What do you do to be seen?

[D_B]

A fluorescent yellow mask strap cover ... not to be kept track of by my buddy, but to pick "Me" out of a crowd of all black divers .. if your in a group of divers, I think it helps to have a distinctive mark, color, or fin, when you cross another group, it helps in keeping track of everyone (probably because of my newness)

 

[JohnL]

I've made fun of a buddies yum-yum yellow fins. They are easy to spot, but they seem to be getting popular these days. I have seen a few people with their initials painted in huge letters on the bottoms of their fins. That seems to work well, and I will probably do it to mine when I figure out what will stick to jet fins.

Laughing out loud on all the HFRO references....I haven't heard them in a while.

 

[Walter]

Of course there's always this to consider...........

Sharks see contrast particularly well, so any high contrast color apparel or gear used by a human in the water is especially visible to sharks. The bright yellow color traditionally used in water safety flotation devices and rafts is readily seen by human rescuers looking for missing persons in the sea and likely is seen easily by sharks as well. As a result, shark researchers laughingly refer to this color as "yum yum yellow!" Should one replace all these devices with more drab colored items? Of course there is a trade-off involved, but most would agree that the benefit of increasing one's chances of being rescued far outweigh the minimal risk of attracting a shark. By contrast (pardon the pun), divers and swimmers probably can reduce the chance of an interaction with a shark by avoiding bright swimwear or dive gear. I personally prefer to use dark blue or black fins, mask, tank, and wetsuit while diving and make a point of wearing my dive watch under the cuff of my wetsuit, thereby eliminating any chance of light reflection off the face of the watch attracting a shark or barracuda. Similarly, one always should avoid wearing jewelry because the glint of light reflecting off metal approximates the glint of light off the scales of fishes, the normal food items of most sharks.


© George H. Burgess, International Shark Attack File
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida

 

[suthnbelle]

I've made fun of a buddies yum-yum yellow fins. They are easy to spot, but they seem to be getting popular these days. I have seen a few people with their initials painted in huge letters on the bottoms of their fins. That seems to work well, and I will probably do it to mine when I figure out what will stick to jet fins.

I use an orange paint pen on my Jets.

 

[jeckyll]

It's one thing to remain in contact with your buddy/ies. It's another thing to be able to encounter a random group of other divers underwater, particularly at night, and come easily away in contact with your own group.

Mo2vation, I agree with you that we should all dive to be found. But my "found" group has drifted into another "found" group all dressed in black, and I've ended up confused.

Lynne,

I think that while other divers have the responsibility for staying "where they can be found" each individual diver has the responsibility for checking what unique sets of characteristics can be attributed to their team members. After all that shouldn't be hard given most teams sizes of 2 or 3.

If running into another group I often try to stay still and let them pass by. This has worked for me and the people I dive with in the past, particularly because I dive so slow that still and moving aren't very far apart

I was, however, just thinking yesterday that I'm going to try and add some reflective material to the bottom of my tanks. We'll see how long it lasts there.

Good thread, hopefully it's making some people think.

Bjorn

 

[TSandM]

Good thread, hopefully it's making some people think.

That was the idea . . .

 

[mikerault]

I have a set of double yellow and a set of double silver tanks and yellow fins, also my 10w Salvo....that should do it...

Mike

 

[WaterKtn]

I'm very sensitive to my buddies' distinguishability at night after losing two of them in my own crowd of divers on the white tip shark feeding dive in Cocos. Its amazing how easily it is to lose track of black clad divers all with either green or red tank lights in a crowd of about 10 at night and how much time you end up spending rudely pointing your light at people trying to figure out who is who. Was his light green, or red? Was that guy the lone yellow light? This was not a lazy night dive looking at lobsters and trying not to wake up parrot fish where you could make your way through the group and get reacquainted with everyone's position - we were chasing a shark superhighway through the reef and wherever they charged off to, thats where the group went. So if the sharks decided to do a 180, all the black ninjas did a 180 too, and the people you just counted off as not your buddies - who knows which ones they were now. You had to start all over again. I knew they were there, I just couldn't figure out which ones they were! That was the most freaked out I've ever been on a dive. Sure there were literally hundreds of sharks marauding the ocean floor about 10 feet below me, but where were my buddies! I told them later that when I finally found them, I wanted to grab onto one of their fins and just hang on. Turns out one had been looking for me, too (the other was in his zone) and told me he wished I would have grabbed his fin.

In that situation, it felt like the normal rule - look for your buddy for a minute and then surface - wasn't really appropriate as we were moving so much and I was certain my buddies were in the group, I just couldn't find them in particular. So I stayed with the group rather than surface alone in pitch black to see if I could find a boat tender.

It ended up fine and we had a laugh over spending our whole dive looking at the other divers instead of the sharks (it was the third shark night dive, so no big loss, thankfully), but that experience has made me very sensitive to the idea that my buddy on night dives wears distinguishable accessories. I saw a husband/wife DM pair that made striped tube lights for their tanks so they could pick eachother out of a crowd - and I think I may make a pair for me and anyone I night dive with in the future for my own personal peace of mind.

 

[Blitz]

When I dive with others I stay close and use my light.

Last weekend, I was making a dive with my new dive partner and a diver for another group that wanted to show me something (and the something was a very cool mated pair of wolfies) shot me a sign that stopped me cold: rapid left/right/left light signals. I watched her to make sure she had bubbles and realized what was going on. I signals are good, but they can cause serious trouble amongst dissimilar dive styles.

 

[scarefaceDM]

Depending on the VIS and if it is a night dive. I use a strobe so the GROUP can identify ME from others. Especially if I am DM,Ing. My nicebright light is also a constant. But in a team of 2-3-5. We are never far apart. so the lights can be seen. I can tell you from expereince. In black water...there ain't no light shining. So touch contact and close proximity are the norm. If one feels it is a not go..we bail and call the dive. Not worth it. If you cannot see anything..what is the point.