dragging the meal to their mouths to digest it.

In addition, when diving you are almost weightless, and most of the sounds you hear are just your own exhaust bubbles. And, usually, it's a world of gray and blue.

Let's get more specific.

One of the first sensations you notice underwater is the feeling of being weightless, like you are floating in space. Even though you may be wearing a rubber "wet suit," have an air tank on your back and lead weights around your waist, the water's buoyancy pushes you up. Saltwater, for instance, is so buoyant that without adding lead weights, you'll never be able to get below the surface more than a foot or two.

Yet, even with all the weight and equipment, if you prepare it correctly, you'll be as light as air once you get underwater. The goal is to be neutrally buoyant, which means weighting yourself just enough to stay steady and level under the surface - you'll neither rise to the surface nor sink to the bottom. To prepare your equipment correctly, you need to know your weight and that of some of your gear. With experience, practice and training, becoming neutrally buoyant will become second nature to you. And what a thrill to be "light as a feather!"

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Aqua Quest Publications (September 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881652211
• ISBN-13: 978-1881652212
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,229,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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