Diving - Your Senses


by Rex Reservoir - Date: 2007-04-23 - Word Count: 388 Share This!

Man is designed to live on land. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are all designed to work on the surface. Try sticking your head underwater with no mask or snorkel.

What can you see? Yes you can see but it is not very clear, the human eye has not been designed for seeing under water. With a mask there is a marked difference on the ability of the eye to see but it does create a tunnel vision effect. Also rays of light that strike the glass in the mask may be reflected and also reduce vision.

What can you hear? Yes you can hear and sound travels very well in water. However communication is difficult because it isn't easy to speak clearly underwater without specialised equipment and therefore hand and rope signals are essential.

What can you smell and taste? Without a mask on you had better not try to smell underwater. You will find water being sucked up your nose and the end result could be disaster. Smell and taste are closely related. For the diver the only smell that is experienced is that coming from the breathing set. You may detect impurities in the air mixture and possibly experience a metallic taste, this may be an indication of nitrogen narcosis and if you smell or taste anything unusual it is best to abort the dive and clean out the breathing set.

What about touch? As the other senses decrease touch becomes increasingly important. Eventually it may be the only sense remaining that is functioning at any useful level. The diver must learn to recognise parts of his equipment by touch only and be able to locate each item quickly and operate it effectively. You can be diving in conditions where visibility is really impaired and touch is basically all you have.

Pay particular attention to your senses when you begin to dive. Try judging distances underwater, practice finding essential parts of your diving gear with your eyes close, using touch only. It pays to become as familiar as possible with how your senses are affected by being underwater while you are in a relatively safe environment and with companions who are there to assist and teach. Take turns practicing. Learn your hand signals they are extremely important and should be second nature to you.

Keep safe and enjoy your diving.


Related Tags: hearing, taste, diving, scuba, smell, sight, touchc

Rex Reservoir - ex diver and submariner

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